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Rep. Paul Ryan Seeks Unity to Run for House Speaker; Democrats: Benghazi Hearing a 'Political Sideshow'; Family Demands Answers after Fatal Police Shooting in Florida; Carson's Business Manager Responds to Latest Polls. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 21, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: So, the question is this, will a group of roughly 40 conservatives in that House Freedom Caucus who helped drive out Speaker John Boehner and torpedoed Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's bid do the same to Paul Ryan?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[07:00:04] REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: I have left this decision in their hands.

RAJU (voice-over): The ultimatum is set this morning by Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan.

RYAN: This is not a job I've ever wanted.

RAJU: After days of hand-wringing by House Republicans, essentially backing him into a corner...

RYAN: I think our country is in desperate need of leadership.

RAJU: ... the 45-year-old former vice-presidential nominee is stepping up, saying he's willing to replace House Speaker John Boehner. But not so fast. Ryan says if, and only if, the three largest coalitions in the GOP House back his candidacy and agree to the following conditions by Friday. Ryan demanding that, first, the Republican Party goes from, quote, "an opposition party to being a proposition party."

RYAN: We think the nation is on the wrong path. We have a duty to show the right one. Our next speaker has to be a visionary one.

RAJU: Second, Ryan appealing to the House Freedom Caucus, requesting an update to House rules, making it harder to overthrow a sitting speaker.

DANA LOESCH, "THE BLAZE": You have the Freedom Caucus. And where you have the grassroots, they're concerned about Paul Ryan's past.

RAJU: Alabama Republican Mo Brooks, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, says, quote, "There is growing concern in my district because of an amnesty in open borders immigration position."

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I think Paul would be a great speaker. I mean, he's got the skills to do the job.

RAJU: Still, time is running out as Boehner makes it clear he wants out soon.

BOEHNER: I expect to be out of there by the ended of this month.

RAJU: Well aware of the 100-hour workweek, Boehner says he frequently clocks in as speaker, Ryan's last condition concerns his wife and three children.

RYAN: I cannot and I will not give up my family time.

RAJU: A family he does not want to let down.

RYAN: My greatest worry is the consequence of not stepping up. Of someday having my own kids ask me, "When the stakes were so high, why didn't you do all you could do?"

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RAJU: Now, it appears that Ryan has deep support in two other factions in the House, the moderate Tuesday Group and another conservative caucus, the Republican Study Committee, but the Freedom Caucus backs another candidate who's been running for speaker, Daniel Webster of Florida, who told me yesterday he has no intention of dropping out of the race.

And looming over all of this are the big fiscal issues Congress must address this fall, including to avoid a default of the U.S. debt by early November -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Going to be an interesting week in that building there behind you, Manu. Thanks for that.

Well, he's not a candidate, but Vice President Joe Biden now talking up his credentials and distancing himself from Hillary Clinton.

CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta has more on that. What's he saying, Jim?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, Vice President Joe Biden is sharpening up his not-so-veiled criticism of Hillary Clinton sounding more like a candidate every day.

Last night Biden was at a tribute for former Vice President Walter Mondale. And for the third time in two days, he returned to what appeared to be a criticism of Clinton's comment last week at the CNN debate that she considers Republicans one of her biggest enemies. And without mentioning Clinton by name, the vice president said talk like that is naive and won't fix Washington. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The other team is not the enemy. If you treat it as the enemy, there is no way we can ever, ever, ever resolve the problems we have to. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, Biden also tried to clear up his role in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, saying yesterday that he supported the president's decision to go after the al Qaeda leader, even though he said in the past that he'd advised against that operation.

Now, the vice president also appears to be beefing up a potential ground game by lining up the support of the International Fire Fighters' Union. The group's president, Harold Schaitberger told me he has spoken to Biden in the last few days and that the vice president is, in his words, thoughtfully weighing a bid for the White House.

Schaitberger added his group is mobilizing, saying our union is preparing as if the vice president is going to announce his candidacy. But Schaitberger tried to tamp down expectations that a Biden announcement could come at any moment.

And Michaela, you know, what is also interesting and what the vice president has been saying the last couple of days, he seems to be offering up a rationale for his candidacy that he would essentially be the third term of an Obama presidency. And that can be a contrast with Hillary Clinton. She's been criticizing some of the president's policies in recent days. So it could be an interesting contrast if Joe Biden gets in the race. But it's still a big if, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Seems, if, all these words, it's so hard to read these tea leaves. OK, Jim. Thanks so much.

Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is expected to face eight hours of questioning when she appears before the House Benghazi committee tomorrow. We are learning more about how she's preparing and how her supporters are preparing a defense. CNN senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar live from Washington for us.

Good morning, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Michaela.

There's really a multi-front Democratic attack taking place against this Republican-led House Benghazi committee. And this is really the latest volley. This is a book by David Brock, who's Hillary Clinton's chief defender, and his super PAC, Correct the Record, which is working in conjunction with the Clinton campaign. And this is called the complete guide to the Benghazi select committee, 140 pages lambasting this committee, even taking aim at the individual members of the committee.

[07:05:08] This group is expected to launch a war room tomorrow during Hillary Clinton's testimony. We expect that this testimony will take several hours, as it did back in 2013 when she received before Congress on Benghazi.

And the staffers are going to be responding rapidly to some of the things that she says in trying to ward off Republican attacks. You also have the Clinton campaign that is arming its surrogates, its supporters with talking points, saying that they want this characterized as a partisan charade and to stress that Hillary Clinton is testifying to, quote, "honor the memory of the four brave Americans who died at Benghazi."

Of course, we do expect, Chris, that Republicans will be doing some of the same, some of these anti-Hillary Clinton PACs preparing their own war rooms as they try to take on Hillary Clinton as she enjoys, really, this momentum after her debate performance.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, look, there's going to be politics and optics on both sides. There's no question about it, Brianna. The question is, what are the legitimate questions? What are the legitimate gaps? And where is this going to head to benefit the American people?

For perspective, Alabama Congresswoman Martha Roby. She's a Republican member of the select committee on Benghazi.

Congresswoman, it's good to have you with us this morning. You have been asked before but have not answered, but let's ask again. What gaps? What do you believe you need to focus on, just in terms of general areas of questioning, that you don't have satisfaction on?

REP. MARTHA ROBY (R), ALABAMA: Well, good morning, Chris.

Thank you for having me. Look, this has always been about finding out the truth. This is a fact-finding mission, and this administration has been all over the place and not forthright with members of Congress about what happened before, during and after the attack. And so this committee was put together so that we could continue to seek the truth on behalf of the four Americans that unnecessarily lost their lives.

And there are missing pieces. There are gaps, which is why this select committee was created in the first place, so that we could fill in those gaps.

CUOMO: There's no question that lives were lost, that there's accountability to be had. But then you get to the legitimate questions of, well, what else are you going to learn? You had the secretary, the former secretary now, for over six hours.

She spoke specifically to what she knew before, during and after. She gave you answers that may have not -- have been satisfying to you, but she gave answers. She talked to you about the threat. She talked to you about her recognition of the threat. She talked to you about her response to the threat. What areas, specifically, are you looking at?

ROBY: Well, first of all, there's been a lot of stonewalling when it comes to providing this committee with the appropriate information that we need to ask the right questions. We have been pushing for some time now to have access to the documents that we believe would shed some light on exactly what happened. So, yes, there have been other committees that have questioned

Secretary Clinton before. But this committee, with the information that we have, have not been in a position to fill in those gaps.

And I would say specifically to answer your question, let's talk about the many requests for diplomatic security that were ignored or turned down. Those are the questions that this committee -- and that's just one example of how we need to fill in these missing pieces.

CUOMO: Right. And of course, as you know, the former secretary addressed those threats, addressed them in a regional context, addressed them in a specific contest. You could say -- context, that she took responsibility, she didn't take blame. And I understand how that could upset you politically. But in terms of, you know, what information there is yet to be found, it raises questions of what else is there?

ROBY: Well, again, this isn't solely about Mrs. Clinton. This isn't solely about Secretary Clinton. She's just one piece of a much larger investigation.

We've interviewed over 50 witnesses. By the time we're done with this investigation, I believe it will be upwards of 70, many of whom have never been spoken to before by any committee that had jurisdiction prior to the select committee being formed.

So, yes, Hillary Clinton was secretary of state at the time that this attack took place. Of course this committee is going to need to ensure that we have a conversation with her. And it's my hope that she'll be forthright with the committee and answer our questions. But, again, she's just one piece of a much larger investigation.

CUOMO: Understood. But she's been the target. You've had members of your party, members of this committee say that it is about her. They were going after her. You had Kevin McCarthy, you know, bragging about bringing down her poll numbers. You had that sentiment echoed by other Republican Congressmen. So it's not just me who's bringing up the cynicism.

You talk about the documents that you have now. Nobody questions the ability of you to interview more people. That's easy enough to do, especially with subpoena power.

