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GOP Meets for High Stakes Speaker Vote; Shooting Victim Upset by Ben Carson's Comments; Rupert Murdoch Tweet Direct Hit at President Obama?; Search for El Faro Survivors Called Off. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 08, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the same time I'm also really glad that people know that the teachers in this community are really invested in the community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: I love it.

CUOMO: And it worked. Four others now do the same thing.

COOPER: That's awesome.

CUOMO: More than 40 kids get walked home.

PEREIRA: I know a guy in L.A. that used to do this, too. Really amazing.

Hey, why don't you do the business here.

COOPER: That was so nice.

PEREIRA: OK.

CUOMO: Let's Cooper-esque.

COOPER: Hey, thanks very much for watching NEW DAY. Thanks very much for having me. I appreciate it.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

COOPER: The "NEWSROOM" with Ana Cabrera is in for Carol Costello -- Ana.

PEREIRA: There's a future in this for you, kid.

CUOMO: He is a legend.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you all.

Anderson, I hope you get a nap sometime today.

CUOMO: Send that of on me.

COOPER: Thanks so much. CABRERA: NEWSROOM starts now.

Hello on this Friday eve. Thanks for joining me. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Carol Costello. And we begin with a high stakes showdown for House Republicans.

Today on Capitol Hill party lawmakers will gather to push the person they want to replace John Boehner as speaker of House, the second in line to the presidency. Now Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader and Boehner's number two guy is widely viewed as the frontrunner. But his path to the top has hit a few hurdles. One of them from House Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz. Chaffetz saying party needs a fresh face, not a repeat of Boehner.

And now Florida Congressman Daniel Webster is in the mix. He has the support of the House Freedom Caucus, which is an influential group of conservatives. The caucus is believed to have up to 40 members, enough to block McCarthy from getting the speaker title when the full House votes in just a few weeks. Now one caucus member, Congressman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas underscoring just how critical this choice is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM HUELSKAMP (R), KANSAS: I think folks are starting to realize there's not two A-team for Mr. McCarthy or anybody else today. We have a long ways to go. Luckily we have three weeks to look at this. And this is a major decision. Whoever gets this spot is second in line to the president of the United States. It is not necessarily about campaign contribution and those kind of things. So we will take our time, we're not going to be rushed into it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju is joining me now from the hill.

And Manu, I know the speaker candidates just made their pitches to their fellow Republicans in private. What are you hearing about this upcoming vote?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it appears that Kevin McCarthy does have enough support in order to win that Republican nomination today. He needs 125 votes from the Republican conference members. What McCarthy officials say that he's probably in the 200 range which shows that he has a vast majority of support within the Republican conference. But, you know, as Tim Huelskamp noted in that sound bite was that you need 218 votes in order to become elected speaker. And that's going to be the big hurdle the for McCarthy to overcome.

Now the question for those House conservatives in the Freedom Caucus is whether or not they're going to continue to band together on the House floor and unite against McCarthy after today's vote. We are not certain exactly how they're going to play that. I spoke to Justin Amash, a congressman from Michigan, one of the leaders of the Freedom Caucus. And he said that the caucus does want to unite but they want future meetings with presumably McCarthy if he does win that nomination today, try to get more concessions from him before they agree to voting for him on the House floor. But it's clear they want to try to make him work for that support come October 29th or we way see something pretty unprecedented on the House floor, if there are many, many ballots.

Something we have not seen in years, probably since 1923 was the last time there were multiple ballots to name a speaker. We'll see how far it actually goes -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Manu Raju, you will stay on top of it. We appreciate it.

And CNN will continue to monitor this throughout the morning and the day. We'll bring you any updates right here on the NEWSROOM.

And turning now to the race for the White House. Minutes from now Jeb Bush is expected to speak in Des Moines, Iowa. He is also holding a meet-and-greet over pizza with voters there later in the day. But rival Ben Carson is the one making the big headlines this morning. He is facing backlash after doubling down on his controversial comments about last week's mass shooting in Oregon.

Carson ignited a firestorm after suggesting that the shooting victims should have rushed the gunman. Now one of those victims is speaking out, telling CNN this, quote, "I am fairly upset he said that, nobody could truly understand what actions they would take like that in a situation unless they lived it."

Let's bring in CNN's Athena Jones. She is live this morning from the campaign trail in Des Moines, Iowa.

Athena, how is Carson now responding to the criticism that's come out over these comments?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ana. Well, Carson isn't backing down. He says that the media has been trying to twist his words. And now he has a fellow rival for the GOP nomination coming to his defense. Donald Trump early yesterday in a tweet said that Carson was not criticizing the victims of the shooting. He said later in the day after his event in Waterloo, Iowa, that we covered, that Carson has been treated unfairly. So there you have Trump coming to his defense.

