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Republicans Need To Flip Six Seats This Year To Win Back Majority Control of Senate; China Upset With U.S. Over Hacking Charges; Flight 370 Satellite Data To Be Released; "Shield" Actor Charged In Wife's Death

Aired May 20, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But Governor Mary Fallin says this should be an issue that is handled by communities, decided by communities. She says it's top priority for her but fair to say the debate continues a year later after that tornado came through here.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: George Howell reporting live from Moore, Oklahoma, this morning. The next hour of NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now into the NEWSROOM, poll position.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to change the country now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I hear an amen?

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COSTELLO: Kentucky a battleground in one of six big primary races today.

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DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're likely Democratic opponent says you're what's wrong with Washington.

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COSTELLO: The strength of the Tea Party front and center.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to vote for Barack Obama in a state that he carried four out of 120 counties.

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COSTELLO: What happens today shaping critical contests coast to coast. Also, Newark's near collision.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was real close, sir. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Planes just yards apart. A catastrophe avoided at the last second. Plus, charged. Donald Sterling center court and fighting the NBA.

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC 360": You believe you'll be able to keep the team though?

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COSTELLO: The league taking the first steps to terminate his ownership. The commissioner speaking out today.

And the age of a candidate.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some Republicans are taking aim at Hillary Clinton's age. They're saying she'll be almost 70 when she runs. Republicans said being old and white is our thing.

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COSTELLO: Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Primary care is the Tea Party wheezing and staggering into today's elections? Right now voters are heading to the polls in six states and there are big stakes for all of the rest of us come November. Think of this as opening act of the 2016 presidential election. At stake, the control of the Senate.

The other big story for today, a true test of the Tea Party. Mainstream GOPers fighting back and launching strong counter offensives. One Republican candidate expected to beat back the Tea Party threat is Mitch McConnell expected to crush Matt Bevin, but his November challenge could be the most expensive Senate race ever. McConnell is calling for Republican voters to seize the Senate and put him in charge of a new game plan.

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SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: Make me the offensive coordinator instead of defensive coordinator.

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COSTELLO: Dana Bash is covering today's headline match-up in Kentucky. Has Mitch McConnell cast his vote yet?

BASH: He hasn't yet but there are people waiting behind me. He's expected to be here to vote in just a short while. This, as you mentioned, is primary day and he's expected to defeat his challenger from the right. He has been waging a two-front war, Carol, to try to keep his seat in the Senate. His primary focus has actually recently not so much been on the right because he felt more comfortable there but against the woman, 35-year-old woman, who is running against him likely in the fall who polls have shown over and over in the past few months, the two of them have been neck and neck.

What's really interesting about McConnell's strategy is that he's not even focusing on Alison Grimes per se. He's focusing on the big picture. He's focusing on control for the Senate and the fact that if Republicans do take control and he wins, he would be the Republican leader and he would be the guy to be able to help stop the Obama agenda.

I asked Alison Grimes when I caught up with her yesterday about how she feels about that strategy.

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BASH: Mitch McConnell has made clear that he's not so much running against you, that his Democratic candidate is almost beside the point, he's running against the idea of a Democratic controlled Senate.

ALISON LUNDERGAN GRIMES, (D), KENTUCKY SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, this election no matter who Mitch McConnell thinks he's running against, it's about what has occurred on his watch. This election is not a referendum on the president. Nothing will change who our president is but we can change who is in Washington, D.C. and put someone there that fights for the people of this state instead of just looking out for his own job.

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BASH: So you probably have heard that before, Carol. That's something that you hear over and over from challengers against incumbents when you have someone not been in Washington like Alison Grimes. She is current holder of secretary of state position here in Kentucky. She really is running a classic challenger race that anybody probably would against somebody who has been in Washington for three decades as Mitch McConnell has.

One of the key differences is the obvious. She's a woman and she's playing that up big time hitting McConnell hard on his record on women's issues. She says he's not right for women and really attacking him on some liberal themes, but also at the same time trying to separate herself from the president who you heard from Mitch McConnell is not popular at all.

COSTELLO: Dana Bash reporting live from Kentucky. Let's settle on the matter at hand. Mitch McConnell in a primary fight right now. He's expected to beat back that Tea Party candidate challenging him big-time. He's expected to win the Republican primary in Kentucky, but let's move onto Georgia now. Because for the past five years, Georgia has anchored the Tea Party and Phil Gingrey is seeking to make a jump from the House of Representatives to the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You deserve better than politics as usual. Having delivered over 5,200 babies I understand when it's time, it's time and the time to stop Obama is now. So I'll cut spending. Cut the debt. And repeal Obamacare in my first term or get out of the way because it's no time for politics as usual. It's time for a senator who will deliver.

