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Obama Approval at 39; Rand Paul Announces Changes to Avoid Future Plagiarism; Banks Again Offer 5 Percent Down Home Loans; Dr. Phil Interviews Michelle Knight; Holder Admits Administration Discussed Issues with Domestic Surveillance; Toronto Mayor Admits Smoking Crack
Aired November 05, 2013 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: He qualified that. That was in one of his many drunken stupors. So that bombshell dropping not too long ago.
What will he say next? We'll wait and see.
Meantime, let's turn our attention to the White House. It has been a tumultuous day.
In the midst of the botched rollout of the president's healthcare plan, his approval rating has sunk below 40 percent.
It is at 39 percent, to be exact, in this three-day Gallup tracking poll. That is close to his previous low.
Also, just a short time ago, his chief spokesman came as close as he has so far to disavowing the president's long-time pledge that under ObamaCare people who like their insurance can keep it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president, as awesomely powerful as the office is, can't go back in time, and what the president is focused on is what we're all focused on, which is getting this right for the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: You know, we also heard Chris Christie today tell CNN's Jake Tapper that the president made a mistake. He should own up to it.
Chances are, said Christie, the American people will forgive him.
So let's kick this around. Emily Miller is senior opinion editor for "The Washington Times." Chris Kofinis is a Democratic strategist. Welcome to both of you.
Chris Kofinis, let me begin with you, because, I mean, how bad is it for the White House now that they are starting to roll back the president's pledge that we heard over and over and over, that everyone who likes their health insurance gets to keep it? CHRIS KOFINIS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I mean, it's not good. Any time you're in a situation where you have to kind of walk back what you had said earlier, that creates a bit of a problem.
I think what makes this more challenging is you're dealing with the kind of signature policy and piece of legislation for the president.
I mean, I think that the challenge for the White House, I think, and this is always difficult with you're in these positions, is to kind of admit to the reality, as difficult as it is, and as political as the Republicans are going to try to make it no matter what you do.
You have got to come out and basically state the facts. It was a misstatement. He needed to be clear.
He can apologize and move on and focus on the good things that are in ObamaCare that are going to improve people's lives.
But the more that you kind of, you know, play this song and dance around the edges, the more you kind of give fodder to the Republicans to kind of keep beating you and beating you, and the more you create a problem with the American people.
BALDWIN: Well, with Republicans, Emily Miller, I mean, how do Republicans play this politically? Do you think there will be more calls to delay parts of the program?
EMILY MILLER, SENIOR OPINION EDITOR, "THE WASHINGTON TIMES": Yes, I do think they'll keep pushing to delay a year for the individual mandate.
But you know, what you're seeing from the Republican side of the aisle is almost silence because everything that's happening is happening without them pushing it.
This is not a political agenda. Americans, millions of Americans are just getting letters in the mail saying. your insurance has been canceled, the next option is double the price or 20 percent more the price. It's reality.
BALDWIN: So do you think they regret the shutdown strategy. I mean, this could have been the headline weeks ago.
MILLER: I don't think so. The shutdown always started with Ted Cruz saying we need to stop ObamaCare in its tracks, so it was always based on the fact that Republicans had predicted exactly this debacle coming up.
And the reality is so bad. I don't know if people are going to remember the shutdown, but they're going to remember when they look down and get their monthly bill for their health insurance and see it's 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent more than they paid last year, and they didn't want this new plan.
That is what's going to make a difference in 2014.
BALDWIN: I think Democrats would dispute that as it's written in the history books, but I want to move on.
Chris, one of the top officials in charge of implementing ObamaCare got another earful today on Capitol Hill. And this time it's Republicans and it's Democrats. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR BARBARA MIKULSKI (D), MARYLAND: I believe that there's been a crisis of confidence created in the dysfunctional nature of the Web site, the cancelling of policies, and sticker shock from some people.
SENATOR TIM SCOTT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: After nearly $400 million, healthcare.gov is synonymous now with failure. The public's trust has been broken, and the reports I'm hearing reinforces why.
MIKULSKI: I think it's very confusing. I know my time is up, but I think it's very confusing about where you go.
We hear about the navigators and the this and that, but I can tell you people really don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Chris, loss of confidence, loss of trust. How does the president get those back?
KOFINIS: I mean, I think you've got to be very clear to the American people about the problems. You have to be very transparent about where things are, how you're going to fix the things that are clearly broken.
And, listen, when you have Democrats like Senator Mikulski, you know, hitting you as hard in some cases as Republicans, you've got a serious issue.
The one thing I will, and this is kind of an important point to keep in mind, the Republicans are being ridiculously hypocritical about this.
Yes, there are problems with ObamaCare. Yes, there are people that losing their health care because of changes to the plan in order to meet the ACA requirements.
But I didn't hear a peep from Republicans when these problems were happening across the board to countless Americans for years.
So, yes, there are challenges here, but I always kind of -- you know, you really kind of see the reality where the Republicans' position is and what their policies are.
