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Carolinas to See Record Rainfall; Shooting Victims Identified; New Details in Oregon Shooting; Doctors Without Borders Hospital Hit by Afghan Airstrike; New Polls Show Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Leading; Cargo Ship Disappeared Near Bahamas; Shooting Witnesses Deluges with Media Requests; New Athletes Take on First Triathlon; Aired 1-2p ET

Aired October 03, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:01:19] SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and thanks for joining me. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Fredricka Whitfield.

Hurricane Joaquin is now back to a very dangerous category 4. It is drenching rains, they're already being felt on the East Coast.

Now here's what it looks like right now. This is Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Millions of people in the Carolinas expected to be affected. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory spoke to me just a moment ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PAT MCCRORY, NORTH CAROLINA: Sadly South Carolina, which we wouldn't have anticipated less than 48 hours ago, is going to get hit the hardest, due to this very stagnant storm, which is impacted by the hurricane going off the coast, which was very good news for North Carolina, especially in the outer banks area, closer to Virginia. But we're -- south of Wilmington is where we're having some flooding. We had an evacuation of a couple hundred people in the Calabash area, a well-known tourist fishing destination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: South Carolina, North Carolina, New Jersey, and Virginia have declared states of emergency. And more heavy flooding could hit states all the way up the East Coast.

Our CNN Nick Valencia., he is live in Charleston, South Carolina.

And Nick, we've been talking every hour here, and we have seen the rain just get heavier and heavier and the water is rising there. How are people coping? Are they staying off the streets? We saw some of those vehicles stuck.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, 1:00 p.m. Eastern is expected to be high tide. About 8 and a half feet of water. And that was supposed to happen just around now. We also have had the wind pick up in probably the last 15 to 20 minutes, but that hasn't stopped a group of kids from the College of Charleston for making it out here.

You look like you're really dressed for the rain here, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. My swimsuit and (INAUDIBLE).

VALENCIA: So what brought you guys out here? I mean, just curiosity, adventure?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just hanging out.

VALENCIA: Hanging out. What have you guys gone through? Have you guys gone through that section there? Have you seen anybody --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Took some selfies.

VALENCIA: That's it. What about you guys? Are you guys enjoying this? Are you taking any precautions at all? I mean, you said you're stocked up on a lot of bread.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We stocked up on a lot of bread, yes. We just pretty much made sure we had jugs of water and stuff, although I don't think we need it. We have plenty around here. But, yes, I mean, it's just -- just hanging out.

VALENCIA: And you, my man, you're from Florida, you said. So this is like nothing for you. Right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is nothing. Yes. We get this all the time.

VALENCIA: What's your impression of like -- you guys have made it a couple of blocks, so far, have been biking and walking, strangers that are now friends. But what's your impression so far?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, a lot of people freak out about kind of nothing. Like last year we had about an inch of snow and the city shut down. And now we have a little bit of water and the city is shutting down. So it's not a big deal to me.

VALENCIA: Well, we hope that the rest of Charleston and the rest of the state have as good of an attitude as you guys.

Thank you, guys, very much.

They're making light of the situation, they're having a lot of fun. We've seen a lot of local residents here in the area, Suzanne, do some of the same thing. Coming out here, some have brought their kayaks out here, others have brought their paddleboards. But the governor has warned that this is an historic rainfall, perhaps up to 20 inches of rain over the course of the next three days. So we will be keeping an eye on it. This is expected to last all weekend long -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. They're taking it in stride over there where you are, Nick. Thanks, appreciate that.

We are also monitoring another dangerous situation. However, this is tied to the Hurricane Joaquin. A cargo ship carrying 28 Americans and five Polish nationals, it is still missing. It disappeared near the hurricane, near the Bahamas on Thursday. Now the U.S. Coast Guard sent a cutter ship, a rescue helicopter, and a C-130 plane into the storm yesterday, but there was no sign of the large container ship.

We're going to get an update from the Coast Guard later in the hour. But I want to bring in our meteorologist, Alison Chinchar, who is at the CNN Weather Center.

[13:05:03] And Alison, I understand that you do have some news. That this could get close to a category 5, that that's what we're looking at now.

ALISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Yes, in fact, we're only two miles an hour away from a category 5. It has rapidly intensified this morning. Again, good news is, it's nowhere near making landfall for the United States. But take a look, again, just about 155 miles per hour, 157 is a category 5. So we're very, very close. It is, of course, possible it could still get up to that in the next couple of hours or so, but shortly after that, it is expected to rapidly de-intensify, as it continues out over into open waters, especially north of Bermuda.

Now if it does get to a category 5, it would be the first category 5 we've had since Felix back in 2007. So it's been some time, but we don't even need the hurricane that close to us to have impacts. That, along with the low temperature, are dropping tons of rain.

Take a look at this. North Myrtle Beach, 15 inches, so far. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, over 11 inches of rain. And again, we're only halfway through the day. Now here's part of the other problem. We've got the winds that are starting to push inland on Charleston. That combined with high tide, which is right about now, is pushing a lot of the rain into the Charleston Harbor.

Again, high tide, 104, right now, we'll go through another one overnight tonight, around 1:30 in the morning. So both of those waves of high tide are just going to continue to push even more water into an already inundated city. That's why we have the flood watches in effect through the weekend, because we still expect to have some more rain. Totals, again, in some spots, still expecting to pick up at least an additional 10 inches on top of what they've already had, Suzanne. So, again, not good news for a lot of folks in the Carolinas.

MALVEAUX: All right, Alison Chinchar, thank you so much for keeping us aware of that. We're going to get updates as we monitor that situation, getting worse and more dangerous now as moments go by.

I want to turn now to the tragic mass shooting in Oregon.

We have several new details about the investigation and the possible motive of the gunman. I want to bring in our team coverage on the ground in Roseburg. Our own Sara Sidner, she is at the Roseburg Public Safety Center, where we are expecting an update from police shortly. And also my colleague, Ashleigh Banfield, who is on the campus of Umpqua Community College.

And Ashleigh, we want to start off with you first because clearly the focus needs to be on the most important folks, I mean, in this story, and those really are the people who lost their lives, the victims. Those nine people who went to the campus that day, never suspected anything, and never came home. Well, what are we learning about those people?

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST, "LEGAL VIEW": Yes, in a place like this, too, Suzanne, I can't stress it enough. It's just so peaceful and serene and beautiful here. And to think that just .8 of a mile up this road, and this is still a crime scene even right here, that massacre played out. You know, to the end of what those nine suffered and then their surrounding community is suffering now, they have decided to close the campus to classes for all of next week.

It was just supposed to be until Monday, but now they've thought better of it and the campus will be shut down all next week, as this community remembers people like Lucas Eibel, who was just 18 years old. He'd been studying chemistry at UCC here and apparently, we're told, that he loved volunteering at animal shelters.

And we have other details, too, about Lucero Alcaraz, who was 19 years old. Apparently, she wanted to be a pediatric nurse. She had desires, maybe, even on being a doctor and she was in an honors program here at UCC. And she also was on a full scholarship before her life was cut short in such a horrible away.

Jason Dale Johnson was 34 years old. Said that he was proud to be a Christian and he had just recently enrolled in the school here at UCC.

Lawrence Levine was the teacher. And we all heard about how he was one of the first to be shot, execution style, at the head of that classroom. And he was here at UCC teaching that class to those students, the writing class. He was 67 years old, and from the pictures, you can tell, he clearly loved fly fishing.

Kim Saltmarsh Dietz was 59 years old. And she was the mom of a student who was also here. So mom and daughter were also here at UCC. That daughter of hers, though, was unharmed in this shooting.

Treven Anspach was the son of a local firefighter here in this community. His family said that he was always positive and that he looked for the best in life. A great loss there. And one of his friends was even on air with Anderson Cooper last night, saying, we love you, Treven. It was a very heartfelt and very sad moment.

Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18 years old. She had just started school, and at the same time she was working at a new job, so was working and, you know, studying at the same time.

