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Storm Hits Cuba; Pence Inspires Hashtag; Vice Presidential Debate. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 05, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:31:38] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You know Hurricane Matthew is out there. It already did some major damage to property in Haiti. One person has died. But Hurricane Matthew could also cause big problems for the state of South Carolina. The governor there just issued a warning to citizens, basically said - she said, get out for your own safety and the safety of others. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Wondering whether you should leave or not. I again will tell you that if you do not leave, you are putting a law enforcement officer or a national guardsman's life on the line when they have to go back and get you. So we are trying to be extremely cautious. Our goal is to make sure that no lives are lost, that people get moved out safely and that they get moved back safely. And so that's where we're going to go with the plan. But we will also have a press conference this afternoon and continue to inform the public on changes and things. As the storm moves, we will continue to let you know.

QUESTION: Governor, can you give an update on medical -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right, so that's the South Carolina governor. Florida also bracing for a direct hit as Hurricane Matthew takes aim at the U.S. coast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: I cannot emphasize it enough that everyone in our state must prepare now for a direct hit. That means people have less than 24 hours left to prepare, evacuate, and shelter. Having a plan in place could mean the difference between life and death when it comes to a storm of this magnitude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Right now, the category three storm is on track to possibly make landfall Friday morning. President Obama canceling his Florida trip today. He's meeting with FEMA officials very soon. One million people along the coast are under evacuation orders. Lines for gas stretching around the block in Miami, as homeowners board up windows in Georgia. And check out this store's shelves, completely bare. People are preparing.

At least seven people have died after winds and flooding batter the Caribbean. So, please, please take caution and leave as you're governors have suggested.

Meteorologist Chad Myers is standing by. But - but let's head out to Cuba and CNN's Patrick Oppmann.

What's going down there, Patrick?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

And people here are beginning to dry out and pick up from the aftermath of this storm. People here in Santiago, Cuba, Cuba's second largest city, really feel like they missed the bullet yesterday when the storm just skirted the eastern tip of the island. It did not make full impact here as residents here had been warned might happen. So there is today, at least where I am, a sense of relief.

Of course, the area where the storm did hit in Cuba, for the residents there, it was pretty catastrophic. We're hearing that in certain areas dozens of homes were lost. But it appears so far, at least at this point, that Cuban officials were successful in encouraging people to evacuate. No word on any fatalities so far but hundreds of people did lose the roofs of their houses we're told and other people lost their houses altogether. So it's going to be a long - a long path for them to pick up. And roads are closed. Power lines are down.

Over 180,000 people had to be evacuated in a country of only about 11 million people. So a tremendous effort to keep property and lives from being lost, but so far, here in Cuba, it seems like they did a pretty good job of keeping people out of harm's way and the pickup begins now, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Patrick Oppmann, many things.

[09:35:01] So let's head to the Weather Center and Chad Myers.

So what can people expect in Florida and Georgia and South Carolina?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the storm is increasing, Carol. It's getting stronger after it really got its stuffing taken out of it by Cuba. Of course Cuba took the brunt of the storm, but the storm also took the brunt of Cuba. And so the whole thing kind of fell apart overnight but now it's getting itself back together.

And I've been getting calls and texts and e-mails from all my friends in south Florida. And, you know, if you're a mile from the beach or a half mile from the beach, it's going to make a difference on what you're going to see, what you're going to expect. But my point to them is, OK, look, even if this thing only takes power out, do you want to really be there for three days without power in hot, muggy, weather with bugs that are angry flying around?

It's not that big a deal to get somewhere else. Get to the west. Find a friend in Naples. Find a friend on the other side of the state. Go to the north, to the northwest. And so if you're told to evacuate, just do it. I mean this is - if - and if nothing happens, if it stays on the right side of the cone, come back the next day. I mean that - it's that simple, right? And I know some people can't evacuate because of dogs and pets and all kinds of things like that, but try to work it out and not, like Governor Haley said, put the first responders in harm's way when they have to come get you.

One hundred and thirty-mile-per-hour storm. This is not - this is not like some tropical system that's going to blow on through. This is 130-mile-per-hour storm that's forecast to be about 30 miles offshore. And, Carol, the cone is onshore. So there's certainly the potential, the possibility, even I wouldn't say probability, but there's a 30 percent chance that we're on the other side of the cone. Probably a 40 percent chance that we're on this side of the cone. We'll have to keep looking.

