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Modi Claims Victory as Indian P.M.; Barbara Walters Retires; V.A. Official Resigns; New Video of FDR Walking; Idaho Republican Debate Gets Crazy; CNN Hero Robyn Benincasa

Aired May 16, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's just step back for a moment. Back in 2010 when Obama came here to New Delhi, he famously said that he saw India and the U.S. forming what would be the defining partnership of the 21st century.

Well, you don't go about doing that by refusing to allow the player, the main player in that partnership into your country.

As you say, in the last five minutes, we have heard that Obama has congratulated Narendra Modi, who is the prime minister-elect here. The election has now officially been called.

He has a sweeping mandate for change. He has swept aside the opposition and that being the Gandhi dynasty, as it were. I mean, this has turned politics and possibly Indian economics on its head, going forward.

This is definitely a man you would want to do business with if you're looking for friends around the world, Brooke?

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about that, on your friend point and on your business point, because among U.S. interests in India, one, you have this massive economy there. We want to be friends, want to make a little money.

Number two, India is a potential rival, maybe a counterbalance, they say, to China.

Would Modi help either of those aims?

ANDERSON: Absolutely, this is a $2 trillion economy. His mandate for change is about revitalizing what many people here see as a flagging economy.

Now it's running at about four-and-a-half percent. Anybody in Europe will tell you that's a decent growth rate, but given you were looking at near 10 percent growth rates only a couple of years ago, there is huge potential, people believe, in this economy, not least for foreign investment.

There are a massive amount of American companies here at the moment, but going forward, the liberalization of this economy, the redefining and reorganization of the infrastructure, just the potential for business going forward is a big promise on Modi's side. And let me just give you a caveat here. This is a man who has run Gujarat state, which is in western India. He's effectively run it -- let's be frank -- as a CEO. He has no experience on the national stage, and things are very different, everybody knows, when you go from local politics, state politics, as it were, to national politics.

But clearly there is a business-friendly environment promised here, and that will be good news for America and Americans, going forward.

The other point you talked to is a very, very good one. You see here there's a certain sense of almost being sort of jilted by Obama, to a certain extent. There's a sense here you've got Pakistan on the borders. There needs to be a counter to what is this great, nuclear- ambitious country. And then you've got China as a regional rival here as well.

It would be as far as, I'm sure, as the U.S. administration has worked out, good news both politically and economically to be on good terms.

BALDWIN: It's a huge story in India. It's a huge story globally, as you just outlined. So we just had to tell our audience about this. We need to know this name.

Becky Anderson, thank you so much, live in New Delhi for me.

And coming up, speaking of politics here, back here at home, probably the most bizarre debate you will ever see.

You see these guys? These are men running for governor in the state of Idaho, debated Armageddon, biker gangs and race. And you will hear what happened on that stage.

Plus, an amazing image, some of the most powerful women in TV joining Barbara Walters on her final day on "The View," but the surprises didn't stop there.

One of my colleagues who worked with Barbara Walters for years tells me what she's like behind the scenes. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: One of my personal and professional heroes said, See you later, today.

And if not for this lady, who I might have tracked down in Time Warner Center in New York for this photo, Barbara Walters, I may not be sitting here talking on TV to you right now.

And the same can be said for this just amazing number of female journalists followed in her footsteps and lined up today. Look at the women on "The View" to just pay tribute to the woman who paved their way.

After 53 years in TV, Walters is taking a step back. She says she is retiring, but I'm not so sure, because here is Walters saying goodbye on her very last episode of "The View." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA WALTER, ABC NEWS: How proud when I see all the young women who are making and reporting the news, if I did anything to help that happen, that's my legacy.

So now having had this amazing career, how can I just walk away and say good-bye?

This way, from the bottom of my heart to all of you with whom I have worked and to all of you who have watched and been at my side for so many years, I can say thank you. Thank you.

But then, who knows what the future brings? Maybe instead of goodbye, I should say, a bientot, which in French means, See you later.