[13:10:09] Her cousin wrote this about her on Facebook. "This isn't supposed to be how life works." And how true that is. Not just for her, but also for the others. Like Sarena Dawn Moore, who was 44 years old and a member of the Adventist Church. Her pastor once said, Sarena's last post on her Facebook, that she had expressed her desire to stand up for Jesus and for Christianity, and we all know now that this killer was questioning his victims about their religion before shooting those who said they were Christians. And I can't stress enough, we don't know yet if he also shot others

who said nothing or said that they were another religion. But we do know that he did shoot those who said they were Christians.

And Quinn Cooper was 18 years old. He was attending his fourth day of college. Fourth day into his college career. He and his brother, Cody, were said to be inseparable.

Those are some of the stories of those who lost their lives. And I'll tell you this, Suzanne, there was one very poignant story that was told to me by Shelby Wamboldt, who said that she was one of the students who was rushed off the campus and put on to one of the buses to go to the fairgrounds to safety. And one by one those buses arrived at the fairgrounds with students who survived, students who've made it off campus, and family members and friends rushed to that fairground and watched for each bus coming in, watched to see when their loved one was going to get off the bus, and Shelby told me of an absolutely harrowing moment. It will just make your -- you know, the hair stand on your arms when you hear what she said happened. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHELBY WAMBOLT, STUDENT, UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE: And he kind of made an announcement, started choking up, and he said, there's no more buses coming. There's no more. And it was just at that point, it was that concrete, like, shutting the door, pretty much, for, I think, everyone in -- every family member that was in there. And I mean, we were talking about it last night, I would say between 10 and 15 groups of families. And I know there were friends there, because we were there as support -- as friends and for his family and for people that knew him, so --

BANFIELD: How'd those families react to that announcement?

WAMBOLT: I think at that point, they were slowly adjusting to the fact that there was a possibility that he wasn't coming back, but I don't think -- I still don't think it had sunk in at that point to anyone.

BANFIELD: The other families, how were they reacting?

WAMBOLT: Some of the other families, I saw them break down. I saw a couple of people go to their knees. Honestly, we got out of there so quickly because I couldn't take it anymore and neither could my friend. It was just too painful. It was too painful. And it was just -- we kept saying, why? Why? Like it was so senseless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You just can't imagine what it's like to watch that last bus come in and have the authorities say there will be no more buses, meaning, your loved ones aren't coming back. That's the story from here right now. We're continuing to watch for further updates and announcements from the authorities, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: It's just such a horrific story. Ashleigh, thank you very much. Appreciate that. And so painful.

Sara, I want to bring you in because I know that you are doing some digging and you're looking about how these weapons were obtained, linked to this gunman. What do we know about what he went to the campus with?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know that he had six guns. Those were recovered from the campus. And then when police went to his apartment, we were there as the ATF and the FBI and the sheriff's department entered the apartment and started taking things out of that apartment. It turns out they have now said that there were seven more guns that were recovered from the apartment. All of them, so far, they're saying, were purchased legally.

We know some of those guns were purchased in California, where he lived with his family for a time. We're still kind of trying to search where he's getting the rest of the guns. But I have to tell you that what people are talking about here, they're really talking about, and this is the first time in covering one of these shootings that we've seen this across the board, talking about not going into all the details of the shooter. Not mentioning his name. Not concentrating on him and his life, but concentrating on the victims and the lives that were taken away.

And there are victims who are still in the hospitals, trying to recover from this shooting. Nine people injured. And I do want to show you some video that was just devastating to watch, really. We went out to the airstrip that is near here. A very small airport. The National Guard was called in by the governor, and he did that so that they could go on active duty, so that they could do a service for the families.

And that service was to bring the nine bodies home from Portland, where they took all the bodies so that they could make this a very quick scenario, they could do the autopsies and then bring them back to the families as soon as possible. The National Guard went up and they got them, put them in helicopters, Blackhawk helicopters, and brought the bodies back here, so that the families can move forward and start to plan for those funerals.

[13:15:08] And we watched as those helicopters landed, as they brought out gurney after gurney after gurney, and loaded each gurney, and then loaded all of the bodies into several different vans.

The funeral home workers, some of them were standing outside. You could see people hugging, you could see people talking, you could see people looking at one another in disbelief, because it really brought home the fact these nine people who were living good lives and enjoying themselves and going to school and trying to better themselves would never walk the face of this earth again.

