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Trump Voters on Companies Success; North Korean Soldier Defects; Dozens Hurt in Car Ramming; Virginia Ballot Ties up Race; Maroney Sues USA Gymnastics. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired December 21, 2017 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Stock market?
PEGGY STEWART, MICHIGAN TRUMP VOTER: No, not actually, but we know people that do, you know, and I just don't want it to tank, because if it tanks, then all of a sudden our work places are in jeopardy, and it's not -- it's not going there.
HARLOW: The president, Harold, talks about the stock market a lot, record highs for the stock market. Why are you laughing?
LEIGHANDRA SHOUSE, KENTUCKY TRUMP VOTER: He does all the time.
HARLOW: He does?
SHOUSE: He does. He really does.
HARLOW: Does it matter to you? Do you have any money in the stock market?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
SHOUSE: I did. I did when I worked for a company. But now I don't, no. I'm happy for those that have money in the stock market. It's not me, but I'm happy for them that do.
HARLOW: What about the stock market? Record highs for the stock market.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand that.
HARLOW: The president talks about it all the time. And for you, David, that means what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not -- that's not the middle class and that's not the poor people.
HARLOW: It means nothing to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I mean I keep up with it.
HARLOW: Do you have any money in the stock market?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No. Never have. HARLOW: Has your life become better in the last year?
SAL MOCERI, MICHIGAN TRUMP VOTER: Oh, yes. Well, I own stock, OK? I'm make -- I'm making some nice cash because I'm preparing myself to exodus.
HARLOW: To retire?
MOCERI: Yes. All right, so --
HARLOW: So he's helped you in that way?
MOCERI: Well, no, he hasn't helped me. OK, I bought stock.
HARLOW: Does the president get credit for the stock market?
MOCERI: No. No, he doesn't, because he doesn't run any of these companies, OK.
HARLOW: But he takes a lot of credit for it.
MOCERI: But he -- OK. OK. All of a sudden -- OK, IBM, Microsoft all came because of Mr. Trump? I don't think so. This is America. These companies have come to fruition and come to be major billion dollar corporations because of the American people, not Mr. Trump.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: My thanks to all those voters in Michigan and Kentucky that took the time to talk to us.
All right, ahead for us, dozens hurt when a car plows into holiday shoppers in Melbourne, Australia. Now investigators are saying this morning this was no accident. Details, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:36:35] HARLOW: Welcome back. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.
And another North Korean soldier races across and DMZ and defects to South Korea. About an hour after that, he crossed -- after he crossed the DMZ, the South Koreans fired 20 warning shots as soldiers from the North searched for that young defector.
This is the fourth North Korean military defection this year and the second in less than two months.
Our international correspondent Paula Hancocks joins us now from Seoul, South Korea.
We remember the dramatic video of the last one jumping out of his, you know, the truck and just running across the border and getting shot at. What do you know about this most recent defection?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, the -- what we have at this point is that this was a young defector. The military here in South Korea saying he was late teens, early 20s. He was a low-ranking soldier. And apparently he crossed the border with a firearm. But there were no shots fired as he came across the border. As you say, just a little while later, South Korean military did afire 20 warning shots as they saw North Korean soldiers approach the military demarcation line, saying that clearly it seemed as though they were looking for that defector.
And then just a little later as well in the morning, they heard shots on the North Korean side. Not clear at this point what that was.
But even though there was no sort of military engagement between North and South Korea, it is still worrying when you have shots being fired on the DMZ. An incredibly tense border.
And as you say, Poppy, it's only less than two months after that very dramatic rush across the DMZ by that defector, Ochong Sung (ph), who was actually shot four times by his former comrades before being critically injured. But he has survived.
So, of course, the question that everyone's asking now is, why are so many defector soldiers crossing the DMZ. This is an incredibly dangerous way to defect. It is -- you have thousands of soldiers on both sides of the border. You have an estimated 1 million land mines in between that border. And it is one of the most difficult places to cross to try and get to South Korea. It's why it's been very rare in the past. But as you say, four this year alone.
