Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Bombing Attack in Turkey Kills Dozens; Donald Trump Holds Rally in Georgia; GOP Encouraging Paul Ryan to Run for House Speakership; U.S. and Russian Officials Meet over Air Missions in Syria. Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired October 10, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:15] MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, thanks for joining me. I'm Martin Savidge. Fredericka Whitfield is off. Nice to be with you.

It's a very busy day in the race for 2016, and just three days from now will be the first democratic debate. Right now in Georgia, Republican Donald Trump just spoke to a crowd of thousands of supporters, and he spoke for more than an hour. The Democrat Bernie Sanders is preparing for a big rally in Boulder, Colorado. That'll be this afternoon. This after he was greeted by 13,000 supporters last night in Tucson, Arizona.

So we've got a team, well, a team's worth of coverage. CNN's M. J. Lee is outside Atlanta at the Trump event, and Sunlen Serfaty is in Boulder where Bernie Sanders is stumping. And Sunlen, let me start with you, because what are we going to expect from Sanders rally in two hours?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, today, Martin, for Bernie Sanders it's about creating momentum. The campaign is holding what they've taken to calling recently these mega rallies of Bernie Sanders that in large part has really defined the start of this campaign. I want to show you the line behind me that started to form well before the event, five hours before the event. You can see the line just going down the block.

And the campaign touting earlier in the week that they had to change the location of this even to accommodate what they hope will be about 10,000 potentially coming out here today. Certainly creating that energy and momentum is very important for the campaign to send Bernie Sanders into the debate stage on Tuesday with a lot of that energy, a wind behind his back, so to speak.

And what we've seen interestingly enough from the candidate himself in the days leading up to the debate is really tailoring his message, trying to align himself more with the Democratic base. We've seen him really trying to tweak his message on immigration, on gun control, really try to appeal to a broader spectrum of the Democratic Party. It also shows, Martin, that he's very aware of some hits that he might have to take on the debate stage against Hillary Clinton, Martin. SAVIDGE: And you mentioned what he's doing publicly to kind of prepare for the debate. What's he doing behind the scenes? How is he actually getting ready for it?

SERFATY: This is really interesting. Most candidates really stand at a mock podium and practice debating someone who would play their opponent, but not for Bernie Sanders. No, his campaign says he is not holding any mock debates. He is studying up. They say he's pouring over briefing books. He's been on the phone all week, they tell me, talking to policy experts. They're trying to make clear that Bernie Sanders wants a debate on the issues, that he's not going to get personal.

And I think we saw a small preview of that this morning, the Bernie Sanders campaign sending an e-mail out with a link to his 2002 floor speech in opposition to the Iraq war. This, they believe, the Sanders campaign believes it's a winning issue for them taking them into the debate. This is one we'll see because it divides Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq war. This is a vote she says she later regrets, but it's clear in this sort of preview hint that Bernie Sanders will bring that sort of message against Hillary Clinton.

SAVIDGE: Right. I think this is going to be a debate with some very strong substance matters. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you very much.

By the way, don't miss the first Democratic presidential debate. I have to say this. It is right here on CNN. It will be this Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. eastern time. And as you already heard, it is shaping up to be really a pretty fast showdown.

All right, let's get back to CNN's M. J. Lee. She's near Atlanta where Donald Trump just finished speaking at a campaign event. And M. J., there are some headlines today that he may be, and I'm talking about Donald Trump, working on some kind of exit strategy. I imagine he talked about that.

M. J. LEE, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, this was one of the most energetic conversation campaign rallies I've seen in a while. He just finished speaking to thousands of people that packed into this large event space in his debut event in the state of Georgia. And there were multiple applause lines. Probably the biggest applause line came when Donald Trump promised that as president he would repeal Obamacare. He also talked about the fact that there's been recent speculation, as you mentioned, that he may be looking for a way out, that maybe he's considering leaving the 2016 race. And he was adamant that this is not going to happen. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you ready? I love this. I love the people. I love the country. We're never ever getting out of this deal, OK, ever, ever.

(APPLAUSE) TRUMP: We're winning. We're going to take it to Cleveland where we have the convention. And after that we're going to beat Hillary or whoever it is so badly, so badly.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:05:00] LEE: And I also want to point out that before Trump took the stage he held a private meeting with a group of African-American pastors, and one of the people that attended this meeting was 2012 presidential candidate Herman Cain, so a little bit of a blast from the past. I got a chance to talk to him briefly, and he said that he would urge Donald Trump to really stick to substance, and that while Herman Cain is not endorsing anyone at the moment that Trump is one of the six candidates that he's really rooting for.

SAVIDGE: Interesting. And it's also interesting to hear Donald Trump pledge to Cleveland and beyond, as it were. Georgia, the fact that he appeared here actually does seem to imply that he's in it for the long haul, doesn't it?

