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Police Deputy Shot and Killed Execution Style in Texas; Storms Threaten Gulf Coast; New Orleans Charter Schools System Examined; Donald Trump Holds Rally; Presidential Candidate Martin O'Malley Calls for More Democratic Presidential Debates; Truck Found Filled with Dead Bodies of Refugees from Syria. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired August 29, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:07] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: It is 10:00 a.m. Eastern. And 10 years ago at this moment, up to eight feet of water flooded the lower ninth ward in New Orleans, Louisiana. And CNN is in New Orleans today as the city and nation remember the most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Also we're following breaking news. A Texas deputy is gunned down while pumping gas at a service station. CNN has learned police now have a person of interest in custody.

PAUL: And Donald Trump kicking off an event in Nashville this hour. Can he keep up the momentum in his campaign?

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. And we are always glad to have you with us. I am Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I am Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

PAUL: Yes. Let's get to that breaking news out of Texas right now, because police say they have a man in custody, who they believe is this man, the man they shot and killed a sheriff deputy. This video from that arrest happening just hours ago. We'll have that video for you here in just a moment.

The hunt for the killer was sparked by this surveillance image that you see here. The gunman was seen driving off from a gas station after the shooting. And we are told the deputy killed is this man, Darren Goforth. He was a 10 year veteran at the department. Deputies gathered in prayer overnight as they took in this news. They call Goforth's death an unprovoked and cowardly event.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Nick Valencia is with us now. You have been making calls all morning. What have you learned about the person in custody?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Texas Department of Public Safety say they believe that this is the gunman. They believe that they have their man. He's described as a black male between 20 and 25 years old, about five-ten to six feet tall. They were looking for him in the overnight hours after this fatal shooting happened in the Houston area at about 8:30 p.m. local last night. Deputies with the Harris County sheriff's office grieving and mourning the loss of one of their own. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Captured at his mother's house, the man believed to be the gunman who fatally shot a sheriff's deputy as a Houston area gas station has been taken into custody. The Texas Department of Public Safety tells CNN the man's mother called Harris County sheriff's department after learning her son may have been involved in the shooting. Police say it appears to be an unprovoked, execution-style killing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The witness called 911, let us know that one of our deputies had been shot. Multiple units arrived. EMS arrived on scene. Unfortunately the deputy passed.

VALENCIA: The deputy is identified as 47-year-old Darren Goforth, a 10-year veteran who was married with two children.

SHERIFF RON HICKMAN, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: I have been in law enforcement 45 years. I don't recall another incident this cold- blooded and cowardly.

VALENCIA: Authorities say the uniformed deputy was refueling his patrol car Friday evening when this man, caught on surveillance camera, came up behind him and opened fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The deputy then fell to the ground. The suspect then continued over to him and shot the deputy again multiple times as he laid on the ground.

VALENCIA: The suspect then fled the scene in a red or maroon colored Ford Ranger pickup truck, also caught on surveillance camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a very bizarre incident. You know, people understand that it's tough enough being a deputy and being in law enforcement in this country now. But for people the way they are now, I have no words for what this type of person did.

VALENCIA: There's no apparent motive in the case. The deputy had investigated an accident about a half an hour before the attack. Police are looking into whether there's any connection.

HICKMAN: I think it's important to ask for prayers of our community for this deputy, his family, and our department family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: The local field office there in Houston for the FBI as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Marshals all involved in the investigation. What we still do not know is the motive for the attack, guys.

PAUL: One thing I heard reported that I do think is interesting is that his mother called him in essentially.

VALENCIA: This person of interest that they believe is the gunman that's now in custody was at his mother's house. His mother apparently learned details that her son may have had some involvement, may have been involved in the shooting. Picks up the phone, called the Harris County sheriff's deputies. They come over. They question him, then take him into custody. Police believe they have their man, guys.

PAUL: Wow. Here's the video.

BLACKWELL: Here's the video outside the house of that arrest this morning. You can see that the community, that neighborhood flooded with sheriff's deputies as one of their own taken down. That's the red truck or a red truck. We know there was a red truck, a still from surveillance that was supplied overnight as they were looking for this man.

Nick, I want to come back to you. As we learn more about what happened here, the sheriff says unprovoked, no warning, apparently for no reason. But it seems that there was some passion behind this, the idea that you go up to him, and continue to shoot.