So, a bientot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And my CNN colleague Chris Cuomo, anchor of "NEW DAY," talked to Barbara Walters, who he worked with for years over at ABC News, about her amazing career.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": When you look at what you achieved, do you list this was most important to me?

WALTERS: No. No. I'm proud of "The View" because I created it. And it will be on when I'm no longer there, and I think that a lot of shows have sort of copied the atmosphere and idea of "The View."

But when I look back at my career, the opportunities that I've had to be able to, as I said, witness the peace agreements between Egypt and Israel, to interview all of the presidents, to interview Vladimir Putin, I mean, I'm pretty impressed with myself. Yeah.

CUOMO: You should be.

WALTERS: Not really. I just think I have had the most blessed career, and I never expected it. I hope I have the sense to realize how good my life is and not just think of how good my life was.

CUOMO: Let's do it as almost like a checklist. When I say words, you just tell me a name that jumps to your head.

Funniest?

WALTERS: Robin Williams.

CUOMO: Smartest, present company excluded.

WALTERS: I have to name you. I have to name you.

Oh, I've interviewed many smart people and a lot of dumb ones. CUOMO: Sexiest.

WALTERS: I love Hugh Jackman.

CUOMO: What about Eastwood?

WALTERS: Oh, I forgot Clint Eastwood.

CUOMO: We all know the story.

WALTERS: How soon we forget. Yeah, if I had only played my cards right I could have been Mrs. Clint Eastwood. It's too late now.

CUOMO: How about scariest?

WALTERS: I know I should say Vladimir Putin because people are afraid of him, and I did ask him if he ever killed anybody. No, I won't say him.

Yasser Arafat, maybe. Saddam Hussein. But, you know, when you're working you're not scared. It's when you look back and think about it that you are.

I have never -- when I have actually been doing the interviews, I'm never frightened.

CUOMO: Personally most important?

WALTERS: What flashes in my mind again is Sadat, because he changed history, and I knew him quite well. So there's a special place in my mind for Anwar Sadat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And here he is, Chris Cuomo. And, Chris Cuomo, you go back quite a while with Miss Walters. How many years exactly?

CUOMO: Oh, Brooke, it's near about 15 years now.

I have known Barbara Walters -- I have known of Barbara Walters since I was cognizant, but the -- 1998, I met her, and it was a big deal, being in the business and meeting an icon like that.

And then we got very close over the years because of my work on "20/20."

And then when I left "GMA" and was offered to be the anchor of "20/20," Barbara brought the offer, and it was --

BALDWIN: Oh, wow.

CUOMO: It just meant everything that Barbara was considering me worthy of doing the work that she obviously treasured at "20/20."

BALDWIN: Let's just pull back the veil, because what I really want to know is what Barbara Walters is like when you pass her in the hallway when the cameras aren't rolling, when it's just you and Barbara in an office.

What's she really like?

CUOMO: She's not unlike B.B. in real person, Brooke Baldwin. That's what we call Brooke, you know, around, B.B., is what she gets called.

Tough, no nonsense, she tells you exactly what she thinks about any situation. In a business that is filled with people who smile at you and then do something very different when you're not in front of them, you have no mystery in your mind about what Barbara Walters thinks about you.

And what really hurts isn't that she just out books you because she's Barbara Walters, because that's only what you tell yourself. She really outworks you. That's what really bothers you, is that she writes the letters sooner, she goes to see people.

She's on it, on it 24/7, very intense and incredibly worldly. She's been everywhere. She's met everybody.

BALDWIN: Chris Cuomo, what an honor just to be able to share her oxygen for so many years and sit down with her. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

CUOMO: A pleasure, thank you for the opportunity, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up here on CNN, how many veterans have to die before the White House thinks twice about the man they have in charge of veterans' healthcare? That question from CNN's own Jake Tapper to President Obama's right hand man.

Coming up next, we'll speak live with Jake here in Washington about the White House's response.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So we just got this word just a short time ago. It's a developing story here. The V.A. official, veterans affairs official who testified with the V.A. chief, Eric Shinseki, today has resigned.

