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New Day Saturday

Monster Cyclone Kills Six In Vanuatu; New Video Shows Girls At Turkey-Syria Border; Putin Resurfaces, Kremlin Denies He's Ill; Veterans Fighting against ISIS; Police Race to Save Freezing, Wet Baby; Jeb Bush Makes New Hampshire Debut

Aired March 14, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And death now, a major cyclone making a direct hit on a tiny island nation in the south pacific.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, uncertainty in Ferguson as police officers now hunt down those responsible for shooting two of their own. The mayor says he's not going anywhere. Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: All right, this is just phenomenal. Unbelievable rescue from a Utah river, cries for help as a small baby is trapped under the water. There is some mystery involved too. You're going to see this dramatic rescue unfold on a cop's body camera. Your NEW DAY starts now.

BLACKWELL: Good to be with you this morning. I'm Victor Blackwell.

PAUL: And I'm Christi Paul. We're always glad to have your company here. Let's talk about this tropical paradise as it's known in the South Pacific because right now it is a catastrophic disaster zone.

BLACKWELL: One of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall has killed at least six people. This is the island nation of Vanuatu and it's feared that death toll could go much higher. Tropical Cyclone Pam barreled ashore Friday with winds gusting up to 200 miles an hour, can you imagine? That's as strong as a Category 5 hurricane.

PAUL: It's feared entire villages are wiped out. Look at what you're seeing here. Trees are down, roads blocked and that, of course, is making it really difficult if not impossible in some areas to get to some of those hard hit regions right now.

One emergency official says it looks like a bomb hit the capital. That's how bad the devastation is. Chloe Morrison, World Vision emergency communications officer joins me now on the phone.

Chloe, we're glad that you're OK. We know that communication has really been a little difficult today because of the situation, but what can you tell me about what it's like there right now? CHLOE MORRISON, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, WORLD VISION (via telephone): OK, so, right now it's actually dark, it's nighttime in Port Vila so almost 24 hours, it's a real terrifying moments which happened at about with midnight Port Vila time on Friday night here.

During the day when it was safe for me to go outside and assess the damage, there were trees down and not just a couple of trees across the road. Some of them were piled high. Then you could see over the top of those piles of trees.

As you said whole villages have literally been blown away in the night. So this is often a tropical paradise island and a lot of these houses are what you would expect on an island. They are thatch roofs and not able to withstand a category five.

Yes, we've seen villages literally blown away. Then we have power lines down. Roads are flooded. It really is devastating.

PAUL: You mentioned how some in the outlying areas, too, some of these homes just are built in a way that they can't withstand anything like that. Was there a shelter that people could go to and did they heed those warnings?

MORRISON: Yes. The thing about Tropical Cyclone Pam, people have been waiting for her for over a week. There have been quite strong warnings and people were able to evacuate to shelters where they were available. So in Port Vila where I'm based, in the capital city in Vanuatu, those shelters were like churches and schools that were more concrete structure and more sturdy.

But out on the islands, in the most remote communities, you know, there aren't a lot of strong structures. There are about 83 islands and on Friday night Cyclone Pam tore from the north to the south. She left no island untouched.

And the devastation that will be on the smaller remote islands I can't imagine it particularly with what I've seen around Port Vila today and when I consider that the structures we have in the capital city here are so much stronger than what would have been out on those islands.

PAUL: Sure. So, help us understand the status of food and water and emergency supplies. What is your most urgent need right now?

MORRISON: OK, we know that in times of emergencies and humanitarian disasters, World Vision knows that the biggest priority that people need is clean water, this morning most areas of Port Vila didn't have running water. Some have it now.

Out on the outlying communities, many communities before Cyclone Pam struggled to access clean water. Then there are the streets. Out on the islands a lot of people, they grow food, they ate the food and they might sell extra produce if they have some left over.

Cyclone Pam would have destroyed all of the crops. There are some root crops like taro similar to a potato which may be OK. After a week or so they will start to grow. So it's short of food. And then I spoke about how villages have been literally blown away and the housing that was not able to withstand a Category 5. So shelter, it's an immediate priority as well.

This is a mammoth catastrophe here in Vanuatu and it's a national disaster. So, our immediate priorities that will need to be met this is part of a much longer term response to this disaster.

PAUL: We're so sorry for those communities. Grateful that you are OK. Chloe Morrison, a World Vision emergency communications officer, thank you so much for really helping us understand what the needs are there now.

