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Charges Brought Against Bowe Bergdahl; Donald Trump Fails to Challenge Claim Obama is Muslim; Croatia Closes Its Borders; Clinton to Talk College Affordability in New Hampshire; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired September 18, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:02] COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: That's right. That's right, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. OK. So speaking of kiss cam --

WIRE: Oh, this is great.

COSTELLO: I can't even say this.

(LAUGHTER)

WIRE: It's great.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's so cute.

WIRE: Yes, former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn, they're caught doing the kiss cam at a Braves game last night. It was a spectacular scene. And the crowd went wild. Not bad for 90 years old, Carol. He's still got it.

And, Carol, while I have you here, love is in the air on this feel- good Friday.

COSTELLO: It is.

WIRE: So -- just need to know, my fair lady, with all due respect to Mr. Carol Costello, shall we?

COSTELLO: Yes. Where are --

WIRE: Yes. My weekend is made. My weekend is made. You're the best.

COSTELLO: I hope my -- thanks. If that excited you, you're a good man, Coy Wire. The next hour of --

WIRE: Happy Friday.

COSTELLO: You, too.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Any minute now we're expecting Bowe Bergdahl, the American soldier,

who spent more than five years in Taliban captivity, to appear with his legal team at a preliminary hearing in Texas. Bergdahl is accused of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Fellow soldiers say Bergdahl willingly left his base back in 2009. The big question, will Bergdahl testify today? And what are the next steps now that he's been officially charged?

His release sparked controversy last year. Who can forget these dramatic pictures out of eastern Afghanistan? U.S. Special Forces, in a dangerous mission, facing off with 18 armed Taliban members, and then Bergdahl, looking thin and out of it, walking into American hands and eventually back onto American soil.

With me now, CNN's Martin Savidge. He's at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio where that hearing is just about to get under way.

Good morning, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yesterday the defense seemed to be tipping their hand as how they may go forward in this case. When they started talking about what they say were psychological problems that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl had, and this preceded his time in the army. They say that he was washed out of the U.S. Coast Guard as a result of those problems.

And in fact they asked a number of his former commanders when they were on the stand, whether they were aware, did the army let them know that Bowe Bergdahl had these mental issues, through which the commander said, no, they weren't aware.

Something else that the defense has brought up over and over is , they want the army to make public the 371-page statement that Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl made to investigators shortly after he was freed from captivity. So far the army hasn't done that, much to the frustration of attorneys. Listen to what they say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EUGENE FIDELL, ATTORNEY FOR SGT. BOWE BERGDAHL: I mean, what -- what is wrong with this picture? Why can't come that come out? Why can't the army release that document? Then we wouldn't have to be having the sort of shadow boxing about what Sergeant Bergdahl said and what he didn't say and everybody, you know, sort of guessing. They could get it from the horse's mouth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: And they may yet get it from the horse's mouth. At least that's some of the speculation here is that the defense has four witnesses they will call today. Some have suggested that one of them might be Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And that will be fascinating if that actually happens because there was very interesting testimony detailing why Bergdahl left base in the first place inside that court. Tell us about that. SAVIDGE: Well, this goes back to that psychological issue that the

defense brought up very early. It's clear that they're indicating that the mindset of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the same problems that apparently got him out of the Coast Guard, haunted him even as he was in Afghanistan and that somehow that led into his reasoning to walk off post, hence, why he was charged with desertion.

But the other more serious charge he faces is this misbehavior before the enemy. In other words, that he was endangering a command or a unit or a place. And the prosecution hammered on that yesterday, saying that as a result of him going off post, there were thousands of American soldiers that were forced to go look for him in sometimes dangerous and highly hazardous conditions.

And that other military installations were left with skeleton crews to guard them, so they were in jeopardy as well. That potentially could get him life in prison. But again, this is just a hearing. We're not to a court-martial just yet -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Martin Savidge, thanks so much. I appreciate it. With me now to talk more about this, former Marine Corps JAG attorney, Gary Solace, he's also a former military judge. Welcome, sir.

GARY SOLIS, FORMER MARINE CORPS JAG ATTORNEY: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Do you think Bowe Bergdahl will take the stand?

SOLIS: It's hard to say. I didn't think that Gene Fidell was even going to put on the case that he did yesterday. But if it were my decision, I would say no. He would not go on the stand and that's not because of what he might say on direct examination but the cross- examination to which he might be subjected. I think that his psychological state is not such that I would want him on the stand under a hard cross.

