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Russia Tension; Republican Debate Winners and Losers; Plane Catches Fire on Tarmac. Aired 15-15:30p ET

Aired October 29, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:13]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

Let's get right to that breaking news, new information out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Look at this. Look at all the black smoke coming out of this plane. Here's what we know. Several people were injured, taken to the hospital after this passenger jet caught fire while taxiing for departure.

The plane is a Boeing 767, up to 200 passengers on board at the time.

I have CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo with us.

But, first, let's get to Alina Machado, who joins me by phone.

Alina, first to you. What the heck happened today?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brooke.

Some of these passengers, these passengers no doubt had a very terrifying experience aboard this plane. We have received some new information we want to share with you. According to a tweet from the NTSB, the government agency is going to send a four-person team to Fort Lauderdale to investigate this fire.

It's also worth noting that the Fort Lauderdale International Airport is closed and, according to the FAA, it is expected to reopen at 6:20 tonight. This is no doubt going to cause a lot of headaches for people who are trying to make their way through Fort Lauderdale International Airport this afternoon.

I have also learned that, as you mentioned, there are several people who have been injured in this incident. In fact, Broward Health Medical Center says that they are expecting anywhere from six to 10 patients. What we don't know is how many exact people we're talking about. We don't know the types of injuries they have, whether they were hurt while they were inside the plane, or if they were injured while they were trying to get out of the burning aircraft.

We're talking about Dynamic Airlines Flight 405. This flight was scheduled to take off from Fort Lauderdale International Airport at 12:30 this afternoon and it was headed, as you mentioned, to Caracas, Venezuela. The plane caught fire while taxiing for departure and there are reports that the plane was leaking fuel just before this fire started.

We also have learned a little bit more about this Boeing 767. According to the FAA, it was built in 1986 and this is a relatively new route for this airline. In June, the airline announced it was starting to offer nonstop service between Fort Lauderdale and Caracas. We have reached out to Dynamic Airlines, which is based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and so far the airline is not making any comments -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. So, Mary, Alina Machado, the headline, NTSB sending in that four-person team to Fort Lauderdale. Having been an investigator for so many years, what's the first thing you go looking for?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: The first thing they are going to do is obviously secure the plane and the engines to see if the plane was leaking fuel because the fuel line came loose or because the engine itself suffered what is called an uncontained engine failure, meaning that something in the engine literally -- it's almost like an explosion where a part goes and it breaks through the side of the engine.

It probably is a situation where the fuel line came loose after the pilot did the walk-around. Hopefully, the pilot did the walk-around that's required before flights. It's one to first things they teach you in flight school. That will be the first thing. And then of course the NTSB will be grabbing -- they have probably already grabbed, but will be getting those maintenance records.

They want to know who last touched the plane, last touched the engines, last touched the fuel lines, very important.

BALDWIN: Glad you mentioned the walk-around, because you would assume if we're talking about earlier reports that the plane behind this one saw fuel leaking, this must have happened after the walk-around or else the pilot certainly would have noticed that.

SCHIAVO: Yes.

People see -- passengers sitting in a terminal see the pilots doing the walk-around and they think, well, what could you see just by looking at the plane? You would be surprised. Hydraulic fuel leaks, fuel leaks, all sorts of things can be happening, pieces of the cowling hanging. So that's a very important part of the preflight. It shouldn't be skipped.

By the way, it's not always required depending upon where you are in your routings for the day, but presumedly they would have seen a fuel leak.

BALDWIN: Pilots can do all the walk-arounds they need to. Mary Schiavo, thank you. Alina Machado, thank you for hopping on the phone.

Now to politics. Now to the race for the White House. Will the third strike against Jeb Bush put him out of this presidential contest here for the first -- let me try that again -- third debate in a row? The candidate once thought to be the Republican Party's best bet failed to really break through.

Check out these headlines. He came out as a clear loser of Wednesday's Republican debate on CNBC. One of his most wounding hits came from his former mentee, Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can campaign, or just resign and let someone else take the job. There are a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck in Florida as well. They're looking for a senator that will fight for them each and every day.