[10:05:12] VALENCIA: And you were having that conversation earlier with Tom Fuentes, just the manner in which this was done. Witnesses say that the first shots were fired, came from behind. This deputy seemingly had no idea the alleged gunman was there.

And then the ruthless nature to stand over the deputy and continue to open fire on the deputy, a man who has a wife, two children, a 10 year veteran of the force. You're looking at overnight video from the gas station where it happened. But this deputy that you're looking at now, Darren Goforth, shot execution style, ambushed while pumping his gas. He was in uniform guys. He had the patrol car. He was refueling it after investigating an accident.

Again, as you heard in that report, investigators are looking to see if there's any connection between the accident 30 minutes before the shooting and this incident at the gas station. But we were reporting earlier, KTRK saying that this suspect was taken into custody at his mother's house about 2:30 a.m. this morning. We didn't get details from Texas DPS. All we know right now is they are calling this person a person of interest. You're looking now at this red pickup truck. A similar car was spotted leaving the scene of the crime. So you're looking at video outside this home where this person of interest was said to have taken into custody.

BLACKWELL: All right, Nick Valencia staying on top of this for us. Thank you, Nick.

VALENCIA: Thanks, guys.

PAUL: Thanks, Nick.

We want to go to Egypt now where this morning three Al Jazeera journalists were sentenced to three years in prison. Here they are. They were charged with aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now considered a terrorist organization in Egypt. Al Jazeera is calling it heavily publicized and unfair trial process. One of the journalists, Peter Greste, was freed earlier this year. He was sentenced in absentia. And he spoke to us from Sydney Australia just a little bit ago. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER GRESTE, AL JAZEERA JOURNALIST, SENTENCED TO PRISON BY EGYPTIAN COURT: There is a possibility for appeal to Egypt's the highest court that's available to my colleagues in particular. But there is also the possibility of a pardon from the president. President Sisi has said in the past that if it comes to conviction then he is prepared to grant pardons to everyone involved.

Now, the fact is that people around the world have been watching this case very closely to see just what Egypt's commitment to principles like the rule of law, due process, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and so on. And what we are seeing is a grave injustice and a grave failure of commitment to those very principles. And so President Sisi has now an opportunity to correct that injustice, to make it plain that Egypt does have respect for those principles. We hope he will do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And Australia's foreign minister has said they're dismayed at the decision of the Egyptian court.

We're also following breaking news out of Bangkok, new video coming into CNN we want to show with you. This is our first glimpse of the man arrested in connection with that deadly bombing at a popular shrine two weeks ago. That's that brief look there that you get of him. He has some sort of cover over his head, wearing a yellow shirt.

BLACKWELL: That man being taken into custody because of his alleged connection to that bombing there. It left 20 people dead almost two weeks ago and 120 others injured. Local authorities say the man is linked to the network that planned that attack.

PAUL: Saima Mohsin is following this story from Bangkok. She joins us live. Saima, what do we know about the suspect that they do have? Saima, can you hear us? These are pictures --

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, can you hear me?

PAUL: Go ahead, yes. Saima, we have you now. And we are looking at this picture of this man in a yellow shirt. What can you tell us about the man they have in custody?

MOHSIN: Yes. Well, right now, they are questioning him. They took him in a heavy police and military convoy. He is clearly an important suspect in all of this. Now, they say he is connected to the bombings but not the main suspect. Originally they thought he was a Kurdish national, but then they found a pile of fake passports, dozens and dozens of them from what I could see, most of them Turkish. They have also been sifting through his apartment and hauling evidence throughout the day, including ball bearing, everything. They are stripping the apartment down, even furniture being removed, too.

PAUL: You mentioned passports and ball bearings that were found in that apartment. Obviously they are searching for the main suspect. What do you know about the investigation, and do they have a radar on anyone else?

[10:10:05] MOHSIN: They are really, seem to be grabbing in the dark in this investigation. They have had no leads. I think that is why they were quick to say they have their man, they have the main suspect initially when they spoke to CNN. They are very anxious because they are not getting any leads. They haven't had any claim of responsibility yet. Any major terrorist group would always claim responsibility. They want that feeling of authority.

Now, without any claim of responsibility and without the rest of this, now this is the biggest lead so far. This man that potentially could be tied to the bomb making factory that led to that attack. But this man could well reveal more details, crucial details to lead to a wider network. Christi?

