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Poll: Trump Tops GOP in Iowa; Odierno Says Russia Bigger Threat than ISIS; 50 Dead, Hundreds Injured in China Explosion; Airline to Begin Weighing Passengers; Presidential Candidates Gear Up for Iowa State Fair. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 13, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello.

AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump on top. Joe Biden still deciding. But is the GOP's best weapon against both Carly Fiorina? We'll discuss.

The moments of impact. Massive explosions rocking a major city, killing dozens of people, and leaving behind ashes of devastation. We're going to take you there.

And a top general says America's greatest threat is not ISIS, yet he says the situation is getting so bad President Obama may need to send troops into Iraq soon.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. John Berman is off today.

Anyone who said Donald Trump is just the political flavor of the month should probably be eating their words right now. Voter support for Trump isn't fading. It just seems to be growing. A new CNN/ORC poll shows Trump is on top of the field in the key state of Iowa, the state that belonged really to Scott Walker just a few weeks ago. The poll numbers also tell us that voters there trust Trump as the best candidate to handle some of the country's biggest challenges. They also think he has the best chance to win the general election. But Trump isn't the only candidate seeing his fortunes rise in these polls.

A lot to discuss. Let's bring in CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, the editorial director of "The National Journal"; and Karen Tumulty, the national political correspondent for "The Washington Post."

It's great to see you both.

Ron, Donald Trump holding the lead in Iowa for the GOP pack. Not only is he leading, he's not only leading there, he's also leading on key issues, on the economy, on immigration, even on terrorism. This is, of course, without any real specifics that he's laid out. How do you explain it?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, THE NATIONAL JOURNAL: Well, look, there is a long way to go. We are dealing with mutable impressions as evidenced by fact Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson improved in the poll following the debate. Having said that, this is a good poll for Donald Trump. It does show out more than just celebrity and name I.D. and focus. His advantage is extending to issues in the critical state of Iowa. The only thing to keep in mind at this point in the race, voters' impressions are very shallow. And until candidates really start engaging with each other, particularly on TV, it's hard to know where they stand. Having said that the fact he's leading in the overall horse race and beginning to see issue advances is a positive sign.

BOLDUAN: Karen, Ron mentioned Carly Fiorina. That's another one of the headlines coming out of the Iowa numbers is the surge of Carly Fiorina after her breakout debate performance, and has a lot of folks wondering and considering that she might be the best antidote to Donald Trump, even if she is not the eventual nominee. What do you think?

KAREN TUMULTY, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE WASHINGTON POST: Certainly that was -- what we saw last week at the undercard debate was that Carly Fiorina really has good instincts. I mean, almost like fighter pilot instincts and how to go on the attack. But winning Iowa requires a couple of things. It requires enthusiasm which is what we are seeing measured in these polls. However tentative it is. It also requires organization. And that is why, for instance, Rick Santorum is seen to come out of nowhere the last time around to win the Republican primary. So as we're looking at these candidates, we do have to look at the impression they're leaving but also whether they have the organization at manpower they will need.

BOLDUAN: That is a key question.

Ron, we have Hillary Clinton holding her lead in Iowa over Bernie Sanders, though Sanders has jumped ahead now in New Hampshire. But take a look at who else is still there. Joe Biden at 12 percent, seeing new reports now, of course, again this morning, that he is giving off strong signals. He's still considering jumping into the race. What do you think the chances are?

BROWNSTEIN: Joe Biden is a beloved figure in the Democratic Party, particularly after his turn as vice president. He's run for president twice before and was not a terrific candidate either time. He was a better Senator than he was a presidential candidate. He will be five years older than Ronald Reagan when he was first inaugurated. I think there are still a lot of hurdles. It's understandable. Democrats are kind of coming to the glum resignation that this e-mail server story is not going away. It's going to be a barrel in the shark, as they said in "Jaws," for a long time. It's hard to see Joe Biden in the end concluding that he is the one who can beat Hillary Clinton. You never say never in politics and people never lose the bug once they get it.

