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Six-Year-Old Kills Brother with Dad's Gun; Latest Polls Show Clinton Ruled the Debate; Ole Miss Students to Vote to Remove Mississippi State Flag; War of Words Heats Up Between Trump and Bush; House Republicans Still to Elect Speaker; New Violence Hits Southern Israel; Intense Manhunt for El Chapo; Police Hunt for Zombicon Killer; Jilted Bride's Special Reception; Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 19, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:05] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: This time a 6-year-old killed his 3-year-old brother in a game of cops and robbers. The little boy found the weapon on top of the refrigerator. It was wrapped in pajamas. The boy's father has now been arrested. He's charged with felony child endangerment. The grandfather was watching the boys at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISRAEL SANTIAGO, GRANDFATHER: I look out and he was running up the stairs and he tells me that somebody shot his brother, you know. And I told him, well, who's going to shoot your brother? There's nobody down there. But at the same time, I was running down the stairs and I seen him laying on the floor in the kitchen and I went and got him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Let's bring in CNN legal analyst Philip Holloway.

Good morning, Philip.

PHILIP HOLLOWAY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So what is this father charged with?

HOLLOWAY: He's charged with a class three felony of child endangerment and under the law in the state, it is a very, very broad definition of child endangerment. Basically if a person causes or permits the life or health of a child to be placed at risk, and if a child does, in fact, die, it becomes that felony criminal offense, Carol, carrying a maximum of 10 years in the state penitentiary.

If they can find any other charges that they want to tack onto that, it, of course, could increase his criminal liability. And I expect that if he's convicted, he will spend some sometime, probably a long time, in prison.

COSTELLO: So this father is a gang member and he bought the gun illegally to provide protection for his family.

HOLLOWAY: Correct. COSTELLO: The bond is set at $75,000. Is it high because was a gang

member or is that normal?

HOLLOWAY: It's probably high because if he's a gang member, I think it's fair to assume, although we don't know, he may have a criminal history. That's why I say that I expect that there might be additional charges that could be added to this if other crimes are uncovered. If he's a convicted felon, for example, and he's in possession of that firearm, that could be an additional charge. So the bond itself is probably bond that he cannot make. He's probably going to stay put while this case works its way through court.

COSTELLO: I just wondered, because, you know, some people might say, oh, it was a gang member and he bought the gun illegally but this kind of thing happens a lot.

HOLLOWAY: Sure.

COSTELLO: There was an article on October 14th in the "Washington Post." Christopher Ingram was the reporter. He went over past news reports of incidents like these and he found in 43 instances this year alone somebody was shot by a toddler. And by a toddler I mean a child younger than 3. In 31 cases, a toddler found a gun and shot himself or herself, injuring them. How often are parents charged in these cases?

HOLLOWAY: Sometimes they're charged, sometimes they're not. It's going to depend on the exact circumstances of how the gun was protected or the parent may have attempted to keep the gun away from the parent.

You know, prescription medication, Carol, carries warnings that says, keep out of reach of children. The same with household cleaning products. Any rational person with any degree of common sense knows that dangerous instrumentalities need to be kept away from small children. And the same holds true with firearms. That is the first step in responsible gun ownership is knowing how and when to protect that firearm or to keep it away from children.

So if the facts and circumstances indicate that there's anything close to criminal negligence that would meet the definition of child endangerment, parents should and frequently are charged.

COSTELLO: Philip Holloway, thanks for your insight.

HOLLOWAY: Great to be with you.

COSTELLO: Nice to have you here.

Checking some top stories for you at 33 minutes past. Police have released these sketches of two suspects. One of them the stabbing of French train hero, Spencer Stone. Stone was left in critical condition after being stabbed multiple times outside a Sacramento bar. He spent more than a week in the hospital recovering before being released. Just a few months before Stone was hailed a hero after helping to take down a gunman aboard a Paris bound train. The leader of an al Qaeda-linked group was killed in an airstrike by

the U.S.-led coalition. The Pentagon confirms Sanafi al-Nasr was killed in the airstrike in northwestern Syria. U.S. officials calling his death a significant blow to al Qaeda.

Less than a week after the first Democratic presidential debate, Democratic voters agree, Hillary Clinton shined on stage. A new CNN- ORC poll shows the majority of Democratic viewers thought Clinton did the best job compared to rivals like Bernie Sanders.

Good news for Clinton, right? Well, sort of. While Clinton may have won the debate that hasn't really changed her standing in the polls. She rose only three points since last month. So the big question, did Clinton do enough to earn voters' trust?

Joining me now to discuss, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato. I'm also joined by someone who knows Clinton well, CNN political commentator and former presidential campaign manager for Clinton, Patti Solis Doyle.

[10:35:01] Thanks to both of you for being here.

PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

So, Patti, do you think Clinton is happy with this poll?