PAUL: All right, Saima Mohsin, appreciate the update this morning. Thank you so much.

You know, it is hard to believe it has been 10 years.

BLACKWELL: Ten years.

PAUL: That we have seen these pictures, that we remember the images and the screams and these little faces of children who were separated from their families after hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf coast. Well, today from the big easy all the way to Mississippi, people are coming together to give thanks to people who worked to save lives and to those who helped rebuild them.

BLACKWELL: And coming off a major event in Massachusetts last night, Donald Trump brings his campaign back to the south, this time Nashville.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:01] PAUL: We are tracking two major storms that could affect the U.S. First of all, hurricane Ignacio is expected to directly impact Hawaii tomorrow night. We know that hurricane is packing winds up to 90 miles per hour, and it's expected to get stronger, up to 105 miles per hours over the next 24 to 48 hours.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about Erika now, no longer a tropical storm. But before it lost steam, the storm killed 20 people, dumped a foot of rain in less than 10 hours on this tiny Caribbean island of Dominica, causing mudslides, washing away homes and roads away. Erika is now headed to Florida.

OK, but let's talk about this. Erika has weakened. But what does this mean for Florida Governor Rick Scott and this state of emergency? Let's go to meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Allison, we have to remind people these classifications -- tropical storms, categories one to five refer to winds only. This can still dump a lot of rain.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, METEOROLOGIST: I was going to say, yes, just because it's not necessarily a tropical storm anymore, you can scale back your worry some, but you're still not to let the guard down completely, because, yes, the flooding threat still is there.

Here is a lot at the remnants of Erika. And, again, on radar it really doesn't look impressive anymore. However, in some of those areas of convection, it's still dropping significant amounts of rain. So again, we want to keep an eye as it continues its way up towards the north and west.

Here's a lot at the forecast rainfall amounts. Again, most areas of the western coast of Florida are expected still to pick up three to five inches of rain. However, in some of those embedded thunderstorms, we could see an excess of five to six inches. So, again, keep in mind it is also in short timespans. They get all of this in 24 hours. So yes, the threat for flooding rains and even some mudslides are still very likely with this storm, even if it no longer gets back to tropical storm strength. And again, you can see the radar, it is still expected to slide into parts of Florida starting Monday, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

(SINGING)

PAUL: Right now, there's a memorial under way in Saint Bernard Parish paying tribute not only to people who died, the emergency workers who responded, but to that region. If you think about it, it has been 10 years ago today that hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf coast. It devastated so many areas there, including New Orleans, as you know. It destroyed people's lives, it ruined businesses, it wrecked buildings. And you cannot can't forget these images.

BLACKWELL: Some of them are just emblazoned on your heart, really, when you think about some of the things we saw and heard. And the city, though, has made progress since then. The resilience of the people has made that possible.

Let's bring in CNN National Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Suzanne, there's a lot happening today as people in small ways and large events are thinking back 10 years ago, and, along that path, how they have been able to rebuild.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to both of you. I mean, such a touching, moving moment when you see her singing there. That is just part of one of the many things taking place in this city today. There is a replaying and a memorial, a prayer service for at least 80 people who are unidentified who died in those flood waters and were never identified. That is how hard and tough it was when we remember 10 years ago people, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, bodies floating in the water. I mean, that was the level of incompetence that we saw from the federal, state, and local officials to this community.

There's a sense today there's a resilience in this community, that there has been some progress that has made. There's a brand new levee system. There's a brand new hospital. And there's also a new school system that is in place now. It is quite frankly a grand experiment at this moment so see if it's going to work. But a lot of people think that at least it is a beginning to helping children, the next generation of this city. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: First day of school at New Orleans Bricolage Academy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yay, first grade. Did you have a great summer?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hug, high five. Hug, I'll take it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you looking forward to the most?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Math.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Awesome. Love that.

MALVEAUX: Now in its third year, Bricolage is already one of the most sought after charter schools in the city.

DEBRA STEVENSON, BRICOLAGE PARENT: When I drop my babies off, I leave with peace of mind because I know they're going to be taken care of.

MALVEAUX: Debra Stevenson has already seen remarkable change in her two granddaughters, Journey and Sky.

STEVENSON: Last year Journey won top reader award. Sky is a wonder woman. She can do anything. She tries because they give them that courage.

