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Ben Carson Seizes National Lead Over Trump; Officer Slams Female Student to the Ground; New U.S. Strategy Against ISIS; New Budget Deal: Approval Would Avert a Govt. Shutdown; China: U.S. Warship "Illegally Entered" Waters. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 27, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:03] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN: Of course.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN: Right. Yes.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN: You didn't do it by yourself. I helped you. This kid didn't win.

CAMEROTA: Life-threatening situation. It should make a difference.

All right, time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

PEREIRA: Good morning, Carol.

CAMEROTA: Hi, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm going to leave you to argue amongst yourselves.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

PEREIRA: I think he's one-sided.

COSTELLO: Yes. Have a great day.

CUOMO: I can't lose.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Yes, you can. Have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.

CUOMO: No, I can. I win last word. Ha-ha.

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

With the presidential election still more than a year away it's too early to called it a bombshell but it definitely signals a huge shift in the Republican field.

This is a new poll from CBS News and the "New York Times." It shows Ben Carson riding a surge of momentum and leapfrogging perennial frontrunner Donald Trump in a national poll. That news coming on the heels of several polls showing Trump losing ground to Carson in the critical state of Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We seem to have a hit a cord. But some of these polls coming out. I don't quite get it. I was number one pretty much in Iowa from the beginning. And I would say we're doing very well there. So I'm a little bit surprised. The other polls as you know in other states are extraordinary actually. But this one I don't quite get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: With me now, Tara Setmayer, CNN political commentator and former Capitol Hill communications director for Republican Dana Rohrabacher, and Mercedes Schlapp, a former spokesperson for Spanish language media for President Georgia W. Bush.

Welcome to both of you.

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you, Carol.

MERCEDES SCHLAPP, FORMER SPOKESWOMAN FOR PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: Thank you.

COSTELLO: OK. So, Tara, maybe Trump's slipping poll numbers would not be so stark if he hadn't boasted like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But we're really winning. We're winning everything. Everything. Every state. We're winning everything. I'm leading every poll. I'm leading every state. I'm not going anywhere. Today is the 100th day that we've been number one in every -- every single poll. And you know we're winning very importantly in Iowa. We're winning and we're winning big.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But he's not winning big in Iowa anymore, Tara. So how do you explain this?

SETMAYER: Right. It's like we're winning, we're winning until you're not anymore. Listen, it's a volatile election system. And this is what happens when you run around, you know, self pride comes before a fall. He's bragging, bragging, bragging. No one has cast a vote yet. These are simply polls. They shift all the time. We saw this during the last election cycle and the cycle before that.

You know, the "New York Times" poll that came out showed that only 28 percent or so of Republicans right now are firm in who they're going to vote for. That means about 70 percent. 72 percent still aren't sure. So, you know, while -- and that's just clear because you see the change now with Ben Carson moving forward and Donald Trump moving into second place, he doesn't know how to handle it. I don't get it. You know what? You're not the flavor of the week this week in Iowa? Uh-oh, what is he going to do it about this? So I think it's very interesting to see how Trump handles this because

Ben Carson has been the only person that he has yet to be able to -- that he can't seem to get at it. He's gone after everybody else and he dinged everybody out, but Ben Carson he seemed -- he can't figure it out. And it's going to be interesting to see what happens during the debate dynamics for how it's --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Mercedes, Mercedes, he's tried because he's already called Ben Carson low energy.

SCHLAPP: And he attacked Ben Carson's faith, too, which I don't think is necessarily a winning strategy. Look, what Donald Trump needs is act number two, in order to at least try to reinvent himself amongst these voters.

We know something that's going on here. This is called speed dating in Republican politics. Right now they are leaning towards certain candidates but they are not officially saying, I am going with this one candidate. This allows for a lot of room, a lot of change to happen within these Republican nomination process. We'll have a debate obviously coming up tomorrow. That's going to be -- these debates are important. They are playing a role.

But again, let's look at these state numbers. In Iowa he's lost ground. He's still up -- Trump is still up in New Hampshire and South Carolina and Florida. Those are the numbers we need to be looking at seeing if there are significant changes in these early states.

COSTELLO: OK. So somebody is going to try to wiggle in there. Right? And maybe that somebody is Jeb Bush, Tara, because after months of allowing Trump to call him a loser and very low energy, Jeb Bush is now just going to be Jeb. Jeb is going to be Jeb, as in tough and kind of nasty. Is it too late?

