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Ryan Reportedly Considering Speaker Run; Biden Reps Met with DNC This Week; Bill Cosby to Testify. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 09, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:29:51] KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And police say that the people who were fighting Stone likely had no idea who he was but they probably, Ana, know now -- Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Kyung Lah -- thank you.

Good Friday morning. Thank you for staying with me. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Carol Costello. Again, thanks for being here.

Back to the Hill now where that battle for House Speaker is heating up this morning. Dana Bash is standing by with another congressman following those internal meetings that they've been having behind closed doors this morning.

You have Charlie Dent there -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Thanks -- Ana. Congressman Dent is just coming out of this meeting that we've been talking about all morning with all House Republicans, trying to find their way. What's going to happen next? Who is going to be the House Speaker and will it be Paul Ryan.

So that's my first question to you. You have spoken to Paul Ryan. What has he said to you?

REP. CHARLIE DENT (R), PENNSYLVANIA: I don't like to share what I said to Paul Ryan. I certainly think he can help bridge the gap, bring people together. He's a smart guy and I'm sure he's thinking about it.

But at the end of the day, it's not about who we put in that job but how we change the underlying political dynamic that got us into this situation. I think everybody understands that that if we don't change the political dynamic then, you know, the next speaker will suffer the same fate as John Boehner did.

And John Boehner needs to -- I should say -- back up. We must assemble bipartisan coalitions to pass any meaningful legislation whether it's a CR, Hurricane Sandy, Violence against Women Act, debt limit, fiscal cliff -- that's been the -- that's the way this place has been operating. We have to accept that reality and move forward.

The new speaker if he does just what I said, he'll likely have to deal with a lot of flak from the flank. And if he chooses to -- or she, they choose to go in another direction, that other direction, you know, being the status quo, then they would look weak and feckless and ineffective.

BASH: But you know, part of the problem with John Boehner -- part of the problem John Boehner had, I should say, is the minute he even signaled that he was doing anything that looked bipartisan, the 40 or 50 or conservatives who thought that that was, you know, the worst thing in the world they would revolt?

DENT: That's right. And so what I've said all along is simply marginalize those members up front. Go out and negotiate your -- negotiate what you have to negotiate just like we did on the Medicare reimbursement to physicians, the SGR. Do it, pass the bill. We did and we did it overwhelmingly -- bipartisan. It was a good thing. And I thought that made -- it was good for the country. It was good for congress. It was the right thing to do.

BASH: But they already feel marginalized. They feel that they don't have a seat at the table. That leadership -- John Boehner, even Kevin McCarthy, they don't listen and they don't do what needs to be done to fight the Obama agenda, even though Republicans are in full control of Congress. How do you change their perception?

DENT: Well, that's just ridiculous. I mean I think the leader -- I think in many cases, the leadership has bent over backwards to accommodate, to appease a number of members and only to then have those same members vote against the final bill. We just saw it on the issue of the, you know, the CR, using Planned Parenthood as a pretext to shut down the government.

Several members were given bills on Planned Parenthood ostensibly so that they could then vote on the Conditioning Resolution. Well, three of the members who got their bills, then voted against the Continuing Resolution. I mean that's really not acting in the best of faith, in my view.

BASH: Let's go back to the issue at hand which is that there's no speaker right now or no nominee or no one in the wings except the idea of Paul Ryan. Can you explain why everybody is so hot on the idea of Paul Ryan? Why he can be the unity candidate for speaker?

DENT: You know, there's a lot of soul-searching going on. There's a big group therapy session in there right now. And as expected nothing productive occurred. But the -- well, I think many members have a lot of respect for Paul Ryan. And I think that he could, you know, secure 218 votes on the floor. And I agree with that absolutely, he could easily get 218 Republican votes on the floor, maybe the whole conference.

But that's not the issue. The issue is how do we change the political dynamic? That is the challenge that all of us are facing. How do we move bills? How do we get back the functionality, doing the most basic things that we're expected to do, keep the government functioning, make sure we don't default. We're going to have to deal with hurricane relief I'm sure to South Carolina. We're going to have to deal with --

BASH: Do you think Paul Ryan is able to do that -- would be able to do that?

DENT: I think he's very capable of doing it but I'm sure that the same thing that happened to John Boehner and Kevin McCarthy would happen to Paul Ryan. You know what happens. They get called capitulators, surrenderers. And they're all principled conservatives, the three I just mentioned -- Boehner, McCarthy and Ryan. But they all understand that they have a responsibility to lead in government. And that means they have to deal with a senate where there are not 60 Republican votes and a Democratic president who has different ideas.

And John Boehner understood that. And every time he tried to do something, you know, many of his -- several of his own members then would try to take his legs out from under him. And that's what we're dealing with and that would happen to the next speaker as well.

[10:35:00] BASH: Understand that it's about more than an individual, but since we're all focused on who that individual will be, if you were to bet right now -- do you think Paul Ryan will end up accepting it?

DENT: I can't look into Paul Ryan's mind. I'm sure he's thinking very hard about this. I know he's thinking very hard about this. He understands just what I said to you a few moments ago. He understands all these dynamics and he has to talk to his family about it.

