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Candidates Spar in Third Republican Debate; Military Blimp Breaks Off in Maryland; U.S. Deputy Fired for Dragging Student Across Floor; Eco-Police in the Rainforest; U.S., Mexico Team Up to Find El Chapo; U.S. Threatened to Stay Out of Waters Claims By China; Health Problems Caused by Indonesia Forest Fires Worsening, Affecting People, Wildlife. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 29, 2015 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:39] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, cranky and chaotic in Colorado at the third Republican presidential debate. Well, the candidates went after each other, the moderators also came in, drew some anger and some criticism.
SESAY: The blimp that went rogue. It's test missile and it's the size of a football field. We'll tell you how it broke free and floated loose for hours over the skies in the U.S. northeast.
VAUSE: And CNN heads to the frontlines in the war to save the Amazon rainforest from illegal logging and mining.
SESAY: Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
Great to have you with us, everybody. We will begin this hour with U.S. politics. The gloves came off during the third Republican presidential debate in Boulder, Colorado, on Wednesday night.
SESAY: Most of the candidates spent the time discussing the economy but some took the opportunity to call out their rivals. Here are some of the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He was so nice. He was such a nice guy. And he said, oh, I'm never going to attack. But then his poll numbers tanked. He's got very -- that's why he's on the end. And he got nasty. And he got nasty.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For 6 1/2 years, we've had a gigantic party. If you want someone to grab a beer with, I might not be that guy. But if you want someone to drive you home, I will get the job done and I will get you home. JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But, Marco, when you signed up
for this, this was a six-year term and you should be showing up to work. I mean, literally, the Senate, what is it like a French workweek, you get like three days where you have to show up? You can campaign or just resign and let someone else take the job.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That is total propaganda.
CARL QUINTANILLA, CNBC DEBATE MODERATOR: To be fair, you were on the home page on their Web site with the logo over your shoulder.
CARSON: If somebody put me on their home page, they did it without my permission.
QUINTANILLA: Does that not speak to your vetting process or judgment in any way?
CARSON: No. It speaks to the fact that I don't know those --
(CROWD BOOS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, let's bring in CNN analyst, Ron Brownstein, for a breakdown on the hits and misses on the latest Republican presidential debate.
Ron, always great to have you with us.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good evening, guys.
SESAY: All eyes obviously on Ben Carson who is leading Donald Trump in a handful of polls. And yet he may have had the most embarrassing moment of the night. Let's remind ourselves of that.
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: So we're going to play a little bit of sound.
BROWNSTEIN: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY QUICK, CNBC DEBATE MODERATOR: What analysis got you to the point where you think this will work?
CARSON: Well, first of all, I didn't say that the rate would be 10 percent. I used the tithing analogy. OK.
QUICK: I understand that. But if you look at the numbers, you probably have to get to 28 percent.
CARSON: The rate is going to be much closer to 15 percent.
QUICK: 15 percent still leaves you with $1.1 trillion hole. CARSON: Well, let me try to -- you also have to get rid of all the
deductions and all the loopholes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Ben Carson stumbling, struggling to explain his own tax plan. Did he do enough to retain that position, the front of the pack?
BROWNSTEIN: I don't think so. He looked overmatched at times in several of those answers on the first half of the debate.
Look, I think, you know, we talked about it before. This Republican race has two brackets. It has two lanes. And I think each of those brackets had a clear winner tonight. You know, if you think about the center right governing lane that tries to draw mostly from the white collar side of the party, I think Marco Rubio was pretty clearly the winner in that bracket. Then Chris Christie had a pretty strong night. John Kasich had an interesting night. Started strong, kind of lost momentum and Jeb Bush had a very difficult night.
Then you have the other bracket which is the populist protest lane that is drawing more on the blue collar side. And there I think Ted Cruz was probably the clear winner tonight. Donald Trump was kind of again a little listless and I think Ben Carson, again, looked overmatched at times trying to explain even his own program.
VAUSE: OK. The amazing thing about Carson, this was a CNBC debate about the economy and he didn't have this act together.
SESAY: Yes. Yes.
BROWNSTEIN: Right.
VAUSE: But you mentioned Donald Trump. We were watching to see how he would go in this debate as a second place. At least in the latest opinion polls. He came out mean and this was kind of after this moment with Kasich. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: First of all, John got lucky with the thing called fracking. OK. He hit oil. He got lucky with fracking. Believe me, that's why Ohio is doing well. And that's important for you to know.
[01:05:06] Number two, this is the man that was a managing general partner at Lehman Brothers when it went down the tubes and almost took every one of us with us, including Ben and myself. Because I was there and I watched what happened. And the Lehman Brothers started it all. He was on the board and he was a managing general partner.