We're talking about Robert Petzel, the V.A.'s undersecretary of health. Petzel was to retire later this year, but he is out today amid this scandal over these deaths among veterans who were waiting for treatment here at home.

And my colleague, Jake Tapper, has been hot on this story. You're next with "THE LEAD." You talked to Denis McDonough yesterday. You pushed him, you pushed him, you pushed him.

And the follow is you call the V.A. today. They took your call. Actually, stand by on that. Let's listen to part of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD": From the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee from one year ago warns of dramatic problems at the VA, this is a year ago, he was warning about this.

DENIS MCDONOUGH, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Every day, a year, whether it's a year ago, whether it's yesterday, whether it's tomorrow, the president is dedicated to making sure that our vets get the care that they have earned.

TAPPER: Yes, but if you say --

MCDONOUGH: And we work with Chairman Miller, we work with Chairman Sanders, we work with all the members of the House and Senate to make sure that they have it.

TAPPER: How many letters like this, how many dead veterans do you need before somebody asks the question within the White House, maybe this guy isn't the best steward of these veterans?

MCDONOUGH: The question, Jake, is, are we doing everything we can every day to get the veterans the care and the opportunities that they deserve?

TAPPER: But you are not. This letter was sent a year ago. And you guys ignored it.

MCDONOUGH: And we have been working aggressively to ensure that not only is health care expanded, opportunities made more ready to our vets, but that people are held to account, as Ric is doing in this case. We will continue to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And as we mentioned, here I am on your turf, Jake Tapper, talking about this. And at the very end of the interview, you're really pushing him, saying, how many veterans have to die?

And you followed up with the V.A. today. What did they say to you?

TAPPER: I was asking specifically about the undersecretary of health, Dr. Petzel resigning.

Now we know that he had announced last fall that he was going to retire sometime in 2014.

It is not a coincidence, my sources tell me, that the day after Shinseki went before the Senate committee hearing that Dr. Petzel, who specifically is in charge of health at the V.A. and has been criticized specifically for a lot of these problems, wait times, the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at the Pittsburgh V.A. and other horrific stories, it's not a coincidence that he resigned today.

BALDWIN: Do you think that the sort of sudden resignation of Petzel, does that calm this, or that's just the beginning of perhaps more, you know, resignations, more fallout from everything that Drew Griffin and our CNN crew uncovered.

TAPPER: It is -- I mean, it is a head rolling, although it is somebody who was already on his way out the door. I don't necessarily think it calms this, but we'll have to see what the reaction is on Capitol Hill. We'll have to see what the reaction is among veterans groups, because they are the ones who are really causing a lot of the outrage here.

BALDWIN: OK. Can we switch gears? Because you are of course a presidential nerd and a lover of baseball.

TAPPER: Both true.

BALDWIN: Both true. I would like to play some video right here. This is brand-new video actually here to us, very old, new video to us, showing FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had polio, as we know, walking, stiffly but walking nonetheless, his legs supported by braces, walking up the ramp.

This is the 1937 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. And it's so rare to see that.

TAPPER: FDR did not like people seeing his disability. And his administration did a lot to hide it.

Now there are mentions, if you go back and search -- there are mentions, and even some images of FDR struggling to walk. But there's even a story back in 1936, editor and publisher of a reporter taking a picture of FDR struggling to get out of his car and the Secret Service running over and ripping the film out of his camera.

And as you know, Brooke, from your trip to the Oval Office, the Resolute Desk, the famous desk that has used by every president since Rutherford B. Hayes, I think -- except maybe a couple of exceptions -- FDR didn't like the kneehole there --

BALDWIN: Right. He wanted to cover it up. I remember my trip to the Oval Office and I was like --

TAPPER: -- because it showed his braces. It showed his leg braces, so he had a panel installed, although I think he died before that panel was installed.

But in any case, he was very sensitive. That's why images like these are so rare.

BALDWIN: So rare.

And I'm impressed, because you're a knower of all things presidential politics, and I taught you a little something, Mr. Tapper.

TAPPER: You taught me about that Resolute Desk. You did.

