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Clinton's 2014 Campaign Kickoff; Tillis Hammers Hagan Over Missed Hearing; Still No Sign Of Kim Jong-Un; Indiana Cops Named in Other Excessive Force Cases

Aired October 10, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It is time to get "Inside Politics" on NEW DAY. You know what that means, my friends?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: John King?

CUOMO: Yes. We have a model of you here on set, John.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": There's a cure for that. That's nice, that's nice.

CAMEROTA: It looks more like Chris.

CUOMO: The perfect man.

KING: Before my hair grayed. Three and a half weeks to Election Day, Chris and Alisyn, back to you guys in just a minute.

With me this morning to share their reporting and their insights, Julie Pace of the "Associated Press" and Alex Burns of "Politico."

Let's start with Hillary Clinton, her first official stump speech. She went out to the Tom Harkin Steak Fry, but she was in Pennsylvania yesterday with the candidate for governor, standing next to him, delivering a stump speech, a lot of energy, enthusiasm.

A 2014 message with maybe 2016 implications, a tip of the cap, Hillary Clinton had for her new granddaughter, and then this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: You never know what can happen in an election, Ken. From my perspective, you can't count on things turning out the way you want it unless you get out and work for it, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Can't count on things turning out the way you want, unless you work for them, 2008, a bad memory there?

JULIE PACE, "ASSOCIATED PRESS": I think it's so interesting because one of the things that Hillary is going to have to do if she moves forward with this campaign is have a little humor about the way the 2008 went.

She's not going to be able to totally whitewash that and I think having the self-deprecating attitude will go over well. I think the speech was really interesting, though, because it was a turning of the corner for her.

She's given some pretty bland speeches through the summer up over her book tour and this had a little more heft to it. You could see her moving in a direction, not just for the 2014 message but also the 2016 message.

KING: And thematically Democrats are hoping especially in tight races they believe trying to get women to turn out at a higher percentage than they normally do in a midterm election is key to them across the country than almost every one of these big races.

Turning out women, playing up women's economic issues, and also plays right into 2016 for Hillary Clinton, doesn't it?

ALEX BURNS, "POLITICO": The party has been saying all year that they need to deliver a strong closing message on economic opportunity and just maximize their advantage among women, that's what Hillary Clinton talked about yesterday.

It was surprising under the circumstances, upbeat speech about just American potential for the future. That's another hurdle that she's going to have to clear as a candidate. How do you make somebody who first came into national politics over 20 years ago, a candidate of the future?

KING: New and different. That's a great point. She was talking optimistic about the future, hitting on some problems, but also trying to be upbeat, a candidate of change. Is Hillary Clinton a candidate of change?

The current president of the United States was out on the west coast. He is raising some money. He also did some town halls. Listen to President Obama here in Santa Monica talking about the Republicans, he knows how this works.

In two presidential elections, President Obama received two-thirds of the Latino vote. He said Republicans have a problem when it comes to immigration, but they don't seem to want to solve it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It's anybody's guess how Republicans are thinking about this. If they were thinking long-term politically, it is suicide for them not to do this.

Because the demographics of the country are such, where you are going to lose an entire generation of immigrants who are looking around and saying, you know what, that party does not seem to care much about me and my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: He's right about the demographics. It's hard to see the Republicans competing at the presidential level. Never mind in two years, but four years after that, and four years after that, but what about himself where he talks about you have this group of people saying, you know what?

The party doesn't seem to care about me and my life. There's a lot of Latino frustration that he has repeatedly promised, to submit legislation or take executive action and they've got nothing.

PACE: This is a worrying thing for some people in the White House, a lot of Latino advocates outside of the White House who say we've been with you, Barack Obama. We believe that you were going to push immigration reform through the hill. You promised us this.

You promised us would take executive action and now we're left with nothing. While there may have been a proclivity towards Obama from Hispanic voters and Democrats for a long time, maybe that's not going to be the case.

Now Democrats will argue on the other side Republicans don't have a record to stand on there, either. But there is a sense that maybe Latinos have been taken for granted by this White House.

KING: I don't think that Speaker Boehner, and perhaps we'll see what happens, Majority Leader McConnell if Republicans were going to take the Senate are going to take their advice from President Obama.

They are going to ask him for what's best for the Republican Party. But is there any indication in this mid-term campaign that they will move on immigration reform?

Because the president is right about the demographics, whether they like it or not, whether they like it coming from a Democrat or not. If you look at the last two presidential elections, it's hard to see the Republicans as a presidential party if they don't fix that.

BURNS: He's clearly right. I think if you put most members of a Republican leadership in a polygraph they would agree that he's right. They're not putting themselves into a polygraph. To the extent they've moved on immigration in this election to the right.

That they've suddenly revived amnesty-bashing, border control in their television ads, in their debates, going after Democrats, raising the prospect that lack of immigration controls is going to bring Ebola and ISIS to our shores.

That's not the rhetoric the party is going to need in 2016, but it's rhetoric that's been pretty effective this year.

KING: So unlikely. We'll see what happens. Sometimes the morning after an election, everything changes, but Alex is dead right, the Republicans moving more to the right as we get closer to Election Day.