So I'm going to respect whatever he decides.

BASH: Congressman -- thank you.

DENT: Thank you.

BASH: Thank you for stopping. Appreciate it.

Ana -- back to you.

CABRERA: All right. Dana -- thanks for getting all this information. We're learning as you're learning and really as things are happening. We appreciate it.

Still to come, Joe Biden meeting with the Democratic Party. Could he take away a key Hillary Clinton voting bloc should he enter the White House race?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:05] CABRERA: Joe Biden reportedly huddling with his family this weekend to discuss a potential 2016 candidacy. And now CNN has learned that some of his representatives met with officials from the Democratic National Committee this week. On the agenda, campaign deadlines.

A Democratic official tells CNN this was just part of an ongoing effort to get the details on ballot access to different states. Now, should Biden decide to enter the race, but they say he still has not made his decision. If he does enter the race, some say his candidacy could be billed

as a third term of President Obama. Could that be considered a good thing for him? Would Biden be able to count on that strong wave of minority support that the President rode into the White House? Especially with his rival is Hillary Clinton.

Here to discuss, Sabrina Schaeffer, the executive director of the Independent Women's Forum; and Bakari Sellers, CNN contributor and a former member of the South Carolina state legislature.

Bakari -- I want to start with you. You made some comments in the "New York Times" saying Biden's play for African-Americans could be tricky if he enters the race because of the issue of mass incarceration which is, of course, part of the discussion this election cycle. You question his record on this issue -- explain.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, I think voters all understand and I think Joe Biden's biggest issue of getting in the race is that Joe Biden is not Barack Obama. And mass incarceration is something that's being talked about throughout the African-American community, not just in South Carolina, but in voting blocs around the country.

Just today Hillary Clinton is in Washington, D.C. meeting with Black Lives Matter movement and activists including D Ray and others and she's taken this issue seriously from her speech in New York, at the Dinkins Institute throughout the campaign trail.

And there are a lot of questions surrounding Joe Biden and where he stands on mass incarceration. And I'm not saying that Joe Biden can't give the answers but we're just waiting on him to give the answers and put forth the comprehensive criminal justice plan.

The fact of the matter is when Joe Biden was a United States senator he put forth a plan at the time that was signed into law by President Clinton and even voted for by Bernie Sanders, which has a lot of African-Americans -- especially African-American males in prison still today for lesser offenses. And that's a problem and Joe Biden, I believe understands that's a problem but it's one he has to tackle if he's going to run for president of the United States.

CABRERA: No doubt the minority vote is going to be important for any Democrat. At least we've seen that in the past.

Sabrina, it did seem like this week Biden perhaps was making a play for the Latino voter as well. Listen to what he told a group at an even for Florida's secretary of state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I could see sadness in everybody's face. People walked in, literally, down, because of the beating, the beating Hispanics are taking at the hands of the Republican caucus -- I mean Republican presidential race. People are depressed.

And the message I have for you guys is, these guys don't remotely speak for America. The American people are so much better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Now, obviously, he's taking aim there at Republicans saying, Americans are better than that. Does he sound like a candidate to you?

SABRINA SCHAEFFER, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Well, I mean he definitely always sounds like a candidate. And I think Joe Biden is someone who's always thinking about the next step. But look, I think one of the issues here is that it's not simply about Latino voters or African-American voters. This is really going to come down to women voters of color. They are the critical voting bloc here.

SELLERS: Exactly.

SCHAEFFER: We've seen this now in 2008, 2012, 2013 and '14. These are the voters that both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are going to have to go after. And the reason I think that Hillary Clinton may have an advantage is that she really kicked off her campaign focus on women.

And from sort of anecdotal conversations I've had with African- American voters, the issue that they care about are ones that are going to help support the family, support economic upward mobility. I think that there's a challenge here for both of these candidates to make sure that they don't sound like they're just engaged in political theater or political fluff but that they're really tackling issues from education to the war on drugs to mass incarceration that are going to affect these families. And that's where I think Hillary does have the upper hand.

CABRERA: And very quickly we only have a few seconds here but I want to get your reaction from both of you. In your, opinion, who is the candidate who is going to best resonate with the minority voter -- Bakari?

SELLERS: Well, I think that Hillary Clinton has done yeoman's work in putting in the infrastructure. After Iowa and New Hampshire we do know that that the primary gets a lot browner and more reflective of the Democratic Party. But Hillary Clinton has done yeoman's work and I'm a Hillary supporter and I appreciate what she's done so far on issues that affect minority voters.

CABRERA: Sabrina.

SCHAEFFER: I think that this is an opportunity for Republicans to actually get out there and talk about educational freedom, talk about the family, talk about reforming healthy so people own and control those health care dollars, talk about reforming social security so it's not a regressive system that discriminates against two parents -- two working parent families. There's a lot of ways that the GOP can make inroads here if they're willing to give it a try.