And just thirdly, he was so nice. He was such a nice guy. And he said oh, I'm never going to attack. But then his poll numbers tanked, he's got -- that's why he's on the end. And he got nasty. And he got nasty. So you know what, you can have him.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: There's the nastiness to Kasich, which you kind of expected. We expected Trump to come out. But then he didn't kick on from that point in the debate. He was very subdued. He didn't have a lot to say. But he was also kind of winking and nodding all throughout to Carson who's the frontrunner. So what's going on here?
BROWNSTEIN: Again, it's a reminder that there are these two different brackets. And John -- and the predicate of that is important. John Kasich is trying to rise in the governing bracket by saying look, Ben Carson and Donald Trump are two manifestations of a fantasy. That the agenda they're putting forward is not realistic, it doesn't add up, it can't be done.
VAUSE: Right.
BROWNSTEIN: I am a governing conservative. Same kind of message Jeb Bush tried to deliver and was -- I thought overshadowed by Kasich even before he ran into the trouble with Marco Rubio. Donald Trump's problem is when he was not smacking down other candidates, particularly John Kasich, he just didn't seem to have a lot to add. I mean, there have been several debates now where he have just not -- he has not been a vivid presence.
Look, and he still has a very strong position with a lot of particularly blue-collar voters in the Republican Party. But you get the sense of, is there a second act? Is there something else beside kind of those add homonym attacks?
VAUSE: This is the economy. This is meant to be his wheelhouse.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
SESAY: Yes. Yes.
VAUSE: Him and Fiorina. There were a lot of talks that, you know, they're the ones who were going to be good on the economy, they're going to come out. And again, you know, Trump, he didn't have a lot to say.
SESAY: No.
VAUSE: If you look at others, Carson had the second least to say out of anybody. And Trump didn't have a lot to say. So I mean, what's going on there? Is it because he didn't have the ability to smack people down or he just wasn't prepared?
BROWNSTEIN: There isn't that much of an agenda there yet. Right. I mean, there are ideas. I mean, there's the immigration, there's opposition to trade. There is a kind of a blue-collar populism where he kind of defends entitlements, criticizes immigrants, criticizes trade. But in terms of having a fully fleshed out agenda, that has never been his strength. I mean, his strength has been kind of the persona, the attitude, the sense he's going to go to Washington and break a lot of crockery.
But again, as you get closer to actually voting and people are kind of looking for more, there has -- he has not had that second act yet.
SESAY: You mentioned Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio and their exchange.
VAUSE: Yes.
SESAY: I want to play some of that encounter and let's talk on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: But, Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term and you should be showing up to work. I mean, literally, the Senate, what is it like a French workweek, you get like three days where you have to show up? You can campaign or just resign and let someone else take the job.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Over the last few weeks I've listened to Jeb as he walked around the country and said that you're modeling your campaign after John McCain. But you're going to launch a furious comeback the way he did. By fighting hard in New Hampshire and places like that. Carrying your own bag at the airport.
You know how many votes John McCain missed when he was carrying out that furious comeback that you're now modeling under?
BUSH: He won (INAUDIBLE).
RUBIO: Now, 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)
SESAY: So there you have Jeb Bush, languishing in the polls, trying to school Marco Rubio on his Senate attendance record. And really so much was manifested in that moment. The generational divide. The fact that these two are battling to be the alternative to Trump and Ben Carson. But everyone says, Bush suffered in this exchange and Rubio was the winner.
BROWNSTEIN: I don't think I'm going to disagree. I mean, I think it was pretty clear. I mean, Jeb Bush struggled to land a blow against Donald Trump in the earlier debate about his wife and he really couldn't deliver very effectively here. I mean, that just seemed so manufactured. Good staff work, by the way, on the part of the Rubio to have the response there about McCain.
But I think this really does underscore, look, the governing kind of wing of the Republican Party, the center right wing, the white collar wing. They need a candidate. They watch Carson and Trump now who really from that other side at the top of the polls. That competition is Marco Rubio I think is now moving to the head of that competition.
SESAY: So if you -- BROWNSTEIN: And Jeb Bush is struggling. No matter how much money you
have, if you can't connect with voters.
SESAY: Then it's all for naught.
BROWNSTEIN: You know, Phil Graham in 1996, John Conley in 1980, names probably a lot of people don't remember. They raised a ton of money and none of them ever really got off the runway. Money alone cannot buy you the nomination.
SESAY: So if you were a Jeb Bush donor tonight, having watched this performance, what are you saying? What are you thinking? How much longer can he go?
BROWNSTEIN: First thing you're saying is, what is Marco Rubio's cell phone number, I think.
(LAUGHTER)
BROWNSTEIN: But beyond that, yes, I think, you know, I think well, he can go for a while. But whether he can kind of reverse this downward spiral, that's another question.
VAUSE: It's always over when sons and fathers have a fight, which is what that looks like.
