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Actor Pays it Forward; Democrats Gaining Ground; Alton Nolen to be Charged for Beheading His Coworker

Aired September 30, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is time now for the five things you need to know for your NEW DAY.

Number one, the armed man who breached security and broke into the White House made it all the way inside to the East Room. That is a lot farther than the Secret Service ever told us before.

Thousands of protesters stood their ground in Hong Kong despite government leaders saying they will not give into their demands. The city's chief executive urged protesters to clear the streets saying they pose a risk to public safety.

An unidentified patient who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus has been admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas. Test results from the CDC are expected back today.

In Virginia, the arrest of the man suspected of abducting Hannah Graham may have led to a break in the 2009 killing of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington. Virginia State Police say they found a forensic link between these two cases.

Afghanistan's new government signing a long, delayed security agreement with the United States at the U.S. embassy in Kabul. The pact allows about 10,000 U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan after this year.

We are always updating the five things you need to know, so go to newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: John Berman, our thanks to you.

If you are a "Breaking Bad" fan, RJ Mitte needs no introduction. He played Walter White Jr. on the series. And like his character, Mitte has cerebral palsy, a condition he's worked to manage with the help of Shriners Hospital. So now he's paying it forward and impacting your world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I'm going to be in the hospital for three days. So - RJ MITTE, ACTOR: Oh, yeah.

CUOMO (voice-over): It's been years since Shriners Hospital treated RJ Mitte for cerebral palsy, but he still drops in.

MITTE: They put me in the occupational therapy, speech therapy. Really, I owe Shriners so much. I wouldn't be able to do what I do today if they weren't there.

CUOMO: Now the actor is paying it forward.

MITTE: Well, I talk about setting an example because you are what's going to make a difference. The Walk for Love, it's a way to see that they are not alone and that they have a common goal, a stable future for our children and especially children with disabilities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Macy's (ph) first year as an (INAUDIBLE), so we wanted to get her involved as much as possible, as soon as possible, as young as possible.

CUOMO: For Mitte and other patients, Shriners was key to building more than just physical ability.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It wasn't just the care I received there, but the strength they installed in me, believing that I could conquer anything I wanted to do.

MITTE: There are so many times people will say, you can't do this. You'll never have a normal life. And that is a lie.

How are you doing today?

That's what truly matters when it comes to having a disability is not letting people define you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Don't let people define you.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: I'm impressed with him.

CUOMO: Right? So many great causes -

PEREIRA: Yes.

CUOMO: Don't get the attention. So when someone like RJ comes back and shows that, hey, they helped me, you should know about them and helps others, amazing.

PEREIRA: He's a fierce advocate.

All right, we've been talking about this grizzly attack. The man accused of beheading his colleague at his workplace, or former workplace. He's going to be facing charges today. He'll be formally charged. We're going to speak with a police spokesman about this really disturbing case. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: A brand new CNN/ORC poll might raise some eyebrows and some hopes among Democrats this morning. So with five weeks to the midterms, 47 percent of likely voters told us they support Democrats for Congress. That's a narrow advantage over Republicans. But that's a six-point swing in a month.

So what could be behind this shift and is this a key turning point in the battle for control of Congress? We're going to ask CN political commentator and Republican strategist Ana Navarro and CNN Political commentator and Democratic strategist Paul Begala. He's also a senior adviser to the super PAC, Priorities USA Action.

Paul, let me start with you. Are you ready five weeks out today to declare victory for the Democrats based on this poll? All of your problems are behind you. This is a turning point.

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh my gosh, I'm about 42 days and -

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Go ahead, Paul. Go ahead.

BEGALA: Probably 42 days and probably 42 beers away from doing something that stupid, John. No, it's within the margin of error. And this thing will go back and forth. It is, I suppose, a little bit of good news for the Democrat. They went from four down to two up.