[11:05:03] BOLDUAN: Absolutely not. People say never say never when you see Bernie Sanders ahead of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire. A lot of people said that was never possible.

With that in mind, Karen, do you think of Biden jumping into the race would mean the end of the Sanders' surge?

TUMULTY: No, I think they appeal to completely different constituencies. The context of the process, Biden announced a long time ago he was going to basically give the race another look, due diligence. That was interrupted tragically by the death of his son, Beau. He has a lot of things to think about here not only whether he's politically viable, whether he is what the party wants and needs but also the fact that his family is going to be looking for him -- basically he's the patriarch of a grieving, broken family at the moment, and he has to weigh his responsibilities personally with what he feels they are politically.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, absolutely. For him there's a huge personal factor in this. Much more so than it was when I remember speaking to him about chances he'd be getting into the race in February of last year, much different circumstances this time around, that's for sure.

Ron, it's great to see you.

Karen, great to see you. Thank you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

TUMULTY: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Now U.S. warplanes have already started hitting ISIS targets in Syria from an air base in Turkey. But defeating ISIS in Iraq might require boots on the ground. That is according to the out-going Army chief of staff. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RAY ODIERNO, U.S. ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF: If we find in the next several months we're not making the progress we have, we should probably absolutely consider embedding soldiers and see if that would make a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That's Ray Odierno. He says ISIS isn't even the most dangerous threat to the United States right now. That dubious honor belongs, in his view, to Russia.

Let's talk about this with retired Army Colonel Peter Mansoor, a former aide to General David Petraeus.

Colonel, it's great to see you.

General Odierno says if things don't change in the fight, he thinks the U.S. should consider embedding U.S. troops but he also says that that doesn't mean they would be fighting. What does it mean?

COL. PETER MANSOOR, CNN MILITARY ANALYST & FORMER AIDE TO GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS: These would be combat advisers assisting Iraqi commanders and crafting plans and arranging logistics and in calling in air strikes near the front lines. They wouldn't necessarily be trigger pullers but would be in the action and they would be assisting Iraqi units.

BOLDUAN: If we embed U.S. troops, which obviously Barack Obama has resisted to this point, does that threaten to also mean the United States then effectively takes over the fight against is rather than leaving it as it has been desired to this point a regional effort?

MANSOOR: Well, we wouldn't take it over but we would be more deeply committed to seeing the destruction of ISIS in conjunction with security forces. General Odierno did make the distinction he would only want to see these combat advisers assisting Iraqi forces and not necessarily be used in Syria. There's a whole other strategic dimension he did not talk about.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. He made a clear distinction between what he thinks is happening in Iraq and the U.S. approach there versus Syria. Odierno also offered a really pessimistic assessment of the future for Iraq saying that breaking up the country, partitioning it, in his words, might be the only solution. This is coming from the former U.S. commander in Iraq. What do you think?

MANSOOR: Wow. That's quite a statement. If you talk to the Iraqis, they want to see an Iraq that's whole and unified. If you partition it, you'll have endemic conflict along the new borders. I don't see that as the solution to this problem. The solution is political reconciliation in Baghdad and the Shia government coming to the conclusion that it has to include the Sunnis in a meaningful way into their power structure.

BOLDUAN: Which is the most difficult task. They've been trying for years at this point. With all of this in mind, Odierno also offered a surprising view when he was asked who poses the most dangerous threat to the United States today. He didn't say ISIS. He said Russia. Do you agree?

MANSOOR: In terms of an existential threat to the United States, that is, a threat that could cause the United States to cease to exist, it definitely is Russia. Russia has nuclear weapons and capable conventional forces. ISIS and other terrorist groups are harmful and they can conduct attacks on U.S. soil, but, in the end, they cannot destroy the United States, and Russia can. I think that's what he was referring to.

BOLDUAN: His farewell tour, if you will -- he retires tomorrow -- General Odierno really making his views known and making waves and saying it.

Colonel, great to see you. Thank you.