The other senator who had a good night was Ted Cruz. Attacking the media. You can never go wrong. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[01:10:01] CRUZ: The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media.
(LAUGHTER AND CHEERS)
This is not a cage match. And if you look at the questions, Donald Trump, are you a comic book villain? Ben Carson, can you do math? John Kasich, will you insult two people over here? Marco Rubio, why don't you resign? Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen? How about talking about the substantive issue people care about?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes. Frank Luntz said that his focus groups have been off the charts. Such a strong reaction.
BROWNSTEIN: It's a sugar rush in the Republican primary to attack the media. I mean, look, I mean, Newt Gingrich, you know, one reason he won South Carolina in 2012 was pushing back at our colleague John King in a CNN debate. But having said that, I think, as I said, I mean, there are a lot of people in Washington and around the campaigns who believe that ultimately there are going to be Cuban American Republicans, you know, as the finalist from each bracket. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in the end. And I think the kind of the sense of Cruz as someone who could rise up in that populous more protest side of the party I think is very much reinforced tonight.
VAUSE: Yes. Ron, it's great to have you with us. Thank you for unpacking all that. It was a lot to get through.
SESAY: It was a sugar rush.
BROWNSTEIN: It was a sugar rush. There you go.
SESAY: Thank you, Ron, appreciates it.
Well, for more in-depth coverage of the Republican debate and all the latest on the U.S. presidential race, head to CNN.com/politics.
VAUSE: OK. U.S. military blimp which broke free from its tether in Maryland, it is now back on the ground. It flew over the northeastern U.S. for several hours on Wednesday, took out some power lines before landing in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania.
SESAY: The large unmanned blimp is meant to protect against airborne threats but then became a threat itself.
CNN's Boris Sanchez has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A high-tech military blimp tethered to the ground at an air base in Maryland broke free from its moorings today, drifting away uncontrolled.
NORAD's JLEN is a highly sophisticated defensive aircraft. Almost 250-feet long. The helium filled blimp uses on-board radar that can track cruise missiles and aircraft from up to 340 miles away in any direction.
That JLEN slipped from its moorings at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, north of Washington, D.C. just before noon. And began a slow drift north over Pennsylvania. Two F-16 fighter jets from a National Guard station in New Jersey scrambled to track the blimp and clear the way for commercial aircraft.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It's going down.
SANCHEZ: The biggest worry, the 6700-foot cable that kept the blimp tied down was dragging along the ground, taking down power lines and causing massive power outages. At one point, as many as 30,000 people were without power.
The blimp has an automatic deflation system. But it's unclear whether or not it worked. After a little more than three and a half hours, the badly damaged blimp finally came down in the woods near central Pennsylvania.
Boris Sanchez, CNN, Muncy, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: OK. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with more on this incredible blimp ride. It was free, it was untethered.
SESAY: It's crazy.
VAUSE: It was out of control.
SESAY: Right.
VAUSE: Pedram Javaheri, never out of control. Good to see you.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, not at all.
VAUSE: Tell us about it.
JAVAHERI: That's you, John. Now we'll talk about this because the big weather story for the United States over the past 24 hours was a massive, massive wind maker that was locked in place across the northeast. In fact, five million people were underneath wind advisories. We had a storm system that believe it or not had moisture associated with Patricia that had worked its way into the system. So we certainly knew the winds were howling across this region as the storm cruise over this area.
We want to show you exactly what we're talking about with the scale of this incredible blimp because we know there were two of them. And as you take a look at them, the scale of this, 74 meters across, so roughly the size of an American football field when you measure the size of this. And also the cable that goes down to the surface that is locked to the ground there, that rises upwards of 3,000 meters high. It takes up to 3,000 meters high. The cable is quite thick actually, although my producer Jeff who says it should be a little bit thicker but about three centimeters in diameter.
The weight of this cable would weigh over 3,000 kilograms. So certainly you would imagine if this is the slide, it would cause tremendous damage if it's dragged on the ground. The coverage area, the radar -- the air base radar here provides about twice the distance of what you would get from a ground-based radar. We heard about missile launches being able to keep them safe from being able to see something. Even submarine launches would be something that this particular blimp would be able to detect with its radar on board.
And coverage area would be somewhere on the order of the size of the state of Texas or twice the size of the country of Germany. Now when we saw this and we knew it was at 3,000 meters high or about 10,000 feet high, how high this blimp gets. If you look at the wind at those altitudes across the Aberdeen Proving Ground, this is it right here, north of Washington, D.C.
This was what was concerning, John and Isha. The winds were going more of a north, northeasterly direction over Newark, New Jersey, New York City, LaGuardia, JFK, Boston, Logan. Major airspaces, that if this particular blimp was able to drift over that area, it would be very, very dangerous for a lot of people. Then we saw images on social media, people are sharing with us that this was actually below the cloud deck. It was below about 1,000 feet or so where you could see it. [01:15:07] So we looked at the lower level winds near the surface.