[09:05:08] But meanwhile this is an interesting turn. Carson has been advising folks to rush a gunman if they're ever in such a situation but he recounted a very different reaction when he was confronted by a gunman in Baltimore some time ago. Listen to what he said in an interview with Satellite Radio just yesterday. Go ahead and play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A guy comes in, puts the gun in my ribs. And I -- I just said, I believe that you want the guy behind the counter. He thought I was -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what you said in that calm way?

CARSON: In that calm way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In that calm way. OK.

CARSON: He said oh, OK.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And so you just -- I redirected him to --

CARSON: I redirected him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So a bit of a contradiction there in that interview with Sirius XM Radio -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. And how is this going to resonate with voters do you think?

JONES: Well, that is the big question. You know, a lot of voters you talk to, they say that the appeal of Ben Carson is that he's not a politician. He says what he thinks, he doesn't worry about political correctness. He said that a lot, he doesn't worry about political correctness. And so far some of his past controversial comments haven't hurt him in the polls.

Take, for instance, his more recent remarks about not wanting to see a Muslim in the White House. That hasn't hurt his poll numbers so the question now is whether these latest comments will hurt him or if voters, his supporters will continue to give him the benefit of the doubt. But we'll be closely watching those numbers -- Ana.

CABRERA: We will indeed. Athena Jones, thank you very much.

After the backlash, the backtracking, we're talking about another controversial comment. It all started when media mogul Rupert Murdoch sent out a tweet saying Ben Carson would be a real black president. In fact here is the tweet. Take a look. And I quote, "Ben and Candy Carson, terrific. What about a real black president who can properly address the racial divide and much else?"

Well, that tweet of course being seen as the direct hit at President Obama. And when a spokesman for 21st Century FOX was asked about it, what Murdoch meant, she simply said we don't comment on his tweets.

Well, a few minutes ago Murdoch apologized and sent out another tweet. Let's show that. He says, "Apologies. No offense meant. Personally find both men charming."

Let's talk more about this. Democratic strategist Keith Boykin and CNN political commentator and former political director for the Reagan White House, Jeffrey Lord, are joining me. He's also a Trump supporter.

Welcome Jeffrey. Welcome, Keith.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Ana.

KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.

CABRERA: Let's go to you first, Jeffrey. I want to get your take on that tweet by Murdoch. What do you think he meant?

You know, interestingly when President Obama was Senator Obama and was running in 2008, an African-American writer by the name of David Aronstein wrote a piece in the "Los Angeles Times" referring to Senator Obama as, quote-unquote, "the magic negro." And by that he meant someone like Sidney Poitier, he specifically referenced in other African-American actors, Will Smith, et cetera, who are not seen as, quote-unquote, his words, "threatening." And not, quote, "authentically black" like, say, Al Sharpton. Again, these were his suggestions.

So I don't really think that Mr. Murdoch has said anything new here that hasn't been said. You know, beyond that I really couldn't say here. I just think that this is sort of an old argument that's somehow popped up here with Mr. Murdoch but it's been said before and by an African-American.

CABRERA: Again, three words that could carry so much meaning to different people. Real black president.

LORD: Right.

CABRERA: Keith, you don't really think Murdoch is questioning Obama's race or identity, do you?

BOYKIN: I don't know what Rupert Murdoch is doing. I think there's a reflection of some sort of white privilege or billionaire entitlement that has forced him to make these comments on Twitter. But it's quite offensive. Here is a guy who's not black, he's not even American, telling African-Americans who we should support for our president.

Imagine if I were to make a comment and say that Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister of Australia, isn't a real white prime minister, I think people would be rightly offended by that. They would think that's a ridiculous comment. And the idea that this comment would be made by Rupert Murdoch at all is problematic regardless of the apology.

You know, I think I'm also tired of this conservative, sort of disingenuous concern about black people because the comment was framed by Rupert Murdoch in a sense that well, black people should be really upset because Obama hasn't done enough for them. But when was Rupert Murdoch ever really concerned about what Obama has done for black people or about what black people need in the first place?

If he were concerned he would probably listen to black people who would tell him that they support Obama far more than they support Ben Carson.

[09:10:04] CABRERA: I do want to talk about Carson's own comments, those comments he talked about in terms of what he could do in a situation with a gunman who opens fire, and now he seems to be doubling down on this controversial remark that he made. Part of his appeal as Athena mentioned is that he says what he thinks, but, Jeffrey, did he go too far this time? Or do you agree with Trump?