Poppy.
HARLOW: Paula Hancocks for us in Seoul, South Korea. Thank you for the reporting on that this morning.
We are also following breaking news out of Melbourne, Australia, where more than a dozen people were injured after this car plowed into a crowd of holiday shoppers. This happened outside of a train station. Police are saying this morning this was indeed a deliberate act. The motivation, though, is still unclear. Police do have two people in custody right now.
Let's go straight to journalist Sara James. She joins us from Melbourne.
So they're saying deliberate act. They're not saying terrorism. They're saying deliberate act. What else can you tell us?
SARA JAMES, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: Yes, they're definitely saying it was not terrorism. They're saying that the man who drove the car was a 32-year-old Australian of Afghan descent. He drove his SUV straight down the tram track right next to me and plowed into a crowd of pedestrians. He was traveling at about 60 miles an hour. Just to give you an idea, this is a 25 miles an hour zone. So these pedestrians had no idea what hit them.
He plowed into the crowd of holiday shoppers, commuters, children. Tonight, in the hospital, 18 people are in various hospitals around the city. Four of them in critical condition. One of them a little child.
[09:40:09] Now, the way this incident ended was that an off duty police officer was able to get to the car. The car slammed into part of a tram stop, reached in, pulled out the driver and managed to subdue him. And that was what brought it to an end.
Police held a press conference this evening. They say they are not sure exactly of the motivation, but they say that the suspect has a history of drug problems and also mental health issues and that there had been some attacks in the past, but much more -- but not nearly as violent as what happened today.
Poppy.
HARLOW: You think about, you know, what happened here in New York City and that truck that was an act of terrorism deliberately hitting all of those bikers and pedestrians right along, you know, the West Side Highway, and security measures that have changed in New York as a result. Are you hearing, Sara, of any new security measures that will be added because of this incident?
JAMES: That's a good point, Poppy. And, yes, there will be. The prime minister said that there will be coordination between federal authorities and the ones here in the state. In addition, hundreds of additional police officers will be on the street.
Poppy.
HARLOW: Sara James reporting for us in Melbourne. We appreciate it. And we wish the best to all of those injured.
Ahead for us, the balance of power in the Virginia House of Delegates up in the air for the first time in nearly two decades. Why? It comes down to a single vote. The drama, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:58] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHELLY SIMONDS (D), CANDIDATE, VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES: I think everybody has a little bit of ownership in the outcome of this election now. Everybody feels like they were the one vote that put us over the edge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Except it's not one vote anymore. What a difference a day makes. What a difference a single vote makes. Yesterday, Democrat Shelly Simonds, who you just saw on this show with us, thought she'd won a seat in Virginia's House of Delegates by one vote. And, today, a tie. The balance of power in Virginia relies on the outcome of this single race and it will be decided on Wednesday by a -- drum roll, please -- random drawing. You heard that right. A name pulled out of a hat, a bowl, a box, whatever you want.
Ryan Nobles is here with us. For real? A random drawing? RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's exactly right,
Poppy. And, you know, this race was already extraordinary when we thought that it was only a 10-vote margin. And then, after a recount, it got to the point where election officials had thought that Shelly Simonds won by just one vote. But a three judge panel yesterday in Richmond reviewed a ballot that wasn't initially counted in the original recount and determined that that ballot should be included. And that's what led to a tie.
According to Virginia law, that means that a name will essentially be drawn out of a hat and that has Democrats upset. They are considering a legal challenge. But this morning on "NEW DAY," Ken Cuccinelli, who is a Republican and a former attorney general in Virginia said that this is the way the process should work. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN CUCCINELLI, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA: Everybody knew what the rules were coming in. Yes, you're right, we've never had an absolute tie before. Nonetheless, the most important thing for confidence in the system is to follow the rules that were in place. This is fair. It's weird, but it is fair in the sense that it is even for both sides. No one has an advantage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBLES: Weird to say the least. In fact, this is how weird it's going to be. This is what the state board of elections will do next Wednesday. They are going to take the names, print them out on individual pieces of paper. Then they will put those pieces of paper into separate film canisters. If you remember the film canisters that you would use to take pictures, you know, two decades ago. They have a whole bag of them at the state board of elections.