What I've noticed the past couple of hours is that the storm has turned left. I've seen a little wobble to the left. Now maybe it is just a wobble. Maybe it will come back. Maybe it will turn back right again. But that leftward wobble means it could be coming closer to Florida.

Hurricane warnings. Hurricane conditions will be felt in the next 36 hours. That's what this means, from Jacksonville almost all the way down to about Fort Pierce. That's where the hurricane warning is and there are tropical storm warnings as well.

There is the eye of the storm. Look how tightly packed the isobars are. This reminds me of a - it's an extremely scary storm. And any - this is like Ivan. I mean this is a round storm in warm water with nothing to really stop it. If it's out here, great, you know, we'll get wind, we'll get waves, we'll have some power lines down. But if it's farther to the left by 30 miles, Katie bar the door, this is a big one, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Chad Myers, many thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a 2016 debate just as an official until a hashtag starts trending on Twitter. Why that Mexican thing is still sparking reaction hours after Mike Pence first uttered the phrase.

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[09:41:43] COSTELLO: Tim Kaine and Mike Pence's one and only face-off was filled with interruptions and jabs and not just over their respective running mates but also on issues like immigration. Pence came to his boss's defense on the topic, inspiring a hashtag in the process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When Donald Trump says women should be punished, or Mexicans are rapists and criminals -

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm telling you -

KAINE: Or John McCain's not a hero, he is showing you who he is.

PENCE: Senator, you, you, you whipped out that Mexican thing again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK, so when - when Mike Pence said "that Mexican thing," it immediately started trending on Twitter. And it's still trending this morning. It's just part of the backlash includes this tweet, so I can just give you an example. "That Mexican thing is millions of Mexicans that live in this country and each one of them pay more taxes than Donald Trump."

So let's talk about this and more. Tom Hartman is here. He's a progressive radio host of "The Tom Hartman Show." And Ben Ferguson joins me as well, conservative talk show host of "The Ben Ferguson Show."

Welcome to both of you.

TOM HARTMAN, "THE TOM HARTMAN SHOW": Good morning, Carol.

BEN FERGUSON, "THE BEN FERGUSON SHOW": Good morning.

HARTMAN: Good morning, Ben.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So, Ben, what did Mike Pence mean by that, that Mexican thing?

FERGUSON: I think it's - yes, I think his point was, there you go again with a talking point trying to fear monger everybody that is Hispanic into thinking that everyone's going to be deported, when the reality is, Donald Trump has now said, and Mike Pence has said, we are going to go after those that have committed crimes and those that have come here illegally recently. We're willing to talk about the other issues.

But when you see the - the debate narrative that's been put out by Hillary Clinton's campaign, and I'll say this, it's a very smart move by them, they go out and they fear monger in the Hispanic community implying that everyone's going to get deported. That's not reality. It's not what Donald Trump has said in the last debate.

COSTELLO: OK.

FERGUSON: It's not what Mike Pence has said. But it's a really good talking point to fear monger.

COSTELLO: OK. So I want to continue to go down this road because immigration and the deportation thing was brought up a lot last night. And before we get to you, Tom -

FERGUSON: Sure.

COSTELLO: I want to just play one of the exchanges between Tim Kaine and Mike Pence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAINE: Hillary and I believe in comprehensive immigration reform. Donald Trump believes in deportation nation. They want to go house to house, school to school, business to business, and kick out 16 million people.

PENCE: They have a plan for open borders, amnesty. That's - but they call it comprehensive immigration reform -

KAINE: Our plan is like Ronald Reagan's plan from 1986.

PENCE: They call it comprehensive immigration reform on Capitol Hill. We all know the routine. It's amnesty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Tom, Donald Trump has mentioned a deportation force. And I heard you, Ben, but Donald Trump has said that. Do you understand where Donald Trump stands on this issue of who is deported and who is not, Tom?

HARTMAN: As - Carol, as with dozens of issues, Donald Trump has been on multiple sides of them. On this one, though, I think that what both Trump and Pence are doings is a continuation of Richard Nixon's 1968 southern strategy essentially, to racialize a group of people and then demonize them. In the '60s, of course, it was African-Americans in the south and the GOP has carried that on for years and years and now Trump has expanded it to Hispanics and to Muslims.