When they don't offer solutions, they're really good at criticisms.
BALDWIN: Go ahead, Emily.
MILLER: Chris, no one was getting letters in the mail for years saying their plans had been canceled or it was doubling. KOFINIS: That's factually correct.
MILLER: OK. Who are all those people then, Chris? Where are you hearing these people? Because no one else seems to know them except for you, Chris.
KOFINIS: Do you actually believe --
BALDWIN: Go ahead, Emily.
MILLER: What Brooke is really talking about is the integrity of the presidency, and that's the bigger issue. That's why you see his poll numbers at 39 percent, because what does the president have but his word?
It's not that he made a mistake and said, if you like your plan, you can keep it; if you like your doctor, you'll keep it.
We now know that going back to 2010, HHS predicted that 80 percent of people -- up to 80 percent of people who have their own insurance plans would lose it because of these new mandates and these new requirements that HHS has put in that you have to have things like maternity care, prescription care, hospitalization.
So the White House knew this and continued through the 2012 election to get re-elected to say if you want to keep your insurance, you can.
And that is where the American public has really lost trust in this president.
BALDWIN: Chris, respond. We've got to go.
KOFINIS: Yeah, I mean, listen, I think there's two key points or two distinctions.
One, the president and the administration clearly have to face up to that there were things that were said that weren't correct, that weren't, I think, as accurate or direct as they needed to be. That, I think, is something the president and administration can do.
But let's not ignore the fact that Republicans offer no alternatives, no solutions that will address the fundamental problems that the ObamaCare act actually does. And that, I think, is a big distinction here.
BALDWIN: All right, guys. Emily Miller and Chris Kofinis, thank you both very much.
MILLER: Thanks.
BALDWIN: Senator Rand Paul is making some changes to how things are done in his office. This is a response to the accusations that not just one, but two of his speeches copied from Wikipedia.
Paul was at a campaign event in Virginia last week when he said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: In the movie "Gattaca" in the not- too-distant future, eugenics is common, and DNA plays the primary role in determining your social class.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So you saw the lines as you heard him. These are the lines, nearly identical to this "Gattaca" plot summary on Wikipedia.
Today, a spokeswoman told CNN that Senator Paul is, and I'm quoting her, "restructuring the approval process in order to avoid any further instances of misusing other people's material."
Senator Paul also talked to "The New York Times," saying the changes are intended to, quote, "make people leave me the hell alone."
But he didn't rule out more instances of plagiarism will be discovered.
Coming up any moment, the mayor of Toronto will be speaking live, hours after admitting, yep, he smoked crack in office.
I have no clue what this mayor is going to say. We have been waiting. These are live pictures. A lot of people are waiting on this mayor. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Fifteen minutes away from the closing bell, let's take a look at the markets.
Despite riding a wave of momentum, pretty flat today, down, what, seven points here, sitting at 15,631 right now, just about 16 minutes away from that closing bell.
Banks are easing up on buyers looking to buy a home. Consumers who don't have a lot of cash on hand can get loans with down payments as low as 5 percent, Bank of America and Wells Fargo just a couple of financial institutions offering the deals. Remember, one time, buyers had to fork over 20 percent to put down or turn to the Federal Housing Administration for a very low down payment.
But experts say demand depleted the FHA's reserves, forced higher costs. That sent buyers back to private lenders, who say they can offer a better deal.
We are learning new details about the extreme abuse suffering by one of Ariel Castro's kidnap victims.
Michelle Knight, the first of three young women to be abducted in Cleveland, describes in a paid interview with Dr. Phil what it was like to endure nearly 11 years of horror, 11 years of being chained in Castro's home.
Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL MCGRAW, HOST, "THE DR. PHIL SHOW": When you were down there, was it generally in the dark?
MICHELLE KNIGHT, CLEVELAND KIDNAP VICTIM: There was no light. No light at all.
MCGRAW: And you just laid on the concrete floor in the dark?
KNIGHT: Well, it was kind of like being like this because I couldn't lay down because the pole would hold me up.
MCGRAW: Because of the chain around your neck.
KNIGHT: Yes.
MCGRAW: You were able to sleep some?
KNIGHT: No, I just mainly passed out from the chain being around my neck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Castro was sentenced to life in prison, but was found dead in his cell in September.
And later tonight on "AC 360," Anderson Cooper sits down, once again, with Dr. Phil to talk about what else he discovered during this revealing one-on-one with survivor Michelle Knight.
Moments ago, Attorney General Eric Holder sat down and spoke exclusively with CNN, made surprising comments about the NSA. We'll share that with you next.
Also, live pictures out of Toronto as we watch and wait for the mayor, who's admitted to smoking crack cocaine in one of his drunken stupors. Waiting to see what he'll say next.
Stay here. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Eric Holder, the attorney general of the United States, gave an exclusive interview today to CNN.
He sat down and spoke with Evan Perez. They covered a wide range of issues, but perhaps none as critically important as the role of the National Security Agency in the wake of Edward Snowden's revelations about widespread domestic spying.