MORRISON: Thank you.

PAUL: We should point out that Bill Weir, host of CNN's "WONDER LIST" got a first-hand look at Vanuatu before this cyclone hit. He is going to join us right here on CNN at 10 a.m. Eastern to give us his take because he has a very unique voice on this now.

After taking a direct aim at the capital there, Tropical Cyclone Pam is weakening, we understand at least a little bit as it moves away from the island chain.

We have Ivan with us now. Ivan Cabrera, what does it look like it's going to continue to do? Is it going to weaken and sputter out?

IVAN CABRERA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We've run out of islands, which is actually a good thing because this thing is still very strong. This is the United States and Hawaii here, and we have to move way down to the south. Here is Australia, and this is where we're talking about.

Vila is the capital island, the capital city on an island called Vanuatu, which is a chain that consists of numerous islands here. So what is happening I do believe right now is that we have media crews and we have relief agencies that, of course, hunker down in concrete safer buildings.

The villages that are more vulnerable there is no one there yet, the help is yet to come. The cameras are yet to come so we're still in a lull before we are able to see the scope of the devastation I think we're going to be looking at over the next couple of days.

This is 155-mile-an-hour wind that is current so if this thing was still over the islands, it would be an incredible scene there, but it's not. It's now pushing to the stout and east, it's safely moving away from Vanuatu.

We are done as far as the worst of the storm. Maximum sustained winds at landfall, 165 miles an hour. Second only to Hyan that hit the Philippines last year and a couple years ago actually, and this is now the second strongest storm to ever make landfall ever anywhere on the planet as we have been keeping records. A big deal and it's hit an area so vulnerable.

Where is it going to? It's going to New Zealand, but by the time it gets there, there will be some upper level winds that will kind of tear the storm apart, it will be moving through cooler ocean temperatures, tropical cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons, they don't like that so that's good.

It will weaken in about 24-48 hours so by the time it gets to New Zealand, we're going to be looking at a much weaker storm, guys. That's certainly going to be excellent news for them.

PAUL: All righty. Well, good to hear that. Thank you, Ivan Cabrera. We appreciate it so much.

So, detectives are working around the clock right now, that is the word at least from St. Louis County's police chief. As this manhunt intensifies for the person who opened fire and injured two officers. We're taking you live to Ferguson.

Plus, Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't been seen for a while and then suddenly he reappears a week later. What some say may have happened to him and the questions that remain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: We've got the wrong video up. Come back to me on camera. We're going to talk about these three run away British teenagers suspected of joining ISIS. We have video of that as well.

Here it is. This footage, purportedly recorded last month shows the girls as they prepare to pass the Turkish border. Here it is. This is going to Syria. Two of the girls are wearing hoods. The teens seen talking to a man who says put your bags, hurry, don't stop.

One of the girls appears to look down her phone, and she says he just hung up. Now investigators are looking through that to try to glean some information about this passage from one country to the other.

We should also point out that CNN has not been able to confirm the video's authenticity. All of this is happening as Turkey's foreign minister says a spy, that's the word used, spy, who helped the girls crossed the border has been arrested.

Let's dig deeper with CNN military analyst, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, who is in studio with us this morning. We're also joined by former CIA operations officer and former counterterrorism advisor, Joshua Katz. Thanks to both of you for being with us.

Josh, I want to start with you, just your reaction to this new video and how much this could offer, maybe a treasure-trove for investigators.

JOSHUA KATZ, FORMER CIA OPERATIONS OFFICER: Well, this is a problem we have been tracking for well over a year and a half now. The problem continues to grow. The number of western youths, who are traveling to Turkey or other places in the Middle East in order to join ISIS or participate in some way, it's not slowing down. It's growing. This may offer a little insight, but when this gentleman who was arrested was in fact the facilitator, another one will take his place. That's the unfortunate reality here.

BLACKWELL: General Hertling, you know, the question is, why is it so easy to pass from Turkey into Syria? Where are the most poorest areas?

LT. GENERAL MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This area right here is almost exclusively desert, you have more mountain ranges along the western part of Syria-Turkish border. In order to cross into one country from another you have to have competent border patrols on both sides.

Turkey is improving their border patrols. They captured about 10,000 prisoners in the last 10 months that don't have the right data to go across the border. The problem is on the other side of the border there is nothing.