[15:05:01]

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know how many votes John McCain missed when he was carrying out that furious comeback that you're now modeling after?

BUSH: He wasn't my senator.

RUBIO: No Jeb, I don't remember -- well, let me tell you, I don't remember you ever complaining about John McCain's vote record. The only reason why you're doing it now is because we're running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's go first to our senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar live in Portsmouth, a windy Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with Jeb Bush today.

What has Jeb Bush said post-debate, Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a couple of things, Brooke.

First off, we sensed a little frustration from here as he entered his event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He said he wished there had been more substantive questions. But he also speaking to the crowd here seemed very humbled and sort of acknowledged he had not performed very well on the debate stage. But he also said it's not about the big personalities on the debate stage. He said it's not about performance.

He said it's about leadership. It's about having a servant's heart and then he positioned himself as someone who has that. But still there are doubters, especially many within the Republican Party who wonder if Jeb has what it takes to be the nominee. Here's how he responded to those criticisms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: It's not on life support. We have the most money. We have the greatest organization. We're doing fine. Look, in October, late October of four years ago, Herman Cain was the front-runner for the Republican nomination. Eight years ago, Hillary Clinton was up by 26 points against an unknown state senator named Barack Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Talking to Jeb Bush's supporters, Brooke, they are emphasizing that he's got a lot of money in the bank and he's ready for the long game here, that his campaign has raised tens of millions of dollars. The super PAC backing him has raised $100 million. There are ads that are already bought for the early winter.

And his supporters say it's not about popping in October or November. Of course, yes, they are spinning a little bit, but they say it's about popping in January before the big caucus in Iowa and February in the primary here in New Hampshire. Still, they admit he has some limitations. He struggled obviously to close. He's done that before in some of these debates. And they do say he does need to have a good performance. He has to turn in a good debate performance some time and really it can't come soon enough.

BALDWIN: Brianna Keilar in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, thank you so much.

Hit on so many points I want to bring up with my next guest here, someone who knows Jeb Bush quite well, his former political strategist. Mac Stipanovich is with me. He's a Florida lobbyist now. Also with us, CNN politics reporter Jeremy Diamond.

So, great having both of you.

Mac, especially, longtime ally, supporter of Jeb Bush, why is your guy not very sharp in these debates? What is it that's not translating between I'm sure many hours of rehearsals and debate prep and being out there on that stage?

JOHN MAC STIPANOVICH, FORMER POLITICAL STRATEGIST FOR JEB BUSH: Well, I don't think that that's just -- that format is particularly suited to his style. He's fairly low-key, some people might even say low- energy.

(CROSSTALK)

STIPANOVICH: Yes, exactly.

And he's very deep in the policy weeds a lot of time and it's just unsuited to that particular kind of format. Then you get 11 people up there, all of whom are screaming and yelling and trying to get their little bit of attention, and it's difficult to stand out.

Last night, I thought Jeb did a solid job. He was good on policy, as always. He had a few moments of humor. He had a bad rough spot with Marco. But he didn't stand out in the way that Cruz and Marco did last night.

But it's kind of funny. I'm not sure that while we all like to finish the story each day, that he needs to climb into a warm bath and open a vein. Like he said, he's got the organization, he's got the money. It's a long race. If the Republican Party ever comes home -- about half of them are off the reservation now running wild through the woods with Carson and Trump. But if they ever come back, and there's no point in Marco or Christie or even Cruz trying to chase them because they can't catch him.

They are too responsible and they're too experienced for that kind of thing. You have to assume that those folks are going to come back and when they do, you want to be someone they gravitate to. And so that's the long game.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But don't you want to be part of the whole narrative chasing them? Because you want them to come home as soon as possible, because you want Jeb Bush to really resonate.

And part of one of the exchanges reminded me of one of the exchanges from the Simi Valley debate where we were for CNN between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump, which absolutely -- David Frum made this point in a tweet. So, if I may, Mac, this is from David Frum. He's the senior editor with "The Atlantic."

