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CNN Live Event/Special
Did Taylor and Kent Testimony Change Any Minds; Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick Jumps into the Crowded Democratic 2020 Field; At Least Two Dead, Multiple Injured in California School Shooting. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired November 14, 2019 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- as Boyce O'Brien watching to see if it's a party he will return too.
BOYCE O'BRIEN, REGISTERED REPUBLICAN: I'm so disappointed in the Republican Party. It's embarrassing for me to even be affiliated with it at this point. I hope that they'll finally develop a backbone and stand up for what's right.
LAH: While there are plenty who have made up their minds from the right --
KENT JEFFERS, REGISTERED REPUBLICAN: Rule didn't getting, other people didn't getting. I'm pretty sure I'm going to vote for him again.
LAH: To the left --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey! Ho, ho.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Donald Trump has got to go!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Orange means go.
LAH: It is those in the middle is places like the Phoenix suburbs who represent the battleground.
CARLY REBUCK, FORMER REPUBLICAN TURNED DEMOCRAT: They insulate him. He doesn't hear any of this.
LAH: Carly Rebuck grew up a McCain Republican.
REBUCK: And then Meghan McCain is here.
LAH: She switched parties after Trump's election. A lifelong political identity gone with the maverick Senator who left a lasting mark.
REBUCK: He made me feel proud to be an Arizonan. It made me feel proud to be a former Republican to see him do that was just -- it meant a lot.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH) This I can't believe and you're their star witness.
REBUCK: I don't recognize the Republican Party as it is now.
LAH: Wearing her sentiment.
REBUCK: We're changing the world.
LAH: As she watches the impeachment hearings with friends.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The card actually says, no party.
CINDY HANS, REGISTERED INDEPENDENT: Your card says no party?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No party. No party.
LAH: And as the day begins to wrap.
HANS: I haven't heard anything yet to make me think that this President is innocent.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): This concludes this portion of the hearings.
HANS: So if you can show me that, I might change my mind.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: Now independents who we spoke with say that they were glad to watch these public hearings happening before their eyes, seeing this testimony without any sort of filtering from a newspaper or a talking head. That's what they appreciated about this. But just as many independents we spoke with, Jake, who we spent the day with, said, you know, they were grab breakfast and head home because they didn't have the time or interest to devote an entire day to watch this hearing -- Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right, Kyung Lah, Scottsville, Arizona, thanks so much for that report. Appreciate it.
Add another name to the list. The Democratic presidential field is growing again instead of shrinking. What does that say about the current candidates? Stay with us.
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[15:35:00]
TAPPER: In our 2020 LEAD TODAY, former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced that he's running for President just 80 days before the primaries begin. Patrick filing for the New Hampshire primary today and as CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg also mulling a bid, the already crowded Democratic field is about to get even more jammed up.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The voting begins in 81 days, but the Democratic field is suddenly growing. Former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick jumping into the 2020 race today in New Hampshire after saying no to a run nearly a year ago. He's been watching the campaign from the sidelines and believes there's an opening right down the middle.
DEVAL PATRICK (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It has felt to me watching the race unfold that we are beginning to break into sort of camps of nostalgia on one hand and big ideas sort of my way or no way on the other.
ZELENY: He's talking about two friends now rivals, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren.
(on camera): Is Joe Biden's nostalgic campaign not working in your view?
PATRICK: Well look, I'm a big, big fan of Joe Biden but I think that the instinct that his campaign seems to have to say, you know, to project in effect if we just -- if we just get rid, if you will, of the incumbent we can go back to doing what we used to do and this is the moment.
ZELENY (voice-over): He praised Warren too, but said he plans aren't unifying.
PATRICK: I think that if we want solutions that last, they can't be solutions that feel to the voting public as if they are just Democratic solutions.
ZELENY: With former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg teasing a run of his own the unsettled nature of the race is coming into sharper view as Democrats weigh what kind of candidate and message stands the best chance of defeating President Trump. Hardly a household name even among many Democrats, Patrick began with an introductory video.
Patrick: I grew up on the south side of Chicago. I lived there with my grandparents, my mother and sister. In our grandparents two- bedroom tenement. Some of that time on welfare.
ZELENY: But it's another part of his biography, his time at the private investment firm BainCapital, that could cause him grief as Warren and Bernie Sanders rail against big business. As he met with voters in New Hampshire, Patrick acknowledged the steep road ahead offering a criticism of the debates that have helped shape the campaign.
PATRICK: I've been watching the debates. Not sure it's something to aspire to.
ZELENY(on camera): So are you saying that you don't want to be on the debate stage?