But these Chris Stevens e-mails come out. We had Lynn Westmoreland on the show, and I kind of gave him a pass on this question. You know, we had the e-mails. Nobody else had the e-mails. That's not true. Other committees had 25,000 pages of his e-mails. There have been multiple iterations of review. The State Department reviewed it and came up with changes based on a lack of communication with people in the field.

[07:10:17] What more have you learned? Can you point to one thing that you've learned that Hillary Clinton didn't tell you or lied about or that you learned that we never knew before?

ROBY: Well, let me first go back to your previous statement at the beginning of the question, where you talked about Republicans stating that this was about politics. You haven't heard that from any member of this committee.

This -- the members of this committee and myself, this has never been political for us. This has always been about finding out the truth. We have remained committed to that and if you look at the actions of every member of this committee and the majority, that certainly has been the case. And those that have made the comments are not members of the committee.

Specifically, though, to your question is what may we have learned? Well, I would say to you and everybody watching, stay tuned. Please watch the interview tomorrow with Secretary Clinton, because I believe that you will see that there are documents that we will be able to ask her questions about for the first time. And that's very important to be able to fill in the gaps about the information that we currently do not have.

CUOMO: What can you suggest that may come up tomorrow that will expose that the secretary has been untruthful with you or that the administration manufactured a cover-up? Because those would be the only two real areas that would justify this extension of curiosity and expense of this committee, wouldn't it?

ROBY: Chris, I disagree with the premise of your question. You're suggesting that the only existence for this committee is to expose something that Hillary Clinton did wrong. And that's...

CUOMO: Or the administration.

ROBY: ... absolutely incorrect.

CUOMO: Or the administration.

ROBY: Our job is to find out the whole truth about what happened before, during and after. And Secretary Clinton voluntarily raised her hand to be secretary of state. And of course we have to speak to her...

CUOMO: You did.

ROBY: ... to get the whole picture.

CUOMO: You did.

ROBY: This committee -- this committee has not. The select committee has not. And so we look forward to tomorrow, being able to ask the questions with the new documents that we've just received. Again, the State Department has stonewalled, and we knew this day would come. I'm sorry it took so long. I believe this could have been over a long time ago if this administration had been a little bit more forthright with the committee.

CUOMO: Are you coming -- is part of this committee's work to look at the denials of funding that happened in Congress after this event? The State Department asked for increases in funding for operational security to shore up places like the Benghazi mission, and they were denied, certainly reduced. Is that part of your investigation into what the motivations were for those moves?

ROBY: Well, we've certainly asked those questions. There were many requests for security all over the world on the day of the attack and the days leading up. No one else was denied.

And certainly, this administration has taken the position that it was Congress's failure to find. But let me point out, there was a contingency fund, where the secretary found $20 million to support the Libyan government, yet blames Congress for not being able to support her men and women that she had on the ground.

Yes, those are definite questions that we must ask and get answers to. How could you find money to support security forces for the Libyan government yet point the finger at Congress to blame us for not giving the appropriate funds to support her people on the ground? That's a very important question and certainly one that will be asked tomorrow.

CUOMO: The notion of what's beginning on with the committee does somewhat suggest what's going on with leadership within the GOP. Paul Ryan could very well be an answer to consolidating power. There's a question as to whether or not the different factions will get behind them.

You're a member of the Study Group, they are at least inwardly saying they do support Paul Ryan. Do you think he will get the GOP to unify?

ROBY: Well, actually, I'm not a member of RSC. But that being said...

CUOMO: I thought you were. I'm sorry, Congresswoman.

ROBY: That's OK. But I just -- I've always stated that we need a bold leader that can unite Republicans and can push forward a conservative agenda. Do I think Paul Ryan can do that? Absolutely.

But I also respect the fact that he only wants to enter into this race if there's a unification of our conference. I get that. Who would want to be speaker without the unified conference?

So we'll look forward to see how this progresses throughout the rest of the week. Of course, today and tomorrow my focus is on the hearing in front of us.

CUOMO: And also, Congressman Roby, let me extend the invitation to you. After you've heard the testimony, please come back on so we can discuss with the audience what you think it elucidated. OK?

ROBY: I look forward to it, Chris. Thank you.

CUOMO: All right. Good luck tomorrow -- Alisyn.

ROBY: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. Thank you so much. Newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau following through on a campaign promise to end his country's role in the bombing campaign against ISIS. Trudeau telling President Obama that he is pulling Canada's six fighter jets from the war zones in Iraq and Syria. But the Canadians will still provide humanitarian aid and training in the region.