[10:20:04] MALVEAUX: For Melissa Beese, innovation and creative is what her son Tristan need.

MELISSA BEESE, BRICOLAGE PARENT: I am thrilled that we were able to could choose the school that would be tailored to my child.

MALVEAUX: Josh Denson, founder and CEO of Bricolage, says the student body is 50/50 black and white from both affluent and disadvantaged families.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe that bringing kids together from diverse backgrounds is a great way to increase equity, to increase empathy, and to catalyze creativity.

MALVEAUX: When hurricane Katrina hit in August of 2005, the public schools in New Orleans were considered among the worst in the country. The storm damaged and destroyed most of those schools, including ones like this, abandoned for 10 years.

The state of Louisiana seized more than 100 schools, fired about 7,500 teachers, and turned the buildings over to independent school operators, or charters. DEIDRE JOHNSON BURELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ORLEANS PUBLIC EDUCATION

NETWORK: There was a narrative that was created that somehow everything and everyone here was broken.

MALVEAUX: But some community leaders say this experiment has destroyed community schooling and has disproportionately benefitted whites over blacks.

ANITRA BROWN, MANAGING EDITOR, "NEW ORLEANS TRIBUNE": This brand of reform that has been employed in New Orleans and then touted across the nation as some kind of miracle is simply not working.

MALVEAUX: But a study by Tulane University shows under the charter school system student achievement is up, with 63 percent of students passing state assessment tests in 2014, a 30 percent increase since 2005. And graduation rates are up from 56 percent to 73 percent.

Initially charter schools were able to recruit the most desirable students. Now parents can write school choices and go through a centralized lottery process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no influence over who attends Bricolage Hall.

MALVEAUX: Parents say when a spot unexpectedly opens up at a good school, they run.

THERESA FIELDS, BRICOLAGE PARENT: When we got in, there were two spots left. I said thank you, Lord. This is for my baby.

MALVEAUX: But some students do not get any of their choices, leaving some parents to question whether the program really works.

JANE KATNER, BRICOLAGE PARENT: I don't know that we're succeeding necessarily and that the same quality education is available for everyone.

MALVEAUX: Ten years now after the storm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have gone from a school district that was an F to a district that's about a C level.

MALVEAUX: New Orleans is still trying and won't stop until they get that A.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Of course they are still trying, and this battle over the education reform system in the city continues. Those 7,500 teachers, the fired public teachers that I mentioned, they are now taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court for they believe wrongfully being terminated there. There are a lot of people who want to be a part of this revitalization, and that is a part of something that they are doing as well. Victor, Christi?

BLACKWELL: It's good to see the city coming back. But as you acknowledged, there's still a distance to go. Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning, thank you so much.

And tonight, CNN's Anderson Cooper returns to the Gulf coast for a CNN special report, "Katrina, The Storm that Never Stopped." You can see it here on CNN at 7:00 p.m. eastern.

Donald Trump has two new targets -- Anthony Weiner and his wife, aide to Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin. We'll tell you what the GOP frontrunner is accusing Hillary Clinton's top aide of doing.

Plus we're live in Virginia with the latest on the condition of the sole survivor of the shooting on live television, Vicki Gardner. We will get to the very latest in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:26:59] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We remember these two young people, Alison Parker news reporter, and Adam Ward videographer, cruelly taken from us too soon. Would you please join me now and reflect on their passing with a moment of silence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And they are standing there in silence. That is how they kicked off an emotional high school football game there in Roanoke, Virginia, just days after that local news team was shot and killed on live television. But look at all of those folks as they honor them.

Number seven for the station's channel number painted on the football field in memory of those victims, and the WDBJ produced their first live event, here it is, since two colleagues were killed. So a lot of emotion still there today.