Patrick: No, no. I'm saying that it's a, just a -- it's a painful thing to aspire to for the reasons I said.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: Now, perhaps painful, Jake, but that is the reality of the race he's facing now. All candidates, of course, want to qualify for the debates. He will miss next week's debate in Georgia. But he could qualify for the December debate only if he gets donors on his side now.
[15:40:02]
But, Jake, we did hear similar strains to Pete Buttigieg and Joe Biden in his message of trying to unify the country. Now the challenge, of course, for the former governor is to try to carve out his own path. He'll be flying to California tomorrow then on to Iowa and South Carolina. Jake, the clock is ticking.
TAPPER: All right, Jeff Zeleny in beautiful New Hampshire. Thanks so much.
Let's go over all this with my political panel. Nia, let me start with you. So Governor Patrick told the "Boston Globe" today.
Quote, I recognize running for President is a Hail Mary under any circumstances. This is a Hail Mary from two stadiums over.
So why do it?
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, why do it. You know, I think there is a sense -- certainly among the chattering class and the donor class I think that maybe Joe Biden isn't as strong as people thought he would be, and maybe somebody like Pete Buttigieg -- these are two people in the centrist lane -- might be a little too young to actually carry this thing all the way through.
So there you have somebody like Deval Patrick going for the centrist lane, putting his name in contingent in New Hampshire and that might be the path, right. From the next state over maybe does well there. Maybe he's able to get some African-American votes as well, if he proves himself in other states.
You know, he is very compelling story, right? South side of Chicago, grew up poor. Obviously, went on to Harvard Law and Harvard undergrad as well. So we'll see. We've seen this before. Right. Somebody like Westcott, gets in late. Everybody thinks he's going to be the great savior, Fred Thompson as well. So the media candidates who don't necessarily have a constituency. There might be room for him given that the field is so, so unsettled. And voters are somewhat undecided, too, and might be looking at the same thing with Joe Biden saying that he might not be as strong as they thought he was.
TAPPER: Jeffrey Toobin, take a listen to Governor Patrick when he was asked back in 2018 if he was planning to run for President?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PATRICK: It's hard to imagine how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being -- you know, shrill, sensational or a celebrity and I'm none of those things -- and never going to be any of those things. I'm not sure there is a place for me in that mix.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: He's still not shrill, sensational or a celebrity.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Notwithstanding being on your program now.
TAPPER: He will become a celebrity at 4:00.
HENDERSON: Immediately.
TAPPER: Exactly, yes.
TOOBIN: I wrote a long profile of him in "The New Yorker" at the end of last year when it looked like he was going to run. And I think the reason he was going to run can be summed up in two words, Barack Obama. I mean he is personally close to Obama. He is a political profile like Obama. His wife Denise is close to Michelle Obama. Michelle Obama tried to talk Denise into joining, into being an enthusiastic backer of a Patrick candidacy.
His great political skill is his ability to control a small room. He's great in a living room. It's sort of late to do living rooms now. I mean, if he had been traveling in Iowa, if he'd been traveling the living rooms of New Hampshire, maybe. His biggest skill, I think, is almost irrelevant at this point.
TAPPER: What is it say, Jen, the fact that both Governor Patrick and Mayor Bloomberg are entering the race or looking like they're enters the race? What does it say about the crop of candidates especially those in the center left lane, Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and on and on?
JEN PSAKI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well I mean, if you look at polls from the early states, the majority of people are satisfied with the poll of candidates they have. Whether they're moderate or progressive or whatever their backing is. I do think Mayor Bloomberg and Deval Patrick have both heard from probably some of the same people on the donor class in New York and other financial centers who are concerned about Biden's candidacy and the strength of it going all the way. And they're concerned that they're not fans of Warren. Some outspoken about that. So they're looking for an alternative.
To Deval Patrick's credit, what he has done, I've heard, is kind of consult with the team of smart political people and that's what his path is. And clearly, he's decided there may be a path forward. New Hampshire, South Carolina -- maybe there's an opportunity because people are willing to change their votes. That's what I think he's looking at. People are not settled on their candidate. They might be willing to shift. I would put him in a different category though than Mayor Bloomberg.
Because Deval Patrick is very charismatic and compelling when you hear him speak. Yes, and small room. Yes it may be way too late, but if people get to know him, they may like him. I'm not sure Mayor Bloomberg has the same quality.
TAPPER: Can I just say again very quickly -- I want to bring in the Congressman because he hasn't joined the debate.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: But what do you think as somebody who's not a member of the Democratic Party as you see all of this happen?
MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Think just think this is spelling trouble for the candidates and where the Democratic Party is today. The reason Bloomberg got in, is because he makes this fairly public, is the drift left.
