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Fiorina Answers Question That Stumps Trump; Stocks Slide after Jobs Report; Migrant Survivor's Journey; Drone Crashes at U.S. Open, Teacher Arrested; Deflategate: NFL Appeals Tom Brady Suspension Ruling. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired September 04, 2015 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00] CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We also know that the Quds force is responsible for the deaths and wounding of American soldiers. We also know that the Quds force has been in Syria and a whole bunch of other countries in the Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So there - there you have it, Sabrina, Carly Fiorina had no problem answering the questions about the Quds.
SABRINA SCHAEFFER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Not at all. And one of the things I like most about Carly Fiorina is that, you know, she doesn't pretend that she has been working in foreign policy for the last three decade, but she's willing to do the heavy lifting. She is willing to do the homework. And all of this is so reminiscent in my mind of our experiences with Sarah Palin back in the last election cycle where people were very enthusiastic about her, the way they are about Donald Trump, and then we found out that, guess what, she wasn't actually going to do the heavy lifting. She wasn't going to spend the time doing her work. And Carly Fiorina has demonstrated that she is, not only on - at the first debate she's clearly demonstrated that. She's demonstrated again with Hugh Hewlett (ph). And I - and on a range of issues, from women in the workplace to foreign policy, she's willing to tackle them all and I think it's very important.
AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And if I could jump in here, Sabrina, what I think is really interesting about Carly Fiorina, and I didn't know this until today, but as CEO of Hewlett-Packard, she actually had a close working relationship with the CIA. In the wake of 9/11, the CIA needed a whole lot of servers and they contacted Carly Fiorina to get those from Hewlett-Packard. And as a result of that relationship, she worked in an advisory board with the CIA for a number of years. So this isn't only a matter of her studying up and being prepared for the questions. She's actually been immersed in this in a way that I don't think people know about.
COSTELLO: It's interesting because that debate - the next debate is coming up on September 16th. Carly Fiorina is likely to be a part of that debate on the same stage as Donald Trump. So will the debate mostly focus on those two, do you think, Sabrina?
SCHAEFFER: Well, I definitely think that this is an opportunity for Carly Fiorina. And, you know, it's something important to keep in mind is that when we - when it comes to foreign policy, Republicans no longer sort of own that issue the way they have in years past. In fact, Republicans and Democrats, according to Pew Research, are very much head to head on foreign policy. So the ability to get up there on the 16th and really define one's foreign policy and demonstrate to the public that you have a real grasp of these issues and a vision for what America's foreign policy's ought to look like in the next four years, that's very effective and that will be very important and that's something I think a lot of political commentators will be watching, as well as American voters.
COSTELLO: And I suspect, Sabrina - I suspect, Amanda, that Donald Trump will have more of a policy than, I'm - I'm going to hire a, you know, a General MacArthur type.
CARPENTER: Yes. I hope he learns from this experience, you can't just outsource your foreign policy to advisors. But on the Trump/Fiorina question that you raised, I think there's going to be a very interesting dynamic. If you remember in the first debate, she essentially rose to the top of the polls by attacking him from that early debate stage. This could be the first time they are on together. She's gone after him for the negative way that he talks about women. So we could have some really interesting exchanges coming up.
COSTELLO: I can't wait myself. I'm excited.
Amanda Carpenter, Sabrina Schaeffer, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.
SCHAEFFER: Thanks.
COSTELLO: Will Joe run? Vice President Biden says he would not hesitate to make a run for the Democratic nomination, but there is one holdup. Biden says it depends on whether his family is up to the grueling task so soon after the death of his son Beau. These were Biden's first public comments on the issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The factor is, can I do it? Can my family undertake what is an arduous commitment that we'd be proud to undertake under ordinary circumstances? But the honest to God answer is, I just don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Biden has run for president twice before, both times dropping out early.
All eyes on Wall Street this morning. The opening bell just rang moments ago. And right now it's not looking so great. The Dow is down, oh, just about 200 points. This comes on the heel of that new jobs report. The economy added 173,000 jobs in August and the unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent. That's the lowest rate in seven years. But these numbers could be pivotal in determining if the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. So, I suspect the people behind the numbers expect, Alison Kosik, that that - that Fed rate will go up soon.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
You know, you look at all the sell orders piling in and it's clear that Wall Street is not very happy about this report. Not because they necessarily think it's bad. It's because they think it's too good. Look beyond the fact that that 173,000 - 175,000 number actually missed expectation. What Wall Street is looking at is that unemployment number down to 5.1 percent. That's almost back to pre- recession levels.
And then they're looking at wages. When you look at these numbers in this employment report, you see that the wage pressure is building. And what that means is that wages are beginning to go up. And the way Wall Street sees it is that for the Fed wages, they've been flat in this country for a long time and that's been a thorn in the side of the Fed, one of the things holding it back from raising rates. Well now that it shows - this report at least shows that wages are under pressure, the Fed may be more inclined to go ahead and pull the trigger and raise rates in September.