LORD: You know, I --

CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That he's just being criticized unfairly?

LORD: Yes, I do think he's being criticized unfairly. I don't think -- I mean, I've met Doctor Carson. He's a lovely human being. I don't think that he intended to say that the folks in that classroom should have done A, B or C. I think he was just saying in a general sense, you know, trying to make a suggestion as to what people should do in a future situation. I don't think by any stretch of the imagination was he intending to criticize the people the kids in that classroom, the people in that classroom. That just is not Ben Carson. I think it is unfair.

CABRERA: Keith, you know, Carson came out in the Sirius XM Radio interview and talked about having been confronted with a gun previously in which he didn't charge the gunman. And it was a different situation. It was more of a hold up. But one thing he said in that interview is he told the gunman, you don't want me, you want the guy across the counter.

BOYKIN: Yes --

CABRERA: What kind of an answer is that?

BOYKIN: Yes. That's a really macho move, I guess, to make, you know. But I don't know what Ben Carson was thinking when he made that comment about the people who were killed. I think that it's more important that Ben Carson is diverting attention away from the real issue, which is the issue of what we do about the problem of gun violence in this country. So he made the same mistake. His insensitive remarks were the same mistake that South Carolina lawmaker, a Republican lawmaker, made after the slaughter there at the Emmanuel Church there, when he commented that those people in the church should have fought back.

And I think this is the sort of tone deafness among Republicans who are so caught up in this imagery of machismo and gun rights that they forget that people are actually wanting policy solutions to the problems of gun violence in this country. So they think that they can just spout off Rambo lines and that's enough to satisfy the needs of the American people who are rightly concerned about the problems.

CABRERA: All right. Thanks for the thoughtful discussion, guys. Keith Boykin, Jeffrey Lord, good to have you.

LORD: OK. Thanks, Ana. CABRERA: A quick note for our viewers here. Make sure you stay with

CNN. Ben Carson will be on our air speaking with Wolf Blitzer, that's today at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

Still to come this morning, Syria says it is launching a major attack on ISIS now thanks to Russia for paving the way. But it all may not be as it seems. We go to the Pentagon for the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:56] ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

The situation in Syria is intensifying this morning. Forces loyal to a Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad are now launching a wide scale offensive. The country's top general telling Syrian TV that a week of Russian airstrikes have now cleared the way for the Syrian army to fight ISIS.

But take a look at this map. You can see Russian air strikes appear to be hitting primarily rebel-held territories which want Assad out of power, not necessarily ISIS strongholds.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is following the story.

And, Barbara, do we have any new details about Syrian's stepped up military action?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Ana. I mean, this is what the Syrians were saying, isn't it? They are claiming they now have this widespread ground offensive going after terrorist targets.

I think it is doubtful that the U.S. or NATO would agree with them on that. The view from the Pentagon is that the Syrians are very much going after forces that are opposed to their regime -- the very forces that could topple Bashar al Assad, the forces that the Russians are also attacking.

All of this really taking place, the overwhelming majority of the attacks taking place in western Syria, where there are no real ISIS strongholds. This is an area of civilians and people opposed to the Assad regime. So, it may be what the Syrian government, what the Syrian military is saying, a lot of skepticism here about the validity of those claims, Ana.

CABRERA: And you have also learned there was this incident between U.S. and Russian aircraft, American planes having to avoid an incident of sorts. What can you tell us about that?

STARR: Well, this is interesting. It took place a few days ago, two U.S. F16s flying over eastern Syria, good distance from the area we're talking about, were on a mission to strike an ISIS target when a Russian aircraft came within 20 nautical miles of them.

What has happened now is the U.S. has instituted rules that when a Russian aircraft comes within that 20-mile limit, the U.S. pilots need to divert, they need to move away. Why is that? Because officials tell us the U.S. military is very much taking responsibility for its own safety, for the safety of American pilots and American air crews flying over Syria.

It's not that they think the Russians are going to shoot them down, but the Russians very aggressive fliers. There is still no technical agreement about how the two militaries will keep themselves safe in the sky from any accidents with each other. So, until all of that happens, in order to stay safe, Pentagon officials say pilots will move away if the Russians come within that 20 mile limit -- Ana.

CABRERA: Very quickly, do we know when there is supposed to be a meeting between Russians and the U.S. to work out this agreement as far as the air space goes?

STARR: Yes, but -- that is everybody's question, absolutely. I mean, it could happen really at any time. They just have to work it out. The U.S. put -- there was a meeting last week, a first meeting. The U.S. put some proposals on the table.

[09:20:01] We are told the Russians put some proposals on the table. And now, they have to sit down again.