Here is what the attorney general had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I mean, one has to look at the whole system, me included, and we have to ask some very legitimate questions. Have we gone too far? Are we sweeping into our surveillance net too many things?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: But that didn't occur to you before you signed these orders?
HOLDER: I didn't say that. There were questions that I think -- as I said, there were conversations we were having within the administration, especially when it comes to the question of metadata, the collection of metadata.
And that's something that I think Congress is talking about now. There's legislation that is being considered and is something that the administration wants to work with Congress about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Evan Perez joins me now. Evan, what else did he say?
PEREZ: Well, Brooke, as you just heard, the attorney general say, he says that they were starting to talk about some of these NSA programs even before the Edward Snowden disclosures came about earlier this year.
Now, those discussions probably happened behind closed doors. These are programs that are still secret, as you know.
But he also -- I asked him whether or not he would consider clemency for Snowden.
Snowden, this week, issued a letter in which he said, because of all the conversation that he spurred in the United States and in Europe, that perhaps he should get clemency from the U.S. charges that have been filed against him, and as you know, he's hiding out in Russia right now.
The attorney general said that was not something he would consider because there were better ways for Snowden to try to make his point about what needed to happen on surveillance.
We also talked about marijuana, and the attorney general said that he and the president had talked about the effect on the African-American communities.
A lot of young African-American men get their first arrest records for marijuana, and so he talked about that and the need to change some of our drug laws and the way we sentence people for those cases.
Brooke?
BALDWIN: Evan Perez with the exclusive with the a.g., we'll look for more of your interview through the night here on CNN. Thank you so much, sir.
Meantime, we are seeing some sudden movement here in this room, live pictures, not quite sure what we're looking at, but the camera is moving.
We wait. The mayor in Toronto admitting to smoking crack today, he is expected to speak at any second. You will hear that and his entire admission today.
Let me tell you, it is bizarre, it is surreal. We will play it for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Let's take a look at these live pictures once again, a crush of media waiting to cover the mayor of Toronto because we're anticipating his arrival here really any minute now, as we have learned from this mayor, Mayor Rob Ford, admitting today, yes, he smoked crack while in office. He will be speaking live.
What will he say when he speaks? Your guess is as good as mine, really. But after months of dodging these allegations, today he made the admission, talk about a surreal bombshell here, which included talk of a drunken stupor. Here he was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ROB FORD, TORONTO: Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine, but no -- do I? Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors, probably approximately about a year ago.
I answered your question. You asked a question properly. I will answer it.
Yes, I made mistakes. All I can do now is apologize and move on.
Guys, can I just -- all I can say is I've made mistakes. You guys kept referring to alcohol. It was a couple of isolated incidents.
There's been times when I've been in a drunken stupor. That's why I want to see the tape. I want everyone in the city to see this tape. I'd like to see this tape. I don't even recall there being a tape or video. I want to see the state I was in.
But that's exactly it. I don't know what else I can say. I wasn't lying. You didn't ask the correct questions. No, I'm not an addict. No, I do not do drugs.
I made mistakes in the past and all I can do is apologize, but it is what it is and I can't change the past, and I can apologize to my family, my friends, my colleagues and the people of this great city.
I told you, probably approximately, I would probably say around about a year ago, but I don't know exactly. That's why I want to see -- I don't even remember.
After some of the stuff you've seen me -- the state I've been in, that's a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Talk about surreal and bizarre. That was a couple of hours ago.
I should tell you I talked to a "Toronto Star" investigative reporter, Robyn Doolittle. That was entirely impromptu, what you just saw.
One of the reporters was shouting questions and he stopped and answered this time, and everybody, the scrum happened, all the reporters came around.
When I talked to Robyn on the show, she also talked to him about the video here that police, Toronto police, the police chief says, yes, indeed, they have this piece of video where you can see rob ford smoking out of a crack pipe.
So there are two Canadian reporters who have seen that video, and Robyn is one of them. I asked her about what she saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBYN DOOLITTLE, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "THE TORONTO STAR" (via telephone): This is a group of self-professed drug dealers in the north end of the city. They secretly shot this video of the mayor.
It's shot -- looked like it was shot on an iPhone. We watched it on an iPhone so it's high definition.
He's sitting up against a white wall. It's sunny. He's in a white dress shirt. That's kind of unbuttoned around the top and he looks completely out of it.
He's jerking and bobbing around, he's slurring, his eyes are kind of fluttering and he clearly smokes from out of what looks like a crack pipe.
It doesn't look like a marijuana pipe. It's long and clear and black at the bottom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So that is how she described the video to me, as we await the mayor in Toronto.
Let me leave you with the hottest videos of the day, "Hit Play."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN (voice-over): Fire on the tarmac, passengers just settling in for takeoff in Montreal forced to run for their lives after a luggage cart burst into flames.
You see people sliding off the plane, running from the smoke. Several of them need medical attention.