[09:35:22] And there's a lot of skepticism here on Wall Street about whether or not that's a warranted move at this point because there are a lot of questions as to whether the U.S. has really turned the corner and is ready for that rate hike. No one really knows what's going to happen in the end right now, Carol. That meeting coming actually a week - or actually two weeks from now. We will know for sure what the Fed is going to do. Right now you're seeing the gamble - or Wall Street placing their bets on the fact that the Fed will go ahead and raise rates. But, you know, Wall Street could be wrong.
Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. So we'll take it with a grain of salt. Alison Kosik reporting live from the New York Stock Exchange. Thanks.
Coming up in the NEWSROOM, it's hard to imagine what this little migrant boy went through, but my next guest says it could have been him years ago. His story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:40:32] COSTELLO: His family wanted to start a new life to escape poverty and war. Instead, Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi tragically died. His body back exactly where he started; in Syria. Today, the toddler was laid to rest, along with his mother and his brother. All three drowned as they tried to cross the Mediterranean, Aylan's body washing ashore in Turkey. This heartbreaking and disturbing photo shining a spotlight on the severity of the crisis. The family's horrific story just one of many as the migrant crisis worsens.
For Dr. Vinh Chung, all of this hits close to home. He fled communist Vietnam with his family when he was just three and a half years old. After several weeks and a journey that included pirates, dehydration and little food, Chung and his family arrived in the United States with nothing except the clothes on their backs. Today he runs a private medical practice in Colorado with his wife. In addition to being a Fulbright scholar, he's also a father and the author of "Where the Wind Leads." Today, members of his family, by the way, hold 21 university degrees. He joins me now live from Colorado Springs.
Thank you so much for being here.
Dr. VINH CHUNG, FLED VIETNAM AS A CHILD: Thank you for having me, Carol.
COSTELLO: You just have such an incredible story. But I do want to get your thoughts on the picture of that little boy washing ashore in Turkey. When you saw that picture, what went through your mind?
CHUNG: Yes, the - the body of the lifeless toddler, face down, washed up on the beaches, really chilling to me because that could have been me. His family fled out of desperation and they took to the sea. And in 1979, my family fled communist Vietnam. I was only three years old. And we were packed in a little fishing boat, our family of 10, with 83 other refugees. We had no food, no water and we were drifting aimlessly in the South China Sea. We were dehydrated and we were dying. But my family had a different outcome because a mercy ship of World Vision (ph) found us and rescued us and we were eventually relocated to the United States.
COSTELLO: Was it just luck that you guys ended up in the United States?
CHUNG: It was really a compassionate response of this amazing country. And I believe that Americans are a generous and compassionate people. And I believe that we're also action oriented because when we see a human crisis, we want to do something about it. And if you look at my story, you'll see that it's really the individual acts of courage and generosity that's made all the difference.
I mean sometimes when we look at these problems and we look at it only as a political or legal problem, it may seem so large and overwhelming that we don't know what to do. But in my story, you'll see that individuals can make a big difference because, today, in refugee camps, there are organizations like World Vision that are rescuing families, just like mine, just like those that you see on TV. And beyond that, it was a small church in Fort Smith, Arkansas, that opened up their hearts and sponsored my family. And then all along the way from my journey from a refugee to an American today, there were strangers who gave my family money, food and water. And it's really their acts that prevented my story from ending anonymously in the South China Sea at the age of three.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, you talk about generosity and then you take a look at what's happening in Budapest, Hungary, where authorities are rounding up these migrants, coming in from Syria and Iraq and putting them - putting them in these fenced in areas and telling them essentially to either stay there and slowly starve, because they're not getting much food or water, or go back to those war torn countries they're trying so desperately to escape. So just your thoughts on how the Hungarians are treating these migrants? CHUNG: It's eerie because my family, when we landed on the beaches of
Malaysia in 1979, we were essentially imprisoned on that beach and forced to march on the scalding sand. I was three and a half years old. My mother was pregnant and she suffered a miscarriage and almost died. And eventually we were towed out to see by the Malaysia authorities and left to die.
[09:44:57] And so it's eerie when we think about this as a political problem because, in fact, it's a human tragedy. And when we're able the look at refugees and see the face of a child, I think that's where we need to start to solve this issue.
COSTELLO: Dr. Vinh Chung, thank you so much for sharing your story with us this morning. I appreciate it.
CHUNG: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a dangerous interruption to a match at the U.S. Open. Who sent this drone crashing into the stands?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: So get a load of this. A New York City teacher is charged with crashing a drone at the U.S. Open, the tennis tournament taking place in New York City. Daniel Verley was arrested for reckless endangerment and reckless operation of a drone.