And again, notice the pattern. There's Aberdeen. Notice the winds now going in a northwesterly direction. It took them right there toward a town known as Bloomsburg and the images coming out of this region, we'll leave you with, of course, the crash location and another image to leave you with showing you the dragging that took place on the ground that took out some of the power lines. There it is right there. It shows you the significance of this as it was going in to a very, very rural area fortunately. It could have been pretty bad if it drifted into a populated area, guys.
SESAY: Yes. Well, we are fortunate that it landed where it did. And we're fortunate to have you with us as well, Pedram.
VAUSE: Where is balloon boy?
JAVAHERI: Gosh.
VAUSE: I mean --
JAVAHERI: That's what I was thinking about, too.
(LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: Great (INAUDIBLE).
SESAY: Yes. Pedram, appreciate it, thank you.
JAVAHERI: Thanks, guys.
VAUSE: See you tomorrow.
SESAY: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, a sheriff's deputy is fired for slamming a teenager to the floor in a school classroom. We'll tell you why his boss says his actions were partially lawful.
VAUSE: Also ahead, illegal logging in the Brazil's Amazon rainforest. CNN is there during an ecopolice raid.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORTS REPORTER: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.
Sepp Blatter may well be serving a provisional 90-day suspension. But that doesn't mean he still doesn't have plenty to say. The 79-year- old will officially leave his post as head of football's world governing body, FIFA, when his successor is elected early next year.
And on Wednesday with an interview with the Russian news agency TASS Blatter blamed the also suspended UEFA president, Michel Platini, England and the United States for igniting and escalating the current corruption scandal.
Liverpool hosted Bournemouth with Jurgen Klopp in search of his first win in charge of the Reds, and making his debut on the night with Joao Teixeira who had a great effort that was cleared off the line. But Nathaniel Clyne was there to finish things off and score the winner after 17 minutes.
Liverpool and their first victory on the club at the fourth attempt. Juan Miller ended another Reds off through to the quarterfinals.
So 35 miles away from Anfield you'll find that great rivals, Manchester United. The Red Devils are trophy-less in two years since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure. This one ended nil-nil after extra time who met with hold after multiple United misses. Ashley Young had to score but his effort was saved by the keeper. Middlesbrough will celebrate. Advancing to the quarterfinals.
And that's a look at all of your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:08] VAUSE: Welcome back. In the U.S. state of South Carolina, a school resource officer is out of a job after a violent classroom takedown that ended with him dragging a female student across the floor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN FIELDS, SOUTH CAROLINA DEPUTY: I treated you fairly last year, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know you.
FIELDS: You don't know me? OK. You can come with me or I'm going to make you. Come on. I'm going to get you up. (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Put your hands behind your back. Give me your hand. Give me your hand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's hard to watch. Deputy Ben Fields could still face criminal charges based on an ongoing FBI investigation. The Justice Department also investigating whether any civil rights laws were violated.
SESAY: The county sheriff says Fields violated procedure only when he dragged the student across the room. He also said the whole incident started because the student refused to put her phone away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF LEON LOTT, RICHLAND COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: By action of our deputies, we take responsibility of that. But we also have to put responsibility on her for disrupting that school, disrupting that class, and causing this incident to start from the very beginning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: The sheriff says Fields regrets the incident but an attorney for Fields says his actions were, quote, "justified and lawful." VAUSE: Criminal defense attorney Darren Kavinoky joins us now with
more on this.
OK, Darren, it's now being reported that this officer could be facing some criminal charges here. What are those charges? What's the likelihood that he'll be charged?
DARREN KAVINOKY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So there's a variety of charges he could face. Both federal criminal charges or local criminal charges. Also civil lawsuits are certainly going to come down. This young woman, this girl who is the victim here has a lawyer. Undoubtedly, there's going to be claims. I've seen it reported that she's now wearing a cast.
(CROSSTALK)
KAVINOKY: So there's certainly a personal injury claim. And all of this relates to a violation of her civil rights essentially. So there's a variety of claims. Criminal and civil.
VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE).
KAVINOKY: I don't think this guy is looking at jail time. But it is not unthinkable that the county could be opening up their checkbook to deal with this situation.
SESAY: His lawyer, Ben Fields' lawyer says his actions were justifiable and lawful.
KAVINOKY: Yes.
SESAY: Were they lawful?
KAVINOKY: Well, OK, as the parent of a teenage girl, if that was my daughter, I would say absolutely not. As a parent, I'm outraged. As a lawyer, though, I think there is certainly room for argument on this. You know, first of all, I think as a fundamental matter, having this police officer brought in to deal with what really was a classroom situation, I think was wrong. It's a misuse of that resource and frankly if you wouldn't call 911, you shouldn't bring in the police officer just because he's there.