LEE: Absolutely. As you know, Georgia is one of the many states that will participate in super Tuesday in March. So he is, in fact, you know, campaigning in places like Iowa and New Hampshire, but clearly wanting to make sure he's making inroads in a place like Georgia that competes a little bit later in the cycle. So this isn't just a sprint and you heard him say it himself, that he wants to go all the way to the convention.

SAVIDGE: All right, M. J. Lee, thank you very much for that.

We're moving on to events overseas, and we're following the developments out of Turkey at this hour. The Turkish prime minister says ISIS or other terrorist groups could be behind's deadly blast in Ankara. The death toll is at least 86 after an explosion at a peace rally in the heart of the country's capital. At least 186 others were injured, that according to the Turkish health ministry. The bombing was caught on video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(EXPLOSION)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: I don't even have to say it, that was a massive blast. And there were reportedly two. CNN's senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is in Ankara, Turkey. You're at the hospital where the wounded are being treated. And I'm wondering, what's happening there at this hour?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's fairly understandably, of course, somber out here, people still trying to come to terms with what took place in this inexplicable violence. These attacks carried out, the Turkish government is speculating, at this stage, importantly by two suicide bombers. Some of those gathered here are here because their loved ones are being treated inside.

Someone that people came out just a short while ago read out a name, a list of the names of the wounded who are here. Others have come to donate blood. Some are bringing food, tea, things like blankets. You heard from the Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu earlier in the day declaring three days of mourning, also saying that the intelligence apparatus have received information that suicide bombers would be trying to come from northern Iraq into Turkey, he said, adding, without going into too much detail, that the authorities had captured two suicide bombers, not exactly disclosing when this happened. But those two, one of them captured in Istanbul, the other in Ankara.

The issue with today's attack was at this rally where around 14,000 people had gathered when the blast took place at about 10:00 in the morning, this was meant to be a peace rally, and there wasn't necessarily a very intense security presence at the time. This is a country that has been grappling with terrorism, the government launching, targeting, trying to target not just ISIS over the last few months but also pretty intense clashes with the Kurdish separatists, the PKK.

And this rally was meant to be one for peace, peace between the government and the PKK. People don't want to see violence anymore. No one wants to have to go through what the nation went through today. But at this stage no claim of responsibility just yet, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Arwa Damon in Ankara, Turkey, there where they had a horrific terrorist attack. Thank you very much.

Next, a change of power on Capitol Hill. There is a very big push for Paul Ryan to run for house speaker. Is he the only one that could finally put an end to all of the infighting?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:13:10] SAVIDGE: I just pictured Paul Ryan. What's he doing, flipping a coin? How does he make this decision? Because everybody is waiting to hear what he will do, whether he will run for speaker of the House. Ryan has said that he doesn't want the job. But many in the GOP think he is the only man who can pull the party together and the only one who can get the votes to win. In fact, they're almost begging him to take the job.

However, John Boehner's support, and he's come out in support of him, may be Ryan's biggest problem. Earlier I spoke to Representative Walter Jones about that real dilemma.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. WALTER JONES, (R) NORTH CAROLINA: And we don't need John Boehner to pick his replacement. He tried to do that with Kevin McCarthy. He's somewhat behind this movement to bring Paul Ryan into replace him. Let the will of the conference, let the conference speak and choose the candidate. My candidate is Dan Webster from Florida. But there are other qualified candidates.

SAVIDGE: And you are a member, I should point out, of the liberty caucus, is that correct?

JONES: Yes, sir, right.

SAVIDGE: And so when you talk about Paul Ryan and you make reference to John Boehner and the similarities, I, too, thought the same thing, that there doesn't seem to be that much of a political divide between the two. And this seems to be what perhaps is going to be a point of contention if in fact Ryan does come and run.

JONES: Well, Martin, you're right. Let's take, for an example, a recent vote. The trade promotion authority, TPA, the majority of us who are conservative and even centrists types, we were opposed to that. And I saw that action on the floor when the rule to set up the debate on the TPA, trade promotional authority, and how they used the influence of the majority office and the speaker's office to encourage people not to vote for the rule which set up the debate on the TPA.

[14:15:02] And this is just going to be an extension of John Boehner's policies. And that's why you've got so much distrust out there and across this nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: In the meantime we are on political pins and needles waiting for some kind of answer. Joining me on the telephone CNN political analyst and "Daily Beast" editor in chief John Avlon. John, you've heard Congressman Walter Jones there. He's a member of the liberty caucus, and you've also members from the freedom caucus, which didn't get along with John Boehner at all. Would Ryan really have enough votes to win this?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, you know, Paul Ryan is in the unique position, Martin, of being the only guy who is not acceptable to all the warring factions of the modern GOP, the least offensive to the largest number of the warring factions of the GOP. He's a strong fiscal conservative. He checks the box on social issues. He's taken seriously by centrists and the donor class. And he's someone who is universally regarded as responsible.

The only problem is, as you know, it sounds like he'd rather spend times with his kid, which is an honorable personal function, rather than taking the reigns as speaker of the house. So he's been drafted unlike anything we've ever seen before. It's a true reluctant call to service. But he may be the only figure of stature, real stature, who can unite the fractured GOP at this point because otherwise this party's deep in civil war.

