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U.S. Official: "99.9 Percent Certain" It Was a Bomb; Carson Slams "Sick", "Stupid" Media. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired November 09, 2015 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:02] CUOMO: Thank you in advance for all you do for us.
PEREIRA: Absolutely. Amen and amen.
CAMEROTA: All right. Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. Happy Monday, Carol.
PEREIRA: Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Monday, that is an oxymoron.
(LAUGHTER)
PEREIRA: Right.
CUOMO: What'd you call me?
COSTELLO: Have a great day.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Nothing, Chris.
Have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
We begin with breaking news. Two Americans are among the dead after a shooting at a police training facility in Jordan.
Here's what we know right now. According to the country's official news agency, the incident happened outside the capital city of Amman. The alleged gunman, reportedly a Jordanian police officer. The prime minister's office says the shooter is now dead after being killed by security forces. A South African contractor also killed. At least two other Americans have been wounded.
Let's get right to CNN's Phil Black. He's in London with more for you. Hi, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. According to the U.S. embassy, they are aware of this attack in Amman. And in a statement they released a short time ago, they said this, the American embassy in Jordan, we have received reports about the security incident at the Jordan International Police Training Center. We're in contact with the appropriate Jordanian authorities. We've offered their full support. We report more info when available.
Now the human cost of this, as we know, four people in all killed. Two U.S. contractors, a South African contractor, as well, and the Jordanian police officer who was apparently responsible for this shooting before being killed by his Jordanian security colleagues. Some other people were injured, as well. This appears to have been a shooting spree. The obvious question is one of motivation. A U.S. official has told CNN just a short time ago that this particular police officer involved in this shooting had lost his job. That he'd been fired.
That points to a very likely grievance motivating this particular attack. But you've also got to note that this attack comes -- is taking place on a very important anniversary in Jordan's modern history. The anniversary of what is often considered to be Jordan's 9/11. A terror attack 10 years ago with coordinated suicide bombings at three hotels in Amman, which killed around 60 people, an event that is said to have really strengthen Jordan's resolve against terrorism. It has an event that has been marked there over the last 24 hours or so.
And now today on this anniversary, the shooting is taking place. So one possible, and you have to think likely theory, is Islamist terrorism, but at the same time we are hearing from a U.S. official that this particular Jordanian police officer at the training center had just lost his job -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Phil Black reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
Any minute now, two Louisiana police officers charged with second- degree murder in the death of a 6-year-old autistic boy are due in court. The officers are accused of shooting first grader Jeremy Mardis, as they chased his dad's car. Jeremy will be buried later this afternoon. His father was also shot. He remains in the hospital in serious condition.
CNN's Nick Valencia is in Marksville, Louisiana, with more. Hi, Nick.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Those two marshals will make their first court appearance later this morning. The details of that appearance are still being worked out. This community continues to grapple with the death of that 6-year-old autistic boy Jeremy Mardis. Perhaps making this even more bizarre, as a source close to the investigation tells me, that one of the marshals actually knew the victims prior to the shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROXANNE COUVILLION, JEREMY MARDIS' FORMER TEACHER: He was just an innocent little boy. VALENCIA (voice-over): Nearly a week since the death of Jeremy
Mardis.
COUVILLION: He always was an angel.
VALENCIA: There are still two big questions, why would law enforcement chase the boy's father down a dead end road and why would they use lethal force?
The boy was buckled into the passenger seat of his father's car when police opened fire. He was hit five times, in the chest and head. His father, Chris Few, was also hit and wounded.
COL. MICHAEL EDMONSON, HEAD OF LOUISIANA STATE POLICE: Jeremy Mardis, 6 years old. He didn't deserve to die like that. And that's what's important.
VALENCIA: Days after the shooting, the head of Louisiana's State Police announced two marshals face second-degree murder and attempted murder charges. 32-year-old Derek Stafford and 23-year-old Norris Greenhouse Jr., taken into custody, and placed on administrative leave. The incident was captured on police body cameras.
EDMONSON: Now I'm not going to talk about it. But I'm going to tell you this, it was the most disturbing thing I've seen. And I will leave it at that.
VALENCIA: Two other marshals were also present during the shooting. Stafford and Greenhouse so far the only two arrested.
COUVILLION: He had his wings on earth and now he's soaring in heaven.
VALENCIA: Roxanne Couvillion was Jeremy's special needs teacher. The child was nonverbal autistic. He was one of her favorite students. She especially loved the way his eyes lit up when he smiled.
COUVILLION: He loved class. And I sent all the pictures that we have to the family members and so they have all of those mementos. He loved the dress-up centers we had, pretend play, doing the alphabet puzzles. He was an awesome boy.