And this is really the message that the families wanted people to know, is that they are in deep mourning, as this entire community is, and they want to be able to try and deal with this and this is the final good-bye that they are now preparing for. And we really saw that starkly as these helicopters brought the bodies in -- Suzanne. MALVEAUX: Sara, I think the focus is right. I think it's absolutely

right that you put it on the victims and their families. Thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The Pentagon is now investigating a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan to determine if it killed 19 people at a hospital. Doctors Without Borders says that the strike damaged a hospital they use in the city of Kunduz. The aid group saying 12 staff workers and seven patients, including three children, were killed and at least 37 others were injured. All the victims were Afghan nationals.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter released a statement just a short time ago saying, in part, quote, "While we are still trying to determine exactly what happened, I want to extend my thoughts and prayers to everyone affected. A full investigation into the tragic incident is underway in coordination with the Afghan government. At this difficult moment, we will continue to work with our Afghan partners to try and end the ongoing violence in and around Kunduz."

[13:20:16] I want to go to CNN's Sherisse Pham in London who was following the story for us.

And, Sherisse, what more can we learn about this bombing? What more do we know potentially about how this happened?

SHERISSE PHAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know a U.S. military official told CNN that an AC-130 gun ship was in the area, firing on Taliban positions to protect U.S. Special Operations Forces in the area. So we know that the Taliban was in this area of Afghanistan, in Kunduz.

On Monday, Afghan National Forces battling them, fighting them, trying to drive them out of the area, and U.S. and NATO advisers were on the ground and airstrikes were called in. So Medecins Sans Frontieres, Doctors Without Borders saying that the attack that happened early this morning was like an aerial bombardment. And Doctors Without Bordering saying that they were shocked by this attack because they had repeatedly told people the precise location of the hospital, to people in Kabul and in Washington, and that they had done so as recently as Tuesday.

So obviously as you reported earlier, Doctors Without Borders suffering a great loss. Nineteen people confirmed dead, all of them Afghan nationals, 12 of them Doctors Without Borders staffers -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: The U.S. commander in Afghanistan has issued an apology. What could be the repercussions, however, with Afghan officials? I mean, this is devastating.

PHAM: Unsure, at this moment. I mean, we should make a point that the U.S. general, John Campbell, the head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, called Afghan President Ghani, apologized for it, explained the incident, but this is according to Ghani's office. Washington is obviously saying something along the same lines, acknowledging that something happened, but not apologizing. So unclear at this moment of what the repercussions will be, but we'll be staying on top of it -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Yes, this is -- it's a tragedy. Thank you so much, Sherisse, appreciate that.

Coming up, CNN has decided not to report the name or show any photos of the gunman in this week's tragic campus massacre. But it is important to understand the warning signs that investigators are now seeing. We're going to speak with a psychologist about what makes a gunman carry out a mass shooting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:26:33] MELODY BOQUE, WITNESSED OREGON MASS SHOOTING: Just hearing somebody, when I was at a church last night, just pop a water container, and hearing that popping sound, just completely freaked me out. So, honestly, I don't know how this is going to go in the long run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That is just one example of a community visibly shaken by Thursday's mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.

Here with me in Atlanta, psychologist Erik Fisher, and joining us here. And we should mention that CNN is not reporting the gunman's name or showing any photos of him in part because he had written these blog posts, essentially saying that he had seen previous shooters who were, he felt, glorified, if you will. They got all this media attention and notoriety. He wanted the same. He aspired the same. And so it seems to prevent the copycats.

ERIK FISHER, LICENSED PSYCHOLOGIST: Right.

MALVEAUX: We're not going to do that.

FISHER: Well, this is exactly, this is something I've been talking about for a number of the last shootings that have occurred. And what I'm calling these is crimes for attention because in part, they are cries for attention. People who feel insignificant, unloved, rejected, abandoned often call on emotions like hatred, anger, and rage to hide their perceived weakness. So what we have to see here is the common thread across all these recent mass murders, as we've seen, has been hatred as an emotion that's been projected and raged toward the outside world for things that they felt out of control about, hopeless, and helpless internally.

