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Jeb Bush Reveals Campaign Blueprint; Interview with Representative William Thornberry; Gov. Chris Christie Spar Over White House Bid?; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 30, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:06] COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Now first pitch is just after 8:00 Eastern tonight. The Mets have no Syndergaard on the mound and the Royals will be countering with that one-two punch. They have Yordana Ventura starting off, though.

Carol, I will save some of these chicken wings. I will save some of these shrimp corn dogs that we have working here from Auburn University. I wish you were here, too.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The heck with that. Just save me some beer.

Coy Wire reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

The next hour of NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, an American executive in prison in Iran this morning. Why? His family doesn't even know. And his arrest coming as America negotiates with Iran about what to do in Syria.

And an American Army veteran fighting ISIS on the front lines in Syria. His path to the battlefield -- the Internet.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How did you get guidance as to how to get here, who to link up with?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Google.

COSTELLO: And knives, guns, blood and fear. New surveillance video of a biker brawl that left nine dead, 177 arrested, 480 weapons found and still no one has been charged with murder.

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

We are waiting for the start of a news conference from Ft. Lauderdale. Officials at the airport there will update us on that dynamic airways fire disaster. As soon as this news conference begins, of course we'll take you to Ft. Lauderdale live.

In the world of politics, Jeb -- the Jeb Bush campaign is scrambling to calm the fears of donors and keep supporters from jumping ship.

According to "U.S. News & World Report," Bush's team recently distributed a presentation summarizing an optimistic view of the race. The slides touted the candidate's internal polling and his argument against Senator Marco Rubio.

CNN's Mark Preston joins us now with more on this presentation. Good morning.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Hey, good morning, Carol. Yes. Jeb Bush's campaign clearly sees Marco Rubio as a threat in this race for the Republican presidential nomination. Earlier this week, we learned that a meeting of Bush donors that the campaign was training its sights on Rubio, describing him as the GOP Obama.

What's new today is more details about how they plan to undermine the Florida senator's presidential bid. "U.S. News" has posted on the Web a slide show that was presented to the donors and it is biting.

Let's take a quick look at it. It is headlined, "Marco is a risky bet," followed by several bullet points, including saying that Rubio has no accomplishments. It highlights his ties to a scandal tarred former congressman as well as a wealthy GOP donor. And it concludes by saying, those who have looked into Marco's background in the past have been concerned about what they have found.

Now, Carol, I did speak to a Rubio adviser a short time ago. And he said that many Jeb donors who are considering switching to Marco have told us they're turned off by Jeb's personal attacks on Marco.

COSTELLO: All right. Mark Preston, many thanks.

I've got to take our viewers to Ft. Lauderdale now, to the airport there. The news conference has begun. I believe among the speakers, Ft. Lauderdale airport spokesman, Greg Myers. Let's listen.

KENT GEORGE, DIRECTOR, FT. LAUDERDALE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: GREG MYERS: Talking with the people that worked on the aircraft, talking with the flight crews, there might even be some interviews with passengers later on today or something along that line. So things are moving forward. The aircraft, as Greg just said, is on the northwest corner of the airport, we're going to try to get access for you a little later on this morning, that you can get closer-up pictures of the aircraft. But the NTSB is initially working with it. And they haven't released us yet to do that.

You're not going to be able to pick anything up with those things going by. So their review will take a length of time. There will not be any release of what the cause is or anything along that line. And besides that, we can answer any questions you may have on the incident yesterday.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have they said today how long they expect this investigation to last?

GEORGE: No. And the NTSB will not say. They just keep moving on it. They have to follow and they have to be as thorough as possible going through all the records, going through all the information, going throughout black boxed on the aircraft, checking all the communications of what happened, how it happened, talking with the control tower, talking with the pilots. And then of course, the mechanics and so forth that worked on it before.

[10:05:12] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are they saying if they're looking specifically like at the fuel line leak or (INAUDIBLE)?

GEORGE: The question was, are they saying that they're looking at a fuel line leak or anything on that line. I don't have that answer. They are very, very thorough in what they look at and they look at the entire operating systems of the entire aircraft.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: From the airport perspective because I realize you can't speak for the NTSB, on behalf of the NTSB, how much fuel leaked on your runway yesterday?