DOYLE: Yes. Absolutely. These are very good numbers for her. And while the numbers didn't, you know, go up dramatically, she did accomplish what I think she needed to accomplish. And that is she reassured her donors and the party leadership that she's the one to back. She solidified her position as a frontrunner. She pretty much stopped the bleeding on the e-mail controversy, thanks to the assist from Bernie Sanders, and she stopped the "will Joe Biden enter the race" chatter.

COSTELLO: So, Larry, do you agree with that rosy assessment?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Well, that is very rosy but I would say on the whole Hillary Clinton had a very good debate and she solidified her position.

Remember, people often, Carol, they tune into debates to cheer for their side. They're perfectly capable of judging another candidate the winner but they don't change their position on the election.

Remember, Mitt Romney won that first debate with Barack Obama, President Obama, in the fall of 2012 by a mile. People thought he won that easily. But it didn't change the balance of the election.

What interested me about your poll was the 18 percent for Joe Biden. The buzz is that Joe Biden is finally going to announce today or tomorrow whether he's getting in. If he does get in, he's probably going to get some additional points. That normally happens with an announcement. It's going to cut into Hillary Clinton's lead disproportionally. If he doesn't get in, I think that pretty much sets the Democratic field, barring a disaster for Hillary Clinton. She's going to be in a much stronger position for the nomination.

COSTELLO: On the other hand, Patti, on the subject of Joe Biden, this poll also showed that voters don't support him as much as they once did. And that to me means people are getting a little tired of the waiting game.

DOYLE: You know, I think, and I continue to believe this, if Joe Biden gets in, I agree with Larry, he will be a formidable candidate. He is a sitting vice president. And I can't even remember a time when a sitting vice president seeking his party's nomination for the presidency didn't get it. I think there was one, maybe Harry Truman's vice president, so -- but he still needs to make this decision.

The longer he waits, I don't think the problem is the patience of the Democratic Party. It's getting an organization up, it's raising the money, it's hiring staff. And it's getting your name on the ballot. So I really think he needs to make a decision soon.

COSTELLO: And the other interesting thing about this poll, Larry, was when you put Hillary Clinton up against Ben Carson, Ben Carson actually wins by just one percentage point. What do you make of that?

SABATO: Well, it's a year-plus until the election. And as we all know, Carol, these polls never change. Look, obviously they will change enormously once there's more focus for the general electorate, on whoever the Republican nominee is. Ben Carson has a very sweet portrayal, a soft spoken portrayal. It's kind of yin and yang with Donald Trump who's very boisterous and melodramatic. So in a sense I think Carson comes across better to Democrats and independents than Trump does. But I don't a lot of stock in the numbers a year ahead of the elections.

COSTELLO: How about you, Patti?

DOYLE: Again I agree with Larry. I just think it's too soon to tell. It's going to be a close race no matter who the nominee for the Republican Party -- or who the nominee for the Democratic Party is going to be. This country's divided.

COSTELLO: All right, Larry Sabato, Patti Solis Doyle, thank you both so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the growing cries for one university to stop flying the Confederate-inspired flag. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:43:27] COSTELLO: A group of college students have a message for their campus leaders, stop flying Mississippi's Confederate-inspired state flag. Tomorrow night students leaders at Ole Miss will decide -- will vote to decide if that flag that bears the symbol of the Confederacy in the upper left hand corner will continue to fly.

More now from Nick Valencia.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we spoke with student sophomore senator, Alan Kuhn, who said by Tuesday he expects to have enough votes to get this resolution passed. He did however expressed disappointment with university officials, saying that he wishes it wasn't the student government that had to bring this issue forward. He wanted the school to act unilaterally.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): In the charming southern city of Oxford, Mississippi, relics of the Confederacy are pervasive. This week, the University of Mississippi Associated Student Body Senate will vote on a resolution to try and remove one of those symbols, the Mississippi state flag. The explanation of why lies largely in the past.

ALLEN COON, UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI STUDENT SENATOR: We are forever tied to the horrors of our past.

VALENCIA: Twenty-year-old sophomore senator, Allen Coon, introduced the proposal to take down the flag.

COON: We've flown this symbol of oppression, we defended it, we fought for it and it's time to recognize that that was a mistake.

VALENCIA: Would we be having this conversation if nine people weren't killed in a church in Charleston?

JENNIFER STOLLMAN, THE WINTER INSTITUTE RACIAL RECONCILIATION: Boy, I think it escalated the conversation.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Over the years, Dr. Jennifer Stollman with the Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation has chronicled the complex on-campus history.

STOLLMAN: They're creating the best and most inclusive campus that they can and they're navigating some old narratives with new expectations.

[10:45:02] VALENCIA (on camera): Last year, a spasm of race-related episodes jogged painful memories here on campus, including a noose that was hung from the statue of James Meredith. He's the first black student to attend the university here, desegregating it in 1962.

Even still, at least one student senator says there's more to be proud of here than not, which is why he's opposing the resolution to bring down the Mississippi state flag.