MANSOOR: Thank you for having me on.

[11:10:13] BOLDUAN: Of course.

Coming up for us, massive exPLOsion rocking a major city, killing dozens of people leaving behind a path of destruction. We'll take you there.

And a president's health crisis. Jimmy Carter revealing he has cancer and it has spread. Why his family's history may impact his prognosis.

And one airline is starting to weigh its passengers. Yes. Is this the future of air travel?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Right now, the death toll is climbing following a massive exPLOsion in a Chinese port city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(EXPLOSION)

(SCREAMING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Almost unbelievable. Officials say, at this point, at least 50 people are dead, 12 firefighters among them, and more than 500 people hospitalized and dozens remain missing. Authorities suspended firefighting efforts because of a lack of information about what the materials are in the warehouse at the heart of these blasts. The explosion even registered as an earthquake. The force of the blast destroying homes, buildings, and a lot more.

CNN's Will Ripley has been following the story and has all the new details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(EXPLOSION)

(SCREAMING)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Horrific video pouring in of a series of catastrophic explosions in a major Chinese port city late Wednesday.

(EXPLOSION)

[11:15:03] RIPLEY: Watch this surveillance video obtained by ABC News of a man standing near the entrance of building. The blast decimating the wall, caving in right on top of him.

(EXPLOSION)

RIPLEY: The explosion's felt miles away, emanating from an industrial warehouse in Tianjin, a city of 15 million, two hours south of Beijing.

(EXPLOSION)

(SCREAMING)

RIPLEY: The chemical material inside, unknown, and dangerous, according to Xinhua state-run news agency. Xinhua reporting firefighters are now suspended from tending to the building flames in fear the mysterious chemicals might pose a further threat.

(SHOUTING)

RIPLEY: This, as the death toll continues rising. Dozens now dead, including firefighters and more than 500 injured.

"The house collapsed. We didn't know what happened," says one survivor.

(SHOUTING)

RIPLEY: During my live report from outside the hospital, tempers flared.

(SHOUTING)

RIPLEY: A group of apparently distraught survivors, along with security officers, demanding to see the pictures on my phone, forcing me off the air. Police don't stop them. Emotions running high.

The massive exPLOsion is equivalent to a small earthquake, according to a China data center.

(on camera): When you look around at all the devastation here, it's really remarkable.

(voice-over): The aftermath, found far and wide, buildings destroyed, and cars are completely charred, more than a mile away from the blast site.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Unbelievable.

Thank you.

That's our CNN's Will Ripley on the scene for us.

Thank you, Will.

So coming up for us, if you think having your luggage weighed at the airport is bad, one airplane is actually putting passengers on the scale now.

And the Iowa State Fair is kicking off today, bringing together the best of fried foods and, of course, presidential politics. Who will stand out? Any minute, the first one gets on the soapbox. You see him right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:40] BOLDUAN: New this morning, airline passengers having to weigh in when they check in. And we're not talking about weighing luggage. We're talking about having to weigh yourself, stepping on a scale before stepping on the plane. It's the new rule for anyone flying Uzbekistan Airways. The company says it's for safety reasons, but is it really just to set up a pay-as-you-weigh fare structure?

Let's bring in Mark Murphy.

They wrote this in here. Weigh in on this, Mark. He is the author of --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: -- "Travel Unscripted," and founder of MarkMurphyTravels.com.

Mark, please tell me this isn't true, even though I'm reading it so, obviously, it has to be true.

MARK MURPHY, MARKMURPHYTRAVELS.COM & AUTHOR: It's a big problem, right.

(LAUGHTER)

No, it is true. They're going to weigh you before you get on the plane along with your luggage, and in the name of safety, nonsense. It's not about safety. These are large planes that they have in their fleet.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Then what's it about?