GEORGE: We estimate it was -- yes. There was no leakage on the runway. It was on the taxiway. We're in the process of repairing the taxiway. There's an estimate of about 45 to 50 gallons right now.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: On the taxiway?

GEORGE: On the taxiway, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: That's what was covered with foam yesterday?

GEORGE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What is involved in cleaning that up?

GEORGE: Well, what happens is that none of the materials, none of the jet fuel, went into the storm water system. Can you get -- are you getting this? OK. It was contained by booms that we placed on it and it was soaked up by materials on mats that we have. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have the tail number?

GEORGE: I don't have it with me, no.

(CROSSTALK)

GEORGE: All right, So what we're doing now is that clean-up is being accomplished. And there was damage to the asphalt from the jet fuel, the asphalt will be milled and replaced today. We hope to open it either later on today or tomorrow morning on that portion of the taxiway.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One lone supplier of fuel for the aircraft or is it like a gas station on every corner, there's multiple suppliers of fuel?

GEORGE: There's a central fuel system in the entire airport and it's done through a hydrant system. And there's not one supplier. It's done through a consortium.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).

GEORGE: I can't hear you.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The fire ever enter into the cabin, sir?

GEORGE: No. Did the fire ever enter the cabin? No, it did not enter the cabin.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you comment on --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you comment on the crew's performance?

GEORGE: No, I cannot.

(CROSSTALK)

GREG MYERS, SPOKESMAN, FT. LAUDERDALE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Guys, let me just speak up for a second. Mr. George is here to talk to you about the airport operations. What the airport has done and what the airport is going to do. He cannot talk about the investigation. We can't talk about what happened on the plane. And that's all going to come from investigators. He's here to provide you with information about what the airport does, how we continue operations, what impact we may have had or what impact we're having going forward, and how we're going to work with the federal authorities.

If we can focus those questions in those area, it will help out. Otherwise, you're wasting everybody's time because we can't go there. We can specifically talk about the airport.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I just want to clarify. My first question was about the airport. Mr. George said there was a fire on the plane. That goes against what --

(CROSSTALK)

GEORGE: I said there was no fire in the cockpit. In the airplane itself there was -- there was fire on the left wing and the number one engine.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Shutting down the longer runway, how much of an issue was that getting the planes back on schedule?

GEORGE: Doug Webster will talk about the operations. Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Repeat the question first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the question was relative to what impact did it have on north runway closed versus the south runway open. At that time of day it really didn't have an operational impact to us. As we get later in the day, we have the larger aircraft, which require the north runway, but essentially it really had no impact.

Also since we're in our off-season right now relative to air traffic, from a congestion standpoint, we were able to handle the capacity on the south runway during that period of time.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How many flights were diverted? Did everything get straightened out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. The number of flights diverted was somewhere in the range of about 20, 25 flights were diverted yesterday.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Inbound?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, inbounds.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Looking at the impact you guys have to work on the taxiway (INAUDIBLE), as far as operations were concerned.

GEORGE: There will -- the question was, was there an impact or is there going to be an impact on the operations of the airport with the repair of the taxiway. And the answer is no.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: No?

GEORGE: No. We will have to reroute some aircraft, but we'll be able to continue on operating --

COSTELLO: All right. We're going to break away from this news conference.

[10:10:02] As you can see, the Ft. Lauderdale airport, not quite up to full operations. But they are repairing the asphalt where that plane caught fire. As you know, the engine of that Boeing 767 caught fire yesterday, carrying 101 people on board, 17 people taken to the hospital, including a child and a trauma patient. Two of the 17 have been treated and discharged as of last night. We'll keep you posted.

In other news this morning, right now an American business man is reportedly behind bars in Iran. Here's what we know. According to reports, Siamak Namazi was taken into custody while visiting family in Tehran. It's believed the American Iranian executive holds dual citizenship between both countries and was detained by Iranian Security Forces.

Namazi is the fourth American to be imprisoned there and is reportedly being held in the same prison as the American journalist Jason Rezaian. The big question, why is another American being detained?

All of this escalating tension played out on the world stage. For the first time, Iran meets with world powers to discuss the worsening crisis in Syria. That's happening in Vienna.

Joining me now from Capitol Hill to talk about all of this, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Congressman William Thornberry. He also serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Welcome, sir.