[10:05:14] COSTELLO: So you believe he's suffering from some sort of psychiatric disorder?

SOLIS: Well, I think so. I think the fact that he couldn't make it to Coast Guard basic training, the fact that he deserted his post at all is suggestive to my mind that he's not the strongest -- in the strongest psychological state.

COSTELLO: Well, right, because in testimony yesterday, it came out that before Bergdahl left his base, he left his gun and belongings behind, he mailed his laptop home and his Kindle, he tried to have his paycheck sent to a relative. Is that enough to refute the defense's mental defect claim, though?

SOLIS: Not in and of itself. But he will be examined, of course, by psychiatrists to substantiate the defense of insanity which appears to be a primary thrust of the defense. But those factors are factors which go far to prove desertion, so it's a two-edged sword. But of course, if he's found to be insane or not responsible, then, of course, it's a moot question and he will be found not guilty by reason of insanity or mental defect. So it remains to be scene.

COSTELLO: Is it possible, Gary, for Bowe Bergdahl to get a fair hearing?

SOLIS: I think it's as possible for him to get a fair hearing as it is for anybody else in any court to get a fair hearing. I mean, the deck is always stacked against the accused in a certain respect in any court. And it's true in a court-martial just the same as it is in a civilian trial. That is you have the power of the state against the individual. But yes, I think it is fair. I think that courts-martial are, despite what I know many civilians believe, I think the courts- martial are inherently fair.

COSTELLO: Well, tell us why because, you know, we --

SOLIS: Well, because --

COSTELLO: We get our knowledge from television shows, which you're right, don't show them as particularly fair.

(LAUGHTER)

SOLIS: That's true. I mean, they're an easy whipping boy. It's true because, first of all, they have the federal code, I mean, the Uniform Code of Military Justice is essentially a federal criminal code. They have educated jurors. Every officer is a college graduate. Not every officer but 99 percent of all officers are college graduates, and they are trained, whether they be officers or NCOs, on the panels, on the juries of the military, to obey instructions.

And those instructions are given by a military judge, who tells the jurors what the law is and what they must be satisfied, beyond a reasonable doubt, before they can convict an individual of any given crime. So the quality of the jurors, the inherent fairness of judges, of course I would say that, I was a judge. The ability of the requirement that jurors follow instructions combine to make for what I consider to be a fair trial.

COSTELLO: All right. Gary Solis, thank you so much for your insight. We appreciate it.

And make sure you stay with us because later this hour former Army sergeant who served with Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan will join me live.

Donald Trump's mouth has caused him some problems on the campaign trail. Today it's his silence that's creating an uproar. You're about to hear a hate-filled rant from a supporter and Trump who seemingly never at a loss for words does not push back. He's part of that exchange from a rally in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: Problem in this country. It is called Muslims. We know our current president is one.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: You know he's not even an American.

TRUMP: We need this question --

UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP SUPPORTER: Birth certificate, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joe Johns, CNN senior Washington correspondent, he joins us now with more. Good morning.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, this was in New Hampshire when Trump was taking questions. A member of the audience started wading into long resolved issues about the president's nationality, his religion and suggested the need to get rid of Muslims. In the middle of it Trump said, we need this question, and he did not challenge the man who was speaking.

It conjured up memories of the time in 2011 when Trump himself was questioning President Obama's nationality and demanding the president's birth certificate, which the president eventually released publicly. The Trump campaign said he didn't hear the question and also said that the media want to make this an issue about Obama but it's really about him waging war on Christianity.

Now there has been a template for handling moments like that on the campaign trail. Often involves correcting the record. John McCain dealt with it in 2008 and here's how he handled it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't trust Obama. I have read about him and he's not -- he's not, he's a -- he's an Arab. He is not --

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, ma'am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No?

MCCAIN: No, ma'am. No, ma'am. He's a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that's what this campaign is all about. He's not. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:10:14] JOHNS: Now Democrats have been on the attack over Trump's handling of that moment. Hillary Clinton tweeting that not denouncing false statements about the president and hateful rhetoric about Muslims is disturbing, and wrong, cut it out. And the chair of the Democratic National Committee called Trump's comments at the rally horrendous but unsurprising -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Joe Johns reporting live for us this morning.