Again, a very technical military agreement, but it means everything because it is what is supposed to keep pilots of both sides safe up there.

CABRERA: Real important there. Barbara Starr, thanks for your reporting.

Now, let's check our top stories. Doctors Without Borders now revealing new details about the deadly U.S. airstrike on its hospital in Afghanistan.

CNN was at a press conference held in Kabul just hours ago and here is what we have learned -- 24 staff members remain missing along with nine patients. Charity officials, they still haven't been able to reach the bombed facility. And when they do, they still expect the death toll to rise. They also say staff reported no Taliban fighting around the hospital on the night of the attack.

President Obama has formally apologized for this strike but this group says it is not enough. It wants an international investigation.

An update now from the flooding Carolinas. The two people who drove around the barricade and went missing yesterday during this show in the flood waters, they have now been found dead. That raises the death toll from this week's historic to 19. Seventeen people died in South Carolina and two others in North Carolina.

Right now, there are more than 400,000 residents are under a boil water advisory. So, their misery isn't over yet.

Thirteen dams have failed. Another 62 are still being monitored and the damage estimates are climbing into the billions of dollars. This just into CNN, the hero from the Oregon shooting last week has

just been released from the hospital. This is army vet Chris Mintz. He was shot several times when he apparently charged the shooter. Nine people died in that rampage.

And still to come: the search for survivors now called off. Why President Obama says the U.S. government will still do everything it can to salvage the wreckage from El Faro, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:26:12] CABRERA: For the first time in nearly a week, the U.S. Coast Guard will not go out in search of survivors from cargo ship El Faro this morning. Rescue efforts were called off last night and all 33 members, including seven on board we're showing here are presumed drowned. For the families, it is just devastating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIIP)

CLAUDIA SHULTZ, WIFE OF EL FARO VICTIM: I just want him back. Even if it's just has body. I want him back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all do. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Tough to see that.

Alexandra Field is joining me now.

And, Alexandra, we're entering a new phase here of the investigation and a Navy salvage team has been called in, right?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. One week after the ship sank, this is no longer a rescue but the search is really important at this point. Now, there is a goal of actually finding the ship, because once you find the ship, searchers will have a better chance of finding the voyage data recorders and that could really hold a lot of the answers to why El Faro sank.

That data recorder would have started pinging once it hits the water. It's got a battery life about 30 days. That will give searchers some time to try and locate it. But some of the information contained in that unit will be various records from the bridge. Certainly that is something that the Coast Guard and the NTSB will want to hear what was going on aboard the bridge.

The data recorder would also have information about the ship's course and its speed, because the real question has been why was it heading into the track of this category 4 hurricane and why did it lose propulsion?

These are questions that President Obama says need to be answered for the families of the victims who were onboard the ship. He has issued a statement saying, "As Americans, our economic prosperity and quality of life depend upon men and women who serve aboard ship likes the El Faro. The investigation now under way will have the full support of the U.S. government because the grieving families of the El Faro deserve answers and because we have to do everything in our power to ensure the safety of our people, including those who work at sea."

This obviously hit very, very close to home to all the people who were involved in the rescue efforts, the Coast Guard came out yesterday saying that the rescue efforts would be suspended at sunset and really share the grief of the family of all of these mariners who were lost board. There were 33 people on board, 28 Americans, five Polish nationals. Their families now waiting for answers.

CABRERA: We talked earlier because the focus was really only on finding the survivors if they were out there. Now turning to the ship itself, do they have a good idea where that ship sank?

FIELD: There are two debris fields where they were focusing the search for survivors, and that is again where they will be looking for the ship itself. One of the debris field is really directly in the area where the ship was last known to have been. The other debris field, some 60 miles north of that. So, these are the two spots where they will actually begin to look for the ship, the data recorder and any other relevant evidence that could be helpful to the investigators.

CABRERA: All right. Alex Field, thank you very much.

(MUSIC)

CABRERA: Hello, again. I'm Ana Cabrera, in for Carol Costello. Thanks for joining me.

I want to take you back to Capitol Hill now and to CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju. He's caught up with one of the Republican lawmakers taking part in today's speaker nominee vote.

Manu, take it away.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Hi, Ana.

I'm with John Fleming here. Here's a congressman from Louisiana. He's a member of the House Freedom Caucus. That's that conservative group that has endorsed Daniel Webster who is trying to challenge Kevin McCarthy for that speaker's job.

Mr. Fleming you look at the vote. Kevin McCarthy has the votes today to become the Republican nominee for speaker. Assuming that this moves forward, on October 29th, will you continue to unite as a bloc and try to prevent Kevin McCarthy from getting 218 votes on the House floor?