REP. WILLIAM THORNBERRY (R), CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Can you tell us any more about this Iranian American being held in Iran?

THORNBERRY: I don't know the supposed justifications of holding him. What I do know is that Iran has a history of holding hostages and trying to use them for its geopolitical benefit. And we know that in the negotiations over the Iranian nuclear deal, even though the administration said they tried to free the existing hostages, they're still held in captivity. So this does not look to be on a good trend.

COSTELLO: Some analysts say that these Americans are being detained because of the nuclear deal, because this are factions within Iran that think that, you know, this agreement has led to some sort of American spy ring and America is sending these Iranian Americans in to spy for the United States.

THORNBERRY: Well, it may be true that there are different factions inside Iran that are trying to get one leg up over another and that they are using hostages as leverage to try to improve their position. But, again, what we know from the historical record is that holding hostages and trying to leverage them is part of standard operating procedure in Iran. And so as we go into these negotiations over Syria, the big -- the big issue is, do we go in from a position of strength.

We have had an administration policy that has not worked very well. We have an Iranian deal that a lot of people think leave things lacking. And just last week, the president vetoed our Defense bill that supports our own military. So if you're Iran, why not take another hostage because it doesn't look like the United States is willing to stand up to you.

COSTELLO: What should the United States do to free these four Americans being held hostage in Iran?

THORNBERRY: Well, the key thing is, we've got to enter into this and other negotiations from a position of strength. Not try to give the Iranians greater respectability on the stage while they're holding hostages as political leverage. For example, just after the U.N. approved the Iranian nuclear deal, Iran launched a missile that clearly violated its commitments to the U.N. and the administration did nothing. So you've got to push back against this.

COSTELLO: How should the administration --

THORNBERRY: And you've got to strengthen our own military.

COSTELLO: How should the administration have pushed back in that case?

THORNBERRY: There should have been an immediate meeting of the U.N. Security Council, immediate discussion about further sanctions on Iran because they have clearly violated what they promised to do as far as missiles go. And if they can get away with violating one agreement, why not get away with the rest. Why not get away with holding hostages. All of this behavior is linked. And until there is a strong pushback from our administration and until our administration signals that it's willing to defend our interests in Syria and elsewhere, Iranians and the Russians and the Chinese are going to continue to get away with what they can get away with.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, my final questions about these talks that are going on in Vienna right now, and included in those talks are the United States, Iran and Russia. So Iran was invited to the table. Should Iran have been invited to the table in Vienna?

THORNBERRY: I don't think is really -- well, here's the key reason it matters. Because Iran and Russia are trying to show that they will stand by their allies, like Assad, and they are trying to cause doubts that the U.S. will stand by our allies, like the Saudis and the Israelis.

[10:15:10] So the fact that we invited the Iranians into these talks is -- creates further doubts about how willing we are to be a reliable friend and ally and cause dissension within the community of nations that support the United States. I think that's the effect of it. I don't see much good come of it.

COSTELLO: So we shouldn't have invited Iran to the table?

THORNBERRY: Well, I think it's fine to talk with them if you come in from a position of strength, but we're not going into it with a position of strength. Again, the objective of the Russians and the Iranians is to cause more dissension between us and the Saudis, us and the Israelis, us and the Egyptians, and probably these talks will only add to those doubts about us.

COSTELLO: Congressman William Thornberry, thanks for joining me this morning.

THORNBERRY: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Working or campaigning. Marco Rubio and Chris Christie are under fire for putting political aspirations ahead of White House ambitions. Are they hurting their states, though? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:20:17] COSTELLO: One of the most talked about moments in Wednesday's Republican debate came when Jeb Bush tangled with his former mentee, Marco Rubio, over the Florida senator's voting record, or lack thereof since he launched his presidential bid. Rubio effectively deflected charges of not performing his duties during that exchange, and now Rubio even raising money on the fact he doesn't have time to vote in the Senate because it's vital he becomes president.

But Rubio is not the only candidate taking heat. "The New York Times" says it's time for Governor Chris Christie to go home because New Jersey is suffering. Christie firing back on FOX News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The people of New Jersey determined I'm successful. They elected me twice. "The New York Times" can say what they want. I'll tell you this. I take a deep bow. If "The New York Times" hates me, that means I'm really getting someplace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But seriously, should Christie bow out because New Jersey needs him?