And that goes beyond mental health. We have a serious issue in our culture about our understanding of emotions and how we teach our kids about emotion, as well as ourselves. And this issue is not getting any better.

MALVEAUX: Is it necessarily a mental illness when you talk about something like this? Or could this just be somebody who's reached a breaking point? Who is angry, who is hostile, who's been rejected, who can't deal with those emotions?

FISHER: Well, I think then we have to look at coping mechanisms, which are often influenced by mental illness. So yes, they may feel depressed, they may feel anxiety, they may feel a combination of those things. Might there be a threshold for reaching a mental diagnosis? Not necessarily, but are there trends in that direction? Absolutely.

What I see, too, is our fractured detachments in our generations. Social media is not helping us. Kids who are growing up on -- you know, to TVs and to the YouTube and all these things, they're not developing the depth of relationships that meets their needs for love, attachment, connection that builds a sense of loyalty and community. And that's where we have to look at our families and our communities and how we can build them. This doesn't happen overnight. But it has to happen within our immediate neighborhoods, as well as across our country.

MALVEAUX: So what could we do as a community? As a society? So put away the Facebook, the Twitter, and all that? I mean, limit those kinds of things? Have dinner together? I mean --

FISHER: Right, exactly. It's those family values things, but it's also not just that parents are there, it's the quality of parenting, not the quantity of parenting. It's the quality of time that teachers are spending with their students, not the quantity of time. It's that they have mentors. A lot of these young men that are having these things happen, we have to look at, what were their mentors or what were their connections to significant people in their lives? Because helping them feel loved is a key.

And in a world where we're propagating so much hate through our political world, our social media world, even where often we see in the media and the comments people make without thinking because of their anonymity, those comments are made out of cowardice. We have to see that we need to spread an environment of safety, security, and trust to build better communities.

MALVEAUX: There does seem to be a mean-spiritedness, I would say, in the campaign trail, and in our -- really in our society the way that we discuss things and relate to each other.

[13:30:08] Why do you think it's being expressed in mass shootings, either the revenge or frustration or the lack of love? Is that because they want to be infamous, because it's a big event that can be very, very bad, very hurtful?

FISHER: In part, yes.

MALVEAUX: Or is it because it's easy?

FISHER: Well, I think doing these things, when somebody has the ability to go out and kill nameless people in a mass setting like this, they have disconnected themselves from their connection to people. There is a distance. So they don't see people as people, they see them as objects. And to me it's, I feel miserable, and I want the world to know how bad I felt, and I do - if I go out, I want to be known, because at least I'll be known somehow.

And that has to do with the level of insignificance that so many people in our culture feel, that we can all make a difference. If everybody made a difference in one person's lives in our country, in a child's life, a young adult's life, rather than judging them and standing above them and saying what's wrong with them, they found what was right, we would change this, overnight, almost. But it needs time. I --

MALVEAUX: All right --

FISHER: OK. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Erik, thank you very much. We do have to go, but we will pick up this conversation again next week.

FISHER: Great, thank you.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks again.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Mortgage rates were mixed this week. Have a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: New polls from the Pew Research Center show Donald Trump hanging on to his lead. Trump has 25 percent of possible primary GOP voters. Ben Carson is the only other GOP candidate in double digits at 16 percent. Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina are at 8 percent. Jeb Bush, the one-time expected frontrunner, garnering only 4 percent.

[13:35:12] And today, Trump is campaigning in Franklin, Tennessee, about a half hour south of Nashville, and that's where we find our CNN political reporter, MJ Lee, who is there.

And of course, MJ, good to see you. Trump defying political gravity in these polls, despite, of course, a series of controversial statements. That's not unusual. What is he on tap for today in Tennessee?

MJ LEE, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Suzanne. I'm standing inside of what used to be a factory that's been turned into a shopping mall here in Franklin, Tennessee. The weather is not great outside, but I can tell you that there are a ton of people that are in line, waiting to come inside. Donald Trump will be here in just a couple of hours.