[09:49:56] The drone was seen floating into the stadium from the east before slamming down in an unoccupied area of the stands. The match had to be briefly halted as the authorities investigated.
Jean Casarez is here with more. It's -- I mean, we're lucky there were no people sitting in the seats.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know it. Picture this, last night U.S. Open, Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York. The U.S. Open, right? It's going on and all of a sudden this drone hits in the southwest area of the stadium. Luckily, as you can see, where no one is sitting. We don't know the weight of that, but what if it hit somebody, right?
COSTELLO: Or the tennis players, right?
CASAREZ: So anyway, they had to stop the game. Now this game was between Flavia Pennetta of Italy and Monica Niculescu of Romania. Flavia Pennetta actually won the match. She said afterwards that she thought it was a bomb. She told the "Associated Press", "With everything going on in the world, I thought, OK, it's over. That's how things happen." Can you imagine?
So anyway, 1:00 this morning they actually arrested a New York City teacher. He's an employee of the New York City Department of Education, Daniel Verley. 26 years old. They have charged him with reckless endangerment and then some local law ordinances, reckless operation of a drone.
COSTELLO: I didn't know there was such a charge.
CASAREZ: I didn't either. Keeping up with technology, right? And reckless operation of a drone outside of a New York City park, where you can actually use them and in an undesignated area. So he is out now pending his first court appearance.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Jean Casarez, many thanks. I appreciate.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Tom Brady is a four-time Super Bowl champion, but his biggest win may be the one he scored in court over the NFL. So what's next?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:56:24] COSTELLO: The NFL firing back this morning. League officials say they plan to appeal a judge's decision which nullifies Tom Brady's four-game Deflategate suspension. Despite the potential appeal, Brady will suit up for the New England Patriots' opener next week.
But someone will be noticeably absent, and that would be the commissioner, Roger Goodell. He often attends big games and the season's first game featuring the reigning champ would typically qualify.
CNN's Rachel Nichols joins us now with the latest in this ongoing saga. So is it a snub by the commissioner?
RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Look, this is the first time, Carol, in the near decade that Roger Goodell has been commissioner that he won't attend the NFL season opener. His office said that it was because he didn't want to be a distraction. I don't know. I think maybe all the Patriots' fans that are going to be there maybe had something to do with it as well. We are not exactly sure, but the visual is pretty amazing.
Look, this is the season opener of the NFL. It's also where the Super Bowl champions are going to raise their banner. Now before yesterday, their quarterback, their star, Tom Brady, wasn't even going to be allowed in the building for that. His suspension meant he couldn't be on the grounds of the stadium. Now he's going to be there cheering along with the crowd and it's Roger Goodell who won't be in the building.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Very, very interesting. Something else interesting, I understand you have a special coming up this weekend?
NICHOLS: Absolutely. I'm co-hosting with Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, can't get any bigger than that, so that's going to be fun. We have some big interviews, too, including with quarterback Peyton manning. Now Manning's name actually came up in all this Deflategate mess as well. This was because Tom Brady's e-mails were vetted in the investigation, and in one e-mail he's actually trash talking to his father about how he's going to outlast Peyton Manning in his career. Manning's longevity has been such a big topic, Carol. He's 39 years old. So when I interviewed him, I asked him how much longer he's going to play because some people think he should hang it up after this season. Look what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLS: How much longer do you see yourself playing?
PEYTON MANNING, DENVER BRONCOS QUARTERBACK: Yeah, it's hard to say. You know, I don't have -- I'm not able to predict the future. I'm looking forward to playing this season and then, you know, like always, I think you have to kind of assess things at the end of the season, but I certainly hope to be playing next year as well. I still enjoy competing, and I think as long as you can compete, you can help a team. I think everybody wants to keep doing it. If you can do it into your 40s, you know, all the better. But right now I feel good, and I want to keep playing as long as I do feel good and as long as I can still help a team.
NICHOLS: And you know, of course, that an e-mail was recently made public in which Tom Brady told his dad he'd ultimately win that friendly rivalry between you two because he's going to outlast you by five our six years. What was your reaction when you heard that?
MANNING: Tom sent me a text, he apologized that my name was brought up into this. It was no harm, no foul. It was an unnecessary apology. Tom and I have had a good friendship throughout our careers and we'll continue to have a good friendship long after we play. So I really didn't give it a whole lot of attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NICHOLS: Now, after all this happened, Peyton said that he didn't even really consider that trash talk from Tom Brady. I asked Peyton what his own trash talk game was like. He said somewhere between poor and very poor. So he's not much of a trash talker either.
COSTELLO: He's such a charming guy, isn't he?
NICHOLS: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: He's awesome. Rachel, thanks so much. I appreciate it, as always.
And as we get ready for the regular season, tune into CNN's "PRO FOOTBALL PREVIEW" with Rachel. She'll be joined, as she said, by co- host Dan Marino and special guests like quarterback Peyton Manning and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.