But once he is there, if he is making a lawful arrest, the problem wasn't that initial touching, it was what happened later when he's pulling her back and it's the dragging across the floor.
SESAY: I wouldn't say the problem was not the initial touching. Because the initial touching was a choking.
KAVINOKY: Well, but here's the deal. In South Carolina, there's a law called disturbing school which we can debate whether --
SESAY: There's a law of --
KAVINOKY: There's a law about that. So he's effecting an arrest for that and he's allowed to use reasonable force when he's effecting an arrest. And this is a law that's on the books so that initial touching is actually OK.
VAUSE: Explain further, there's a difference between a school resource officer and a police officer, how common are these officers in schools across the country and what role do they normally play?
KAVINOKY: Well, the school resource officers really started as a response to some of these deadly shootings that we've had on American school campuses. So they are there -- they're law enforcement officers. And they're there to prevent crime, obviously to be emergency response in the case of something serious. So that's why I say, fundamentally, the idea that he's there for this classroom dispute seems like a misuse of resources because I think what they lack is the ability to de-escalate a situation.
Just from a practical matter, police officers are trained to use command response to take control of a situation and the idea that this got so spun out of control so quickly is problematic.
SESAY: Let me ask you this. Is the school open to any suit? The teacher called him in. And this is a guy who apparently has some kind of reputation reportedly within the school.
KAVINOKY: Right. You bet.
SESAY: So --
KAVINOKY: You bet. And there's a saying amongst American trial lawyers that you sue everybody and let God sort them out. And so certainly dragging in the school, dragging in the county, dragging in everybody you can to find the deep pockets and the potential liability, that's just part of how justice is done here.
VAUSE: There's also another lawsuit pending. We won't go into that.
SESAY: Yes.
VAUSE: But obviously there's a lot more to this and we'll get to know a little bit more.
SESAY: Darren, appreciate it. Thank you for the great saying.
KAVINOKY: Yes, of course. Of course.
VAUSE: Thanks for coming in.
SESAY: We appreciate it. Learned something else. Thank you.
Well, the head of the Republican Party is slamming CNBC over questions during the debate, including one about fantasy football. The details are just ahead.
[01:25:08] VAUSE: A full court press to capture one of the world's most wanted criminals.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.
SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour.
Iran is confirming it will attend Friday's talks on ending the conflict in Syria. The U.S. called the meeting in Vienna. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkey and Iraq are among the countries to attend. This comes as amateur video is appearing online purportedly showing Syrian regime helicopters dropping barrel bombs on a suburb of Damascus. The authenticity of the video cannot be verified.
VAUSE: Top NATO officials from the U.S. and China will reportedly discuss the recent tensions in the South China Sea. China claims the U.S. warship illegally entered its territory around a manmade island on Tuesday. The U.S. says it was sailing in international waters.
SESAY: Authorities in Pennsylvania have secured a military blimp that broke loose from its tether in Maryland taking down power lines in its wake. The unmanned blimp flew closer over the northeastern U.S. for several hours on Wednesday. The blimp is used to watch out for potential threats like missiles against the U.S.
VAUSE: At least three people including two boys have died after a boat filled with migrants sank off the Greek island of Lesbos. The Greek coast guard rescued more than 240 migrants. More than 500,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Greece since the beginning of the year.
[01:30:00] SESAY: Austria plans to build a fence to slow the influx of migrants. This comes as Germany accuses Austria of dropping refugees at its border after dark. A German federal police official says the country has registered some 20,000 new migrants just this week.
VAUSE: OK. Let's get back to the top story. The U.S. presidential race. Republican candidates had their third presidential debate. They turned their attention and anger not just on to each other but onto the host network, CNBC, and the moderators. They came in for a tough time from a number of the candidates.
SESAY: It was feisty.
VAUSE: Absolutely.
We're joined by Republican strategist, Leslie Sanchez.
SESAY: Leslie, great to have you with us.
It was feisty. They turned the attention on the moderators, the host, CNBC.
And the RNC chairman, Reince Priebus, is not a happy man. When the debate ended, he came out blasting CNBC. Let's play a clip of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I was proud of our candidates for standing up to a pretty hostile environment. I was very disappointed in the moderators. I'm disappointed in CNBC. I thought maybe they would bring forward a pretty fair forum here tonight. But I think it was one gotcha question, one personal low blow after the other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Basic message from the RNC chairman, it wasn't a fair debate. Do you agree?