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COSTELLO: So you think that would resonate in Georgia where the Tea Party is pretty popular, but Gingrey is lagging behind in the polls. The leading candidates are establishment Republicans. Joining me now Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and John Avlon, CNN political analyst and the editor-of-chief over at "Daily Beast." Welcome to both of you, Gentlemen.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Carol, good morning.

COSTELLO: So, John, who would have thought Tea Party candidates would slip in Georgia?

AVLON: Yes. It really does say a lot. Not just about the GOP civil war and the tea party versus mainstream Republicans, but the way the tide has turned against these tea party folks even in Republican primaries. GOP spent $14 million in this Georgia primary, 600,000 people will turn out. There's likely to be a runoff but the two hard core Tea Party candidates seem to be at the back of the pack. These are folks, Paul Brown was the first member of Congress to refer President Obama to Hitler. That appeal isn't working anymore even in Georgia.

COSTELLO: I will say, Larry, that Karen Handel is running a close second. She was backed by Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin is a big Tea Partier. So the Tea Party still has some influence, right?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Sure. It's possible Handel could get into the runoff and that runoff is July 22nd. The more general point here looking at the Tea Party failure in Kentucky that you just reviewed because clearly Senator McConnell is going to be renominated easily in Georgia and other states.

Here's what it boils down to. In politics as in every other endeavor in life, there is a learning curve and it isn't flat. Republicans have figured out that they have tossed away easily five seats. You could argue it's more than five seats between 2010 and 2012. Think about that. Had they won those five seats by not nominating Tea Party candidates who had big gaffs and threw away the election, the Senate would already be tied and we would be talking about how big a Republican majority would be elected in November.

COSTELLO: So I think there's something to what Larry said. Lessons learned. Especially from the establishment Republicans point of view because the reason the establishment Republicans are doing so well in Georgia is they talked about divisiveness within the parties and they can't allow that to happen and voters are seeming to go over to the establishment side.

AVLON: That's right. Ultimately it's the most pragmatic argument there is which is do you want to win in November? I mean, the Democratic candidate is the daughter of former Senator Sam Nunn and these states are no longer as automatic Republican as they might have been a couple cycles ago. It's a pragmatic argument and hammered home by those folks that Larry just referred to. Richard Mourdock, Christine O'Donnell, Todd Aiken, they bring back ghosts of lost Senate seats past.

COSTELLO: It is interesting, Larry, that the Democrats are putting forth female candidates to run against these establishment Republicans. Is that effective?

SABATO: Well, I think in both cases they made good choices. They put forward candidates who certainly have a chance to win. Their problem, of course, is that this is a low turnout midterm election. The turnout is skewed to the Republican side and president Obama's job approval rating in both Kentucky and Georgia is in the mid-30s. Obviously that doesn't help any Democrat. I think they'll be very lucky to win even one of those two seats.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Larry Sabato and John Avlon, thank you for your insight. I appreciate it.

China is furious with the United States for indicting five of its military officers on hacking charges. It is threatening to scale back on promoting -- guess what? Cybersecurity. Those officers accused of stealing trade secrets from major American companies, but Beijing is denying those allegations.

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HONG LEI, SPOKESMAN, CHINA'S MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS (through translator): The Chinese government, the Chinese military, have never engaged or participated in any hacker attack or any so-called cyberthefts of trade secrets.

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COSTELLO: China also says the U.S. isn't in any position to accuse anyone of cyberspying. CNN's David McKenzie is in Beijing with more for you.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the Chinese have hit back at this indictment calling the allegations extremely absurd saying they've never been involved in any kind of hacking action to steal trade secrets. They also have called these allegations hypocritical when you consider that Edward Snowden revelations that the NSA has been cyberspying for many years globally.

The Chinese say in fact that they are the victim of cyberhacking from the U.S. and these wanted posters by the FBI showing officials by the Chinese military are deeply insulting to Chinese leaders. They have hauled in the U.S. ambassador to China and given him a dressing down and they also warned of other unspecified actions against the U.S. So China is taking these allegations very seriously and denying all of them -- Carol.

COSTELLO: David McKenzie reporting.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, calls for transparency into the disappearance of Flight 370 may finally be answered. A British satellite company vowing to reveal the plane's raw flight data. CNN Saima Mohsin is in Kuala Lumpur. Hi, Saima.

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Find out how loved ones on board missing Flight MH370 are getting the information they have been demanding for weeks. Stay tuned for CNN. That's all coming up after the break.

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COSTELLO: We are following major developments in the search for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. For months now families have been demanding more transparency into the investigation. Let's bring in our reporter. Tells us more, Saima.