And we're talking about the condition of Vicki Gardner. She is the one person who survived that horrific on air shooting. She was shot in the back and nearly killed as she was talking to Alison Parker and Adam Ward. CNN's Polo Sandoval is live in Roanoke. And I see behind you, Polo, people are still coming to give their respects there.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, it truly is incredible, three days since that shooting and there is still plenty of interest here in the community. So many people have been stopping by the studios here to show support, and now as we get word that really Vicki Gardner's condition continues to improve, we do know that her family continues to post updates online, because, as we mentioned, there's so much interest, as I step out of the shot here, these are folks stopping by leaving a flower, a note, or perhaps just lighting a candle. It really is a testament of the support from the entire Roanoke community and really from the entire country. People have been sending in their letters, sending in their well wishes, not only for the victims in this, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, but of course, as we mentioned there, Vicki Gardner. We are told her condition continues to be listed as good. She has undergone several surgeries, at least two of them. She did lose her right kidney as well as a portion of her colon. But

nonetheless, right now she is awake, she is talking, and she is really on that long but very steady path to recovery. We did hear from her husband who says obviously he is extremely proud of her and a tremendous display of courage and something that he hopes that the rest community can take in, Christi.

PAUL: Certainly do. Polo Sandoval, we appreciate it. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, we're going to talk about the presidential candidates now, including Donald Trump getting ready to take the stage. That's coming up at an event in just a of couple hours. But is his verbal attack of a former congressman and his wife going to resonate with the party?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who is Huma married to? One of the great sleazebags of our time, Anthony Weiner. Did you know that? She's married to Anthony Weiner. You know, the little bing, bing, bing.

(LAUGHTER)

[10:30:03] TRUMP: I love you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HICKMAN: I have been in law enforcement 45 years. I don't recall another incident this cold-blooded and cowardly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Update for you on the breaking news we have been following out of Texas this morning where a sheriff's deputy was shot and killed. Officials say Deputy Darren Goforth was pumping gas when someone came up behind him and opened fire, killing him instantly. Police say they now have a man in custody who they believe is the gunman. This is video from that arrest that happened just hours ago. The hunt for that killer was sparked by this surveillance image. There it is. Goforth, we know, was a 10 year veteran in the department. He has a wife and two children.

BLACKWELL: Right now there's an event happening in Nashville, Tennessee, where Donald Trump will speak to a pretty big crowd soon. This is coming after an event in Massachusetts. There was a sign out front that said, you know, make all checks payable to Donald J. Trump for president or bring cash, $100. But he says it wasn't a fundraiser. The GOP frontrunner is renewing his rhetoric on China and Japan and Mexico and adding to that line a top aide for Hillary Clinton. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:35:09] TRUMP: You look at trade pacts -- China eating our lunch, Japan like we're children, Mexico both in trade and at the border, what they're doing to us is terrible.

And I have great respect for China, for Japan. I love the people. I love the people of Mexico. I love Hispanics. Nobody, nobody loves Hispanics like I do. I probably have more than almost anybody working for me.

We have some low energy people, they're really low. I'm not going to say Jeb is low energy, but he's pretty low. Who would you rather have negotiate with Iran, Trump or Jeb?

CROWD: Trump!

TRUMP: How about this -- Trump or Hillary?

CROWD: Trump!

TRUMP: Who is Huma married to? One of the great sleazebags of our time, Anthony Weiner. Did you know that? She's married to Anthony Weiner, you know, the little bing, bing, bing.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: I love you very much. So think of it. So Huma is getting classified secrets. She's married to Anthony Weiner, who's a perv. No, he is!

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right, so Hillary Clinton's campaign responded to that with this. "Donald Trump has spent the summer saying offensive things about women, but there's no place for patently false personal attacks towards a staff member. He should be ashamed of himself and others in his own party should take a moment to stand up to him and draw the line for once. It's embarrassing to watch, frankly."

All right, so let's talk about this with CNN Politics executive editor Mark Preston. Mark, why go after Huma Abedin? What does this get him?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, I mean, certainly it's an attack line that's going to work with supporters that are backing Donald Trump at this time.

Look, nobody knows who Huma Abedin is except those that are in the political landscape. By in doing so, in tying her to her husband who of course had that terrible scandal where he had to leave Congress because of his sexting with women across the country, it allows Donald Trump to put a new line of attack on the Clintons, and certainly folks who don't like the Clintons are going to eat it up. BLACKWELL: Trump also made some news this week when he talked about

economic policy, saying that he would tax the rich more and middle class less in a way, if you talk about it gets into hedge funds and carried interest. But is that going to work for his supporters, raising taxes on anybody?

PRESTON: You know who it works for, it certainly works for blue collar Democrats who tend to be a little bit more conservative. We would call them Reagan Republicans, so to speak, particularly in the Midwest, folks who are frustrated by where the economy is going, maybe not so happy with the way Barack Obama has been leading the country.