PEREIRA: We have breaking news this morning. A New York City police officer was killed in the line of duty. Overnight, Officer Randolph Holder was shot in the head while chasing a robbery suspect in East Harlem. The 33-year-old later died at the hospital. That suspect is in custody.

Also late last night, a Kentucky police officer was shot in the chest. Prestonburg Officer Adam Dixon is reportedly in stable condition. The suspect barricaded himself inside a home. A standoff is still under way this morning.

CUOMO: Now another aspect of this story of violence. There's a grieving family demanding answers after Florida police killed well- known local drummer Corey Jones. Police say their officer approached Jones, who was armed, in his car. But there's no dashcam or body camera footage to show exactly what happened, so questions are coming up.

CNN's Alina Machado is joining us live in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, with more. What do you see down there, Alina?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, the officer involved in this shooting is on paid administrative leave this morning while the sheriff's office investigates and the family tries to come to terms with what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERICK BANKS, COREY JONES' UNCLE: My nephew was broken down on the side of the road.

MACHADO (voice-over): Corey Jones' uncle struggles to tell the story of how his 31-year-old nephew ended up shot and killed by a police officer after his car broke down on a Florida highway.

CHIEF STEPHEN STEPO, PALM BEACH GARDENS POLICE DEPARTMENT: I'd like to offer our condolences.

MACHADO: On Tuesday, the Palm Beach Gardens police chief attempted to explain what happened, saying around 3 a.m. Sunday morning, Officer Nouman Raja, who was wearing plain clothes and driving an unmarked car, stopped to investigate what he thought was an abandoned vehicle on an exit ramp.

STEPO: As the officer exited his vehicle, he was suddenly confronted by an armed subject. As a result of the confrontation, the officer discharged his firearm, resulting in the death of Mr. Corey Jones.

MACHADO: Police say they found this handgun near Jones's car, its serial number matching the gun they say Jones bought just three days before the deadly encounter, a purchase his family was surprised to find out about. In fact, family and friends describe the popular drummer, who played with a local band and at his church, as peaceful and laid back.

DOROTHY ELLINGTON, COREY JONES'S BOSS: In a state of disbelief, because of all people, Corey, Corey is not someone that we would think would be shot by a police officer.

MACHADO: Now, supporters are calling for a peaceful rally Thursday at the police department.

SYLVESTER "TRE" BANKS, COREY JONES'S COUSIN: He don't deserve this. He don't. We just -- we just need justice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: Now, Officer Raja spent about seven years at a much smaller police department before joining the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department earlier this year. The police chief here tells us that the officer has had no complaints against him. And there are also no disciplinary actions that have been filed against the officer -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alina. Thank you for the reporting. Ahead on the show, we're going to speak with the attorney representing the Corey Jones family, Counselor Benjamin Crump.

CAMEROTA: All right. Also ahead, Donald Trump and Ben Carson are leading the Republican pack. But we are talking to Carson's business manager about Carson's latest controversial statements and what he thinks of Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:22:12] CAMEROTA: All right. So the latest polls reveal some interesting shifts in the GOP field. While Trump maintains his lead in the latest CNN/ORC poll, Ben Carson has surged eight points since last month. And look at Carly Fiorina. She has dropped 11 points.

Here to discuss the state of the race is Armstrong Williams. He's Ben Carson's business manager and close friend.

Good morning, Armstrong.

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, BUSINESS MANAGER FOR BEN CARSON: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. It's not just the CNN poll that showed these two way ahead of the pack. There's also, just out this hour, is a new ABC News/"Washington Post" poll. Let me show that to you, because Trump's lead here is even bigger. He's at 32 percent. Ben Carson is exactly the same as he is in the CNN poll at 22 percent. They are, obviously, more than twice what their closest competitor is.

Armstrong, how do you explain that these two men who are so stylistically different -- I mean, you have Dr. Carson, who is soft- spoken and low-key and disciplined, and then you have Donald Trump, who is bold and brash and unpredictable. How can the voters want both these men?

WILLIAMS: Well, good morning. Listen, when Mr. Trump speaks about immigration, when he speaks about the walls, he speaks about being a businessman and he knows how to create jobs and that he's fierce and he's tough. And so many things that he says sometimes that makes us all want to push back and say, "Did he really say that?"

But for some reason many Americans see that as strength. They see that as courage. They see that as leadership.

Dr. Carson, on the other hand, when he gets into the real policy issues, whether he's talking about the debt ceiling, whether he's talking about the grid and how we need to take care of our grid in these major cities; and whether he's talking about ISIS or whether he's talking about Muslims as presidents; or whether he's talking about gun, while the media may see it as being controversial, but they see him getting into a deeper issue about his policies, what he really thinks and what he really believes. And the fact that they're willing to say it.

And it seems like the more they say it, the more they build their base. And as they build their base, they consume all the air in the room. There's not a lot of attention to the other candidates, because they're not making these bold statements; they're not taking these bold positions.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

WILLIAMS: And they're not willing to be vulnerable in what they say. So in playing it safe, they don't get the same kind of attention that Mr. Trump or Dr. Carson gets from the national media.

CAMEROTA: Well, look, exactly. I mean, didn't that suggest that combining forces, they might be unstoppable? Donald Trump was on yesterday, and I asked him about what he thought about a combined Ben Carson/Donald Trump ticket. Actually I think I said Trump/Carson ticket. And let me play for you what he said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Can you imagine a Trump/Carson ticket?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via phone): Well, I like him. He likes me. I mean, stranger things have happened, that I can tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:25:00] CAMEROTA: Stranger things have happened. What does Dr. Carson think about a possible combined ticket?

WILLIAMS: Listen, Dr. Carson has said before, and he'll say again, it's all about compatibility, whether you can govern together, whether you have the same kind of judgment and temperament, whether you are at the same places on policies and how to move America forward.

CAMEROTA: They do not have -- hold on, Armstrong. Because that is -- that's a lot there in that basket. They do not have the same temperament. They may have the same position, but they don't have the same temperament. So where does that leave them?

WILLIAMS: Well, the good news is that Dr. Carson and Mr. Trump continues to grow and mature in this role as frontrunners in this presidential election.

I know there are others that feel that this won't last long, and they're just waiting for Dr. Carson and Mr. Trump to disappear. But many of us don't believe that's going to happen anytime soon.

But as Mister -- as Mr. Trump develops his message, develops his temperament and his judgment and his discipline, maybe he develops in the kind of leadership, the kind of force that the American people want and then if you get that and if it comes to the point of you've got to select a running mate, depending on who's leading at the time, because in our -- in Dr. Carson's camp, they really believe that at some point Dr. Carson is going to overtake Mr. Trump. It will be interesting to see how he deals with that.

So it may be a Carson/Trump. You never know what the future holds, Alisyn. But hey, it remains to be seen.

CAMEROTA: It does. But listen, we do know how the voters feel right now. Because we have a snapshot of that in the latest poll. So this again, another interesting factor here in the ABC News/"Washington Post" poll. And it shows who has the best chance to win the GOP nomination?

Here Donald Trump is far out ahead of everyone, including Dr. Carson. He's at 42 percent.

Another interesting poll, the best chance to win the general election, Donald Trump is even higher. He's at 43 percent to Ben Carson's 16 percent. What do you think of that, Armstrong?

WILLIAMS: Well, you know, also we also took a look at that poll, and on three-quarters of the people in the GOP believe that Dr. Carson can not only win the nomination, but they will support him. His favorability ratings are much, much higher. People trust Dr. Carson. Dr. Carson certainly has the judgment. And many people like Dr. Carson's discipline and soft-spokenness. And the fact that he's very noble, whether it's on the debate stage, whether it's out on the campaign trail.

And, you know, so look, there's a lot of hope for the team Carson in terms of his favorabilities. The fact that he's raising more money than anyone else, I know Mr. Trump and his camp would like people to believe that he's not interested in raising money.

But I think other reports, in some ways, contradict that. They are interested in super PACs that he realizes that he just cannot fund it all by himself. I think Dr. Carson is very transparent on the fight that he's raised a record amount of dollars. He signed up almost 700,000 donors. Almost 700,000. Think about that, Alisyn.

And I think when it's all said and done, that Dr. Carson, because half the country still doesn't know who he is, but when it's all said and done, some January when the stakes are high and mean something, that Dr. Carson will surge ahead of Mr. Trump and that he will be in the best position to win these key states and go on and win the GOP nomination.

CAMEROTA: All right, Armstrong Williams, as you would say, we shall see.

WILLIAMS: We shall see.

CAMEROTA: Thank you very much for being on NEW DAY.

Let's get over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: Well, Alisyn, there's a family grieving in Florida. They are demanding answers. Their son, a church musician, was fatally shot by a plainclothes officer. Police say he was armed. We're going to talk to the family attorney, next.

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