And in fact, you have some tribal members, the tribes that literally flow back and forth between the borders are assisting, they call them mules, assisting these ISIS recruits, these Jihadists in their flow across the border.

BLACKWELL: There are questions, serious questions, about Turkey's commitment to guarding this border and maybe shutting it down. You pointed out in the last segment that it would be difficult just as difficult as it is to control the U.S. border with Mexico, the border between these countries.

I want to read for you something that the director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, said he told Congress that Turkey seems to have, quote, "Other priorities and other interests." Why would that be with this huge threat right next door?

HERTLING: Well, you have a political interest certainly because a great many Turkish citizens are Muslim. So some of them are very supportive of what's going on in Syria and Iraq. But truthfully, it's very difficult just to secure a border. That's the problem.

There have been great improvements according to this, but as you see it's several hundred miles along the Syrian border and several more hundred miles along the Iraqi border.

This was an area even when I was in Iraq in 2008 that we were having problems with the Iraqi border patrol. Now you've got a mixture of three countries just trying to control the flow.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring that Iraq map back up. I want to talk about Tikrit and Ramadi. Successes in Tikrit with the Iraqi forces, but some challenges in Ramadi, is this going to be with the movement of ISIS for lack of a better analogy one most people can understand, a whack-a-mole across the country, you hit them here, they pop somewhere else?

HERTLING: No, I don't think so. In fact, I think this is an operational requirement by ISIS to try and draw forces away from Tikrit, to draw forces away from (inaudible), we've added a couple more cities and to draw them away from Mosul.

So in the northern part of the country, there has been great success this week. There has been a regaining of about 25 percent of the territory by the Iraqi security forces. So ISIS is attempting to draw those forces off of those targets back into Anbar Province where there are no Iraqi security forces.

There is no Shia militia so they want to pull away to maintain the territory. And that's just the way operations go in warfare. The dodge and weave effect of the enemy.

BLACKWELL: Several months ago, well, several weeks ago maybe a month when the announcement of the upcoming effort to retake Mosul was announced, there was a lot of skepticism if Iraqi forces could do it on their own. The success in Tikrit, has that degraded some of that cynicism or is there still a lot of skepticism that they can do it?

HERTLING: Well, they've certainly can do it and they must do it. The timing of it is going to be critical, but there's a lot of fighting to go on between Tikrit and Mosul. Again, we put up the cities, the Peshmerga are pushing from the west to the east to make sure they maintain security in Kirkuk.

Now you have to go after this small town, which has become a hub of ISIS in the central part of the northern provinces. But what is happening now, Victor, is there continuing attempts to get logistics bases between Baghdad and Mosul.

You can't just do a straight flight from Baghdad to Mosul. You have to have ground territory that you control in order to get resupplies and troop movements from the capital up to the city of Mosul.

BLACKWELL: They have to be built and held.

HERTLING: Exactly right. That's tough.

BLACKWELL: General Hertling and Joshua Katz, thank you both -- Christi.

PAUL: Russian President Vladimir Putin finally resurfaces after he seemed to disappear for nearly a week. Why some people think his health may be in jeopardy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, police in the Ferguson community are watching closely to see whether the tentative peace established after this week's shooting will continue through the weekend. I want to show you the scene last night outside the police department. A stark contrast here to the violent mayhem that happened on Wednesday.

BLACKWELL: And this morning police are intensifying their manhunt for the gunman who shot two police officers. Right now, they are considering increasing the current $10,000 reward because more money from the community, people around the country it's pouring in.

It's been more than two days since those two officers were wounded at a protest outside the Ferguson Police Department. Investigators say they have several leads, but no major break yet.

PAUL: Let's talk about Russia because after a week of canceled engagements and a disappearance from the public eye, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has apparently resurfaced. The kremlin released these pictures here showing him meeting Friday in an effort to stop speculation.

Rumors have been swirling what may have happened to him. The kremlin denies that the president is ill, but that is not convincing everyone. CNN's senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): it's the first TV appearance of Vladimir Putin since he dropped out of sight more than a week ago triggering rumors about his fate. The Russian president is shown mainly in profile, meeting the head of the Supreme Court.

He perhaps seems a little peaking as he delivers a verdict on legal reforms. The behavior of the kremlin has fueled the rumor mill. Key presidential meetings have been canceled over recent days. This event was broadcast on International Woman's Day on March the 8th, allaying some concerns.