But when you have somebody who certainly is in the one percent, or certainly in the 0.1 percent class, talking in such a populist theme, it plays into his narrative of being an anti-establishment politician and somebody who is willing to try to shake things up, or at least he says for the good of everybody.

BLACKWELL: Mark, 10 seconds. The significance of this audience in Nashville today?

PRESTON: OK, so what this is, this is an organization, a national organization that has been around since basically the '30s but nationally since the '90s. This is basically the Tea Party before there was the Tea Party. These are the kind of folks right now that are backing the Donald Trump candidacy.

BLACKWELL: Mark Preston, thanks so much.

PRESTON: Thanks.

PAUL: And you know the Democratic candidates are busy today as well. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley all have events. It's the person that has not announced yet, though, that people are talking about, Vice President Joe Biden of course. And we're also going to take you live to Hungary where officials made arrests now in connection with a horrifying discovery in Austria.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:43:00] BLACKWELL: All right, the Democratic National Committee meetings that are going on, they have made some headlines. Certainly we heard from Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley speaking at the event. Joining us to talk about it is CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein. Ron, welcome back.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST (via telephone): Good morning, from Des Moines.

BLACKWELL: Good morning. From Des Moines, hello. So Clinton is struggling in this latest Quinnipiac poll. Favorability is down, a record low. Honest and trustworthy down, record low. Let's put up the word cloud that we saw. Top responses from people when they're asked what comes to mind when you think of Clinton, "liar," 178 people said that. And 123 said "dishonest," "untrustworthy." And then "experienced" came in and "strong: to round out the top five. Despite that, she had a pretty strong showing at this meeting.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, look, if you look through that Quinnipiac poll, Victor, they measured the leaders in both parties on five dimensions -- honesty, strong leadership, temperament in a crisis, cares about people like me, and ability to deal with the problems of women. Among Democrats, she scored overwhelmingly well on four of them, I mean, really high, 85 percent plus, well ahead of Joe Biden on most of them. But there is that big Achilles heel, which is the questions about her honesty and integrity that have been enflamed by the e-mail controversy. Even among Democrats her number was down to 64 percent.

Now, historically that by itself has not been fatal. As I often point out, in the reelection of Bill Clinton, when he was reelected in 1996, on the day he was reelected a majority of people in the exit poll said they did not consider him honest and trustworthy.

But having said that, it's clear that the e-mail scandal and controversy is weighing her down, and I think that's why you saw a different tone from her this week for the first time when she kind of said it might not have been the best decision.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about Joe Biden, the vice president who did not attend the meeting. But representatives of the Draft Biden campaign were there, asking people to keep an open mind. Is there any indication people are keeping an open mind, waiting for Joe Biden to get into this race?

[10:45:10] BROWNSTEIN: I think people are keeping an open mind. And I think that the open mind has more to do with Hillary Clinton than Joe Biden. I mean, there are reasons why Joe Biden did not move to enter the race initially. He is beloved as vice president. He was a very successful senator. But he would be older than Ronald Reagan on inaugural day in 2017, and he ran for president twice before without having a great impact.

So I think his course in the race is determined more by what happens to Hillary Clinton than it does by what happened to Joe Biden. And so keeping an open mind is the precise message, precisely right message, because I think Democrats' attitude toward a Biden candidacy will be shaped by a large extent what happens to Hillary Clinton over the coming weeks, particularly over this e-mail controversy.

BLACKWELL: I want to play something that former governor Martin O'Malley said and then talk about it. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN O'MALLEY, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Think about it. The Republicans stand before the nation. They malign our president's record of achievement. They denigrate women and immigrant families. They double down on trickle down, and they tell their false story. And we respond with crickets, tumbleweeds, a cynical move to delay and limit our own party debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: So after this, there's a moment in which he goes up

to try to shake the hand of the DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, in which he went to try to I believe hug her, and she firmly shook his hand and said "Thanks for coming." How is that being received, this O'Malley call for more debates? One party said "We're the Democratic Party, not the un-Democratic Party." What's the reception?

BROWNSTEIN: We're seeing a forum on immigration about two-and-a-half hours north of here. Look, I think that the Democratic National Committee by and large like most of the Democrats expected this to be a fairly smooth path to the nomination for Hillary Clinton and did not go out of their way to open the door or create platforms for alternative candidate. And I think the Democratic candidates do have a legitimate beef that there is a very limited four debates before the first four states vote. It really isn't very much at all.