Here's a Democrat who I think should have thought this question might come up. Alison Grimes is the candidate against Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader right now.

If the Republicans can pick up six seats and he wins his race, he would be the majority leader. President Obama's approval rating in Kentucky is somewhere in the 30s.

He's been a drag on Alison Grimes in this campaign. You're a Democrat. You know he's an issue. You should be able to answer a pretty simple question. Did you vote for him?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISON LUNDERGAN GRIMES (D), KENTUCKY SENATE CANDIDATE: I was actually a delegate for Hillary Clinton and I think that Kentuckians know I'm a Clinton Democrat through and through. I respect the sanctity of the ballot box and I know the members of this editorial board do as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you're not going to answer?

GRIMES: Again, I don't think that the president is on the ballot as much as Mitch McConnell might want him to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The problem with that, Alex, I understand the president is a drag in Kentucky on her campaign, but if you don't answer the question, yesterday, you're going to be asked it today. And if you don't answer it today, you're going to be asked it tomorrow and that's not what she wants to be talking about three weeks to Election Day.

BURNS: Of all the unbelievable unforced errors we have seen in this campaign. Kentucky voters have seen tens of millions of dollars in TV ads linking Alison Grimes to Barack Obama. It beggars understanding why she thinks answering a question like this is going to make people suddenly realize, my goodness, she's a Democrat.

But look, this is what happens when you run a campaign that's based on saying as little as possible about your ideas about energy and health care and what you do in Washington and just trying to let Mitch McConnell hang himself on his own unpopularity.

KING: Now there are unforced errors you might describe it as such, Kay Hagan, she is the Democratic incumbent in North Carolina. She missed a hearing, classified hearing about ISIS.

Her staff was saying for a long time she was at another hearing. She finally conceded she was at a fundraiser in New York City. It became a flashpoint in her debate with her opponent, Republican Thom Tillis yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOM TILLIS (R), NORTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: Senator Hagan thinks a cocktail fundraiser hosted on Park Avenue by a Wall Street executive is a better priority than doing her job in Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The writers got that one, Park Avenue, fundraiser, by a Wall Street executive having cocktails.

PACE: It's got all the buzz words in there. I mean, it doesn't look good especially in the context of what's happening now with the Islamic State group. You know, this was a hearing that happened a while ago. It goes to the point that President Obama and Democrats kind of missed the memo on the Islamic State.

That being said, you would be hard-pressed to find a lawmaker on Capitol Hill who has attended every hearing in the committees that they're on. They don't go to all of these hearings.

KING: But if you didn't, if you didn't and your staff is saying one thing, clear up the record, get the facts out there, whether they're good or bad, as quickly as possible. Alex, Julie, thanks for coming in.

Alisyn, as we get back to you in New York, that's what we're watching for. We are in the final three weeks, three weeks from Tuesday. Do candidates in these tight races make late errors? Late errors could make a difference.

CAMEROTA: I'm going to go with yes.

KING: Tensions are high.

CAMEROTA: Exactly.

All right, be sure to tune in Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern as John King and his "INSIDE POLITICS" panel dissect the best political news of the week.

Well, we showed you the shocking video of police in Indiana smashing in a family's window and tazing the passenger. Now the family is coming forward and talking about her violent encounter with the same police officer.

CAMEROTA: And where in the world is Kim Jong-Un? There's no sign of the secretive North Korean leader. Could he be dealing with serious health problems? We are live on the ground with the very latest.

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CUOMO: We have more breaking news for you out of the Koreas this morning. South Korean activists released balloons filled with anti- North flyers, North Korea responds by firing on them for about 20 minutes. The drama is unfolding as questions swirl over the whereabouts of Kim Jong-Un.

Overnight, the 31-year-old leader was a no-show failing to appear at a palace ceremony honoring his late father and grandfather. According to North Korean news agencies, flowers were presented in Kim's absence. But where was he?

Let's bring in Paula Hancocks live from Seoul. What do we know, Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, certainly we know what has happened today, this incident, is pretty much the most serious incident we've seen between North and South Korea for about four years.

Exchanging fire over that very tense border as you say, balloons were launched across the border trying to tell North Korean residents according to these activists exactly what the regime is like.

They were fired upon by North Korea and then South Korea gave a warning and responded. No casualties on this side of the border, we don't know about the north - Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Paula, thank you very much. Here's the follow-up question for you -- what is the best information about where Kim Jong- Un would be? Is it illness? Is it this is a stunt or as a wild card, is he just recovering from a bender with Dennis Rodman?

HANCOCKS: Well, five weeks on, you'd hope it's not the latter, what we have at this point is most experts. Most officials are assuming it is health issues. We know he's been limping, we've seen it on state- run media.

We know from the same state-run media that he has been described as having discomfort. And what we've heard today, just a couple of hours ago from South Korea's Defense Ministry is that the minister believes that he is in Pongua Hospital in Pyongyang.

This is where his father, the late Kim Jong-Ill and his grandfather, the founder of North Korea, were treated for illnesses in the past. So the assumption in South Korea is that he is ill.