What I found really interesting in this poll going into the guts of it, is this is likely voters, which is the sensible metric to look at. That's the proper thing to be focused on. But when you look at registered voters, a far larger pool, Democrats are leading by seven. What does that mean? That means my Democrats got to get more people who are registered but unlikely to vote out to the polls. This is all about motivating the Democratic base and Democrats have got to do that if they have any hope in this election.

BERMAN: Yes, an enthusiasm for this election is somewhere about three levels below the basement right now.

BEGALA: Right.

BERMAN: So that will be difficult, I think, for both parties, Paul.

Ana, let me ask you this. Now, let me tell you what you're going to say. You are going to say, this is a generic congressional ballot test. It does not tell us anything about control of the Senate. Let's stipulate that.

But let me show you a number that's interesting here. It's about independents. We talked about the swing toward Democrats. It's a bigger swing to independents where they now lead by two points. But is - you know, it's a big swing there with Democrats making up a big chunk and Republicans losing a big chunk. Why do you think independents may have been swayed over the last few weeks? NAVARRO: Well, first of all, you're right, you must have read the

notes because, yes, you know the -- here's the thing about this proverbial, generic candidate. You can't get "john generic" and "jane generic" on the ballot and you actually have to run on the political candidates that are on the ballot and all politics is local. October is a month for surprises. Anything can happen. It's too early, I think, to predict anything. And really we know what the bulk of the races, both for the House and the Senate, are going to look like.

There are maybe, in both houses, seven, eight, up to 10 in the house races that are a coin toss and could go either way. And that could depend on the weather, on turnout, on who the voters hate more that day, whether they hate Democrats in Congress more or they hate Republicans in Congress more. Whether they think Obama's more of a nincompoop or John Boehner is more of a nincompoop. So anything can happen. And October is a month which is known for political surprises. Watch for a lot of scandals for, you know, congressmen to get caught kissing an assistant or, you know, kicking a dog or not paying a tax or something in October because that's what the month is for. It's called October surprises. So let's wait for a few more weeks before we start talking about predictions.

BERMAN: Wow, watch for a month of scandals. And I do hope the "john generic" phrase was not a swipe at me there, Ana, but we'll - we'll move on.

Paul, there's a phrase that I like to use in politics that I don't know if you've heard. It's called "it's the economy stupid." And in this CNN/ORC poll, it is interesting because we asked voter what they care about. Do they care about the economy or the war against ISIS more. And the overwhelming majority said it is, in fact, the economy that is driving their vote for Congress this time. Is this surprising given that the last four weeks have been so dominated by news about foreign policy specifically in the battle against ISIS?

BEGALA: No, I think that's sensible. This is a congressional election. In the main, Congress doesn't run foreign policy. But I will -- let me first just divert to this ISIS, which was at zero a few month ago and now is at 29. And I do think the Republicans have hurt themselves here. I think the president has helped himself by -- he went from looking -- admitting he didn't have a plan. Now he looks strong and decisive and we're taking military action. I think the Republicans, in the eyes of those independents, where they've collapsed, they look like they're playing politics. I mean they should have just rallied around the president. The president's plan - Charles Krauthammer, the very conservative columnist, said he thought it was the only plan that could possibly work. And I think that would have been a better political position for the Republicans.

When you're seen this playing politics with national security, it cannot help. Then, of course, you do have the economy, where the big problem for the Democrats is median family income has not moved. And while it's true the economy is better, we're creating jobs, the stock market's up, gross domestic product is up, the median family income has not moved and that's probably the most important driver of political behavior. BERMAN: Yes, it's how things feel and things just don't feel good

enough right now to so many Americans.

Ana, I want to shift gears right now and talk about the last Republican nominee for president, Mitt Romney, because he keeps doing interview after interview after interview where he just doesn't seem able to rule out completely the possibility that he might run for president again. The latest was "The New York Times" magazine. He's not saying he's running. I mean I think most of us doubt that he will. But he refuses to give that blanket comprehensive statement where he says, I'm not running. What's going on here?