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: For CNBC, it was off the rails, meaning that it was unexpected. It got out of control. There were so many moderators talking at the same time. It was at the moderator's discretion whether or not they would allow a rebuttal. A lot of the contenders felt they didn't have adequate time. The only people more upset than the chairman is the campaign staff of Governor Jeb Bush who received the smallest amount of time of all of the individuals on that stage, which is hard to imagine considering he's the leading establishment --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: There was 10 candidates. It was messy and chaotic. They did seem to lose control.
SANCHEZ: Absolutely. By comparison, we've seen other networks manage different anchors and journalists asking good, pointed questions --
VAUSE: CNN being one of them.
SANCHEZ: CNN being one. You could understand the question. There was ample time to understand the response. But these were gotcha questions.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: In many ways, they were. They were pointed and fair questions if you're going to talk about Carly Fiorina's time at H.P.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Exactly. She went into a very concise explanation of her time, of the stock market, of the ramifications and much her retribution, so to speak, coming out of that. I think those were fair. But it was repeated pounding and not an opportunity to talk more policy.
SESAY: CNBC spokesman came out and said, if you're running for president, you should be able to answer tough questions. That's a fair rebuttal, though, right?
SANCHEZ: It's a fair rebuttal. In comparison to Democratic debates, they were really pointed questions. That was not a love fest like last week. It was more trying to find somebody with a slip-up at that moment that could go viral and really hurt their campaign.
VAUSE: You mentioned Jeb Bush, and by all accounts, this was a disaster for Jeb Bush. He needed to break out. He needed to -- he needed moments. He didn't get them. There was a question about fantasy football. Let's listen to his response and how Christy picked up on it, made the most of it, and Jeb did not. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: First of all, I'm 7-0 in my fantasy football league.
(CHEERING)
JOHN HARWOOD, CNBC DEBATE MODERATOR: I had a feeling you were going to brag about that.
BUSH: Gronkowski is going strong. I have Ryan Tannehill, Marco as my quarterback. He was 18 for 19 last week. So I'm doing great. But we're not gambling.
(LAUGHTER)
CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Wait a second. We have $90 trillion in debt. We have people out of work. We have ISIS and al Qaeda attacking us and we're talking about fantasy football? Could we stop?
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I thought that was amazing because the question was should fantasy football be regulated. And Bush tried to have a moment where he connected with people. And Christie said, are you kidding me. That was a good moment for him and it was an example of how Jeb Bush isn't good at debating.
SANCHEZ: It wasn't relatable. He was trying to be relatable. He's trying to say --
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: He wanted to say I'm in the mix as well.
SANCHEZ: What's interesting about that, if you look at him, he was excited about that answer. He wanted to answer that question. He's like, I've got something relatable and I can't --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And Christie took a good opportunity to return that and put the focus back on his vibrant solution-oriented campaign. The contrast of the two, let's talk happy, soft around the edges to serious solution provider, was so stark. It's going to be difficult to raise money. That's the big call that's going on. Versus Marco Rubio's campaign, in the middle of the debate, said we are winning --
SESAY: Yeah.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: -- winning, basically, reaching out. It's about the dollars right now. It's about having the momentum to continue moving on these grassroots trajectories and being able to ride it out until they get to the first voting in Iowa and New Hampshire.
[01:35:05] SESAY: Leslie, there was a standout moment of back and forth between Ben Carson and one of the moderators about his ties to an herbal supplement maker. I want to play a little bit of the exchange and what's remarkable is the crowd reaction. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BEN CARSON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & RETIRED NEUROSURGEON: It is absurd to say I had any kind of a relationship with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it's a good product.
CARL QUINTANILLA, CNBC DEBATE MODERATOR: To be fair, you were on the homepage of their website with the logo over your shoulder.
CARSON: If somebody put on their home page, they did it without my permission.
QUINTANILLA: Does that not speak to your vetting process or judgment in anyway?
CARSON: No. It speaks to the fact that I don't know --
(BOOING)
(LAUGHTER)
CARSON: See, they know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: They know. I mean, the crowd is loud, they're on his side. I mean, it just speaks to his surge in the polls.
VAUSE: He can do no wrong.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: There's a lot. He's definitely the favorite, definitely a favorite in that room. But it also pointed to the question, the question was a bit unfair. You're saying your image was somewhere on the Internet with the logo there. I mean, it's incomprehensible for people to think, oh, my gosh, how many people running for president? Yes. Should his team have been better aware of that? But it seemed far-fetched that he would know about that particular page.
SESAY: It wasn't so much about Carson as much as unfairness --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: - the question in the context of it.
VAUSE: I guess other people would have got booed at that moment. I think he gets treated differently, that's all, because of his demeanor and everything else.
Leslie, great to speak to you.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Very quickly, who is out and who is in? Anyone in mind?
SANCHEZ: The biggest, Jeb Bush is going to have challenges.
VAUSE: OK. Republican watch.
Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: That's what he's named it.