And he said -- quote -- "Apologize to my wife. No. OK. Ploy two, resign from the Senate. No. OK. As president, get out of Ukraine. No. OK."

[15:10:00]

Jeb Bush, he seems like a really nice guy, but that is not -- that's working. It's not enough. I know you say a debate stage isn't his best maybe venue, but it matters; 14 million people were watching.

STIPANOVICH: I think perhaps you underestimate him. He's a very polite man.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I'm not underestimating. It's the people. That people are speaking. They are underestimating.

STIPANOVICH: Well, OK.

Ask the folks who were in the Terri Schiavo controversy how weak he is. Ask the African-Americans who boycotted his office because of his initiatives on affirmative action how weak he is. Ask the legislator who he broke over his knee like dry sticks how weak he is. He doesn't post up and name-call with Donald Trump? Good for him.

BALDWIN: Points taken.

Jeremy, to you. Let's talk about Jeb Bush's protege, Marco Rubio. We have the video, the slow-mo of the no handshake between the two. I know in your CNN piece, you said, Marco Rubio, the gloves are off. Has he broken through as the establishment candidate in your opinion? JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it's too

early to be able to tell that, but the combination of Marco Rubio's excellent night last night and Jeb Bush's pretty terrible one, I think, are going to help Rubio kind of carry forward with a lot of momentum that he's already been building up in recent weeks.

We have seen Rubio rise in the polls while Jeb has kind of remained where he is and even sagged a little bit. So Rubio is definitely going to have to seize the opportunity with this one to kind of carry forward that momentum and see how he can propel the campaign and maybe even draw some support from Jeb Bush, draw some of his donors who are concerned with the direction of the campaign and see if he can siphon that support off so he can make his own really serious and strong bid to capture the Republican nomination.

BALDWIN: I imagine the Jeb Bush folks are...

(CROSSTALK)

STIPANOVICH: If you look at both of their numbers, that's a pretty shallow well.

Say again.

BALDWIN: I imagine the Jeb Bush folks are not ready to be siphoned from, correct?

STIPANOVICH: Well, I was going to make a small joke. If you look at Jeb and Marco's numbers, there's not a very deep well to siphon from any of them.

They both have a long way to go to win the nomination. And like I said, I think it will come to at the end there will be a candidate who is the champion of the angry people. It looks like last night it might be Ted Cruz. And then there will be a champion who is more in the mainstream wing of the Republican Party.

You would think that that would probably be Jeb or Marco.

BALDWIN: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

STIPANOVICH: What Jeb attempted last night with Marco -- go ahead.

BALDWIN: No, I just wanted to pivot quickly before we run out of time, because Carly Fiorina, no one has really been talking much about her. She came up on that stage last night and she had a moment talking about Hillary Clinton, calling her hypocritical on women.

Here she was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I may not be your dream candidate just yet, but I can assure you I am Hillary Clinton's worst nightmare. And in your heart of hearts, you cannot wait to see a debate between Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina. I will tell you this, I will beat Hillary Clinton. And with your vote and your support and your prayers, I will lead with the citizens of this great nation the resurgence of this great nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jeremy, she kept going back to Hillary Clinton.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Mac, then you go. You tell me why. And, then, Jeremy, I want you to join in.

STIPANOVICH: Well, because she's a perfect example. What a wonderful two first debates she had. In the first debate on the big stage, she was awesome. She laid them in the aisle. She won. And she was nowhere last night.

So, again, I'm not trying to -- I'm not a sycophant, a Kool-Aid drinker, but I think that sometimes we overstate the importance of these debates and Carly Fiorina would be a prime example of that.

BALDWIN: Jeremy?

DIAMOND: Yes, I think that Carly Fiorina didn't have her moment last night. The debate is supposed to be her event. It's where she excelled. It's the reason why she started surging in the polls in the weeks after that second debate.