SETMAYER: Listen, I don't think this new Jeb that we saw over the weekend is doing him any favors. Telling people, looking like you're irritated and petulant, complaining that you have cooler things to do than to run for president is not a way to ingratiate voters to you.

I don't know what the campaign is thinking by saying that this is -- you know, Bush is going to come out now and he's free to speak his mind. And this isn't coming across well. And it hasn't been for several months. And you know, you can tell by the numbers in his donors, his fundraising numbers are going down. And now he's very frustrated.

[09:05:03] And if that is the way he's going move forward that is going to be a continued losing strategy. He cannot -- this is not something that looks very presidential for him. And I don't think that voters are going to -- they're not going to gravitate towards Jeb Bush if that's what he's going to do.

COSTELLO: So, Mercedes, Rubio, Marco Rubio is actually seen as the rising candidate, which I kind of don't get because he continues to be mired in single digits.

SCHLAPP: Right.

COSTELLO: Are the pundits right about this?

SCHLAPP: Well, I think again it's too early to tell what's going to happen. I think with Marco Rubio, what he presents is sort of this personal, this narrative being charismatic. Obviously with Hispanic background. He's a very effective communicator so he has room to grow.

Again, you have to be thinking about these nominees as basically being able to build a broad coalition. Being able to bring together the conservative base along with the moderates. And so I think that you need a sort of candidate like that. Could it be Marco Rubio? It could be.

I mean, does Jeb Bush, what he needs? He needs a breakout moment which is something that he had not had. You see him on paper and his policies are incredibly -- they're strong when they're laid out. He's instinctively a conservative but he still hasn't had that breakout moment. And again that frustration doesn't help Jeb, which of course Rubio is trying to run his campaign a little differently. But he's got his issues, too. Missing the Senate votes. His position on immigration.

Again it has not -- it's going to be a very volatile field in the next couple of months and we're just not going to know who our nominee is going to be for a while.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, at least that will keep things exciting.

Tara Setmayer, Mercedes Schlapp, thanks to you both.

SCHLAPP: Thank you.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Outrage growing over a violent incident inside a South Carolina classroom. A school resource officer caught on camera slamming this black female student to the ground then hurling her at the wall. Her peers watching the whole thing. At least two recording the takedown.

Jason Carroll is with me now. He's been following the fallout this morning.

Good morning, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Carol. You know, no matter what the circumstances are that led up to the arrest, one thing is very clear. The video is extremely disturbing. A number of people there in the community calling for this officer's resignation.

If you listen to the tape, Carol, very closely you can hear the officer say, you're going to come with me, or I'm going to make you. Then he got physical.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN FIELDS, SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOOL POLICE OFFICER: Are you going to come with or am I going to make you?

CARROLL (voice-over): South Carolina school police officer, Ben Fields, seen here, is on administrative leave this morning after his violent takedown of a high school student was caught on camera Monday afternoon. You can see the sheriff's deputy tossing a female student to the ground after she refused to get up from her desk, then throwing her across the classroom floor.

FIELDS: Behind your back. Give me your hands. Give me your hands.

LT. CURTIS WILSON, RICHLAND COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We won't want anyone to rush to judgment, but we also feel that the video was very, very disturbing.

CARROLL: According to police, the Richland County student was asked to leave the classroom. When she refused Fields was called in to arrest here for disturbing class. School officials say the video is, quote, "extremely disturbing," and has banned the deputy from all district schools pending an investigation.

The sheriff's department, who's also looking into the matter, says it's still unclear what happened before the cameras started rolling.

WILSON: We'll have to look at this in its totality to understand exactly what happened. Is this a pattern? Is this something that he's done before?

CARROLL: The deputy has been the subject of two lawsuits in the last 10 years. In 2007 a couple claimed he used excessive force in questioning them about a noise complaint. The husband says Fields slammed him to the ground, cuffed him, and began kicking him. But the jury ruled in Fields' favor in 2010. In 2013 a student claimed Fields falsely accused the teen of being involved in a gang. The school expelling him. That lawsuit is ongoing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you see a video like we've seen earlier today it certainly alarms you and it makes you a little bit afraid of what is actually happening within our schools.

CARROLL: The deputy has been working for the school district for seven years and was recently awarded the Culture of Excellence Award in 2014 for proving to be what they say was an exceptional role model to the students.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And Carol, just want to add CNN has reached out to that officer in question. He has not responded to our requests for an interview.

The name of that young student there, the female student, that has not been released. We are told that she was not injured during the arrest -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jason Carroll reporting for us this morning. Thank you.