They will put the two names into separate canisters, put them into something, a bowl, a hat, a box, they haven't determined exactly what that's going to be. They will then pull one of the canisters out. one of the board members will do that. They'll open it up. The name that emerges from that canister will be declared the winner in the Virginia House of Delegates race.
And, Poppy, this is more than just one race. This election will determine who has control of the Virginia House of Delegates, Republican or Democrat. And there you see the official order by that three judge panel that declared this race a tie. Truly a remarkable turn of events in Virginia.
HARLOW: Do they get to like fold their own -- you know how when you want to fold it a special way so that, you know, you can pick it out?
NOBLES: Right.
HARLOW: We'll see.
NOBLES: I don't think so. I think the goal is to make this as impartial as possible. HARLOW: I -- I know.
NOBLES: So the candidates themselves won't touch them at all. Yes.
HARLOW: It's remarkable that this is the process. And so much weighs in -- you know, hangs in the balance, control of the Virginia House of Delegates for the first time in almost two decades.
All right, Ryan Nobles, thank you.
NOBLES: Thanks, Poppy.
HARLOW: An Olympic gold medalist -- an Olympic gold medalist, an American gymnast, says she was paid to stay quiet about the abuse at the hands of a team doctor. Now McKayla Maroney is talking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:53:53] HARLOW: Olympic gold medal winner McKayla Maroney is suing US Gymnastics claiming she was paid to keep quiet about being abused by the team's doctor. Maroney says Larry Nassar sexually abused her for years starting when she was just 13 years old, under the guise of treating gymnastics injuries.
Now, when she reported the abuse, Maroney's lawyers settled and signed a nondisclosure agreement.
Polo Sandoval is following all of this for us.
This is the latest in, you know, what has been an ongoing saga over what happened, the abuse, the horror that happened to so many of these girls on this team.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And when you consider that, Poppy, the question is, why is this coming up again? Why is this lawsuit being filed? And she makes it very clear, Mckayla makes it very clear in that lawsuit that the whole purpose is to try to gather some of that funding to be able to pay for, as her legal team describes it, potentially life-saving psychological treatment after repeated sexual abuse at the hands of their long-time team doctor, Larry Nassar.
She alleges that US Gymnastics forced her to keep quiet about the assault during the mediation process that was meant to settle this out of court. USAG, however, responding that they just learned about this lawsuit yesterday after it was filed in California and that it was initially McKayla's attorney who had proposed this idea of confidentiality. That attorney at the time, Gloria Allred, who has not responded to CNN for comments.
[09:55:10] USA Gymnastics recalling that mediation saying, in this -- in this part of the statement saying that the process culminated in a settlement agreement that included a mutual nondisclosure clause and a mutual nondisparagement clause. Although USAG expressing disappointment about this, Poppy, they also read some of this here and saying that they applaud McKayla and others who speak up against abusive behavior, including the despicable acts of Larry Nassar. This organization saying they do want to work together with McKayla to try to help others to encourage them to speak up against this kind of abuse.
HARLOW: And he's serving quite a long sentence.
SANDOVAL: He's definitely just starting up right now this -- this -- about 60-year sentence for child pornography. And we have to remember that this is a man who has already been charged several times and many allegation made by dozens of women for these kinds of despicable acts.
HARLOW: It's unbelievable what they had to go through. We appreciate the reporting. We'll keep everyone posted.
Polo, thank you.
SANDOVAL: You bet.
HARLOW: Minutes from now, the United Nations General Assembly gathers to take up a vote on a highly controversial move by the United States naming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley promises she will take names of those countries who do not side with the United States on this. The details straight ahead.