And that was the thing that Tim Kaine was pushing back on, saying, you know, we're concerned about people in this country who are dangerous. You're concerned about people in this country on the basis of their religion or ethnicity or the country they come from. Mike Pence, in fact, is trying to bar Syrians from Indiana at the same time that last night he was saying, oh, gee, you know, we need to do something about Syria. It's - it's - it's a confused message.

[09:45:13] COSTELLO: So, Ben, can you explain to us like - like what -

FERGUSON: That I - that I described a moment ago.

COSTELLO: Uh-huh, go ahead, explain to us again what exactly Donald Trump means when he's going to deport some people but not others.

FERGUSON: Sure, I'll explain -

COSTELLO: He's going to try to keep families together, but they have to go and come back.

FERGUSON: Well -

COSTELLO: Like we've heard all of those things.

FERGUSON: I'll make it - I'll make it as clear as I possibly can.

COSTELLO: OK.

FERGUSON: Donald Trump has said, first and foremost, that he is going to deport people that have been convicted of crimes, serious crimes, and heinous crimes. And, yes, he will go hunt them down. As we do -

HARTMAN: No, he said deport them all.

FERGUSON: Let me - let me - let me finish, OK. Obviously you do not understand what Donald Trump has said.

HARTMAN: I heard him.

FERGUSON: The second thing he said is, if you've been here, if you've been here, and let's be clear, he's not going to go door-to-door. It's unrealistic to go door-to-door, to home-to-home. It's talking point. It's fear mongering. It's playing the race card, as you've just did in your statement a moment ago.

HARTMAN: Yes, that's what Trump does, yes.

FERGUSON: What many people that support Donald Trump have understood is this. Donald Trump realizes that there is a real problem when it comes to security with some illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes. The same exact point he's made on Syria when he talks about immigrants coming in. It has been a failed procedure that has happened in Germany and France. He doesn't want to recreate that here.

COSTELLO: OK, so going back to explain the policy. So he's going to find these criminal immigrants living in the United States -

FERGUSON: Yes, the same way we do with Americans.

COSTELLO: And he's going to go - and then he's going to go, what, deport them. And then what happens to the rest of those, what, 11 million people?

FERGUSON: Well, I think what you've heard him say here is, you have to have a secure border, otherwise what we did in the past has been a failed policy. And you heard Tim Kaine mentioned our policy -

COSTELLO: No, we get the wall thing. We - we get the wall thing.

FERGUSON: No, but he's - no, but even more than that -

COSTELLO: I'm just asking you how - what's he going to do about the illegal immigrants living in the United States, besides the criminal ones?

HARTMAN: He said he's going to deport them all, Carol.

FERGUSON: And he - he's not going to deport them all and he is -

HARTMAN: He said - then why did he say that?

FERGUSON: He's obviously changed his wording on this.

HARTMAN: Oh.

FERGUSON: He's changed his wording. If you paid attention the last six months, it's not - it's not abnormal to clarify things, Tom. Again, you're going back to the, hey, everybody else is a bigot but Democrats here. What he says is my first priority is, I -

HARTMAN: I take Donald Trump at his word.

FERGUSON: No, you don't. You want to use a talking point of what he said over a year ago -

HARTMAN: Yes, I do. He said he wanted - he wants to deport all of them. He said -

FERGUSON: Instead of what he said over the last six months. So -

COSTELLO: OK, so you guys are starting to sound like Mike Pence and Tim Kaine. So, stop for a second.

HARTMAN: Sorry, Carol.

COSTELLO: So I hear you, Ben, you say Donald Trump doesn't want this deportation force. But, Tom, you say that - and Donald Trump has said that before and I have to make that clear to our viewers, Ben, because he did. But you're saying he doesn't really want -

FERGUSON: Right, and then he clarified it.

COSTELLO: And then he clarified it. So, Tom, then explain to me what Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine what to do about those people living illegally in the United States, those undocumented immigrants.

HARTMAN: Well, first of all, the simple fact of the matter is that people who are U.S. citizens are more likely, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of the population, to commit crimes than are immigrants either from Mexico or from Syria.

FERGUSON: He's not answering the question.

HARTMAN: So, number one, the whole fear mongering thing that - that Trump is trying - trying to -

COSTELLO: Well, and I - we get the fear mongering thing but what -

FERGUSON: It's - he's not answering the question.

COSTELLO: What - what are they going to do?