BALDWIN: We'll see you. Thanks for having me on your set, by the way. Nice digs.

TAPPER: It's nice to have you here.

BALDWIN: I like it. TAPPER: You're welcome to come any time. We've got water.

BALDWIN: You have water in Washington.

TAPPER: We've got mugs. Water and mugs, both.

BALDWIN: You are fancy-fancy, Jake Tapper. We'll see you at the top of the hour. Good to see you, as always, in person.

TAPPER: Good to see you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And coming up next, political debates, listen, we know they're fiery. We know that they can be argumentative, sometimes a tad hilarious.

The only way to describe the governor's race in Idaho is just strange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLEY BROWN, IDAHO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: And I'm about as politically correct as your proverbial turd in a punch bowl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What did he just say?

There's more of that. Do not miss it, next on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I have to leave you with this. The governor's debate in the state of Idaho, you have Republican Butch Otter, is facing this primary challenge from Senator Russ Fulcher.

And rather than debating Fulcher, one on one, he invited two alternative candidates, and it got a little entertaining.

Roll it, Rog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: You know, I was filling out my taxes a couple of months ago and I thought to myself, Thank god we don't get all the government that we pay for.

WALT BAYES, IDAHO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: And this is part of Bible. "For this cause God gave them up, for even their women did change the natural use to that which is against nature."

BROWN: When I was a kid I used to play army all the time. Bang, I got you. No, bang, I got you. I could never once remember one incident in my childhood when I played politician.

BAYES: "And likewise also the man leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust, one toward another, men with men, working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which is meet."

BROWN: Anyhow I got out of the service, and several years later, I was at the low point in my life. I mean, things were bad. And I cried out for God. I said God, how about putting me back on active duty and making me a battalion commander?

Long story short, He says, No, son, I got a higher rank for you. I'm going to make you the commander-in-chief, and I stagger not on this promise. I'll get into that more with you.

Don't think I'm crazy because I'm not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If lightning struck and you were elected governor could you do the job?

BAYES: Well, back when they told me that we couldn't home school, I prayed about it, I stood on my hind legs like a man, I told them what I thought of them, and the television would talk to me for 30 minutes or an hour, well, what would you do if they came out to take your kids.

Well, I'd shoot them. What else would you do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I was just personally thinking there could be some kind of beard competition when it comes to this gubernatorial race. I digress.

That's your Republican debate in the state of Idaho.

Now to this week's CNN Hero. Busy battling wildfires, as we've been showing you the last couple of days, engulfing parts of southern California and when she's not protecting her community as a firefighter she is an adventurer, inspiring women all around the world to live beyond their medical traumas toward happier, stronger lives.

Take a look at the impact she has made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I initially got hurt in 2005. I've had 46 surgeries to save the leg. I finally decided on amputation.

A lot of people knew it was a loss but I got my life back.

ROBYN BENINCASA, CNN HERO: Very often people are saying, OK, I survived but now what? And we want to be that now what.

Good job.

I was a world-class adventure racer. In the World Championships, I hit the deck, and the doctor said you're never going to run again.

I've had four hip replacements. After my first I said, I'm just going to put something on my calendar so that I'm still training for something. It just makes you realize it's not about the setback; it's about the comeback. So I thought let's do that for other women.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMEN: Athena!

BENINCASA: I started an organization that helps survivors of medical or traumatic setbacks live an adventurous dream as part of their recovery.

This is about you going out there and being the bad ass that you are.

You're a strong kid, Allie girl.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in a place of such uncertainty, so finding the Web site was such a message of hope to me.

Here was this group of women who understood it on a different level.

Athena girls! Yeah, baby!

Being an Athena, you're not just a survivor. You're an adventurer. We give them a different label to put on themselves, and it's something they become on their way to the finish line.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: How wonderful is that?

Maybe you know someone who deserves a little recognition. We invite you to go to CNNHeroes.com, and please let us know about them.

I'm Brooke Baldwin, live here in Washington, D.C.

Going to the room just next to me, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.