NAVARRO: Well, listen, speculation is good for everybody. I think he's said it pretty much in several ways that he's not running. And I give it to Mitt Romney because he has completely rehabbed himself. After the 2012 election, nobody wanted to hear about Mitt Romney. Now he is the most sought after Republican surrogate. Everybody he's endorsed and everybody he's supported has won their primary. He is in a wonderful spot right now where everybody loves him. He's sought after. Everybody wants his advice. Everybody wants his donor base. Everybody wants his contacts. And everything he warned about is turning out to be true. So this is the best place Mitt Romney has been in, in the last six years. I think he's going to stay there and I think he should bask in this glory. He deserves it. He's earned it. But I doubt that he'll be running.

BERMAN: He should retire now if he were not retired in fact already. Ana Navarro, great to have you with us.

NAVARRO: Oh, no, let him not - let him not retire. He can raise a lot of money still.

BERMAN: Paul Begala, Ana, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.

BEGALA: Thanks.

BERMAN: The suspect in that horrific Oklahoma workplace attack who was accused of beheading a co-worker will be formally charged. So, should this be considered terrorism? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Alton Nolen, he's accused of beheading a former coworker after repeatedly trying to get people to convert to Islam. Now, prosecutors are expecting to charge Nolen today.

Let's the latest on this case with Sergeant Jeremy Lewis of the Moore, Oklahoma, police department. Sergeant, thank you for joining us. The main question is, where is he right now? Why haven't there been any charges, and what do you expect them to be when they finally come down today?

SGT. JEREMY LEWIS, SPOKESMAN, MOORE, OK POLICE DEPARTMENT: Right now, he's currently at OU Medical Center, still in the hospital. As soon as he is released from the hospital, we will transport him to the Cleveland County detention center. At that time he'll be booked in under murder in the first degree. We

presented charges to the district attorney yesterday. We had a meeting with him. He should be also holding a meeting today with the media to let them know what charges he's actually going to file.

CUOMO: To be very clear, the delay in charging this man and arraigning him is about his medical issues, not about doubt about the case, is it?

LEWIS: Correct. Obviously, he's confined to the hospital. We have officers there. I mean, he's not free to leave, but once he is free to leave, we're under a time crunch as to when the charges have to be presented. That's why we went ahead and met with the district attorney yesterday. We believe he's pretty close to being released, so that's what the meeting was about.

CUOMO: Is this an act of terrorism? Will it be charged and treated as such?

LEWIS: Our standpoint on that is, you know, we are investigating the homicide portion of this. We found indicators of - that, you know, there could possibly be links to all different -- there's numerous things that led us to contact the FBI. But at that point, we turned that portion over to the FBI and are letting them handle that investigation.

They have more resources, more expertise in that, more experience. You know, we don't normally deal with those types of crimes, so that was the reason in bringing them in. That is ongoing. They have not finished up their investigation. So that's for them to determine.

CUOMO: Well, I want to just get where your sense is of where the department is on it, because you have two very competing narratives. You have the suspect's mother, the defendant's mother, who says my son was a good kid. I know what they're saying that he's done, but I'll tell you that's not my son, which suggests not just denial, but going down the road of maybe some type of derangement or mental illness versus being a lone wolf terrorist type. Which one do you think is more likely?

LEWIS: Well, I will tell you we had a very productive interview with the suspect. He was very forthcoming, very cooperative. And as soon as we can release that, which some of that will come out in the affidavit, that will shed a little bit more light on to -- and hopefully help her also in understanding what went on that day and what her son did that day.

CUOMO: Do you think it's mental illness or do you think he's driven by extremist Islamic views?

LEWIS: To be honest, I haven't been in on the investigation. There's a lot of information that I haven't even been given, so it really wouldn't be fair to me to decide on that. That is something that the investigators are looking at. And again, with the help of the FBI, every angle is being looked at. CUOMO: First-degree murder charge is what you say you are looking for,

and remind people about the state of Oklahoma. What's the harshest penalty?