ISIS again horrifying the world with a series of cruel and sadistic murders. The Syrian Observatory for human rights says the terror group tied three captives to pillars in the ancient city of Palmyra and then blew them up. We don't know the victim's names or what they were accused of. In another recent murder, ISIS ran over a member of the Syrian military with a tank.

Right now Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Joint Chiefs chairman Joseph Dunford are set to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee about their strategy to take down ISIS.

Stay with NEWSROOM all morning for the latest. We'll keep you posted. You see Senator McCain testifying there.

We'll be watching to see if this hour's testimony matches the "Washington Post's" new report alleging President Obama is considering what would mark a significant and controversial military escalation in the Middle East. Moving U.S. troops closer to the front lines in Iraq and in Syria.

CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon with more. Good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. As we watch Senator McCain open the hearing, both Secretary Carter and General Dunford perhaps in for a very vigorous hearing. Senator McCain, a very strong critic of the administration's anti-ISIS campaign.

What we know from both Defense and military officials is that a series of recommendation options are being formed at the Pentagon. Carter looking at what else could be done to try and get more success in this very troubled campaign. All of it would require President Obama's approval.

What officials are telling us is yes, they are looking at everything from the possibility down the road of putting a small number of troops, special forces on the ground to work with both Syrian and Iraqi forces. Looking at more train, advise, assist, accompany into the field type of operations. We saw the beginning of that last week in that raid in northern Iraq.

So clearly what is happening is the Pentagon struggling to see what it can do, what it can offer to get more success going in both Syria and Iraq. But as always one of the big challenges is as you take these steps forward it does put U.S. troops more directly in harm's way. That is the kind of thing that has to be signed off by President Obama. Officials telling us no decisions have been made yet -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a showdown of military might. China lashes out against the United States after a Navy warship sails through disputed waters. But did the U.S. break international law. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:37] COSTELLO: At the top of the hour, House Speaker John Boehner likely wades into his final battle with conservative critics. Boehner will discuss a new bipartisan budget deal. It would prevent a government shut down but may deepen his party's bitter divide and the toxic infighting that awaits his successor.

CNN's Manu Raju is on the Hill with more on this.

Good morning.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, Carol.

Now, Republican leaders and White House last night released their bill, it's 144-page bill. And essentially what it does is two major things. It raises the national debt limit until March of 2017, and assuming this passes it takes that big fiscal fight off the table in an election year. And in addition to that, it raises domestic and defense spending to the tune of $80 billion, in effort to relieve some of the pain felt by the across the board cuts, known as sequestration.

It makes some of the other modifications also to the Social Security disability benefits program as well, as Medicare Part B premiums as well.

Now, this is being done in John Boehner's final days in office. What he wants to do is really clear the decks for his likely successor Paul Ryan and avoid those fights that really damage his own speakership.

Now, we are hearing from Republicans who are not happy with this process. It was dropped on their doorstep last night. They are going to vote on it tomorrow. It could become law in a matter of days and barely anyone has had time to review it.

I just spoke to Paul Ryan. I asked his reaction to the deal. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: Let me say this. I'm reserving judgment on this agreement because I quite frankly haven't seen it yet. I want to see what it looks like on paper.

But about the process, I can say this. I think this process stinks. This is not the way to do the people's business.

And under new management, we are not going to do the people's business this way. We are against a deadline. That's unfortunate. But going forward we can't do the people's business. As a conference, we should have been meeting months ago to discuss these things have to a unified strategy going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, clearly, Paul Ryan is trying to distance himself. He's trying to make sure he has no ownership of this deal. And one reason why is that tomorrow, Republicans gather behind close d doors to nominate him as speaker and Thursday, they will elect him. He wants to make sure this is not the way he will do business.

But, of course, as we've seen time and again this is what happens -- you run up to a deadline. Leadership cuts a big deal and they have to push something through because they are facing a major fiscal deadline.

We'll see if Mr. Ryan is able to carry through with that promise but that's one of the major concerns Republicans are discussing in this room right behind me right now, Carol. So, we'll how this plans out. We're expecting big votes in the House as early as tomorrow.

COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you. What is your prediction now that Paul Ryan has said that? John Boehner comes one this deal. Now what?

RAJU: Yes, I think that it probably will pass. At least that is the expectation right now in large part because Democrats are largely supportive of this measure. Democratic leaders and the White House are backing this plan. You are probably going to see a lot of Republicans who are supportive, particularly those defense hawks because of the increased spending and helping the Pentagon.