But it turned out it was recorded earlier, further arousing suspicions. Social media is swirling with speculation of a serious illness that Putin has cancer or suffered a stroke. That has been categorically denied by the kremlin.

President Putin is simply working from his country house it says and he is in perfect health.

(on camera): But these are uneasy times in Moscow. The economy is in free fall, the war in Ukraine has strained international relations, and the murder of the opposition leader here last month has plunged the Russian elite into turmoil. An absent president in these conditions is sparking dark conspiracy theories.

(voice-over): One former Putin adviser has posted a blog suggesting that the president has been overthrown in a kremlin coup. There is no evidence for that, but with the Russian leader out of the public gaze even for a few days rumors have been quick to take hold. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Psychopathic thugs, that's how the CIA chief describes ISIS militants. We've got the latest on the fight against the terror group and this is happening as Iraqi forces are now edging toward victory in one key town. There was a lot of skepticism about if they could do it. They are proving to be successful at least here. And as the Iraqi forces continue that battle, a U.S. army vet is on a mission, he is trying to recruit other U.S. veterans to join him and go to Iraq and Syria to fight ISIS face-to-face. He joins us, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Almost the bottom of the hour. Welcome back to NEW DAY. Right now, Iraqi forces are closing in on 150 ISIS militants in the city of Tikrit. For days now, the troops have been hammering this terror group in Saddam Hussein's hometown.

Earlier this week, Iraqi forces took control of a military hospital a few blocks from the presidential palace. The Iraqi military now controls about three quarters of the city.

The Pentagon says that ISIS has lost 25 percent of the territory it once controlled in Iraq. All that territory there was snatching up last spring and summer. This is happening although forces appear to be winning back territory in Tikrit.

Much different scene 100 miles south in the city of Ramadi, ISIS has launched a major offensive there killing more than 40 Iraqi soldiers after blowing up the army headquarters.

PAUL: You know, one U.S. Army veteran says that he wants to take the fight directly to ISIS. Sean Rowe is trying to recruit his own army to join him, travel to Iraq or Syria and fight the militants. He founded the group Veterans against ISIS.

And Sean Rowe is joining us now. Also here, with us is CNN military analyst, Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, of course. Thank you gentlemen, for being here.

Sean, I do want to start with you. As I understand it you say you are fed up. It doesn't look like anything is being done and that's why you want to go. Do you see this as, I was reading in the "New York Times a story about another veteran, 29-year-old Patrick Maxwell who's an Iraq war vet in Texas and he said he saw what he is seeing on the news as a second chance to go and make things right. Is that your motivation as well?

SEAN ROWE, VETERANS AGAINST ISIS: I would say there were three motivations for me founding this organization. The first being the outrage of the atrocities being committed by ISIS; the second being slow and very weak response by our current administration in response to these atrocities going on; and then the third catalyst was reading about these various veterans who are going over to help.

But I want to clarify one point real quick. We're not recruiting an army to go fight ISIS. We are networking and raising funds to deploy defensively in support of locals in Iraq and Syria against ISIS.

PAUL: Sean, thank you so much for the clarification. I appreciate that.

And with that I wanted to ask you, General Hertling, because when you go as a military member to fight in a war, there are some protections afforded you by the U.S.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That's right.

PAUL: If you voluntarily go over there as they are talking about doing, these veterans who have already served so bravely for us, are there any protections afforded to them?

HERTLING: There are not. That's the interesting piece of this. And again, I mean most veterans realize that they at one time took an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the United States and the orders of the President.

The President has got a very detailed strategic plan. It may not be apparent to a lot of people but when you talk to the people there are actually seven lines of effort. And we're hoping that the Iraqi forces take this fight to the enemy.

But yes, there is no guarantee when an American citizen or any other citizen enters that country, protective right against them and again, we've seen in the past what happens when some of these people might be captured --

PAUL: Captured, yes.

HERTLING: -- and then suddenly they do want the protection of the United States and then it's a little too late.

PAUL: Well -- and Sean that was one of the things I thought of. I mean it's so noble to want to go, and we understand because I think a lot of people sit back and think my gosh, why is the world not doing more to stop this. But at the same time nobody wants to see any of you go over and get captured or get hurt. What are the conversations you're having with fellow veterans about that?