(LAUGHTER)
SESAY: Leslie Sanchez, thank you for joining us.
VAUSE: A short break. When we come back, we'll go to the Amazon rainforest, which is being torn apart to make profit on the black market. A special group of eco-police is trying to stop them.
SESAY: Plus, 19 people have died from a gigantic wave of smog in Indonesia. Stay with us for the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:40:34] VAUSE: The rainforest accounts for up to 20 percent of global greenhouse emissions each year. Since 2004, Brazil has reigned that in by designated some rainforests as national parks.
SESAY: But some loggers, ranchers and miners are ignoring the rules.
CNN's Shasta Darlington joins the eco-police as they tried to stop them in this exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flying low over the Amazon rainforest with agents from Brazil's environmental police, we zero in on the target, the turquoise waters of an illegal gold mine, carved into the heart of the jungle. First chopper down. Now the hunt is on.
We follow as agents search the camp prepared for retaliation. They arrest the leader of the mine and seize weapons.
(on camera): The first helicopter came down with a number of men armed. They came out, secured the area, made sure nobody else here had the weapons they were pointing at the helicopter, something that happened in the past. Now it seems to be fairly under control.
(voice-over): The man in charge shows us the precarious tent they all share.
"I know we're destroying the trees," he says. "But unfortunately, it's the only way for those of us who live here and don't have jobs or studies."
DARLINGTON: He says the gold they've mined is barely enough to survive on. But the excavator he bought is worth over $100,000. Agents say it's big business tearing up the rainforest, contaminating rivers for generations to come.
"We're fighting a war," he says, "a war to protect the environment in Brazil."
They destroy the camp, although the workers were set free.
And we head back to the base to gear up for a night raid on illegal loggers, led by a 32-year-old known by her many enemies as the Blond Devil.
"They're hauling out 19 trucks a day from indigenous territory," she says. "They're stealing from the country and it's our job to stop them."
The first truck takes them by surprise. State agents shoot at the engine to stop it.
(GUNFIRE)
DARLINGTON: Then the first arrest of the night. Agents now hunker down and wait.
(on camera): We're waiting for a second logging truck. But in the meantime, we've heard on the radio that the order has been given to run over anybody who gets in their way.
(voice-over): But the next series of trucks are halted at the barricades without confrontation. More arrests follow.
(CROSSTALK)
DARLINGTON (on camera): The operation has just come to an end. They managed to get five trucks. If you can come along here with me, I know it's really hard to see because it's dark, but these are absolutely enormous logs. They've come from an indigenous territory about 15 kilometers away and they go for thousands on the retail market.
(voice-over): Overwhelmed and underfunded, the eco-police use one of the few effective tools they have. They torch it all, the illegal logs, trucks included, and take a few minutes to savor their small victory in a very long ecological war.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Brazil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Remarkable reporting from Shasta Darlington there.
We're following new developments in the search of one of the most- wanted fugitives, the Mexican drug lord who escaped from prison back in July.
VAUSE: As CNN's Brian Todd reports, the U.S. and Mexico working together to capture Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mexican Special Forces may be getting closer to finding "el Chapo" Guzman. Mexican officials tell CNN they've searched several homes belonging to the cartel in three Mexican states, including his home state of Sinaloa. They've confiscated vehicles, weapons, packages of drugs, like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, and 11 airplanes.
MICHAEL BRAUN, FORMER DEA OPERATIONS CHIEF: They've seized a number of his small aircraft which tells me they're cutting off his means of escape by air.
[01:45:16] TODD: Former DEA operation's chief, Michael Braun, says there's a full court press to capture him who slipped through a dragnet by jumping or falling off a cliff in a scene straight out of the movie, "The Fugitive."
Now CNN has learned the DEA and other agencies are providing intelligence while they make intense ground sweeps searching for him. If they isolate "el Chapo" at one of his houses, it's not necessarily game over. He has twice escaped police through tunnels, most recently through a shower inside a prison and previously through an escape hatch built under his bathtub.
Now a Mexican official tells CNN, shortly before he was captured last year, Mexican Marines were tipped off he was at one of his houses in Mexico. But when they tried to break down the door, the battering ram cracked. One official says el Chapo's door was custom made of steel with water inside the skin. It took Marines 10 minutes to get inside, enough time for "el Chapo" to get away. An even bigger issue may be his network of supporters, especially in the mountains of Sinaloa where he's based.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you go in with military force, the cartel has spies on the roads who can watch. TODD: Making things more complicated, the fear "el Chapo" may have
help in the United States. CNN has learned authorities are now tracking his wife, the former beauty queen, Emma Cornell, who is an American citizen, believed to be seen in these pictures posted online.
BRAUN: She's certainly a suspect of interest on steroids. She's a direct family member. She has lived and been with him for a few years now. And she knows the intimate details of his operations, his tactics, techniques and procedures.