Also, one of Trump's Republican rivals was quick to respond to this latest criticism on the frontrunner. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says he would not have ignored that supporter's false claims. Here's what he said on NBC's "Today."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's got to decide what he would do for himself but I would just tell you that if somebody at one my town hall meetings said something like that, I would correct them. I'd say, no, the president is a Christian and he was born in this country. I mean, those two things are self-evident.

MATT LAUER, HOST, "TODAY" SHOW: Do you think it would be right for Mr. Trump to apologize to Muslims this morning?

CHRISTIE: Well, listen, I think Donald Trump has got to decide, as we've seen. I've said this all along. He has to decide how serious a candidate he wants to be and how he handles different problems like this are going to determine that in the eyes of the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Christie says Trump had an obligation to correct that supporter. And he says, Trump now has to decide how seriously he wants Americans to view him as a candidate.

We have an eye on the markets for you. Just a day after the Fed decided not to raise interest rates stocks are taking a tumble. Look at that. The Dow down more than 200 points right now. We're going to keep an eye on this for you. Don't worry, although maybe you don't want to look at it at all.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, overwhelmed and under siege from a rising flood of refugees. Another country closes its borders as the crisis in Europe escalates.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:16:16] COSTELLO: All right. In northern France a reminder of just how desperate that refugee crisis has become. Police in (INAUDIBLE) say a young Syrian, probably around 20 years old, was electrocuted as he tried to stow away on a freight shuttle entering the tunnel and headed to England. And so far this year nearly half a million refugees across the Mediterranean Sea and flooded across Europe.

Right now take a look at these live pictures. These from the Hungarian-Croatian border where migrants are buses crossing into Hungary. Croatia, now the latest country to close its borders saying it's just simply overwhelmed, struggling to help those languishing there.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is along Croatia's border with Serbia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hundreds of people are lined up in the burning heat of the afternoon here as they wait to board buses provided by the Croatian government to take them away from this town on the Serbian-Croatian border to the capital Zagreb and elsewhere where they've been told they'll be provided with shelter, food, and water. All three things which are in dire short supply here.

Most of the people have been here overnight, if not two nights, sleeping in the rough. There are no public toilets, no public showers. Very little in the way of anything provided for them. And in fact, local shopkeepers are telling us that they've run out of bottled water. It's all been bought up by the refugees.

Now as they wait for these buses to come, they come occasionally. They have a capacity for, perhaps, 50 to 75 people. They're sitting out in the heat. And I spoke to one woman who had fainted because of this heat, was taken away by medics. While she was away, her 6-year- old son was boarded on a bus and driven away. She doesn't have any idea where he may be.

Also, there are others who say that as a result of this journey, which has already been expensive and difficult and much more -- much longer than they anticipated, they've run out of resources. They've run out of money. And this is the problem. This is a journey that's difficult as it is. But with this situation where one country after another in Europe closes its borders, Hungary has closed its borders, now Croatia has closed its borders. They find themselves moving from place to place, with no indication if they will ever reach their final destinations.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN on the Serbian-Croatian border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, did mental illness drive Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl to desert his unit in -- in Afghanistan, rather? I'll talk to someone next to someone who served with Bergdahl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:23:18] COSTELLO: The escalating cost of college and making it more affordable for all Americans, that's in focus for Hillary Clinton today as she extends her swing through the critical state of New Hampshire. Clinton said to lay out her plan while there and she spoke to CNN about the current controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood and her Republican rivals vowing to defund the organization.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If it's the services that they are trying to shut down like providing family planning or breast cancer screenings, that is just wrong and women deserve to be given support to get those services provided. If they want to shut down the legal provision of abortion services, then they've got a bigger problem because, obviously, they -- Planned Parenthood does not use federal dollars to do that.

And if they are more focused on the research that is going on, then that's a set of issues that certainly is not only about Planned Parenthood. So I would hope that the Republicans, and particularly the Republicans in the House, led by Speaker Boehner, would not put our country and our economy in peril, pursuing some kind of emotionally, politically charged partisan attack on Planned Parenthood to shut our government down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joining me now from New Hampshire, CNN national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, and here in New York, Christine Romans.