They said they believe the leadership is normal. They're counting out any option of there being a coup or him being having been deposed by the military. Most experts here as well are saying that's pretty unlikely -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, obviously could have major implications and we will stay on it. Paula Hancocks, thank you very much.

Now there's video that's captured the nation's attention. We're going to want to talk about it. You've seen it, Indiana cops smashing in a car window, tazing the man in the passenger's seat.

This was a seat belt traffic stop. Now another woman is coming forward, saying one of the officers involved tackled her. We'll get her story ahead.

CAMEROTA: And this Sunday at 9:00 p.m. on CNN's "PARTS UNKNOWN" Anthony Bourdain goes in search of his past in Paraguay. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, "PARTS UNKNOWN": I'm told you're a man who can help me. What do you do? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May I call you Tony?

BOURDAIN: Please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you for the first time in the country?

BOURDAIN: First time in Paraguay, yes. This bar in the city has always been a central switchboard, a gathering place. Lido-bar. Ladies in orange vests cook and serve old-school Paraguay working class food to people of every walk of life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been here for more than 50 years.

BOURDAIN: All right, let's get something to eat, I'm hungry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

BOURDAIN: Empanadas de Carne, big envelopes of dough filled with beef, onion, and hard-cooked egg, deep-fried to perfection. Cattle is a big business of this country. It used to be cattle and smuggling. These days it's still cattle and some smuggling. You see a lot of beef is what I'm saying.

BOURDAIN: That's good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: We are learning new details about the two officers accused of using excessive force during a traffic stop in Indian. By now you've probably seen the video, and the shocking end to 13-minute stand-off between Indiana family and the Hammond Police Department.

It turns out it's not the first time these officers have been accused of using excessive force. CNN's Susan Candiotti has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Have you seen that video?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. My goodness, it just brings back memories.

CANDIOTTI: Yolanda Gray does more than cringe seeing this video of police smashing in a car window, after a couple stopped for not wearing seat belts.

It shows Hammond, Indiana, police using a stun gun on passenger, Jamal Jones, after he refuses to get out of his girlfriend's car during 13- minute stand-off. Two children are in the backseat. Yolanda Gray recognizes the officer shattering the window.

YOLANDA GRAY, LAWSUIT PLAINTIFF: That's the guy, the same one that tackled me, the one that busts the glass open, my gosh. The baby's crying, I heard my baby crying. She was standing in the street. CANDIOTTI: In 2006, Gray and her family were pulled out of their car moments after leaving their driveway. No one told them why. Police ordered her husband to get out of the car. He complied.

(on camera): This is where it happened?

GRAY: This is exactly where it happened. They asked me to get out of the car. I get out of the car with my hands up and the one that tackled me came from this side of the street and as I was almost where I needed to be, he tackled me. I never saw him coming.

CANDIOTTI: Gray says she was bruised and man handled after being put down on the street. According to court papers, police say she refused to get out of the car and when will she did started running before police tackled her.

GRAY: My oldest son jumps out of the car screaming, that's my mom, that's my mom, he was put into a chokehold, and a gun put on his head.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): And your other son?

GRAY: My other son was taken out of the car and he was handcuffed.

CANDIOTTI: Your daughter?

GRAY: My daughter, they didn't even -- no one attended to the baby.

CANDIOTTI: It turns out, she and her lawyer say, a case of mistaken identity, police were allegedly look for a man who she says looked nothing like her husband.

Yet Gray's husband was charged with disorderly conduct, and they were both also charged with resisting an officer. She says she declined a plea offer before trial.

GRAY: They said they would give us one last chance if we would just write a letter of apology they would drop all of the charges.

CANDIOTTI: And you said?

GRAY: Absolutely not.

CANDIOTTI: The couple was acquitted, and sued the same officer, two others, and the city on a civil rights claim. They settled out of court. So when she heard and saw the glass shattering incident a few weeks ago, it hit home. What kind of memories does this bring back to you?

GRAY: The most horrific memories. My kids' innocence were taken that day.

CANDIOTTI: A lot of people are asking, why didn't the man just get out of the car and get out of the car might have ended the whole thing?

GRAY: I am enraged every time someone makes that comment because they have no idea. And we did that they asked, but the moment that we got out, that was when the horrific harassment started.

CANDIOTTI: CNN has been unable to reach the police department for comment on the 2006 case. The officer who Gray says tackled her coincidentally the same one seen breaking the glass in this separate incident, also could not be reached.

In a statement issued this week, police said the window was broken because officers were concerned for their safety after the passenger reached for a backpack in the rear seat and refused lawful orders to get out of the car. The incident a few weeks ago, it hit home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Different state, same story. Go from Indiana to St. Louis, Missouri, we have another place on edge because of an incident involving the cops and civilians.

This time it's the fatal shooting of a black teen by an off-duty police officer, that's the story that's going on there. Looking at what happened as a result.

Police officer says the teenager shot first, nonetheless, protests overnight. Threatening almost a spiral out of control, this is going on not far from where Michael Brown was killed. We'll take you there live for the latest.

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