(Voice-over): Student Senator Andrew Soper wrote in a change.org petition, "Removing symbols, flags and monuments will do nothing to change the way people feel in their hearts. Ole Miss students and my fellow Mississippians, rise up and push back on political correctness and support the state flag."

The school is deeply rooted in tradition, a vestige of southern history and pride. And has historically been combative to change. Already at least three of the state's public universities do not fly the state flag. But will the state flagship university be next?

Coon says it will be a hard one triumph if his resolution passes.

COON: Why is this something that divides us? Why can't we get behind this? Why can't we understand that this is something that affects people every day when we go to class. So that flag is coming down. If it isn't passed, we'll find a way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: It is no secret that historically Ole Miss has been a lightning rod for race related issues. But in recent years the university has done much to change that. On Friday they did release a statement about the current controversies saying, in part, "As a university committed to fostering a welcome and inclusive campus for all students, we continue to join other leaders in Mississippi to encourage our government to change the state flag. It's that state flag that will be the focus on Tuesday evening when the resolution goes to vote -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Nick Valencia reporting.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, panic as shots ring out at a zombie- themed festival.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:51:21] COSTELLO: A zombie-themed street festival turns deadly. Now police in Ft. Myers, Florida, are asking the public to help find the gunman who open fire on a crowd, killing a college student.

You heard the gunshot there. The annual event is known as Zombicon with many people dressing and acting like zombies. Some people apparently thought the shooting was a prank until everyone began to flee for cover. Police are expected to hold a news conference today.

Alina Machado is in Miami with the latest. Good morning.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, we're hoping to learn more about the investigation during that news conference. Perhaps authorities will let us know who they believe could be responsible for this deadly shooting.

Now the incident happened on Saturday night during a zombie-themed street festival known as Zombicon. Now this is an annual festival taking place in downtown Ft. Myers, Florida, and the event typically attracts at least 20,000 people every year. Police say five people were wounded in the shooting and one man was killed. That victim has been identified as Expavious Tyrell Taylor. He was just 20 years old and was from Okeechobee, Florida -- Carol.

COSTELLO: What is his family saying?

MACHADO: Well, the family, as you can imagine, is trying to find some answers to the questions they have. We know that Taylor was a football player at ASA College, which is a small school in Miami. And he had just graduated from high school in May. Listen to what the family had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can be sitting here saying, he will come here and he will just bring that joy in the house with him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a hard pill to swallow, you know. You don't want to bury a child, you don't want to bury a sibling at all, period. You know, especially when they try to do everything right. You don't understand why somebody do something like this, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACHADO: Now we don't know if Taylor was the intended target of the shooting. We're hoping, again, to get an update from police at some point today. And hopefully his family will get some of the answers they're looking for -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Alina Machado reporting live for us this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a fiancee calls off the wedding just days before the big day. You will not believe, though, what the jilted bride's family decided to do next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:57:58] COSTELLO: It was supposed to be an elegant wedding reception but when the groom backed out at the last minute, the bride's family saw a way to give back.

Tom Miller from our affiliate KCRA has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM MILLER, KCRA REPORTER: The tables are set, food hot out the oven and one by one the guests arrive. These aren't the men, women and children the Duane family originally planned to host but they're happy to do it, nonetheless.

KARI DUANE, WOULD-BE BRIDE'S MOTHER: When I found out on Monday that the wedding would not be taking place, it just seemed like, of course, this would be something that we would do to give back.

MILLER: Earlier in the week, the would-be groom got cold feet and called off the wedding. Rather than cancel the $35,000 outing, the bride's family invited the city's homeless for a once-in-a-lifetime meal at one of Sacramento's finest hotels.

ERIKA CRAYCRAFT, HOMELESS: I think it's very generous actually to lose out on something so important to yourself and then give it to someone else is like really giving.

MILLER: Many came with their families, giving their kids a rare night out.

RASHAD ABDULLAH, HOMELESS: When you're going through a hard time and a struggle for you to get out to do something different and with your family, you know, it was really a blessing.

MILLER: The food is similar to what you'd find at the hotel's four- star restaurant, grains, their salad, cauliflower, Gnocchi, salmon, even tri-tip.

There's plenty to go around. 120 people were invited to the wedding before it got cancelled.

TAMARA DOTSON, HOMELESS: This is not coming out of our kitchen. We love our Chef Leo but he wouldn't be preparing that for my kids.

MILLER: With full stomachs and smiles are everywhere, the night is still painful for the Duanes. Their 27-year-old daughter chose to stay home.

DUANE: I feel a lot of heartache and heartbreak for her. But I will take away something really good from this. I will.

MILLER: Turning a night that was supposed to be about their family into one that takes care of others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Tom Miller from our affiliate KCRA. Thanks. That's really an awesome story.

Thanks, too, for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Is Donald Trump crazy to fight with Jeb Bush about September 11th? Is Bush crazy to fight back. And how did Trump's comments line up with the actual --