Suzanne, I want to start with you. Tell us more about Hillary Clinton's speech today.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, she's going to talk about the Planned Parenthood controversy. This is something that the team actually welcomes here because she believes that she will attract and it will resonate her message with young women, with millenials, with new voters, independents and moderates. Those are at the folks that she needs.

[10:25:09] Carol, we are at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. And this is where she's primarily going to be talking about her education plan. It's called the New College Compact. It's very popular among the progressive wing of the Democratic Party to talk about tuition-free education here.

She has a plan. She's going to roll out this plan. She's talked about it before, but she wants to generate enthusiasm from this crowd, where she's going to provide at least $350 billion over a 10-year period to states that will support and pay for the tuition for the students. Those state four-year universities and colleges. Where are they going to get that money from the states? They would get it from the federal government, from federal government grants.

Now here is the catch, Carol, this is what critics will say is how are you going to pay for this? In part, this plan requires that high income earners who file their taxes at tax time, that they would be limited in terms of the deductions may apply and say, you know, I'm giving to charities. What they would get back from those contributions to those charities. That is something that has to be approved by Congress, and that is far from certain.

This president has learned that the hard way. And that's what the critics are going to say here. Great idea, great plan. Really don't know if this is something that you're going to be able to deliver -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And I bet the federal institutions across America are happy to hear that, that that's how she's going to raise the money for paying for college tuition.

All right, Suzanne --

MALVEAUX: Well, you know, I mean -- COSTELLO: No. Go ahead.

MALVEAUX: It's one of those things, too, that her rivals, her opponents, also have their own plans. I think Christine has the details on those because they go even further, the European model that Bernie Sanders uses and Martin O'Malley also calling for the same thing. But they're all competing to see who can pay the most and essentially make it easiest for these young millennial voters who they eagerly need their support.

COSTELLO: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, many thanks.

So, Christine Romans, we turn to you. So who has the best plan?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's talk about Bernie Sanders, he has the boldest I think when you talk about what he wants to give. And I mean, that would be basically free public school college education paid for by a tax on high-frequency traders, so it goes right to the heart of what progressives and liberals want to see. They want to tax Wall Street to pay for main street to be able to go to college. But this idea of debt-free public school tuition is really resonating, being pushed by the progressives.

You have Martin O'Malley talking about, you know, making sure that you can refinance student loans at lower rates. Actually Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley all want to be able to refinance at these lower rates. Even people who currently have loans.

And you know, Carol, what strikes me about this political season is so many of the candidates have personal experience with their own student loan debt. Martin O'Malley borrowed in parent PLUS loan some $300,000 to send his two oldest daughters to college. You know, Barack Obama and his wife, the first lady, they have many times said that even I think eight years before they were elected to the White House they still were paying off student loans. Marco Rubio had $150,000 in student loans when he was elected to the state legislature.

And here's why. The sticker shock, average tuition for public university, $18,000, including room and board this year. $42,000 for private college. Now that's not taking -- that's college board members not taking into account, you know, financial aid and stuff. The other part here that, will it resonate really? Will it resonate? I mean, is this going to be a cornerstone of the Democratic --

COSTELLO: Well, before we get into that, I just want to put this in perspective.

ROMANS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Because we always talk about the students and the parents who have this massive debt. But the truth is that most students, you know, on average, have, what, $23,000, which are --

ROMANS: So two-thirds --

COSTELLO: Right. ROMANS: Yes. Two-thirds of students graduate with student loan debt.

That average is pushing closer to $30,000 right now. But $30,000 is payable over 10 years when you look at the kinds of salaries these kids are getting. So the student loan debt at $30,000 is manageable. That's not a crisis. The crisis is the kids who drop out after they've taken loans, the kids who are taking way too many loans. And the government has found a real crisis in the for-profit college industry where those kids are getting a degree in many cases they can't find a job and they've taken out too many loans.

COSTELLO: Right. So it's more complicated than we always thought. Right.

ROMANS: Absolutely. Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Christine Romans, many thanks. I appreciate it.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Mark your calendar. In just three weeks CNN and Facebook will host the first Democratic debates' debate on Tuesday, October 13th in Las Vegas.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

After more than five years in captivity, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl walked into American hands and almost immediately into controversy. These images hard to forget. This was the dramatic video from a dangerous rescue mission by U.S. Special Forces to free Bergdahl. Members of the military coming face to face with armed members of the Taliban near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The president praising the mission with Bergdahl's parents by his side.