SAVIDGE: But those holdout groups that we've already mentioned, the liberty and freedom caucuses, they may not find him palatable enough to compromise.

AVLON: They may not. I think given how much disarray there is right now. You know, this is just a giant dumpster fire right now. And if this doesn't get put out pretty soon, the GOP's problems are only going to compound, financial, you know, and on down.

It's not so much that Paul Ryan or anyone can get universal support right now. That's not really the goal. It's can you clear the key numeric hurdles. And Kevin McCarthy looked at the field and realized he couldn't get that done. Even Jason Chaffetz who stepped up to support, to challenge McCarthy, basically said yesterday that he'd be willing to step aside if Ryan were to come in. So no, you're not going to get unanimous support, of course not. But he's the closest thing to a near consensus candidate you can get. Absent Ryan, watch out. It's going to get ugly and weirder.

SAVIDGE: Yes, and there's some very important votes to come up. Some have suggested that Paul Ryan could be a temporary fix. Do you buy into that?

AVLON: That is one of the scenarios that's being floated in this sort of aggressive courtship of Paul Ryan. Some folks saying, hey, just take the job through the 2016 election. Be a caretaker, get the big stuff done, you won't have to watch, you know, look over your shoulder all the time and worried about getting stabbed in the back and in quite the same way as ultimately exhausted John Boehner.

It's a funny sort of compromise. Here's the, you know, the third most powerful job in Washington by some counts. And nobody -- people who seem to want it, people don't seem to want them. And people who can do it, including the incumbent, want to get as far away as possible because they realize that mathematically the GOP right now is almost ungovernable. You've got 50 or so folks are much more interested in grandstanding. And Paul Ryan looks at that and says, is this a good trade for less time with my kids? But ultimately the question is, will he decide this is the right thing for not only his party but his country? That's a pretty compelling case, even if it is for a short time.

SAVIDGE: And John, I need this in one sentence. How quickly do you think it will be until we hear an answer?

AVLON: I think you're looking until the end of the month, at least.

SAVIDGE: OK. John Avlon, thank you very much, joining us on the telephone as we debate speaker of the House.

Well, the U.S. and Russia have concluded another set of discussions over Syria. We'll tell you what happened and why the Russians were eager to talk with the U.S., and it may not be over what you think.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:22:55] SAVIDGE: Don't know if you are aware, but the U.S. says it has just wrapped up another discussion with Russia. The meeting held today by secure video conference. The State Department issued a release saying that the talks lasted about 90 minutes and that progress was made. The two sides are trying to avoid a major catastrophe in the air over Syria.

Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry says that its air force carried out another 64 combat missions, and that's in just the last 24 hours. Hitting dozens of targets, it says, included an ISIS command center as well as training camps and ammunition depots.

I want to bring in former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty. Jill, it's wonderful to hear from you and see you. What do we know about today's meeting as far as the true discussion?

JILL DOUGHERTY, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, it is focused narrowly. In fact, that's a phrase that the Pentagon used. They are not doing anything to give any impression that they condone what the Russians are doing. But they do want make sure that there is not some sort of terrible catastrophe, crash, or collision in the skies over Syria. After all you have Russia carrying out these air attacks and then you also have the United States and the coalition, even Syria at the same time carrying out other attacks.

And, in fact, this week, the Pentagon said that U.S. pilots had to carry out what they call safe separation maneuvers to avoid coming too close to Russian -- some sort of Russian jet. Then you have, remember, the incursion by the Russian flights, Russian plane into Turkish air space, and then these reports about missiles going stray and crashing in Iran. So it could potentially be extremely dangerous, and that's why they're talking.

What they're talking about, Martin, is really, again, technical. They're talking about what language they should be discussing things in when these pilots talk to each other, and radio frequencies that they use for communication. They do say this is going to be another discussion in the near future. So -- try to avoid some sort of root problem.

[14:25:10] SAVIDGE: Yes. Your signal started to break up a little bit there, Jill, and that's sad because I just love having the opportunity to talk with you especially with your expertise. But thank you very much for joining us and I'm sure we'll continue to talk in the future

In the meantime, let's take a break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: An update on that bombing in Turkey. And unfortunately, the death toll is continuing to rise. Turkish medical officials now say at least 97 people, that's a new number, were killed and more than 400 injured in that blast. The explosion happened in the capital city on Ankara. It happened during this morning at a peace rally. Nobody's claimed responsibility for that attack, but Turkish prime minister says ISIS or other groups are behind the blast.

And let's take you live to Washington where crowds are gathering today to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March. The Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan called for the original march as a day of healing for the community, black community, that is, in 1995. Farrakhan says today's gathering has a theme of, quote, "Justice or else," unquote. Trayvon Martin's mother is among those who were attending the event. Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Martin Savidge.

[14:30:00] "Vital Signs" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts right now. I'll see you tomorrow.