I spoke to the campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, a little while ago, to get a sense of what Trump will be talking about. He tells me that one thing we can expect Trump to speak about is his new tax plan. This is a tax plan that should be pretty well received by the audience here. It makes deep slashes to income rate taxes for most people. And he also gets to talk about the fact that he's getting rid of Wall Street loopholes that are popular among wealthy investors.

It's also worth mentioning, Suzanne, that this is the second time that Trump has been in the state of Tennessee in just over a month or so. Why is this an important state for someone like Donald Trump? Well, you know, that this is a state that will compete -- one of the many states actually that will compete in what we refer to as the super primary -- or super Tuesday, rather, in March.

And so this signals that Donald Trump is interested in going to the long haul, that he's not just interested in a couple of the early states that he wants to make sure that he's introducing himself to voters out here, so that when it comes to competing in a state like this in March, that he is ready.

MALVEAUX: All about that delegate count. Yes. And particularly interesting and important in the south. MJ, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

In the Democratic race, frontrunner Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead in the new Pew poll, since she's at 45 percent. The former secretary of state had a double-digit lead over Senator Bernie Sanders, who's the closest competitor. A big part of Clinton's strategy is when and how to use her husband, former president Bill Clinton, in the campaign.

It's a similar dilemma that she faced in her last run for president. And I asked her about that during the 2008 primary debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: In New Hampshire, you said you found your own voice, but increasingly, there are people who believe that it's your husband's voice that has become too loud. Congressman Clyburn earlier said today, I think he can afford to tone it down.

Is there a risk that he is overshadowing your message and your voice?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think that he is very much advocating on my behalf. And I appreciate that. He is a tremendous asset. And he feels very strongly about this country and what's at stake and what our future should be. And, you know, I believe that this campaign is not about our spouses, it is about us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Joining me now, Nomiki Konst, the Democratic strategist, and Gianno Caldwell, Republican strategist.

So, Nomiki, let's start off with you. Back then, I mean, Bill Clinton was pretty controversial. There was a time that he was angering folks in the south for some comments that some people felt were insensitive to Obama, her competitor. What do you make of Bill Clinton this go- around?

NOMIKI KONST, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think that, you know, the problem with Bill Clinton is that there's good things and there are bad things. He's an extraordinary explainer of issues. And that is the issue that Hillary is facing right now, is that people are being distracted by the e-mail controversy, and she's not -- she hasn't had the opportunity to really go in and explain her platform as much. So they are using him as the explainer-in-chief, the secretary of explaining, as Obama said, in 2012.

And also, he's a great fundraising tool for the campaign. Everywhere he goes, it could be a red state, it could be a blue state or a purple state, he raises money and he attracts crowds from the traditional Democratic donors. Now the problem is, he also is very defensive of Hillary. And that was a major problem in 2008, as we know, and I think that they're going to be treading very lightly around that and he's going to be talking more about the issues and less about his wife.

I think he has to be very careful. He's not acknowledging Obama, as we noticed in his last few speeches. He would reference the president, but he wouldn't actually say his name. I think they're being careful about her ties to the Obama administration. So, you know, he's an asset to the campaign, but he can also be dividing.

MALVEAUX: And Gianno, weigh in on this. I mean, how do they handle or manage the balancing act? Because Bill Clinton is somebody who -- nobody controls him.

GIANNO CALDWELL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes. Yes. You know what's particularly interesting especially in his speech last night is the fact that he mentioned a lot of things about himself, but didn't mention much about his wife, which I found to be particularly interesting. The thing about Hillary Clinton right now, she has not only a personality issue, which is one of the reasons why they're dispatching the former president to come and help her out there because he's a very likable guy. He knows how to talk to people, he's very engaging.

[13:40:10] Hillary Clinton, her campaign had to send out a press release saying that she was going to be more engaging with voters. She was going to -- you know, there were going to be more laughter and a number of PR instances where they were trying to play up her personality a little bit more. There's going to be issues, I think, moving forward with this campaign because Senator Sanders is raising a lot of money. I believe it was a $2 million gap from a guy who no one ever thought would be somebody on the screen next to Hillary Clinton and competing for president, because in 2008, she was the one that everyone thought would get it, when she decided to run again for a second term.