With me now is Paul Waldman. He's a contributing editor at the American Prospect. And you also wrote an article for "The Washington Post" this summer that I found very interesting.

Good morning. And thanks for being here.

PAUL WALDMAN, BLOGGER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So that article that I mentioned, you wrote that article this past summer. And you said the only way that candidates for president could run was if they shafted their own states. Is that really true?

WALDMAN: Well, it depends on what your job is. The problem is much more acute when you're a governor than when you are a senator. You know, Marco Rubio has a point to a certain degree in that there's not a whole lot of legislating actually going on in Congress these days. Now that's because of the particular relationship between the Republican majority and President Obama, but except for these occasional crises when they have to come in and pass a budget, it's not like they're working on complex legislation.

And Rubio himself did, for a little while, in the beginning of his term, but he kind of abandoned that. And so it's hard to argue that the people of Florida are being, you know, served -- ill-served by the fact that he's not there casting votes because Congress just doesn't do very much these days. And when you're talking about a governor, on the other hand, it's a very different kind of situation because the governor is -- that's an executive office and there's a lot of decisions and day-to-day management that has to be done.

So it's much easier to make the argument that when you run for president, which is really a full-time job in and of itself, that it's going to be much more serious if the governor is absent than if a senator is.

COSTELLO: And by all accounts, New Jersey is hurting. I mean, Chris Christie's approval rating in New Jersey, I think they're abysmal, they're something like 30 percent. His state has suffered more than one credit downrating. One-third of New Jersey residents are still hurting from Hurricane Sandy. Maybe I'd want to escape the state, too.

WALDMAN: Well, also you can ask what exactly is the nature of the problem and would it be solved if Chris Christie was in the office more often. And you know, maybe the problem is neglect on the part of the governor, but maybe it's that, you know, they're going to be doing the same things on his behalf as they would if he were there. But maybe there are different policies one might like to see.

And the question s how much of a difference does it make if he's just not around? But, you know, that's something that's a little hard to tell from the outside, whether things would really be different if he was in the office every day versus checking in on the phone a few times with his staff.

COSTELLO: "The New York Times" also points out that Chris Christie is among the highest paid governors in the nation. I think he makes somewhere around $172,000 a year. It cites that some governors who run for president offer to cut their salaries or some governors whose states are in trouble financially offer to cut their salaries. Should Christie do that?

WALDMAN: Yes. I think that's a little bit of symbolic posturing. I mean, when you think about what that salary is, versus what a governor has to do and the number of state employees that are under his or her command, you know, politicians don't make all that much money compared to people who have some really important jobs. And it's easy to complain about that. You know, well, they make a perfectly good living, but, you know, saying, oh, you know, they should cut their salary, you know, that's just symbolic and it doesn't really have a whole lot of meaning.

COSTELLO: All right. Paul Waldman, thanks for your insight. I appreciate it.

WALDMAN: My pleasure.

COSTELLO: Staying on Capitol Hill, outgoing House Speaker John Boehner is speaking with CNN's Dana Bash about his successor Paul Ryan. Boehner talks about what this new position means for Ryan, including a future presidential run.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Now you know full well that doing this job might make it hard to go on to other office, namely the White House because you get pretty messy.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I think you got over that.

BASH: So do you think it's still possible for him to be president?

BOEHNER: I'm not sure but I think he would have liked to have been president, but I think he's figured out that God has another plan in mind for him and that's to be speaker of the House.

[10:25:11] BASH: I mean, do you think it's at all possible in this modern time to go from speaker to president?

BOEHNER: I don't know.

BASH: I'm guessing you're not going to try?

BOEHNER: No. I've never been afflicted with this disease.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Be sure to watch the rest of Dana Bash's interview with John Boehner and also her one-on-one with incoming House speaker Paul Ryan. It all airs on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper this Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on CNN.

Plus it's been 15 years since election 2000 and on Monday night at 9:00, 9:00 Eastern Time, CNN's Gloria Borger takes you back. "Bush Versus Gore, The Endless Election."

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a former army veteran now fighting on the front lines in Syria against ISIS. Why he left everything to work alongside Kurdish fighters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)