HARTMAN: What - if somebody has committed a crime in this country, then absolutely they, you know, that should be dealt with, whether it's imprisonment or deportation. If they haven't committed a crime in this country, we need to have a comprehensive immigration reform in this country, figure out exactly how to work that out. That's a process. It goes through a legislative process. There needs to be a debate on that. The Clinton campaign, though, is -

COSTELLO: We've been doing that for years, though, haven't we?

HARTMAN: Yes, it's very - we have.

FERGUSON: And it's been a failure.

HARTMAN: And - and the Republicans have been obstructing it for eight years.

FERGUSON: It's been a failure.

COSTELLO: OK, well, I'm -

FERGUSON: You had control of the House. You had control of the Senate when he first got there. You can't blame everything on Republicans.

HARTMAN: For 74 days. For 74 days.

FERGUSON: And that - yes, 74 days and you did nothing with it.

COSTELLO: OK.

FERGUSON: You didn't do it on purpose. Let me just (INAUDIBLE) because that's the most important thing.

HARTMAN: Not on immigration, no, you're right.

COSTELLO: OK. I'm going to end it here, guys.

FERGUSON: This is the most important thing.

COSTELLO: Thank you very much. Tom Hartman, Ben Ferguson, I do appreciate it.

HARTMAN: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, pardon the interruption, I can't believe I just said that, but did Donald Trump just slam Tim Kaine for interrupting him at the - for interrupting at the VP debate? We'll talk about that next.

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[09:53:28] COSTELLO: All right. I kind of know what you're waiting for, but maybe you're not with this debate so much. But what were the ratings from last night and did you watch? Did you watch the whole thing? Did you fall asleep?

Brian Stelter is here.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Fall asleep? No way.

COSTELLO: I watched it. No way? STELTER: No way.

COSTELLO: Not even once?

STELTER: All that interrupting?

COSTELLO: I know. It was really frustrating, but -

STELTER: Actually, I have heard from viewers who said it was just too much. It was uncomfortable. Whatever happened to the mild-mannered dads that we were expecting and they did turn the channel.

COSTELLO: Mild-mannered dads?

STELTER: That's what we were promised. We were promised a dad debate. We were told both these guys were affable. Not so much.

COSTELLO: They were going to wear mom jeans? It would be great.

STELTER: Exactly.

COSTELLO: But what were the ratings?

STELTER: Well, the early numbers show this debate had about half the audience as the presidential debate last week. That was over 80 million viewers. So I'm expecting somewhere between 40 and 50 million viewers for this VP debate. And that's good, but not great. It's lower than 2012 when Biden and Ryan debated. It's a lot lower than 2008 when Palin and Biden debated. By VP debate standards, relatively low. Still, though, over 40 million viewers means this was a big opportunity for Mike Pence to try to reset the race, at least a little bit, and to stop some of the Democrats' momentum.

COSTELLO: Well, you know, here's the thing. You know, once you got past the first 30 minutes or so, then they sort of stopped interrupting or Tim Kaine stopped interrupting Mike Pence so much.

STELTER: Right.

COSTELLO: And there were really some interesting exchanges, like on the subject of both men's faith and how that entered into their decisions on public policy.

STELTER: Yes.

COSTELLO: I thought that was fascinating and helpful.

STELTER: The last 15 minutes of the debate was to me the most revealing part.

COSTELLO: Right.

STELTER: I found myself finally wanting it to go longer for the first time in the debate. You know, there's a lot of rules and restrictions around the debate. The debate commission sets the time and the format. And the moderator, Elaine Quijano, was really roped in, penned in by the format. She was told she had to bring up nine different segments of questions. And as a result, it always felt like she was rushing along the conversation. She's been getting quite a lot of negative reviews today.

[09:55:21] COSTELLO: She's been eviscerated, frankly.

STELTER: She has. And Donald Trump on Twitter this hour is complaining as well. Trump saying that she was interrupting too often. That Mike Pence won even though the moderator was interrupting too often. So that's the sense from Trump.

However, this was a no-win situation for Quijano. And the bottom line is, I think people are going to remember her, and that's not what she wants. She wants people to remember Pence and Kaine and the take-away from this debate was that Pence won.

COSTELLO: All right, Brian Stelter, thanks so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:04] COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

The dust has barely settled from the vice presidential debate and the candidates and their surrogates, they're back on the road this morning.