MOHSIN: For weeks the families have been asking for this raw data. They want to see every bit of evidence they can get their hands on particularly this evidence because that's what led the world to searching in the Southern Indian Ocean. We have been here over the last few days really pushing the government officials trying to contact them asking them who exactly has data. There was confusion about that and when and if they will release it to the family and late last night we had a development with a statement.

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MOHSIN (voice-over): Overnight Malaysian officials and British satellite company that detected Flight 370's final pings vow transparency. In a joint statement, Malaysia's Departments of Civil Aviation and Inmarsat say all parties are working for the release of the data communication logs and technical description, the analysis for public consumption. There's no set date for when this raw satellite data will be released, this marks the first attempt to make the information publicly available. But some loved ones say it's not enough.

SARAH BAJC, PARTNER OF PASSENGER PHILIP WOOD: If the Malaysian government truly has nothing to hide, I believe they should completely open their books. Everything. Not just the pieces they allowed us to hear.

MOHSIN: Malaysia's former prime minister now pointing the blame at Boeing. In his blog he writes, "Someone is hiding someone" saying Boeing should know something since MH370 was equipped by the manufacturing company and a relative of one of the pilots is breaking his silence. He tells Australian broadcasting company four corners that he was not suicidal and did not have life insurance. He also dismissed the controversy surrounding his brother-in-law's flight simulator saying it broke in 2013.

ASUAD KHAN, BROTHER-IN-LAW OF CAPT. ZAHARIE AHMAD SHAH: He did not practice extreme landings and takeoffs. I don't think so because the simulator is not working.

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MOHSIN: You know, Carol, a lot of intrigue around the pilots and the others on board that flight, but also a lot of intrigue and suspicion being raised because of the delays and confusion in the sharing of data. And that is why the family members really want to get a hold of it and as we say, we don't know when, but we're hoping very soon -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Saima Mohsin reporting live from Kuala Lumpur this morning, thank you.

Filmmakers say, get this, a new movie based on Flight 370 is actually in the works and as you might expect, a lot of people are outraged. CNN's John Berman and Michaela Pereira asked the film's director why he's decided to push ahead with this controversial film. We don't even know how the tragedy ends yet. You can catch the interview here on CNN at 11:00 a.m. Eastern.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, an actor known for his roles as a police officer on hit TV shows like "The Shield" charged in the shooting death of his wife. We're live in Los Angeles with the latest on that.

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COSTELLO: This news just into CNN. Los Angeles police have arrested and charged the actor, Michael Jace, for the shooting death of his wife. He had roles in films like "Forest Gump." Alan Duke is following the story in Los Angeles. Tell us more.

ALAN DUKE, CNN DIGITAL REPORTER: This is something that is related according to the investigators to domestic violence. A domestic dispute at the South Los Angeles home that Michael Jace shared with April Jace, his 40-year-old wife. They've been married about ten years. I understand they have a couple of children together. It happened at about 8:30 last night in Los Angeles. Police coming to the scene finding her body there and taking him into custody.

Several hours later booking him on a homicide charge accusing him of shooting his wife to death. He's now booked in the Los Angeles jail on $1 million bond. Homicide detectives and coroner's office are still at the scene so they're not able to give us a lot of detail yet as to what happened inside that home in South Los Angeles.

COSTELLO: Alan, have they had domestic problems? It's just so hard to understand frankly.

DUKE: I did as best I could a criminal check to see if there were a criminal record and nothing showed up. I think probably sometime today we'll find out if there was any kind of orders. If there was a separation or divorce involved. We don't know that yet. Keep in mind this happened late at night in Los Angeles and it's still before the opening of business hours this morning so getting to those documents and talking to the detectives will take time. And we'll see what motivated this or what happened inside that house. The irony is that this man was an actor played a lot of police officers. "The Shield" where he was on for six seasons, 89 episodes as a rookie cop and later as a detective, disturbing police drama about an inner city precinct in Los Angeles where cops sometimes cross the line. So a lot of irony involved in this. He was on "Southland" a TNT police drama playing a cop. It's a very interesting, ironic and sad, tragic situation for him.

COSTELLO: Actually for his wife more than anyone.

DUKE: Absolutely good point and his children.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. Alan Duke, thanks so much. I'll let you get back to work. I'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Chaos and bloodshed in Libya's capital city. The United States doubling the number of aircraft on standby in Italy just in case hundreds of Americans need to be rescued from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli. An evacuation order could come at any time as deadly fighting continues throughout the city.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill joins me now from Denver for some insight. Welcome, sir.

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Why don't U.S. forces just get those embassy workers out now?