[09:05:11] VALENCIA: At a nearby convenience store, Ridhi Awadly says he heard gunshots on his way home from work. He says he knows the officers well.
RIDHI AWADLY, KNOWS OFFICERS CHARGED: I know Derek and Norris, they're like my brothers, two of them.
VALENCIA (on camera): Tell us about them because we don't know anything about them.
AWADLY: They're cool people, man. They ain't bad for nothing, sir. They never did nothing bad.
VALENCIA (voice-over): In fact, neither marshal has been convicted of a crime but according to local news reports in 2011, Stafford was indicted on two counts of aggravated rape, the case was eventually dismissed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VALENCIA: Adding to the anger and outrage here in this community is that the father, Chris Few, was unarmed when deputies opened fire. He is still in the hospital recovering from his injuries. The funeral for that little boy, the 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis, is expected to be -- it's later today in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The community here just really -- just grappling with this tragedy that they can't understand -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Nick Valencia reporting live from Louisiana this morning.
We're also following a developing story out of New York City. A deadly shooting near New York's Penn Station during the height of the morning rush. Happened around 6:15 Eastern. Police say it started with some kind of altercation in a McDonald's that eventually led to the shooting in a nearby 8th Avenue subway station. One person was killed, two others injured. They were taken to Bellevue Hospital. They're in serious condition this morning.
An official who's been briefed on the investigation tells CNN Amtrak service has not been affected and trains appear to be running normally.
Tensions at a boiling point at the University of Missouri where students and professors are being urged to walk out of class today.
The school facing backlash over what some are saying has been an inadequate response to racist incidents around campus. Many students are demanding action. Hundreds of students protested last night. Also, dozens of football players are refusing to play until university president Tim Wolfe steps down. And now a group of professors is threatening to walk out until something is done.
CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us now with more on this. Good morning, Polo.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol, good morning. It really is incredible just how fast this story has evolved. Yesterday the football players refused to play. And now some of the teachers refuse to teach. As you mentioned, they're staging a walkout, in their own words there. The faculty council saying that they hoped to address the certain level of uncertainty and also an information vacuum not only on their campus, but also system wide leadership.
It's a really joint call for all faculty to join in. And a specific statement that CNN obtained just a few moments ago, Carol. I want to read you a small portion of it here. This again, coming from the faculty council there. Mainly the chair, Dr. Nicole Monnier. Portion of that statement reading, "We the concerned faculty of the University of Missouri stand in solidarity with the Mizzou student activists who are advocating for racial justice on our campus and we urge all MU faculty to demonstrate their support by walking out on Monday, November 9th, and Tuesday, November 10th, 2015, along with other allies such as the Forum on Graduate Rights."
And I have to tell you, Carol, at this point, it is incredible because we have to remind ourselves that this initially started several months ago as a student movement. Then you have the football players joining in. Yesterday, their head coach also tweeting his support, as well. Many of them want change. And now we're trying to find out exactly what else the faculty actually wants here. And of course, are they also calling for the potential resignation of the school president at this point. That's something that we're working to find out, Carol.
COSTELLO: Tell us about these racial incidents. What happened to bring things to this point?
SANDOVAL: You know, it's a long list that has been outlined by one of several activists, Jonathan Butler, in a letter that was actually posted online that we read. Everything from students openly using racial slurs. Also there was an incident not too long ago as well in which a swastika was actually drawn on a dormitory. And then what is really fueling some concerns and anger amongst some of the student body is an incident in October 10th, in which the school president, Tim Wolfe, was taking part in a homecoming parade.
Some protesters blocked his vehicle, trying to get their message across. Instead of speaking to some of these students, well, the president has actually apologized for not actually hearing them out, in fact, that apology coming late last week when, again, there was some concern there that he said, had he actually stepped out of that vehicle, had a conversation, perhaps things wouldn't have escalated to what we're seeing now there on the campus on -- in Missouri.
COSTELLO: All right. Polo Sandoval reporting live.
Later this hour, I'm going to be talking to Nicole Monnier, an associate teaching professor at the university. She's one of the professors urging this walkout this morning. She says, quote, "Today will be historic."
Now to politics. One day until the next big debate and two very different strategies leading up to it. The Republican presidential frontrunners now battling it out for the top spot.