TODD (on camera): If there's a confrontation looming with "el Chapo," it could get messy. Michael Braun says the drug lord sometimes travels with as many as 300 bodyguards with him who carry weapons ranging from machine guns to grenade launchers. Braun says, at one point, recently, when Mexican Special Forces were pursuing "el Chapo" near one of his ranches, their helicopters came under heavy weapons fire.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Coming up, a deadly wave of smog in Indonesia. Now there are plans for a possible evacuation. We're live.
VAUSE: Also ahead, a look at what may be the most popular Halloween mask on the market this year. Here's your chance to look like Donald Trump.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[01:50:06] JAVAHERI: Looking at a drying trend returning to the eastern U.S. after some heavy rainfall in the past couple of days.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SESAY: Hello everyone. China is again warning the U.S. to keep ships out of parts of the South China Sea which it claims as territory.
VAUSE: All these follows a tense incident between China and the U.S. Navy, which sent a destroyer sailing very close to the islands which China has created by building up reefs.
SESAY: Here's where those islands are located. And editorial in Chinese media Wednesday suggested that China will not renounce the use of force to protect what it considers its territory.
Chief U.S. security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, has the latest from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, Beijing is firing a rhetorical shot across the bow after a U.S. destroyer sailed through waters claimed by China. A newspaper closely tied to the Chinese Communist Party encouraging the government to convince Washington that China is, quote, "not frightened to fight a war with the U.S. in the region."
A spokesman for the Chinese defense ministry demanded the transits stop.
YANG YUJUN, CHINESE DEFENSE MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translation): The United States should take concrete measures to correct the wrongdoing and prevent incidents from happening.
SCIUTTO: U.S. officials insist that the transits by U.S. Navy ships are not incidents at all, but legal, even routine navigation in waters no nation can claim as their own.
JOHN KIRBY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: To sail a ship through international waters is not a provocative act in any way whatsoever. Should not be taken as that.
SCIUTTO: Not backing down, the U.S. military says such passes near disputed article Chinese islands in the South China Sea will continue.
ASH CARTER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law permits and whenever our operation needs required.
SCIUTTO: China is now threatening to expand military activities in the area to warn away U.S. vessels and aircraft, as we saw during an exclusive flight on a U.S. surveillance plane over the same island this May.
UNIDENTIFIED CHINESE SOLDIER: You go.
SCIUTTO: The State Department urged China to avoid further escalating tensions.
KIRBY: We want to see the tensions deescalate and calm down. We don't believe it's in anybody's benefit for there to be any militarization of these reclaimed features.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: That was chief U.S. security correspondent, Jim Sciutto.
And Reuters is saying that top U.S. and Chinese Navy officials plan to discuss the South China Sea tensions, the naval relationship later on Thursday. This will happen in a video hookup.
SESAY: Health hazards caused by Indonesia's forest fires are worsening. Indonesia's social minister says 19 people have died so far from the smog. More than half a million others are sick with respiratory-related illnesses. VAUSE: People aren't the only ones affected. Wildlife, workers, and
the toxic smoke blanketing the region that's caused illegally by slashing and burning to clear crops.
VAUSE: Let's go to Indonesia. We're joined on the phone with David Molko. He joins us on the phone.
David, what's happening where you are?
DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Isha, this is a port city. There are three Indonesian navy ships here. With those numbers, this has been building for months. The fact that the Indonesian navy is involved shows how serious a crisis this has become. We were on board KRI Banda Aceh (ph), the cargo ship and the medical ship moored along side. The commander said they're here and ready to help out however they can. The doctor on board, the launch specialist, said he's seen a handful of patients over the past few days since they've been here, including a wheezing baby. Also people, locals in the town were some distance from the worst of it but saying they have felt up well and they've come to get checked out.
We're not seeing large numbers of evacuees. There's no mandatory evacuation planned. One reason for that may be a few rain showers over the past few days. That's a small rest, a little bit of relief for those who have been suffering over the past week.
[01:55:41] SESAY: They definitely need the relief.
David Molko joining us with an update from Indonesia. We appreciate it. Thanks so much.
VAUSE: OK. If you are looking for a way to scare a lot of people on Halloween, here's a suggestion, a Donald Trump mask.
(LAUGHTER)
-- making these blond haired masterpieces. He said tried to capture what he calls Trump's particular scowl as well as that famous pout.
SESAY: I have my costume, thank you very much.
You remember how he described Mexican immigrants as criminals, drug dealers and rapists. You can get one of these masks for $36.
John, yours is on the way.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Very rubbery figures though, isn't it? Very scary.
(LAUGHTER)
SESAY: Pretty scary.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. The news continues with Rosemary Church, all by herself, on her loneliness. That will be right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