LEWIS: Murder in the first degree does carry the death penalty in Oklahoma. There are other charges along - - you know, we have two victims, but the more serious charge is going to be the murder in the first degree. And yes, it does carry the death penalty in Oklahoma.

CUOMO: And do you know if prosecutors are going to ask for the death penalty?

LEWIS: I do not know. I know that our district attorney will look at that very seriously. He is going over that. He had the information yesterday. He should release that today and he will let everyone know exactly what he is doing today.

CUOMO: Can you at least tell us that, in what you understand from the record and the interview with the suspect, did he know what he was doing? Is this part of a plan that he had? Was he planning other things like this? Was he in communication with people who were helping him plan?

LEWIS: Unfortunately, I can't hurt the investigation by going over things that were given in the interview. The charges actually haven't even been placed yet by the district attorney. I don't want to hinder any type of investigation.

There's a lot of stuff that's in the interview that I wasn't given. I just do know that he was very - - more cooperative than we expected. A lot of things came out that we didn't expect. So he didn't really, you know, hold anything back.

CUOMO: Alright, well we look forward then to the disclosure of these charges and supporting affidavit so we can understand this better. And the information about the FBI doing its own investigation, that would suggest that the Department of Justice may bring separate charges. That's your understanding as well?

LEWIS: Yes.

CUOMO: Sergeant Lewis, thank you very much for giving us the latest on this. The best of the entire community of Moore, Oklahoma. They're still very much in our thoughts after what you guys went through with the tornado there, so be well.

LEWIS: Thank you, thank you.

CUOMO: So, a lot of hard stuff going on in the world, no question. so we have great Good Stuff coming up for you. A high school football team votes its in newest member, gives us a much needed lesson in sportsmanship at the same time. I guarantee it is the Good Stuff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Why is that? CUOMO: I like it, my kids love it.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: No stance.

CUOMO: That's why I'm in the media, my friend. No stance here.

It is time for the Good Stuff. I'll stand for that. You hear a lot about the bad side of football these days with good reason, right? But, here's the good side.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Craig Lancaster (ph). All he ever wanted to do was play on his high school football team, but he couldn't because Craig is Autistic. That is until the team stepped up, okay? The team, that's the key here. On their own, they voted him an honorary member.

PEREIRA (voice-over): I like it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when we gave him his jersey, it was the biggest smile I've ever seen in my life. So exciting. Its like one of the best moments of my life, just seeing him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a great inspiration to us, to our team, and just great to have him around.

CUOMO: One of the guys even gave Craig his number. It was a big moment for Craig, it was a big moment for his team, but it was an even bigger moment for the rest of us because of the sportsmanship involved. Listen to the team's coach.

SCOTT HEMKER, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR: When they do things to make you proud and feel good about the big picture of why we do athletics, this is outstanding stuff.

CUOMO: Yes, John Berman agrees.

BERMAN (voice-over): Well, no because look, these kids aren't going to go play in the NFL. Why are they doing this?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (on camera): They're doing this for the experience, for the comradery, and what this shows me is they are learning the most important lessons of doing something like playing on a football team. It is so impressive.

PEREIRA (on camera): And the fact, too, that it wasn't an adult that had to teach them. This was them on their own, organically.

(CROSSTALK)

INDRA PETERSONS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right? Being part of the team, clearly. BERMAN: And watching that kid, you know, the one who was saying that, you know, the happiest day of my life, because he's giving something to someone who wants it and needs it. Love that.

PEREIRA: It was cool stuff. Nice Job on the Good Stuff, Cuomo.

CUOMO (on camera): It was very goodish, this Good Stuff. Glad you enjoyed it. A lot of news this morning, as well. Time for the "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. Carol?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, you guys have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.