[09:10:07] First up, Ben Carson. Say good-bye to Mr. Nice Guy. Carson unleashes a new wave of attacks again the media after questions surfaced about his past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The kind of investigations that were done, you know, talking to the wrong people, not going to Wilson Junior High School where the lock incident occurred, but talking to other people and saying, see? I mean, that's just stupid. And if our media is no better at investigating than that, it's sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And while Carson accuses the press of a political hit job, his business manager says he thinks it's a good thing Carson is being tested.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, CARSON BUSINESS MANAGER: I think it's a very good thing that Dr. Carson is being vetted. That Dr. Carson is being tested. He needs to be toughened. He needs to know exactly what is expected because this right now is Central Park. A walk in the park. It's going to become more intense, and Dr. Carson has to show that he has the fortitude, he has the courage and the character to withstand all the scrutiny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: While Donald Trump serves up ratings gold on "Saturday Night Live," his appearance is getting mixed reviews. The "Hollywood Reporter" calling it toothless and uncomfortable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They've done so much to ridicule me over the years. This show has been a disaster for me. Look at this guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great, great, great, great. Isn't he fantastic? I've got to say, you're doing a great job. In fact, I think this show just got better by about 2 billion percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Joining me now to talk about -- to talk about this is CNN national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. GOP candidates as you can see, they're trying to set the stage for tomorrow's Republican debate in Milwaukee. Trying to get ahead of some of these issues. Namely, the controversial ones. So for this weekend, Dr. Carson, it was all about going from defense to offense regarding his stories about his past. For Rubio, we saw providing more information about his finances. And you saw for Trump there, it is about getting in digs at both of them, hoping their troubles will stick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARSON: Burden on of proof is not going to be on me to corroborate everything that I've ever talked about in my life.
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Over the weekend, Dr. Ben Carson's attacks on the media intensifying. The GOP presidential contender unleashing a firestorm of verbal attacks on reporters who've challenged his stories about his past.
CARSON: Show me somebody, even from your business, the media, who is 100 percent accurate at everything that they say. "Well, you said this when you were in kindergarten." Give me a break.
MALVEAUX: Recent reports in "Politico" and "The Wall Street Journal," calling into question aspects of Carson's life story published in his book. "Politico" wrote that Carson's campaign changed their version of a story about receiving a full scholarship from West Point. The military academy doesn't charge tuition.
In response, Carson's campaign clarified that he never applied nor was granted admission to West Point.
CARSON: I said it was offered. I didn't say I received it.
MALVEAUX: Carson saying he's facing harsher scrutiny than any other presidential candidate because he's seen as a threat.
CARSON: I have never seen this before. And many other people who are politically experienced tell me they've never seen it before either.
MALVEAUX: GOP rival Donald Trump calling it the beginning of the end of Carson's campaign.
TRUMP: When you say, though, hitting your mother over the head with a hammer, when you're talk about hitting a friend in the face with a lock, a padlock, and you know, you talk about stabbing someone, that's a serious statement when you say you have a pathological disease. Because as I understand it, you can't really cure it.
Look at this guy.
MALVEAUX: Meanwhile, Trump was all laughs as host of "Saturday Night Live."
TRUMP: Enrique.
BECK BENNETT, CAST MEMBER, NBC'S "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": I brought you the check for the wall.
TRUMP: That's so wonderful.
MALVEAUX: Garnering the highest ratings the show's had in years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Well, Carol, I watched "SNL." I thought the cast tackled most of the criticism regarding Trump, including accusations of racism, his immigration policy, questions around President Obama's birth certificate and Trump's over-the-top tweets.
And, Carol, this weekend, we also learned in Jon Meacham's biography of George H. W. Bush that Trump was interested in the VP slot. Trump said on "STATE OF THE UNION" this weekend, however, clarifying saying it was the other way around. That senior adviser Lee Atwater came to him, said he'd be great. But he didn't go much further than that. So we're all imagining a Bush-Trump '88 ticket, Carol.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Oh, my goodness. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much.
MALVEAUX: All right.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the voice recorder giving us some key information about what brought down that Russian jet. The latest from Egypt, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:18:57] COSTELLO: The mother of 9-year-old shooting victim Tyshawn Lee is accused of spending donated money to buy a new car. Just last week, Tyshawn Lee was murdered. Police say the 9-year-old was lured into an alley by gang members and shot to death.
His mother, Karla Lee, held up her son's pictures for the cameras.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL LEE, MOTHER OF VICTIM: If anybody know anything, please, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That inspired a Go Fund Me effort. People donated $17,000 to help with the boy's funeral. When word got out his mother bought a new car, people were not happy.
One tweet, quote, "I didn't donate my money to Tyshawn's Go Fund Me account to buy his mom a 2015 car," calling the move sad.
Another, quote, "Is this the boy? Is the boy even cold yet? She should not have shown how trashy she was by speaking on video. The poor kid had no chance."