[10:45:06] CABRERA: Who's your person now, do you have somebody? SCHAEFFER: Well, I don't know if I have somebody. I admire

what's happening with Carly Fiorina. But there's some good talent out there. We'll have to watch and see.

CABRERA: All right. We'll watch. Sabrina Schaeffer, Bakari Sellers -- thank you both for being here.

SCHAEFFER: Thanks.

SELLERS: Thank you -- Ana.

CABRERA: Don't forget about that first Democratic presidential debate. It is this Tuesday, October 13th, only on CNN.

Still to come: Bill Cosby testifying under oath for the first time in a decade. What will he say and will we ever know? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:05] CABRERA: Today Bill Cosby will testify under oath answering questions about one of his alleged sexual assault. More than 50 women have publicly accused the comedian of drugging and were sexually assaulted decades ago. But today Cosby will answer to Judy Huth. High profile civil rights lawyer Gloria Allred: Huth says Cosby sexually assaulted her at the Playboy mansion back in 1974. She was just 15 years old at the time which allows her to bring the case forward now.

To discuss what we can expect during this deposition today and moving forward is CNN commentator and legal analyst Mel Robbins. Mel -- thanks for being here.

Cosby's testimony we know will be done in private, not in an open court. The records from it will be immediately sealed for at least the next couple of months while the judge takes a look at what can maybe be put out there. Since we can't be there, walk us through what this deposition will be like.

MEL ROBBINS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, good morning.

You know, just for those of you that have never been deposed before, this isn't a courtroom. Probably 30 miles from where I'm sitting right now in California in a conference room, Bill Cosby is sitting with an army of attorneys and Gloria Allred is there with her client.

Gloria has got seven hours to ask him questions. And she's got a wide range of latitude. She can ask anything that's relevant or that reasonably might lead to admissible information. We know exactly what she's going to go to after. I know Gloria very well from CNN. I've also interviewed Bill Cosby about years ago, about five years ago, Ana, for his book release. I spent an hour and a half with him.

I can tell you exactly what to expect. Gloria is going to go for the jugular. She's going to ask lots of questions about all the other victims because she wants to establish a pattern and practice which would be admissible in her case.

Now what's going to happen on Bill Cosby's side? His lawyers are going to go bananas. They're going to be objecting. They're going to be instructing Bill Cosby not to answer. Bill Cosby might even take the Fifth. I think what we're going to see out of this, Ana, because of the huge stakes here is we're going to see this actually go to a hearing because I doubt she's going to get much from him at all, just objections from his attorney.

CABRERA: And there is no DNA evidence. I mean this happened 40 years ago. There's no physical evidence that they can rely on in this case so it really is up to Gloria Allred and her tactics to try to pull out the information that might show his guilt.

If you were in Allred's position, what would your plan be? What would you ask?

ROBBINS: Well, I would do exactly what she's probably going to do. I would probably start off for the first hour and just ask a lot of foundational questions about the specific act with my client to get the pacing right. And then I would just start lifting off all the victims. I would pull out the 2006 deposition that was leaked to the press where Bill Cosby actually admits under oath that he did obtain Quaaludes for the purpose of giving them to women that he wanted to have sex with. And I would agitate him.

And why would you do that? Because I want a judge to instruct him to answer -- and that's only going to happen if his attorneys stop me, if they object, if they tell him not to answer. There's not a judge in the room, Ana, but you would then go to a hearing and fight before a judge to have a court compel him to answer these questions.

CABRERA: All right. Mel Robbins, it will be interesting to see what happens moving forward because we know December 20-something is when the judge is supposed to make some kind of a decision on whether these documents and the deposition remain sealed or not. And we'll have to just wait and see.

Thanks again -- Mel.

Still to come, the little known group that can now call themselves Nobel peace prize winners.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:58:22] CABRERA: Checking top stories now. Celebrations in the streets of Tunisia following the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize. A group of civil society organization known as the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet beat out the Pope, John Kerry, Chancellor Angela Merkel for this award. The quartet came together following the Arab Spring in Tunisia and the Nobel committee says this group was essential in paving the country's path to democracy.

The family of Walter Scott, the man gunned down by a South Carolina police officer has now reached a $6.5 million settlement with city officials. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't put a value on someone's life. And it can't bring my brother back. But it can help to take care of his children, in the future, for maybe the rest of their life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Scott was fatally shot earlier this year after being pulled over for a broken tail light. The shooting was caught on camera and the officer who shot Scott is now awaiting trial for murder.

Three former crew members of El Faro, that ill-fated ship, say the 40-year-old cargo ship had structural damages before it set sail during Hurricane Joaquin. They say they saw with their own eyes, the rust, the holes in the deck. they say the ship had drainage issues. The company says the ship was well maintained and regularly inspected. All 33 people on board, including 28 Americans, are believed to have drowned.

That's going to do it for me today. Thank you for being here on this Friday and for putting up with me all week.

I'm Ana Cabrera.

[10:59:58] "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: A party in chaos: after the House majority leader abruptly dropped out of the race for Speaker, Republicans are now racing to find another candidate. They guy they want though --