MURPHY: I think it's charging you on a per kilo basis. So if you weigh, you know, 180 pounds, you're paying this rate. You weigh 280 pounds, you're up here. You're paying more. Airlines have been saying this for a while because -- and that's why they limit the weight of your luggage, not for the health of the baggage handlers, but they charge you more to put the extra weight on the plane. It does cost money for the extra weight, so I get that, safety. Not an issue unless there's some eating disorder that I don't know about for the folks who fly Uzbekistan Airways.

BOLDUAN: What's not known, as far as I can see, is if you weigh in and you're too heavy or something like this. It's not known if you can be turned away or penalized because of it. They just want to keep the information, it seems. That in itself is confusing for me.

MURPHY: A slight invasion of privacy, would you say? How do you think that would go over in the United States?

(CROSSTALK) BOLDUAN: Any way this would fly in the U.S.?

MURPHY: No. And pardon the pun of flying in the U.S., right? No. This would not. There's no way they're going to start having people do weigh-ins at the airport.

Listen, we're jammed into those small seats. Here is what happens. If you are an obese traveler, you are going to have to pay for two seats. That's how they deal with it here in the United States. The irony is, as Americans in the world get bigger, the seats continue to get smaller, and what they do is they charge you to move to a higher level seat in terms of space that you can be accommodated in based on your size. So if you want that larger seat, you'll pay for it. It comes down to airline fees, profits, making more money. That's what it comes down to on these larger planes. If you're talking about a smaller plane, I get it, because smaller planes, it's all about the balance. You have to have the balance and they need to know your weight.

BOLDUAN: So in the end, what is already an uncomfortable experience flying these days, will be made a whole lot more uncomfortable because you're going to be weighed when you get to the airport?

MURPHY: Yeah, if you're flying Uzbekistan Airways. Are you going to be flying Uzbekistan Airways anytime soon? Probably not. They're not connected with any of our carriers. It's an odd chance to get there. But here's what you need to know, because of coach sharing and alliances, you may book an American Airlines and get on a completely different carrier. You need to know the connections you're making and the safety records of those airlines. Also understand the FAA keeps track of a black list of airlines based on safety issues to avoid. So you can go to the FAA website and see that black list and make sure you're not flying a carrier that doesn't live up to our standards in terms of safety with the FAA.

BOLDUAN: That could be a really strange, new diet fad, fly Uzbekistan Airways, so you are then are embarrassed so much you are forced to lose weight. Something like that, or probably not.

MURPHY: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

I hate to say this, skip McDonald's for breakfast unless you're going with the egg whites. Stay healthy.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: No truer words have ever been spoken by you.

Mark Murphy, great to see you. Unbelievable.

MURPHY: Thanks.

[11:24:53] BOLDUAN: Ahead for us, the microphone and an uncontrolled audience. The Iowa State Fair is the place to be seen for presidential candidates. But who will stand out? It kicks off with former Governor Mike Huckabee speaking this hour.

And terrifying moments caught on tape after a ceiling collapsed during a concert. We'll have details on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Any minute now, Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, will be kicking off what many view as a rite of passage for anyone running for president, a visit to the Iowa State Fair. The 10- day event has the best in fried foods -- think fried Oreos -- life- sized butter sculptures, and White House hopefuls. The fair gives candidates a chance to meet with voters in this pivotal state. Most are on their way there over the next couple of days, including Donald Trump, who is leading in our new Iowa poll.

Joining me now to discuss, Kathy Obradovich, political columnist with the "Des Moines Register."

Kathy, thank you so much.

The "Des Moines Register" soapbox is one of the must-dos for candidates heading to the fair. Huckabee will be the one up first. He won Iowa in '08. He's tied in fifth place in our latest poll. What do voters want to hear from these candidates when they take to the soapbox?

KATHY OBRADOVICH, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, DES MOINES REGISTER: A visit to the state fair is kind of like trial by corn dog.

(LAUGHTER)

It flexes some muscles for presidential candidates they don't normally have to do, including how to eat fried food on a stick without looking extremely unattractive.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: It's a challenge.

It is. It's difficult. Very few people could pull off the corn dog and looking attractive. But the soapbox is a way for candidates to -- a lot of times, they just give their stump speech.