Now they are dealing with a different circumstance, and there's question about whether she can put to bed, put behind her this controversy about these e-mails has created a much more open field than anybody in the party expected a year ago, and they are kind of caught with a structure that's oriented more toward a coronation than a true contest.

BLACKWELL: All right, Ron Brownstein, we will continue to watch it develop. Thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

PAUL: Thousands of people frantically trying to escape a war-torn Syria have died in their attempt. And the possibility of death has not deterred them trying to cross the border. We're going live to Hungary where arrests have been made after 71 refugees were found dead inside a cargo truck in Austria. We're talking charges of human trafficking and even murder.

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[10:51:46] PAUL: It is just a horrifying story from near the Austria- Hungary border. Four suspects in a Hungarian court this morning arrested after 71 people, including three small children, were found dead in a truck abandoned on the side of the highway.

BLACKWELL: Officials believe they were refugees fleeing from war ravaged Syria, like these people camping in a Budapest railway station.

PAUL: CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon in Budapest at that railway station. Arwa, do investigators know yet how those 71 people died?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they believe that they suffocated to death. And one can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like. These people are so desperate that they are resorting to these criminal gangs and smugglers trying to carry them through the last leg of their journey, one that they surely believed would lead to the end of their misery, a beginning of a new life. And instead it led to the very thing so many of these people are fleeing from, and that is death in their homeland.

They do believe that they suffocated to death because the back of this cooler truck was found, according to Reuters, shut with wires, which means that those inside were not able to get away.

A lot of being questions asked why they were in the cooler truck to begin with, why not just take the train or the bus? The answer to that is they cannot. The crowd that is here at the Budapest train station all want to make their way to western Europe. Nobody wants to stay here living in these types of conditions, but they can't get on the train. Those who we spoke to who have tried, have bought train tickets, some have even managed to board, but then they have been removed because they don't have a passport or visa, and they're not being allowed to travel, something that they really can't comprehend because Germany has come out and said they it will host and take on hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers. And yet here in Hungary they're being prevented from leaving, which is why they're resorting increasingly to these smugglers and criminal gangs who most certainly do not have their best interest or their safety in mind.

PAUL: So Arwa, do they have any gauge, if they've arrested four people, how many others there might be trying to smuggle people? And what are the charges for those four?

DAMON: Well, at this stage we don't know if anyone else was directly involved in this particular smuggling and criminal ring. It does seem as if it spans across more than one country, and they will presumably, once they are charged and gone through the process, be charged with human trafficking.

But this is where it gets to be very complicated and what perhaps a lot of people don't understand. These criminal gangs, these smugglers right now are these people's only option to reach safety. So one cannot eliminate the networks and go after these networks because then these people turn to other ones, they'll turn to other individuals. They all got here pretty much through use of smugglers. They initially smuggled from Turkey to Greece and then moved onwards.

[10:55:00] They are the ones that are now vulnerable to these different smuggling organizations. So in all of this, yes, one needs to crackdown on the human trafficking and exploitation of the most vulnerable. But one can't do that without also providing them for an alternative means to reach western Europe.

PAUL: That's a good point, and that kind of desperation they're facing is just unfathomable. Thank you so much, Arwa Damon, for briging us this story.

We'll be back in a moment.

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PAUL: Please take a look at your screen, because London's Metropolitan Police are looking for this woman, Zahera Tariq, and those four kids. A family contacted authorities because they believe she left the city with her children Tuesday and was headed to Syria, so they're obviously very concerned. Police say there is no information suggesting yet that she has arrived in Syria.

BLACKWELL: A special taskforce is investigating possible sniper attacks on Michigan's freeways. Authorities say several drivers reported vehicles were hit by something, they didn't know what then. But deputies say the damages in some cases were consistent with firearms, bullets. The attacks happened on I-94 and I-69, between Battle Creek, Michigan, and the Indiana border. So far good news -- no injuries have been reported.

PAUL: We are always so grateful for your company. We hope you make some great memories today.

BLACKWELL: There's a lot more news in the next hour of NEWSROOM. But for that, you have to see Fredricka Whitfield, because we're done.

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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Don't put it like that. You're never done.