Everyone thought she was going to be the establishment candidate, and there was nothing else to be said about that issue. But I think with the President Clinton coming out now, I think it's going to help the Hillary campaign. And as Nomiki said in 2012, when President Obama called him explainer-in-chief, I think this will be helpful, but so long as he's actually talking about his wife's accomplishments, making sure that people see her in a different light, other than the e-mail scandal, which is very, very -- damaging to her credibility, because her campaign did make some dishonest statements about the e-mail scandal --

MALVEAUX: All right.

CALDWELL: -- and the Benghazi committee brought those things to the forefront.

MALVEAUX: OK. Gianno, we have to wrap it up there. You guys used up all of our time. Wish we could talk some more here.

Nomiki Konst, Gianno Caldwell, thank you so much for your perspectives.

CALDWELL: Thank you for having me.

MALVEAUX: We appreciate them.

The first Democratic presidential debate, of course, on Tuesday, October 13th, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:45:18] MALVEAUX: As the East Coast braces for flooding fueled by moisture from Hurricane Joaquin, the Coast Guard is searching for a cargo ship that vanished near Crooked Island in the Bahamas Thursday as Joaquin raged overhead. Twenty-eight Americans and five Polish nationals are onboard the El Faro. A Coast Guard cutter rescue helicopter and C-130 aircraft found no signs of the ship Friday.

Joining me on the phone, Captain Mark Fedor, chief of response for the 7th Coast Guard District.

The ship -- thank you for joining us. First of all, the ship had reported taking on water and losing propulsion earlier. What does that tell us about what we think has happened?

CAPT. MARK FEDOR, 7TH COAST GUARD DISTRICT: Well, the ship reported to be in distress at about 7:00 Thursday morning. And they had told us they were disabled, without propulsion. And they had taken some water inside the skin of the ship, and that caused them to list, basically lean over 15 degrees. So that's a very troubling situation, in any weather conditions. But when you're disabled like that, in the middle of a hurricane, they were essentially right near the eye of the hurricane, it's a very dangerous situation. And they were very vulnerable at that point.

MALVEAUX: And, Captain, why wouldn't they alter the route? I mean, was that possible, either, you know, ahead of the storm, ahead of the hurricane, or certainly during that moment, to try to change course?

FEDOR: We don't know. All we know is they left Jacksonville on Tuesday evening. And they were due to arrive in San Juan on Friday. And that was the route that they chose. MALVEAUX: And with Joaquin moving north, how long will it take for

conditions to improve? Long enough for a real thorough search?

FEDOR: Right. Well, yesterday, the hurricane didn't move much at all. And it was sitting over the last known position of the vessel. So we could not get our aircraft close enough to actually get on-scene at that last-known position. We pushed our aircraft down to 2,000 feet, pretty dangerous situation for them. They tried to get as close as they could. They were using a very sophisticated surface search radar, but they weren't able to get to that last-known position.

Today, however, we are. So conditions have improved slightly as the hurricane moves north. However, the conditions we're flying in are still 50-knot winds, thunderstorms, only about five nautical miles of visibility. So not very good conditions. But at least we're in that vicinity of the last-known position. And that's where we're concentrating our search efforts now.

MALVEAUX: That is some good news. Is there a window here that you've got to reach them before things look very, very bad?

FEDOR: Well, we're going to continue searching, as best we can, with all the assets we have available. We're using Coast Guard aircraft. There is a Navy P-8 that's involved and we've been working with the Air Force as well to include one of their aircrafts as well.

And another thing we're doing is using our own helicopters, Coast Guard helicopters, to scour the coastline of some of the islands in the Bahamas, to look for any debris, any signs of the vessel at all.

MALVEAUX: All right. Captain Mark Fedor, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

We're going to be right back.

FEDOR: You're welcome.

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[13:52:08] MALVEAUX: There has been some media backlash after the Oregon shooting. Partly because of how some reporters used social media to contact witnesses.

Lynn tweeting, "Placing a story about another human's emotional well- being and safety is scummy." And Dime tweets, "Your actions will be responsible for more shootings. Every time you over-cover news, more people will be encouraged to kill."

Host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" and our senior media correspondent Brian Stelter is here to talk about that.