But, recently, she's kind of fallen back a little bit and she really needed a moment last night to show her supporters and to show the people who are interested in potentially supporting her candidacy because she is potentially such a threat to Hillary Clinton, she needed to show those people that she could carry forward, that she had more to offer than just that first standout debate performance she had. I'm not quite sure she was able to accomplish that last night.

BALDWIN: Jeremy Diamond, thank you. Mac Stipanovich, come back. Thank you so much as welcome. Appreciate both of your voices.

Let's move on and talk about Donald Trump, because right now he's on the stage at his first rally since the debate last night. Any moment, he will take questions from the audience. We will take that for you live.

Also ahead, at another rally, Trump stepped off the stage, you have seen this, to speak face to face with a supporter and Army veteran who was right there in the crowd. I will talk with him about his conversation with the Republican candidate and the promise Donald Trump personally made to him.

And the head of the Republican National Committee says future debate moderators are on notice. We will talk about the attacks against CNBC and the moderators from last night. I'm Brooke Baldwin. This is CNN. We're back after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:19]

BALDWIN: Want to remind you Donald Trump is speaking right now. This is the first time he has spoken out since that debate last night. He's there in Nevada. We will take that Q&A section of this as soon as that happens.

Meantime, Donald Trump showing a side of himself we really have never seen before on the campaign trail. This happened at an Iowa rally earlier this week. Here he is. He steps off the stage, goes into the crowd and speaks personally with a wounded veteran and his family.

Here is a little bit of what he said to 1st Sergeant Todd Landen, a 22-year Army veteran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (OFF-MIKE) I would put pressure on the VA...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:20:03]

BALDWIN: Twenty-two-year-old 1st Sergeant Todd Landen and his wife, Aprel, join me now from Sioux City, Iowa.

Thank you so much for joining me. And, 1st Sergeant, thank you so much for your service to this country.

1ST SERGEANT TODD LANDEN (RET.), U.S. ARMY: It's an honor.

BALDWIN: I want to you here about Trump in just a moment. But, first, let me ask you about you, sir. You have served three tours overseas. Why did you sign up?

T. LANDEN: I got into reading Vietnam stories in high school and I wanted to be an infantryman. I wanted to be a good one. And I became one.

BALDWIN: Tell me about the IED.

T. LANDEN: There were a lot of them.

BALDWIN: I will take your word for it. What happened?

T. LANDEN: We were on a night routine present patrol doing counter- IED -- on a counter-IED mission. And I just happened to be the one that found one under my seat. I just remember a dull flash and people waking me up.

BALDWIN: And as a result of that IED, and since you have been home, 1st Sergeant Landen, you have endured 21 surgeries, your chest, your back, traumatic brain injury, PTSD. What as your -- this is part of what you talked about with Donald Trump. What has your experience been like with the VA?

T. LANDEN: Initially, it was great. And that was right when I retired and right at -- I retired right at the beginning of the -- I think when CNN kind of exposed the VA for some of their shortcomings.

My treatment initially was awesome. And that dictated why we bought our house where we did. But 12 months later or so, things have slipped. And it's a more confusing system than I think it was before.

APREL LANDEN, WIFE OF 1ST SERGEANT LANDEN: Definitely.

BALDWIN: Aprel, you -- I want to hear your voice. You're a full-time caretaker here. You guys have an 8-year-old at home. How are you doing?

A. LANDEN: We take it day by day. As a full-time caregiver, I was there most of the morning at the VA this morning. Todd possibly has another surgery coming up. Just trying to get some more tests that they need. Trying to get everything organized.

It's just kind of a struggle with this new Choice Program that the VA thought was I guess supposed to help. It's just kind of made it very confusing and complicated and hard to maneuver.

BALDWIN: Sorry. I'm sorry. I jumped in.

It's hard to?

A. LANDEN: It's hard to maneuver the system. Todd needs a specialty care and a special neurosurgeon that is not provided at the VA at the moment here locally for that specific situation.

So they have him being seen here locally, but his local doctor needs more testing. I'm sorry. It's just kind of -- it's a struggle is what I can say. And I'm just hoping they can fix the system not only for my husband's sake, but for thousands of veterans.