Karl Lee told our affiliate WLS that she bought the 2015 Chrysler 200 with her own money for protection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[09:20:08] LEE: People talking -- y'all really think I'm going to sit there and take almost $17,000 and spend it on a car? Man, my son would have never wanted me to do that. First of all, you think I just walked in a dealer like, give me a 2015? No, I didn't. The -- I told them I was scared. You don't understand that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Ms. Lee also said she still has $13,000 in the go fund me account after paying for her son's funeral.
The U.S. is growing more confident this morning that a bomb took down a doomed Russian jet nine days ago. One official quote saying 99.9 percent certain now. The FBI is offering its help.
Sources say the agency could be used to decipher an explosion-like sound heard on the plane's voice recorder. Still, Egyptian officials are being more cautious about the bomb theory.
Nima Elbagir is in Sharm el-Sheikh with more.
Hi, Nima.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi, Carol. Well, even as there is growing consensus around the possibility that this was an act of terror, Egyptian officials continue to maintain to us on the ground that it is simply too soon to tell. They say as far as they're concerned, all scenarios remain on the table.
The subject of much of the concern and speculation is this last sound picked up by the cockpit voice recorder. That's what the FBI is saying they are very well-equipped to try and help solve, in terms of the riddle about exactly what happened here.
They are in talks currently to see if they can be brought in, they can come in and help. As of yet, there's no confirmation. They don't have an official role.
All this as 100 victims bodies have been identified. The Russian state news agency says there is an expectation, that there will be investigations done on the remains of the plane to answer the question once and for all, whether there is any explosive residue. That could be in the near future, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Nima Elbagir reporting live for us from Egypt.
Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: Donald Trump takes over "Saturday Night Live," but did Ben Carson's jabs at the media win the weekend?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:26:40] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories at 26 minutes past.
A major shift in power happening in Myanmar after Sunday's historic election. The National League for Democracy says it is on track to a landslide victory, already securing 70 percent of the seats. The win would end decades of military dominance. Sunday's election is considered the freest in a generation.
Police are investigating a detective-involved shooting in Brooklyn. Officials say three plain clothes detectives were investigating a robbery when a suspect pulled out a gun and tried to hold them up. One of the detectives opened fire and shot the suspect.
The suspect was then taken to a hospital. He's in stable condition. The detective was treated for ringing in his ears.
Take a look at these pictures. This is incredible, right? Dozens of cars literally swallowed up by a massive sink hole. It happened underneath an IHOP parking lot in Mississippi. The restaurant had only been opened for a few days.
Despite all of the damage you see here, isn't that incredible, what a surprise when you came out of the restaurant after eating a stack of pancakes. Anyway, the good thing is no one was injured.
(MUSIC)
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Ben Carson on the attack and animated. He calls the media sick and stupid for investigating his background.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The kind of investigations that were done, talking to the wrong people, not going to Wilson Junior High School where the lock incident occurred. But talking to other people and saying, 'See we can't find them" -- I mean this is just stupid, and I mean if our media is no better than investigating than that, it's sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: A review: CNN found no one who can remember Carson's bad temper when he was a boy. No one heard anything about Carson attacking a friend with a knife. "The Wall Street Journal" is questioning his story Carson told about his time at Yale.
"Politico" scrutinized his claim West Point gave him a full scholarship. And now, Donald Trump was piling on, tweeting that the political story was in Trump's words, one of the many lies of Ben Carson. Adding that, quote, "The Carson story is either a total fabrication or, if true, even worse, trying to hit mother over the head with a hammer or stabbing a friend?"
Trump seemed to soften his tone a bit, though, during the Sunday talk shows. Well, sort of.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): I feel badly for Ben. I've gotten to like Ben. It's a tough thing.
I mean, he writes a book where he went after his mother, hit her in the head, or wanted to hit her in the head with a hammer, hitting a friend in the face with a lock, with a padlock, hard in the face, stabbing somebody, only to be broken up by a belt buckle. He's going to have to explain a lot of things away, the scholarship situation, the dinner with Westmoreland, where Westmoreland wasn't there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. Let's talk about that. With me now, John Avlon, CNN analyst and editor of "The Daily Beast", and Tim Pawlenty, a former Republican governor of Minnesota and advisory council member for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.
Welcome to both of you.
TIM PAWLENTY (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF MINNESOTA: Good morning.
JOHN AVLON, THE DAILY BEAST: Good to see you, Carol. Good morning.
COSTELLO: Nice to see you both.
So, Tim, you ran for elected office. You won. Will this hurt Ben Carson?
PAWLENTY: Well, I think there's going to be a dual impact, Carol. On the one hand, if you're on the defensive in the Republican primary, attacking the media can be a popular thing with Republican primary voters. So, in that regard, it may not initially hurt him.