ROWE: Of course, what we're trying to do is very dangerous and there are obvious serious risks. But I've had several hundred veterans and civilians from all over this country, and several others, wanting to go help. And I'm currently talking to several dozen who are 100 percent committed and willing -- able and willing to volunteer, not only their time and services but their own funds to go over and help out.

I mean everyone knows this is a risk and this is -- everyone I talk to this is a risk we're voluntarily willing to take.

PAUL: Sure. So would you be leading somewhat of a makeshift militia group? Would that be the plan? And who are you communicating with over there to help place you?

ROWE: There are several locals over there who are reaching out to others for help. So we are making contact with locals over there. But yes, we're just -- I'm not trying to so much lead veterans as unite veterans who want to go over there and help.

PAUL: Sure. And this "New York Times" story as I mentioned before about Patrick Maxwell, it talked about how he connected with a Kurdish military officer on line and flew to Iraq.

General Hertling, how can you trust an online communication?

HERTLING: Well, you can't, first of all. Secondly, I would just contend that this entire activity is ill-advised. It's not a good idea. The territory of Iraq needs to be defended by Iraqis. And I think that's part of the overall strategy of the administration.

PAUL: What do you say to people like Sean who feel like I have been there, I have fought for this and I'm watching it disintegrate again and I just can't sit back and allow this to happen.

HERTLING: And I understand Sean's feelings on this. Any one who served over there, and I've spent three years of my life in that country, you have a deep connection with the Iraqi people. The ones that we helped secure themselves a few years ago and you want to help. But to do it individually or in small groups it's not a good idea.

And again, the Kurdish militia are doing -- Kurdish army, the Peshmerga are doing a very good job. Some of the Iraqi militias -- they're doing a very good job under their control. But it's truthfully turning into a command and control nightmare with all of these troops over there. I think there's just the opportunity to get more people hurt and it doesn't contribute to the overall effort.

PAUL: Well, we always appreciate, General Hertling, your thoughts on this. And Sean, whatever happens we certainly wish you the very best. Hope you'll stay in touch with us and let us know. But thank you so much for your efforts and everything you're doing and for taking the time to talk to us today.

ROWE: Thank you for having me.

PAUL: Absolutely. And thank you, General.

Victor.

BLACKWELL: Christi, a baby is stuck upside-down in a car seat for 14 hours after her mother's car flipped into a freezing river. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, sweetie. Come on, sweetie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Take a moment and sit down and watch this new body cam footage. It shows officers pulling Baby Lily out of this vehicle and then racing to save her life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Police in Utah say they heard a strange voice calling to them from a vehicle that plunged into the Spanish Fork River last Friday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me it was plain as day because I remember hearing a voice that didn't sound like a child just saying "help me".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone said "help me" inside that car and we -- I think it was (inaudible) -- we're trying. We're trying our best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And what makes this so mysterious is that the baby's mother 25- year-old Lynn Jennifer Groesbeck was dead. Some call it a miracle that her baby Lily survived alone upside down in the car for 14 hours after that crash.

Sam Penrod with our affiliate KSL has this heart-stopping body cam footage of her dramatic rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.

SAM PENROD, KSL: As one of the first Spanish Fork officers responding to the call of a car in the river, this officer runs down into the water without hesitation, joining other first responders. A fisherman had called police to report the car was in the river, calling back 90 seconds later when he could see someone was trapped inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What have you got? What have you got.

PENROD: Three police officers, two firefighters and the fisherman jump into action trying to flip the car over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out. Watch out.

PENROD: Tragically, they can see the driver, Jenny Groesbeck was fatally injured in the crash. But the situation was about to take on an even greater sense of urgency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody here? Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God. There's a baby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a baby, Brian. Brian, get up here.

PENROD: Moments later a firefighter pulls what seems to be a small lifeless body out of the car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it? Here, pass her up. Pass her up. Pass her up. Right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go. Go.

PENROD: The officer and an EMT carried Lily up the rocks and run to a waiting ambulance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, baby. She is definitely hypothermic. She's freezing. Here. Go. Go.

PENROD: The officer starts patting her on the back hoping she will start to breathe and gives Lily encouragement to live.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, sweetie. Come on, sweetie.

PENROD: They begin giving Lily infant CPR and trying to warm her up as the ambulance rushes to the hospital, no one can feel a pulse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're almost there. You getting a pulse?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Couldn't feel any.

PENROD: As the ambulance arrives to Mountview Hospital just six minutes after Lily was pulled from the car there is a sign of life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on.

PENROD: Lily starts to vomit as the officer runs her into the emergency room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Straight in. We've been doing CPR on her. She has been throwing up a little bit. Under water.

PENROD: Doctors and nurses help to stabilize Lily as the video ends. She is later flown to Primary Children's Hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Old McDonald had a farm.

PENROD: And just four days later this is Lily, laughing and playing with her father just a few hours before she was released from the hospital.

A truly miraculous recovery for a little girl who seemed to be lifeless when she was pulled from a wrecked car in the frigid water of the Spanish Fork River.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Just something. Thank you so much to Sam Penrod reporting from our affiliate KSL. By the way, she is back home with her father Deven Trafny who says he is overwhelmed with emotion.

And if you'd like to help the family, you can visit their Go Fund Me page. So far people have donated more than $73,000.

BLACKWELL: I just can't get over that voice that they heard. They heard someone saying "help me".

PAUL: "Help me". And if you ever had any questions about what those guys go through -- what an incredible illustration of it right there.

BLACKWELL: Certainly is. PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Hey, let's talk politics now. New Hampshire primary maybe about a year away but if you are a potential presidential candidate like Jeb Bush you don't want to wait to visit.

CNN's Dana Bash went along with the former governor on a trip to New Hampshire and she has that inside report next.

PAUL: But first in this week's CNN's money event, an Oregon woman quits her day job after discovering how to turn old bicycle tire inner tubes into fancy dog collars. And now her business has taken off. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LANETTE FIDRYCH, CYCLE DOG: I've always been a bike rider and I unfortunately got a lot of flat tires and I didn't want to throw the tubes away so I made collars and leashes for my dog.

I started Cycle Dog in 2009 after I had been making the product for a few months, giving them to friends and a couple of stores had started to call me and asked if they could stock my product. Within about four months of starting the company I quit my job at Nike and went for it full time.

We use recycled bike tubes in our collars and leads, our bowls, our toys and our park pouch which is a ticket bag holder. It's really important for us to use inner tubes because there is over a billion tubes made every year and most of those tubes go into a landfill.

The process of making dog collars is actually pretty intense. The rubber has to be sorted and cut and cleaned. At that point the rubber goes into the filling (ph) line and we bond the fabric on to the rubber. Then it's assembled and labeled. We have a line of collars that has our (inaudible) buckle, it's our own press and design. The pup top is a bottle opener that is on all of our collars and leads.

You can come shopping with your dog and bring your dog into our demo center and try out all of the toys and see which one your dog likes the best. We really have a focus on finding solutions for people who are really trying to reduce their carbon paw print.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right. Former governor Jeb Bush introducing himself to New Hampshire this weekend.

PAUL: Yes, the former Florida governor making his inaugural 2016 trip to the first in the nation primary state. Here is CNN's Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Democrats defending Hillary Clinton's e-mails on a private server when in public office argue Jeb Bush did the same thing when he was governor. Today Jeb Bush argued there is a big difference.

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: We complied with the law and we've now made all of my e-mails, long before Mrs. Clinton's issues came up, we made them public for you to see. So it's totally different.

BASH: Bush separated himself from fellow Republican 2016 contenders on another hot topic -- Iran. Several had asked to sign a GOP senate letter to Iran warning about nuclear talks. Not him.

Governor, would you have signed the letter that 47 Republican senators signed?

BUSH: I'm not a senator. I think that they signed it out of frustration that there has been no dialogue, no conversation, there has been a stifling of debate.

BASH: All of this during Jeb Bush's first political trip to New Hampshire in 15 years.

BUSH: Looking forward to learning about your business.

BASH: One that drew so much media, it's hard to imagine the first in the nation primary still almost a year away. But coming early engaging in small Q and A settings like this which New Hampshire voters demand is crucial for a man named Bush since the family history here is complicated.

After Jeb's father George H.W. Bush won Iowa in 1980 he skipped the New Hampshire debate and lost the Republican primary to Ronald Reagan crushing his bid for president that year. But in 1988 he won, launching his winning drive to the White House.

As for Jeb's brother New Hampshire voters temporarily knocked George W. Bush off its front-runner status in 2000 by delivering John McCain a stunning victory.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: New Hampshire has long been known as a bump in the road for front-runners. And this year is no exception.

BASH: Helping in that losing campaign was the last time Jeb Bush was here.

BUSH: We were passing out oranges door to door with people. It was a blast. And it turns out my brother and dad won Florida but didn't win New Hampshire.

BASH: Bush came here to an intimate house party and answered questions late into the evening. This is proof, the host says, that he has an understanding maybe not like his brother and his father did initially, of how to win here.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BASH: New Hampshire voters really expect to meet their candidates, to ask them questions, and that's exactly what he did tonight -- Christi and Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Dana Bash -- thank you.

Let's go first to our political experts to talk about this. Democratic strategist Maria Cardona; Republican strategist Lisa Boothe -- good to have both of you with us.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning -- Victor.

LISA BOOTHE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Good morning -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: Lisa, I want to start with you on Jeb Bush separating himself from those 47 Republicans who signed that letter sending it over to Iran -- an important differentiation for the former governor?

BOOTHE: Well no, look, I think speaking of that letter specifically is irrelevant. That letter is not going to shape foreign policy but what would shape foreign policy is a bad deal. It's not just Republicans that are sounding the alarms about a bad deal, it's also Democrats.

Look, Jeb Bush is going to have to run on his merits and he's going to have to run on his record. And look, there is good and bad to Jeb Bush. The positive is the fact that there is a strong economy in Florida under him as governor. He's also shown that he can do remarkably well with Hispanic voters, with African-American voters and with women as well which are all key constituencies.

But the problems that he faced are going to be among conservatives. It's going to be his stances on common core, his stance on immigration. And he is really going to have to explain those stances to voters in early primary states like New Hampshire and like Iowa.

So, you know, that's ultimately what it's going to come down to for the Republican primary for Jeb Bush.

BLACKWELL: Maria, you think he's going to continue this Bush challenge in New Hampshire, some of the issues that Lisa brought up?

CARDONA: I absolutely agree. I actually think that Jeb Bush has the worst of both worlds facing him in his trajectory to try to become the Republican nominee. And what I mean by that, is that going into these early primary states where you have the most conservative voters, the most grass roots activists, Tea Party voters, who all really want their nominee to be ideally an ideologue on conservatism all the way through do see Jeb Bush as somebody who is not going to represent their values on common core, on immigration reform, and in fact, other issues that he has -- he has been facing. He himself understands this when he said that perhaps you have to lose a primary in order to win an election.

Well, if you lose the primary, you're not going to get the opportunity to try to win an election. And then if he makes it through the primary to the general election, then he actually has a record that he has to contend with that is not favorable to middle class families to working class voters, to African-Americans, Latinos, to women.

And he's going to have to wear the awful record that his party has essentially made for themselves with Hispanic voters on refusing to pass immigration reform, on wanting to defund or not fund the Department of Homeland Security in order to be able to deport 5 million immigrants; going to court to try to sue the President on his executive action on immigration and most recently, a Senator David Vitter amendment to try to get rid of birth right citizenship. So all of those things he is going to have to wear and it's not going to be an easy trajectory.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Lisa, take it.

BOOTHE: Similarly, Hillary Clinton is going to have to defend the Obama administration, defend an administration that was soundly rejected in the 2014 election, whose policies have failed by all counts that has, you know, really stuck it to middle class families who are making less than they did before President Obama took office, that has seen jobs added to the top and bottom of the wage scale but have seen middle class jobs diminish with the loss of construction jobs, with the loss of manufacturing jobs.

So look, Hillary Clinton if she is the Democrat nominee is going to have to face some big challenges as well. She's also going to have to face her own failed record as secretary of state. She's going to have to face the e-mail controversy that's surrounding her; the fact that the Clinton Foundation took foreign donations from foreign governments that were lobbying the State Department. So look, Hillary Clinton has a lot of things she is going to have to answer to.

CARDONA: There's no question.

BLACKWELL: All right. Quickly -- 15 seconds.

CARDONA: Sure. That's what the campaign is going to be about. If you put Hillary Clinton's record and the Obama administration's record on the economy up with any Republican nominee, I guarantee you I will be inviting you to the inauguration of the 2017 Democratic president.

BLACKWELL: All right. Got to wrap it there --

BOOTHE: I'll invite you to the Republican.

BLACKWELL: Maria Cardona, Lisa Boothe -- thank you so much.

CARDONA: Thanks -- Victor.

BOOTHE: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: We'll see you back here at 10:00 Eastern in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PAUL: Yes, Smerconish starts for you after a quick break.

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