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Democrats Face Off in First Debate; New Wave of Violence in Israel; Iran and Russia Sharing Syrian Airport; 2 Clinton Opponents End Up Helping Her; Checking Claims in Debate by Clinton, Sanders. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired October 14, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:22] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody, great to have you with us, I'm John Vause in Las Vegas, where the Democrats hoping to replace Barack Obama have just gone head to head.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Isha Sesay in Los Angeles. We're also following top stories from around the world including drastic new security measures that Israel is considering after days of deadly attacks.

NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

SESAY: For two and a half hours the Democratic candidates in the 2016 race for the White House faced off in Las Vegas. Five veteran politicians took the stage in the debate hosted by CNN, but most of the sparring was between frontrunner Hillary Clinton and her main rival Bernie Sanders.

John Vause is in Las Vegas and he joins me now live with more. John, what a night it has been.

VAUSE: Absolutely, Isha. You know, Hillary Clinton a familiar place. She's been in politics in this country for more than 25 years, a first lady, a senator, as well as secretary of state, a familiar face all around the world. So this debate was really an opportunity for her lesser known Democratic rivals to try and introduce themselves to American voters.

Former senator, Lincoln Chafee, well, he criticized Secretary Clinton for her 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq war when she was a senator. And like Chafee, former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, he's being far behind in the polls as well, he criticized Clinton for her call for a no-fly zone in Syria, saying it could cause a clash with Russian forces. And former senator Jim Webb, he spoke out on gun control saying Americans had the right to defend themselves.

Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders also sparred over gun control. But they did find common ground and it was all about Hillary Clinton's e-mails.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What Democratic socialism is about is saying that it is immoral and wrong that the top one-tenth of 1 percent in this country own almost 90 percent -- own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN DEBATE MODERATOR: Secretary Clinton, is Bernie Sanders tough enough on guns?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, not at all. I think that we have to look at the fact that we lose 90 people a day from gun violence. This has gone on too long and it's time the entire country stood up against the NRA.

I'll be there, I'll answer their questions, but tonight I want to talk not about my e-mails but about what the American people want from the next president of the United States.

COOPER: Senator Sanders?

SANDERS: Let me say this.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: Let me say -- let me say something that may not be great politics. But I think the secretary is right. And that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails.

CLINTON: Thank you. Me too. Me too.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: You know? Enough of the e-mails. Let's talk about the real issues facing America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK. I'm joined now by Rana Faroohar. She's CNN global economic analyst and also the assistant managing editor of the "TIME" magazine.

So, Rana, I mean, that was by far, you know, the most popular moment in the debate, and if you talk to the Sander's group, they say it was totally unscripted and it was typical Bernie.

RANA FAROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Well, Bernie being Bernie. And it certainly seemed like that. I mean, you know, it was a gift to Hillary, you know, it certainly gave her, her best moment in a sense that she could relax, she showed her personality. In some ways it's hard to imagine why he would give her such a gift but there it is.

VAUSE: One of the issues which did come and this has been one of the issues throughout the campaign is the economic inequality. I've talked a lot about this. And this is really the strong point of Senator Sanders. Did he make the case tonight?

FAROOHAR: You know, I don't think he made it as well as he might have. I think he's got very strong points on this topic, stronger in some ways than Hillary Clinton, and broader and he could have hit a lot harder. He could have talked about deregulation that happened in the '90s under her husband's administration. He could have talked about her reluctance to really stand up to Wall Street. I mean, she's starting to push back in part because she's been dragged to the left by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts. But she certainly hasn't really gotten tough on the big banks in the way that Sanders would like to see and others in the left-wing of the party.

VAUSE: One of the issues she talked about, Hillary Clinton has a very long record.

FAROOHAR: Yes.

VAUSE: Which she can boast about and she can talk about her experience. But there is also -- you know, there's also elements there which can be criticized. And one of them, of course, is the vote authorizing the Iraq war, which I think 13 years ago this week.

FAROOHAR: Yes.

VAUSE: She made that vote in the Senate. What was interesting is the response which she made tonight, it seemed that they had worked that out and it seemed they got their act together on how to deal with that issue now.

[01:05:00] FAROOHAR: Yes, you know, it's interesting that she didn't take more heat for that. You know, of all the candidates on the stage tonight she's the only one that was a hawk on Iraq. I would have thought that she would have taken a lot more heat for that position. But she -- and while she was on the defensive a little bit, she really I think managed to turn that somewhat to her advantage, in part because she's so much stronger on foreign affairs than really anybody else on the stage.

VAUSE: Yes. And that was -- again, if we go back to Bernie Sanders, because this really was a two-person debate. You know, Martin O'Malley kind of edged his way in briefly.

FAROOHAR: Yes, briefly.

(LAUGHTER)

FAROOHAR: Very briefly.

VAUSE: But on the issue of, you know, foreign policy, Bernie Sanders has specifically asked what would you do about Vladimir Putin and he really stumbled.

FAROOHAR: No, I have to say, I think that was one of the weakest moments. That and guns, I think, were really his weak moments. And you have to say, OK, this guy is going to be commander-in-chief if he is president. Do you feel that he can protect the country? Is he going to stand up to autocrats? I mean, you know, the world is full of them, the world is becoming a very fragmented place. I think Hillary Clinton really speaks to that sense that Americans are fearful in some way of what's happening in many corners of the world.

VAUSE: Yes, and gun control was a big part of this debate. Hillary Clinton, as you say, she went after Bernie Sanders, mostly because of his on gun control. She slammed him for voting against legislation which ensures background checks at gun purchases. Now -- actually let's take a listen to what Hillary Clinton had to say to Bernie Sanders and his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: This was a large and complicated bill. There were provisions on it that I think made sense. For examples, do I think that a gun shop in the state of Vermont that sells legally a gun to somebody and that somebody goes out and does something crazy, then that gun shop owner should be held responsible? I don't think.

CLINTON: Senator Sanders did vote five times against the Brady Bill. Since it was passed more than two million prohibited purchased have been prevented. He also did vote, as he said, for this immunity provision.

I voted against it. I was in the Senate at the same time. It wasn't that complicated to me. It was pretty straightforward to me that he was going to give immunity to the only industry in America. Everybody else has to be accountable but not the gun manufacturers, and we need to stand up and say enough of that.

SANDERS: We can raise our voices, but I come from a rural state. And the views on gun control in rural states are different than in urban states whether we like it or not. Our job is to bring people together around strong commonsense gun legislation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, Bernie Sanders saying we could raise our voices as he was shouting.

FAROOHAR: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

VAUSE: I know it was an interesting moment. How vulnerable is Bernie Sanders, who is campaigning on an uber-liberal platform when it comes to this issue of gun control?

FAROOHAR: You know, it's such an anomaly in terms of who he is. You know, that he's not farther to the left on the issue. I mean, he makes a good point, he is from a rural state, Vermont, people go hunting. You know, it's something that a lot of folks internationally just can't relate to but it is part of the U.S. culture. That message, though, plays better in Republican rural states, I think, than it does within the Democratic Party, and particularly at the time when there's been so much gun violence in the U.S.

I think people are just -- they're tire of it. I think many Democrats think wow, you know, is he the person I thought he was when he said something like this.

VAUSE: Yes, because he's so popular on so many other issues.

FAROOHAR: Yes.

VAUSE: Like inequality and Wall Street reform.

FAROOHAR: Far to the left, you know, but this is the one where really he's to the right of everybody.

VAUSE: That may give voters a moment to twice. I guess we'll find out.

OK, let's go back to Isha now in Los Angeles for the rest of the day's news. Hey, Isha.

SESAY: Hey there, John. Thank you.

Well, the recent deal with Iran of its nuclear program also came up during the debate. Only one of the candidates came out against it.

CNN's senior international correspondent Ivan Watson has covered Iran, the nuclear issue and the deal extensively. He joins us now from Hong Kong.

Ivan, great to have you with us. Jim Webb, the only man on that stage taking an opportunity to stand against this deal, an opportunity for him, I guess, to stand apart from the pack.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and he came out quite strongly, basically, saying that the Iran nuclear deal was a show of American weakness in the Middle East. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM WEBB (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that the signal that we sent to the region when the Iran nuclear deal was concluded was that we are accepting Iran's greater position in this very important balance of power among our greatest ally, Israel, and the Sunnis represented by the Saudi regime, and Iran.

It was a position of weakness and I think it encouraged the acts that we've seen in the past several weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: And he, of course, was referring to Russia's military intervention into Syria there. Now it's important to note that immediately after saying that the Rhode Island former governor, Lincoln Chafee, he spoke up in defense of the Iranian nuclear deal, defending this major foreign policy initiative by the Obama administration. But this was not much discussed throughout this long debate.

[01:10:10] You would hear very different rhetoric coming from Republican candidate debates because the Republican Party has been bitterly opposed to the Obama administration's nuclear deal. There was one telling moment, however, at the very end where former senator, Hillary Clinton, when asked to list some of the former -- some of the enemies that she has made, she did add a little jibe at Iran, saying, probably the Iranians -- Isha.

SESAY: Yes, Ivan, obviously for Jim Webb it's a calculated position, you know, one would have to say because these debates and the points made are all calculated. It's a calculated position to take, to stand out from the pack, to stand against this nuclear pack. The question is, how many points will he gain with Democratic voters?

WATSON: Well, you know, he did not get a lot of time in this debate. And he also spent a lot of time bashing China and talking about China's moves towards the South China Sea. And accusing China of engaging in cyber warfare with the U.S. Those were positions that stood out from the other four candidates. We did not hear any of the other candidates speaking out in particular about these two issues. So perhaps they can attract some attention from Democratic voters.

But it's clear from the amount of time that former Senator Webb had on the podium speaking in front of the crowd, in front of the cameras, he was next to former governor Lincoln Chafee, among the least viewed, the least heard candidates on that podium in a debate that was very much dominated by former Senator Clinton, and Sanders as well.

The sparks somewhat flew when it came to questions over how to deal with Syria, whether or not to impose a no-fly zone. And there you had a direct challenge coming from the former Maryland governor, O'Malley, where he disagreed and pointed directly at Hillary Clinton and said that this would be a terrible move. And a lot of questions about her voting record on the U.S. invasion of Iraq -- Isha.

SESAY: Indeed, it was a fascinating evening. Ivan Watson, joining us there from Hong Kong, appreciate the insight and analysis. Thanks so much.

Well, we will have more from Las Vegas ahead this hour along with some other major international news stories we are following for you including more violence in Israel. The steps the country's prime minister wants to take to improve security.

Plus, a Dutch investigation reveals that the ill-fated MH-17 flight was brought down by a Russian-made missile. More on that story when CNN NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

[01:17:05] SESAY: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says he will head to the Middle East soon as clashes continue between Israelis and Palestinians. On Tuesday at least three Israelis were killed and the violence is prompting the prime minister to search for ways to improve security. In one attack, surveillance footage captured the images of a man driving into a bus stop in Jerusalem. Well, CNN's Erin McLaughlin joins me now from east Jerusalem with more

on all of this.

And Erin, the cycle of violence goes on, and over the past couple of days, growing dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Netanyahu's handling of this crisis. Talk to me about these security measures that are being considered and how they're going over with ordinary Israelis.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Isha. Well, first, I just want to let you know where I am. I'm outside of a Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem called Jabal al-Mokabber. Now this is the home of three of the alleged attackers from yesterday's violence.

You can see behind me really minimal security presence, in fact those Israeli police tell us that they're here pretty much all the time. The entrance to the neighborhood just over that way. It's open, no one is stopping people to check IDs. No one is stopping to check cars.

Now yesterday -- yesterday evening out of the Israeli security cabinet, Israeli officials announced a whole range of measures. They said that they're going to close off areas in Jerusalem considered to be areas of incitement and friction. They've also announced that they were going to be demolishing alleged attackers' homes, not allowing them to rebuild, revoking permanent residency rights for alleged attackers as well as increasing security.

They said that they're going to deploy some 300 additional security guards across public transportation systems as well as deploy Israeli military units to reinforce Israeli police in cities and on roads. Israeli military officials telling me that they're in the preparatory phases for that.

All of this being met with outrage by Palestinian officials who tell me that the only way to end the violence is to stop the oppression and that Israel needs a leader who understands that.

SESAY: Yes, and you just gave the Palestinian view of these new measures. But again, just to that question of how Israelis view these new measures because for days they have been expressing discontent, at least some of them have been expressing discontent with Prime Minister Netanyahu's handling of this cycle of violence.

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes, well, Israelis here are on edge. This violence shows no signs of stopping. And it's unclear how or what Israeli officials and Palestinian officials, for that matter, can do to stop it. These measures in place, there's already been increased security prior to that across Israel and in the West Bank, but the fact of the matter is many of these attacks, Israeli officials say, are lone wolf attackers, people who are operating on their own initiative without warning.

[01:20:15] And those attacks, very difficult to prevent. Many of them Palestinians from neighborhoods such as east -- neighborhoods in east Jerusalem. So the answers to all this, unclear. Israelis pointing the finger at Palestinians, blaming them for inciting violence. The Palestinian Authority, Hamas, as well as the Islamic movement in Israel, saying that they're spreading rumors about the holy sites known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

Palestinians, for their part, blaming Israelis for the -- for inciting the violence as a cover to exert more control over that holy site. So yesterday's day was absolutely brutal. People here are on edge and bracing for the possibility of more violence as there is no clear answer as to how to stop it.

SESAY: Indeed, Erin McLaughlin, joining us there from east Jerusalem. Erin, appreciate it. Thank you.

And now to Syria where we're learning the Iranian military is now sharing an airport with the Russian air forces. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the two countries are working of an airport in Latakia in northern Syria. The airport is already being used by Russian warplanes to conduct airstrikes. Iran is using a portion to transport personnel to support the Syrian regime.

Well, CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joins me now live from Moscow.

Matthew, help our viewers understand the significance of this development.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, yes. Well, I mean, the significance is that clearly there is a coalition that's been formed on the ground between the Syrian government, the Iranians who are providing troops particularly from their Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Hezbollah fighters which are of course based in Lebanon but backed by Iran.

They're essentially providing the ground forces in a counteroffensive by the Syrian government on rebel positions, not just ISIS. In fact, not ISIS at this point, but non-ISIS groups that have poses a big threat to the existence of the regime. And the Russians are playing the role of air force in that coalition. And so it's proving to be quite a formidable force, it seems.

The Russians have been stepping up their airstrikes from their airbase at Latakia where the Syrian opposition group says that Iranian troops are now concentrating, as well. It's been stepping up its attacks on anti-Assad rebel positions, in preparation for what many people expect will be a large counteroffensive to try and take back as much as possible and to shore up the regime of Bashar al-Assad. And so that's been the strategy it seems from the outset by the Russians to play an air support role to that ground offensive which is going to be carried out for the most part by the Syrian army and their Iranian and Hezbollah allies.

SESAY: So, Matthew, it would appear closer coordination between the Russians and the Iranians on the ground. But where do things stand in terms of U.S.-Russian coordination? We know that there have been some efforts to avoid any clashes in the skies above Syria. Have we heard any updates on that? CHANCE: Yes, well, the update on that is there are going to be --

there's going to be a third round of military-to-military talks between the United States and Russia with regard to coordination in the skies. There has been at least two near misses, according to the U.S. military, although the Russians haven't commented on this, in the skies over Syria where the warplanes from both countries have been in the same battle spaces, as it's been phrased by the Pentagon, but still several miles apart.

But nevertheless it's raised again this concern that because the skies are so crowded over Syria with the U.S.-led coalition and the Russian warplanes carrying out attacks against various rebel positions, the danger of a confrontation has to be sort of alleviated and that's why they're having these military-to-military talks.

SESAY: CNN senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, joining us there from Moscow, always appreciate it. Thank you, Matthew.

In the Netherlands, the focus is now shifting to a criminal probe in last year's downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine. The Dutch Safety Board on Tuesday revealed the conclusions of its investigation into the crash. They said the plane was brought down by a missile, the kind made by a Russian company, and fired from the ground. They say they haven't determined who fired it. More answers are expected in the months ahead.

In London, author Marlon James is now the first Jamaican to win the prestigious Man Booker prize for fiction. James won the award for his book, "A Brief History of Seven Killings," which tells a story of an attempt to kill reggae singer Bob Marley. James says he almost gave up writing after one of his books was rejected 70 times. He hopes winning this award will inspire other Caribbean writers to follow his lead.

Congrats to him.

[01:25:04] Well, next on CNN NEWSROOM, the five Democratic U.S. presidential candidates square off in their first debate. We're live from Las Vegas after the break.

Plus, probably the most important word in the CNN Democratic debate, e-mail, it's not a topic Hillary Clinton usually wants to talk about. But she will be very happy now.

Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. I'm John Vause in Las Vegas, where the five Democratic U.S. presidential hopefuls went at it just a little more than five hours ago. It seems like just the last hour, actually. It all sounded pretty friendly enough. But it did get a little heated at some point.

Frontrunner Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders got the most air time and took some jabs at each other. The other three candidates, Lincoln Chafee, Martin O'Malley and Jim Webb also weighed in.

Now earlier in the debate, CNN's Anderson Cooper asked Bernie Sanders about his so-called Democratic socialism. Sanders, though, came out swinging saying the U.S. should look towards countries like Sweden and Norway on providing health care and other services. He also railed against Wall Street saying he did not consider himself part of what he calls casino capitalist process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Let us be clear that the greed and recklessness and illegal behavior of Wall Street where fraud is a business model helped to destroy this economy and the lives of millions of people.

[01:30:00] Today it is my view that when you have three largest banks in America are much bigger than they were when we bailed them out would be too big fail we have got to break them up.

CLINTON: So I have thought deep and long on what we need to do which is what the Senator and governor want, which is to rein in and stop this risk. And my plan would have potential of actually sending the executives to jail. Nobody went to jail after $100 billion in fines were paid --

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: -- and would give regulators the authority to go after the big banks.

(CROSSTALK)

CLINTON: But I'm telling you, I'll say it tonight, if only you look at the big banks, you may be missing the forest for the trees.

(CROSSTALK)

CLINTON: We've got to look at all the other financial institutions.

(CROSSTALK)

SANDERS: I will get there --

(CROSSTALK)

(APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: I'll tell them, in my view, Secretary Clinton, you do not -- Congress does not regulate Wall Street. Wall Street regulates Congress.

(APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: And we have got to break off these banks going to them and say please do the right thing.

CLINTON: No, that's not what -- (CROSSTALK)