[15:45:00]
This notion that, you know, if you listen to the policies of Elizabeth Warren, they are an economic train wreck. He knows that. And he has $52 billion reasons probably to throw up against this problem. I think you're seeing that. They're losing confidence that Biden can win and they're seeing a drift left. If you look at all the numbers for all the candidates, clearly the energy in the Democratic primary is left of center by far.
TOOBIN: I just called his wife Denise. It's Diane. So I just wanted to correct that.
TAPPER: Glad you corrected that.
Everyone, stick around we've got more to talk about. Now I'm going to talk to Democratic presidential candidate, Governor Deval Patrick, coming up at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, 1:00 p.m. Pacific on "THE LEAD." Stay with us so you can hear that.
A community on edge after a school shooting in California leaves two students dead. The search for the suspect is over but the hunt for a motive is just beginning. Stay with us.
[15:50:00]
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With politics so tight, there's the whole, don't take my guns. But after you're in something like this, don't take my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Wow. We're back with the breaking news. Two students are dead. A 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy and several others have been wounded after a different student, a 16-year-old male, opened fire at a southern California school. Joining me now to discuss, CNN national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem, and CNN law enforcement analyst, James Gagliano.
So Juliette, let me start with you. The shooter's in custody, in grave condition. We're told that he walked into the school, shot five students, and then shot himself in the head, but he's still alive. Two of the students are dead. What are the first question you would ask if you were able to speak to the shooter. What would you want to know?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY, INTELLIGENCE AND TERRORISM ANALYST: It goes to the two basic questions, motive and means. Get a sense of his mental state, what triggered it. Today is his birthday. Was there a precipitating event. How long had he planned it? Was he going after specific suspects? How long had he planned it for? And of course, the means issue. Which is, his access to the weapon. He was only 15. And while not a semiautomatic or anything, he still should not have had access to that gun. How did he get it? Was it a family member?
And so, those would be -- if you can figure those two pieces out, there's a bigger question about gun violence here, but if you could talk to the suspect, that's what I would be most interested in. This does appear, because it's a murder and attempted suicide, that there's probably not a co-conspirators or others that were involved with it, although others may have known of his interest in guns and/or violence.
TAPPER: And James, who would you speak to next? Authorities mentioned that they are talking to the shooter's mother and girlfriend.
JAMES GAGLIANO, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, authorities have already used a blend of old school law enforcement tactics, meaning, going out and speaking to witnesses, as well as surveillance video. They received some CCTV video and that led them to who the suspect was. Ultimately, somebody was transported with the victims, with his victims, to the hospital.
Jake, number one for me, and I understand that he's in a bad way right now, the subject, and they're not able to speak to them just yet. Were there any other accomplices? And to Juliette's point, not just someone who provided material support or provided a 16-year-old with a weapon that he wasn't allowed to own.
And then number two, did anybody inspire or direct this individual to do that? Look, there's a whole host of mental health issues I'm sure that will be explored. We'll know more as we go forward. Number one thing here to leave with the viewer, Jake, is this. In these situations, have to remember situational awareness. We simply cannot walk around a condition white anymore. You've got to be attuned to your surroundings, run, hide, fight, and tell in that order is what we've got let people know, especially in schools.
TAPPER: Juliette --
KAYYEM: Can I just say?
TAPPER: Yes, go ahead.
KAYYEM: Yes, I want to pick up on James's point. Because this is obviously such a challenge. There are so many different kinds of mass shootings now. But this just raises two sort of new data points that the audience should know. I mean, the first is just the familiarity that the suspect has with where they're shooting. So you know, we sometimes think of Newtown or Sandy Hook, you know, that the guy just walks in and starts shooting. These are students or employees, as we saw in Virginia Beach, who know the area, so that they have as much knowledge of the security planning as the students that we've trained. So that's the first thing.
The second, as we have learned from the press conference, two minutes. That's all it took for police to get there and you still have two dead. Several more injured, some severely, and an attempted suicide. So, while we put a lot of emphasis on first responders and that's fantastic, look, nothing -- two minutes is a fantastic response time, and still we're having these killings.
TAPPER: Tragic. Juliette and James, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Turning to our other top stories, the impeachment hearings. How the White House is preparing for the next witness. Stay with us.
[15:55:00]
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TAPPER: Now President Trump has to answer questions about two phone calls. "THE LEAD" starts right now. A new round of impeachment hearings just hours away after a top diplomat lays out new possible proof that President Trump cared more about getting to Joe Biden than helping Ukraine.
Better late than never. Just as you thought the field was shrinking, a new 2020 contender throws his hat into the ring. Deval Patrick joins us live this hour and I'll ask why he thinks the race needs him now.
And breaking news -- yet another tragic school shooting, two kids killed at school. The latest on the victims and the stories of terror and confusion from classmates.
[16:00:00]
