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New Day Saturday

Bernie Sanders Campaign and DNC Reach Deal Over Access To Voter Database; President Obama Visits Family Members Of San Bernardino Shootings; New Details About How Terrorists In San Bernardino Shooting Gained Access To High-Powered Guns; Cop In Dash Cam Shooting Video Says He Does Not Recall Firing First Shot. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired December 19, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And we'll be back after this.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Next hour starts right now.

WALKER: And there's a lot of news to tell you about this morning.

BLACKWELL: Let's get straight to it, and we're beginning with the breaking news, a deal that's been reached between Bernie Sanders and the DNC over access to a crucial voter database. But is the agreement enough to squash the conflict?

WALKER: Plus, President Obama visits with family members of the San Bernardino shootings. This as we are learning new details into how the terrorists gained access to those high-powered guns.

BLACKWELL: Also dash cam video showing a police officer shooting a crash victim. The man was trying to get out of a wrecked car. You saw it there. The cop says he didn't remember firing the shot.

All right, good to have you. Top of the hour, seven o'clock here on the East Coast. I'm Victor Blackwell.

WALKER: And I'm Amara Walker in for Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: We're beginning with the breaking news overnight, this deal that's been reached between Bernie Sanders and the DNC over access to a crucial voter database.

WALKER: Yeh, it comes after tensions burst on Friday, starting when the DNC cut off Sanders from internal voter files, saying his staffers wrongly accessed information belonging to rival Hillary Clinton. Then the Sanders campaign filed a lawsuit in federal court against the DNC. But early this morning, well the two sides have come to an agreement. CNN's Chris Frates is following the latest developments from Washington. Hi there, Chris. So what are both sides saying?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Amara. So call it an uneasy agreement to this very messy internal fight. We're hearing from both the DNC and the Sanders camp on this agreement that will restore the Sanders campaign's access to voter files as soon as this morning. Now last night the DNC says the Sanders campaign had met their demands for information regarding the data breach, but in a statement the DNC says they will continue to investigate to ensure that the data that was inappropriately accessed has been deleted and is no longer in possession of the Sanders campaign. Now the Sanders campaign had a different interpretation. They say the DNC capitulated and reversed its outrageous decision. Now this all involves data from the Hillary Clinton, and they were absolutely furious on Friday. Listen to what Press Secretary Brian Fallon said about this yesterday.

BRIAN FALLON, CLINTON CAMPAIGN PRESS SECRETARY: It was an egregious breach, a violation of the rules, and for someone like Senator Sanders, who said he was going to run a different type of campaign, this is as below the belt as it goes. He should come clean, he should discipline his other staffers beyond the one that they fired today, and that we can resolve this and we can move forward and we can have a fairly-waged campaign. Until that happens, I don't understand what all these distractions are about, about lawsuits.

BLACKWELL: So that was Friday. This is a new statement this morning from the Hillary Clinton campaign. "We are pleased that the Sander campaign has agreed to submit to an independent audit. We believe this audit should proceed immediately and, pending its findings, we expect further disciplinary action to be taken as appropriate." Now of course this all amps up the drama for tonight's third Democratic debate in New Hampshire, and we'll see how each candidate responds to it on the stage this evening. Back to you guys.

WALKER: Yeh, and how do you think that's going to play out tonight? And it's worth mentioning that, you know, the Sanders campaign and its supporters have had beef with the DNC and the establishment, claiming that they've been favoring Hillary Clinton.

FALLON: Well, absolutely, I mean from -- everything from how many debates there are to the fact that the debates are on a Saturday instead of a week night, when more people may look at it, Sanders has really, you know, hit that and tried to gin up his liberal base, get them feeling like they're taking on the establishment. And this was part of the sub-context, Amara, that we saw yesterday, that Bernie Sanders felt like maybe the DNC was being more punitive than they would have been if this was the Clinton campaign. