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Top Clinton Aide Faces House Committee on Benghazi; Former Staff Hints on Biden Candidacy; CNBC to Limit Debate after Trump, Carson Threatened to Boycott. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired October 16, 2015 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:06] DANNY DIAZ, LINDEN FIREFIGHTER: We went to go get him something nice and we didn't want him to get discouraged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN: See now what they did? They bought him a nice new pair of sneakers.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN: They bought him new sneaks. Blend in fire department.
CUOMO: And invited him to the company's barbecue. So we're telling you this, remember, this is anti-bullying month. Every month should be. Remember, stand up for what's right and never be what's wrong.
BALDWIN: Love those firefighters. See things working out. I'll be back on it, too.
CUOMO: I'll be watching you.
BALDWIN: OK. Great. Great.
CUOMO: I'll be like --
BALDWIN: Carol Costello, it's your turn. Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Have a great weekend. Good morning. Thanks so much.
NEWSROOM starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, minutes from now, Hillary Clinton's top aide meets with investigators on Capitol Hill. What will she say about Benghazi?
And what's your bet on Biden? One of his closest confidants sends a letter saying a decision is coming soon, even outlining the type of campaign Biden would run. But what is the veep saying?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you made your decision yet?
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can't hear you. COSTELLO: Plus inside Lamar Odom's room at the brothel.
DENNIS HOFF, BROTHEL OWNER: He spent $75,000. And that was his number. What he wanted is two girls, 24 hours a day to take care of any of his needs.
COSTELLO: The NBA star's family by his side in a Las Vegas hospital as loved ones hoped for the best.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's compassionate and friendly and nice. And everybody loves Lamar Odom.
COSTELLO: Let's talk, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
She's Hillary Clinton's most trusted aide and most visible confidant but next hour Huma Abedin she's goes it alone, stepping behind closed doors and facing questions from a House panel investigating the deadly Benghazi attack.
What did Secretary of State Clinton know and when did she know it?
Lawmakers believe Abedin's special access may provide new insight but Abedin has long drawn scrutiny from the right once even facing charges from Michele Bachmann and other conservatives that she was tied to Muslim extremism. It was an attack so baseless fellow Republican John McCain took to the Senate floor to condemn it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: These allegations about Huma Abedin and the report from which they are drawn are nothing less than unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable citizen, a dedicated American, and a loyal public servant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Huma Abedin goes back to Capitol Hill and that's where our senior political reporter Manu Raju is live. Tell us more.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Huma Abedin right behind me in about an hour will be talking with House Benghazi investigators. Now this is mostly staff driven right now. She's going to be talking behind closed doors. It will be transcribed so we'll have a sense at least internally what she is saying. We'll see if she'll actually talk to us afterwards, as well. Of course we hope that she will.
Now the committee has interviewed 53 people so far in this investigation which has been going on for a year and a half. And Miss Abedin who has been close to Hillary's side for about 15 years or most advisers is just the latest Clinton aide to testify behind closed doors with this committee. Several others have as well. But this is all a prelude to next week when Hillary Clinton will be talking publicly with this committee, with the Benghazi committee about what she knew during, before and after the Benghazi attacks.
What we're expecting today from Miss Abedin is to talk about similarly those instances, what she knew, what Hillary knew and how she responded and whether she responded effectively today. We're not expecting the committee to really dive in deeply into her role working with those -- with the Clinton foundation as well which has come under scrutiny, particularly from the right. But the committee wants a know -- wants to have a sense on whether or not Hillary responded appropriately.
Now of course as we've seen in the past several weeks, Republicans have made comments suggesting that this committee has helped hurt Hillary Clinton's poll numbers. Republicans are treading very carefully now and that's something they're going to have to worry about next week, too, when Hillary talks before this committee in a very long hearing, something that could last several hours.
Republicans want to trip her up but they also don't want to push her too hard. So all of this is just foreshadowing a much bigger event next week -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Manu Raju, reporting live for us. Thanks so much.
One of Joe Biden's closest advisers is adding to the intrigue over whether the vice president will enter the 2016 race. CNN has obtained an e-mail sent by Biden's former chief of staff Ted Kaufman, addressing other former staffers. Kaufman says Biden is aware the clock is ticking and said, quote, "If he decides to run we will need each and every one of you yesterday."
[09:05:02] This latest flirtation with a possible run comes as Biden is personally calling Democratic strategists about how to best launch a campaign.
Our senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta joins us now with more. Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Finally we have something in black and white that indicates yes, the
vice president of the United States is still considering this run for president. As you said, this e-mail to supporters, to Biden-backers, former Biden employees, Biden advisors, Ted Kaufman, he was chief of staff to Vice President Biden when Biden was in Senate. He actually became a U.S. senator when Biden left to become vice president.
And it's interesting to see what Ted Kaufman says in this letter. It says -- and I'll put it up screen. It says, "I am confident that the vice president is aware of the practical demands of making a final decision soon. He has been in public and political life a long time and has a good grip on the mechanics around this decision."
That's the best indication, Carol, as you and I and everybody else have been waiting. Are we ever going to hear an answer from Vice President Joe Biden? This is an indication that yes, that something is coming. And I did talk to a top Democratic source yesterday evening who said -- this source said that she had heard from members of Vice President Biden's inner circle. And that the indication was is that we should have a decision within the next three days.
We should add that there is a major caveat with that and that is, and this is something that you hear from the vice president's people, is that only Joe Biden know what is Joe Biden will do. And he could decide today, he could decide next week. He could decide a month from now. That is sort of what you hear from the vice president's people. But this top Democratic source indicated and I think it's because of this conventional wisdom around Washington that the window of opportunity is closing that we're getting close to a decision that seems to be imminent.
And, Carol, the other thing that jumps out of me from this letter from Ted Kaufman, it's very interesting to hear sort of how it's laid out. You know, how the vice president would be talking about lifting up the middle class. How Joe would be Joe, you know, in this election cycle of Donald Trump and Ben Carson and people shooting from the hip that, you know, the vice president is being styled in sort of the same way in this letter to supporters. And of course it's no news flash that Joe Biden would shoot from the hip.
But he would very much fit into sort of the character of this 2016 cycle on the Democratic side. And I was just talking to a major Biden backer down in South Carolina a few minutes ago who said, you know, this vice president is so unlike Hillary Clinton, it would make for a very interesting contrast heading into this Democratic primary season. But of course we need Vice President Biden to make up his mind.
And we want to play some sound real quick. We have a few moments here. He was pressed yesterday by reporters outside the vice president's mansion as to whether he's made a decision. It was vintage Joe Biden. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you made your decision yet?
BIDEN: I can't hear you.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you made your decision yet? Is there still an opening for you in the race, sir?
BIDEN: I'm here to greet President Park. I'll talk to you all about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: You like that carol? A little bit of a throwback to Ronald Reagan. What? What? I can't hear you, you know, when reporters would shout questions on him on the south lawn of the White House. Vice President Biden doing his best Reagan impersonation but the sense of it that everybody is getting is that something should happen soon and we'll have to wait and see if that actually happens because I'm not putting any money on it just yet -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Jim Acosta, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
Be sure to tune in this afternoon for CNN's interview with Hillary Clinton. That is today on "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
What the Donald wants, the Donald gets. When Americans woke up this morning Donald Trump and Ben Carson were threatening to boycott the next Republican debate robbing the forum of its top two candidates. The biggest issue? The length of the debate. And then Trump tweeted this, "CNBC has just agreed that the debate will be two hours. Fantastic news for all especially the millions of people who will be watching."
Dylan Byers is our senior media and politics reporter. He has more on this. Dylan, good morning.
DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR MEDIA AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. How are you?
COSTELLO: I'm good. So CNBC, what, broke?
BYERS: Yes. Well, basically what happened is Donald Trump and Ben Carson and even some of the other campaign sort of forced their hand. Right? So they all got on conference call earlier this week and campaign managers, spokespeople from the campaign basically said look, we're not comfortable with another debate that runs to three hours. And we also want to make sure that we have opening and closing statements.
Now obviously if you're CNBC, the idea of having a two-hour debate with opening and closing statements really leaves less than 90 minutes for actual debate between at least 10 candidates standing on that stage. So obviously it wasn't their first choice. But by the time -- you know, within the last few hours CNBC did agree to limit the debate to two hours. They've spoken to the RNC. And now what the RNC, the Republican National Committee, is doing is making phone calls to these campaigns to make sure all of the campaigns are on board with this decision to limit it to two hours.
[09:10:11] As for the decision regarding opening and closing statements that remains to be determined.
COSTELLO: All right. Dylan Byers, reporting, thanks so much.
So much to talk about. Clinton as Evita, we'll get to that in just a minute. Trump says CNBC caved and Biden looks like he just might throw his hat into the ring. So it's round table time. Here to partake, Patricia Murphy, columnist for the "Daily Beast" and John Avlon, CNN political analyst and "Daily Beast" editor in chief.
Welcome to both of you.
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Carol. PATRICIA MURPHY, COLUMNIST, THE DAILY BEAST: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning. So, John, first up, Trump says he won the battle against CNBC. Did he?
AVLON: Look, you know, Trump threw the Trump card and seems to have a gotten CNBC to change the rules to fit him and Ben Carson. It really speaks to the way that he is such an outsized attraction when it comes to ratings that he's got influence over the people hosting the debates and -- and season that's just deeply weird this year.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: So the debate is now going to last two hours, Patricia, and there are still just as many candidates, so it will be even more of a shout fest, won't it?
MURPHY: Yes, it will. And to me, though, the most telling situation -- or the most telling comment about the Republican debate last time around was something a Republican insider comparing it to the Democratic debate which was a very civilized affair earlier this week, was that they said the Democrats got an infomercial and Republicans have to have the hunger games. And they really feel like they have had to just follow the directions of the networks.
It's three hours. You can't do this. You can't do that. You can't have notes. You can have water. And candidates are allowed to set some of their own ground rules. And three hours I think is really long for an audience. It's way too long for some of these guys standing there up. It was starting to feel like a war of attrition so I think it was very smart of them to put their foot down because they have the power to do it.
COSTELLO: Yes, and they were all covered in sweat by the end of that.
MURPHY: Yes.
COSTELLO: It was awful. It was simply gross. OK. So next topic. Clinton, Hillary Clinton has a V dub. So let's take a look at this, John Avlon. These posters popped up at a campaign stop in San Antonio. Oh, I'm going to cry, they're not there. Can we talk about the Evita poster when we don't have them?
AVLON: It's hard to talk about -- let's see. We can try. Yes, I mean, you know, it's basically the iconography, kind of that Shepard Fairey, you know, iconography of the President Obama last time around. What appears to be a Latino for Hillary and it's the cover of her first book. But there's a higher bar -- there you are.
COSTELLO: Thank, God. Praise Jesus they popped up.
AVLON: Or something, yes. I think, you know, there's always an Achilles' heel of attack that the right will use against Democrats when the iconography gets a little bit too big. And with Hillary they're going to throw the Evita card. You know, it's a little obscure but -- COSTELLO: But -- but you say that conservatives are going to throw
the Evita card, but I don't know who made these, Patricia, but obviously some Hispanic group made it, right? And it was meant as the compliment.
AVLON: Oh, yes.
MURPHY: Yes, I think so. But obviously a compliment.
(LAUGHTER)
MURPHY: If we're talking about it, obviously it didn't go over the way it was planned. You know, when you are complimenting Hillary Clinton by comparing her to Evita Peron that's going to hit a lot -- it's going to hit different people different ways. I mean, they'll say it's not going to come across as the -- as you're fairy godmother, exactly. So, you know, they're trying to help but, you know, sometimes your best friends can be your worst enemies in politics.
AVLON: It's really not a compliment.
COSTELLO: It's --
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: And Evita was known as kind of a ruthless politician.
AVLON: But a decent musical.
COSTELLO: But a decent musical. Right. So let's move on to Joe Biden.
So, John, if you are a betting man, how much would you bet that Joe Biden throws his hat into the right?
AVLON: You know, look, the fact that this letter came from Ted Kaufman, his former chief of staff, his brief successor in the Senate, is a big deal to the extent that it is two Biden staffers and it shows a degree of internal thinking. But until Biden says it is a go it ain't a go. His team is scrambling essentially just to keep the option open. But look, conventional wisdom in Washington is a fickle thing. You know, a week ago people were saying Biden was bearing down and Hillary was dying then after the debate Hillary is rising, Biden's windows closed, you know, the people who actually are actors on the stage get to determine the time. Everything else is just wind.
COSTELLO: OK. So if you were a betting woman, Patricia, what would you bet?
(LAUGHTER)
MURPHY: Well, I am a betting woman, Carol. And I -- you know, I kind of feel like maybe he's going to do it. And the reason I say that with no -- absolutely no inside information here is that Hillary Clinton's candidacy has risen and fallen on every day's headlines. And her momentum seems up one day and down one day. Multiple bad things have happened for Hillary Clinton that nobody envisioned.
And so Joe Biden is going to have to divorce himself from that momentum. And ask himself for the last time in his life, this is my last chance. Do I want to run for president? It's the best chance I'll ever have. My son wanted me to do it. You know, so that leads me in one direction. It may lead him in another direction.
[09:15:06] COSTELLO: All right. I got to leave it there. Patricia Murphy, John Avlon, thanks to both of you.
MURPHY: Thanks, Carol.
AVLON: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a holy shrine goes up in flames as the situation continues to --
* [09:15:00] PATRICIA MURPHY, COLUMNIST, THE DAILY BEAST: My son wanted me to do it, you know. So, I -- that leads me in one direction. It may lead him in another.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. I got to leave it there. Patricia Murphy, John Avlon, thanks to both of you.
MURPHY: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Still to come in THE NEWSROOM, a holy shrine goes up in flames as the situation continues to deteriorate in Israel. Is the violence about to get even worse?
Thank you so much.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: All right. I want to take you to Bethlehem now because disturbing things are happening there. A CNN team witnessed Palestinians throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at Israeli security forces. They responded with tear gas, live fire and rubber bullets. This comes amid calls of a militant group Hamas for a "day of rage".
In the meantime, a religious shrine was torched overnight. Officials say the fire broke out at the Tomb of Joseph, an important figure in the Old Testament, who's cherished by Orthodox Jews.
[09:20:02] Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned this attack. The incident took place just north of Jerusalem where there are growing fears that other religious sites in the old town could be easily targeted, like the site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial, along with the tomb of the Virgin Mary.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Bethlehem now where the situation seems to be deteriorating.
Hi, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
Well, deteriorating isn't how I would describe it because it's been deteriorated for quite some time. These clashes have been going on almost every day for well over a week here. At the moment, I'm going to step aside so you can get a better look, at the moment, the Israelis have brought out this truck that launches about 30 canisters of tear gas. And that has managed to drive the Palestinian demonstrators way back.
But before this area in front of me was thick with the black of smoke of burning tires, the white smoke of tear gas, there were Molotov cocktails exploding on the ground around that truck. Now, we understand that some live fire has been used. That two Palestinian youth were wounded as a result we saw as the ambulances took them away.
Now, this is just one spot in this area that is quite hot today. Down in Hebron in the southern West Bank. An Israeli soldier was patrolling the occupied streets of that city, where he apparently was approached by a Palestinian wearing a vest that said "press" and he stabbed him. Immediately, the Israeli troops shot him on the spot.
Now, there's been more unrest in Gaza, particularly around the fence that separates Gaza from Israel. In that instance we understand a 20- year-old Palestinian was shot dead in those protests that are right up on the border with Israel.
Now, today, of course, is yet again, I think it is the third in one week, a day of rage declared by the Palestinian factions. And every time that happens, you have these clashes. But in fact you don't even have to declare a day of rage for these clashes to take place -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ben Wedeman reporting live this morning -- thank you.
Checking some other top stories for you at 22 minutes past.
Turkish war planes have shot down a drone near the Syrian border. And U.S. officials say early reports show the drone belonged to Russia. Turkey says its fighter jets opened fire on the unmanned vehicle after it entered Turkish air space and ignored three different warnings. Russia is denying it's their drone while officials are saying all their aircraft are operating as normal.
In the meantime, the Russian President Vladimir Putin says his force against ISIS in Syria is responsible for, quote, "impressive results".
In a statement posted on the Kremlin's Web site this morning, Putin said hundreds of terrorists and their ammunition sites have been destroyed. Putin says Russia is now in talks with several Mideast countries to gain their help in the fight against ISIS, and he says he's continuing to try to establish cooperation with Turkey and the United States.
In southern California this morning, stunning images. Cars trapped, stuck for hours after heavy rain and large hail trigger massive mudslides. Crews rescuing stranded drivers, some with small children.
The mud so thick. Cars submerged, their roofs barely visible.
Chad Myers joins us now with more on this.
Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There is nothing growing in California because there is no water for the farmers to use. And then, all of a sudden, we get this El Nino switch to just really flip on. And this El Nino switch has just rained and rained in the same spots.
So here is yesterday right here around Palmdale, Santa Clarita, right to the north there, right along the Grapevine, that's where the rain came down, and it rained for hours. It even hailed in some spots around Lake Hughes. Hail the size of golf balls.
I-5 still shut down from the Grapevine down to about 138. You can get to the north there, you had to kind of go around it. There are some detours but it is still a mess and they don't even expect to start looking at it until about 2:00 because they have to check out the hillside around it to see if the hill sides are still stable.
There's more rain coming today. They don't need the rain in the same spots. It will be a flash flood watches all the way from Vegas to L.A. and even farther to the northeast of there today.
Here is what's happening right now. The rain is east of L.A., to the west of Vegas here in the desert. I love rain in the desert. It really makes the flowers grow and things get pretty for a while, but, boy, could we spread this out for a little bit when we have that drought stricken state, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Chad, I'm sorry I could not hear you but I hope our viewers could.
Thank you, Chad Myers.
Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: from basketball phenom to fighting for his life.
[09:25:00] The latest on Lamar Odom's condition, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Lamar Odom's children are now speaking out as their dad fights for his life. His son and daughter seen here releasing this statement.
Quote, "Thanks for our outpour of prayers and support for our dad. We appreciate everyone respecting our privacy at this time. We ask for your continued prayers."
No updates on Odom's condition have been made public in the last 24 hours. Loved ones are staying tight lipped since he was found unresponsive in Nevada at a legal brothel in Nevada. But stories about the former NBA star are continuing to pour in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
METTA WORLD PEACE, ODOM'S FORMER TEAMMATE: Lamar is, he's very outgoing, you know, very loving and caring. And he owed a work out. I seen Lamar a couple of months ago and I was supposed to start training him. And you know, unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to train him. So, I can't wait until he get better because he owe me a work out.
GARY CHARLES, ODOM'S FRIEND: Lamar is probably one of the greatest and nicest young men I ever met in my life.