[09:20:01] Folks are -- and the Republican defense hawks are worried that if this does not go through, that the national security programs will be hit particularly hard and that there needs to be that increased spending. So, there will be divisions within the Republican conference but probably enough support with Democrats to carry this over the finish line.

COSTELLO: All right. Manu Raju, reporting live from Capitol Hill, thanks.

That deal is expected to win over support from both sides of the aisle because of the $80 billion boost to domestic and defense spending. Many say the Pentagon needs more resources to fight things like terrorism and cyber security and the emerging threat of China. In fact, right now, tensions are rising after a U.S. navy warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

The operation is seen as the direct challenge to China's military build up. This morning, the Chinese government is sending a stern warning to the United States, keep away.

In May, CNN's chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto was on board for an exclusive classified surveillance flight over the islands. So, he's certainly the best guy to talk about this.

He joins us now live from Washington.

Good morning, Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

I would have liked to have been on that ship. But we are learning now that that ship did get a bridge to bridge warning from the Chinese during its transit inside those 12 miles.

China was watching the whole time. They were tracking it. And in fact they probably knew that this was coming, but their response very severe here. They don't like it. The message from the U.S. is we do not see these -- the U.S. does not see these as Chinese territorial waters. Does not see these islands that they have been building there, 2,000 acres over the last two years as Chinese territory.

We don't know the content rather of the bridge to bridge from the Chinese. But as you mentioned, Carol, I was on a U.S. spy plane as it flew over the same islands in May. Have a listen to the warning we heard inside the cockpit as we were going through Chinese "claimed" air space.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CHINESE NAVY: Foreign military aircraft, this is Chinese navy. You are approaching our military alert zone. Leave immediately.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Now, the Chinese reaction from Beijing today very stern to this. I've seen a lot of Chinese official statements in the past. This one very piqued, you might say, saying that if the U.S. continues this, which the U.S. says it will. It wants to make these routine transits of what it considers international waters, but China saying, if they continue, it might have to expand its capabilities.

And this is a real worry, Carol, because the U.S. believes China is militarizing these man made islands with the airstrips and ports to accommodate Chinese aircraft, Chinese navy ships, even putting artillery on these islands. That is something the U.S. will not tolerate.

But I'll tell you, Chinese President Xi, President Obama, they met here in Washington a couple of weeks ago. This was certainly on their agenda, the fact that you have this transit just a few days later, a couple of weeks later, shows they did not reach agreement. It's a real standoff. Remains to be seen how they resolve this, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jim Sciutto, reporting live for us -- thank you.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the news room, the FBI director toning down comments that the police have become gun shy because of the Ferguson effect. But will his softer message bring police and communities together? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:36] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories at 27 minutes past.

General Motors has just announced a recall of 1.4 million cars. The reason? Leaking oil puts them at risk of catching fire. Most of the cars had already been recalled but more than 1,300 caught fire after dealer repairs. So, GM says even the repaired vehicles need to return for work under this recall. For more information, you can go to recalls.gm.com.

A district attorney in Oklahoma says 25-year-old Adacia Chambers intentionally drove her car into a parade crowd on Saturday, killing at least four people. Chambers made her first court appearance yesterday via close circuit video. She faces four counts of second- degree murder. Seventeen injured remain in the hospital this morning, four of them in critical condition. Chambers' bond was set at $1 million. Her next court date is November 13th.

In Canada, rescue crews are still searching for one person this morning who was aboard this overturned whale watching boat. The 65- foot boat capsized on relatively smooth seas Sunday, killing four men and one woman. There is speculation this morning that a rogue wave may have struck the boat. Three of the victims were tourists from Britain, the other two were British nationals living in Canada. Twenty-one people were rescued from the 50 degree water.

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

In just a matter of hours, President Obama will call for tighter gun control when he addresses a group of police chiefs in his hometown of Chicago. His speech coming one day after FBI Director James Comey appeared to soften his comments that police officers feel under siege because of a Ferguson Effect.

Listen as Comey clarifies his remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: I imagine two lines. There's the line of law enforcement and there is a line of communities we serve, especially communities of color. And I actually feel those two lines arcing apart. I actually see an example and a demonstration of that arcing through hashtags. Through the #blacklivesmatter and the #policelivesmatter. Of course, each of those hashtags and what they represent adds a voice to an important conversation. But each time somebody interprets #blacklivesmatter as anti-law enforcement, one line moves away. And each time that someone interprets #policelivesmatter as anti-black, the other line moves away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)