BALDWIN: Let me tell you, you're not alone. I actually had a 2.5- hour breakfast with a beautiful mother and father who lost their son two years ago and are incredibly frustrated with the VA. So you're not alone.

And on that note, let me just play a bit little more of your exchange with Donald Trump two nights ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So, one of the things we're going to do is if Todd or if you or somebody has problems because of the waits, because the waits are unbelievable, five, six, seven days sometimes -- you are going to go to a private doctor. You're got to a private hospital or a public hospital that's in the area and we're going to pay for that.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, 1st Sergeant Landen, I know Donald Trump is making promises. I know you say you support Trump because he mentions veterans often.

But my question is, what makes you think he will carry through on those promises? Because using private doctors, you tell me how he's going to pull that off.

T. LANDEN: Well, Brooke, first of all, I don't want Donald Trump to feel obligated to do anything specifically for me.

There's millions of veterans out there that need the same care that I do and the same help that my wife as a caregiver needs. One of the biggest issues we have is having to travel for care. We just need good care. Right. We could see private doctors, 100 percent (INAUDIBLE) disabled Veterans Administration.

[15:25:10]

The VA should be taking care of me where I live. And they do have a satellite office here in Sioux City, which does amazing and the best they can. But their hands are tied by (INAUDIBLE) bureaucracy, with new systems coming out, new competing systems to navigate through. It makes it really hard for my wife and for me.

Trips to the emergency room, you have to make a phone call to a VA facility 100 miles away to see if there are any beds available.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: You are not alone whatsoever. You are not alone. I would love to stay in contact with you. The system has to improve. You fought for our country. You should be taken care of, both of you.

1st Sergeant Todd Landen and Aprel Landen, thank you so much for your time. Let's stay in touch, please. Thank you.

T. LANDEN: Thanks, Brooke.

A. LANDEN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: And now to this. Sometimes, you got to call it like you see it. I saw something today that angered me, not just as a journalist, but as a woman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fiorina had the most speaker time, then followed by Rubio, Kasich, Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But I don't remember one thing she said. (CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what Carly said which really made me laugh?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three pages.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three pages.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She kicked off her thing saying, people tell me that I didn't smile enough during the last debate. She looked demented.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her mouth did not downturn one time.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looked like a Halloween mask. I love that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A smiling Fiorina? Can you imagine?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Demented is a strong word. But it looked like she had been practicing that for a long time.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She means demented. I think, as a comic, I have to stand up for the words we use.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Demented? Her face could be a Halloween mask?

Listen, I love "The View." I have been a longtime Whoopi fan. I think Joy Behar is one of the funniest people on TV.

But, ladies, come on. Double standard much? First, people jump on Trump for his comments in "Rolling Stone" about Fiorina's face. He followed up at the debate saying she was beautiful, which, by the way, a lot of ladies didn't like either. Why do we have to talk about her looks, because she's a woman?

All this yapping about women and appearance. And then "The View today, all I'm saying is, we women can be the worst to one another. We say don't talk about their looks. Look what happens.

I know these ladies on "The View" get called out too. So do I. I get it. This is part of the job that we all signed up for, but, still, we can do better than that. And how do I know this? How do I know I'm not alone?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOY BEHAR, "THE VIEW": To follow up on that, now, don't hang up when I do this, because you talked about Carly Fiorina in "Rolling Stone" magazine and you said, look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that the face of our next president?

Are you making fun of her looks? Because I know you don't like it.

TRUMP: Not at all, no. I'm talking about the persona. I'm talking about her persona.

She failed miserably at Hewlett-Packard. She failed at Lucent. Before that, she was at Lucent. She then ran for the Senate. She lost in a landslide. Now she's running for president. I'm talking about her persona.

BEHAR: Well, then why don't you talk about her brain, instead of her face?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Amen.

Next here on CNN, breaking just a short time ago, American fighter jets intercepting two Russian planes near a U.S. aircraft carrier. Hear what happened coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)