And, Brian, I just found this very interesting here.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Me, too.

MALVEAUX: Because it really was kind of pulling back the curtain if you will and taking a look at how we do our business as journalists and the responsibilities, the dueling responsibilities we have to getting the truth, the information, and being sensitive and aware of people feelings and where they are at the moment in time of tragedy.

STELTER: Yes, I think you're right. I think there's more backlash we saw in recent days than we have been in the past, than when there have been these mass shootings or other crisis moments where journalists use Twitter and Facebook to contact eyewitnesses, to contact victims in some cases. And then the reason why there's more backlash is more and more people are on social media. More and more people are seeing it happen each and every time we have to be a force to cover these breaking news stories.

You consider Oregon and one reason why it was especially important for journalists to be using Twitter to contact eyewitnesses is because it happened far away from any major city. So it took time for journalists to get there on the ground. The eyewitnesses, people that were at the school were vital sources of information.

What we're seeing is something that the journalists have been done for decades. It's always an uncomfortable position. Sometimes you can feel like a vulture to be reaching out to someone at the worst moment of their lives. But that is what journalists have always done. It's part of the job unfortunately. What's different now is how visible, how public it is, how other people can see us, unfortunately, doing it in real time.

MALVEAUX: Yes. I mean, I remember as a local journalist myself, knocking on many doors after a tragedy, a shooting that happened in Washington. Somebody lost their loved one and that just how, you know, that pit in your stomach that you feel before you knock on somebody's door. And the sensitivity that you have to display. And --

STELTER: And sometimes it's about exactly how you say it and what you don't say. And you're describing a sensitivity that's involved, once in a while I think when we a journalist replying to victims online, it doesn't comes across very sensitively. It comes across with urgency and chaos. And that's something we have to watch for -- watch as we have to do this in these moments of crisis.

And I think the same is true when it comes to naming the gunman. We've heard a lot of conversation online about that.

MALVEAUX: Sure. Yes.

STELTER: And I'm noticing in mainstream media a change, a move away from focusing on the gunman. And we're not showing his face here on CNN, versus focusing on the victims and the heroes. That is also been partly propelled by social media, by these campaigns online that encourage people, encourage journalists to focus less on the gunman and not make him or her famous. Almost always him famous.

MALVEAUX: Yes.

STELTER: That's another example, I think, of a useful power of social media that we hear the audience and hear their point of view.

[13:55:02] MALVEAUX: I think that's right, Brian. I think that's right. And I think it's a good call.

STELTER: It's about proportion, really.

MALVEAUX: Yes. Well, Brian, thank you so much. Appreciate it .

STELTER: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," tomorrow 11:00 a.m. We'll be watching. Thank you.

The next hour of NEWSROOM begins after this short break.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Six participants came together in January to start their journey. They were new to the sports. And over the course of eight long months they learned to swim, bike and run. All in preparation for the Nautica Malibu Triathlon.

With their newfound skills and the voice of their coach, April Gellatly, cheering them on, they headed back home to train. In May they came together again in southern California for a week of hardcore training.

JULIA SMOOKLER, FIT NATION TRIATHLETE: Overall the experience has been amazing. You know, eating habits, we try to help each other out with that. Meal planning, be able to give each other the time. We really support each other.

LINDA GARRETT, FIT NATION TRIATHLETE: I tried running today. It is a setback. It's an ongoing setback. I'll finish the race. I'll finish the race.

ERICA MOORE, FIT NATION TRIATHLETE: I really got in the zone and I really feel like I awakened the triathlete within myself.

CHIP GREENIDGE, FIT NATION TRIATHLETE: I'm going to do it. That's what I put my mind to do, and anything I put my mind to do, I do.

I can't believe I'm doing this. FIT NATION CNN, go.

GUPTA: And now it's game time. The half-mile swim in the Pacific, 18 miles of biking on the Pacific Coast Highway, a four-mile run, and then the finish line in triumph.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was incredible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did it, I did it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can't wait to sign up for my next one, man. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a thrilling feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am so proud of my wife. Thanks CNN and Sanjay Gupta. You made it happen for us.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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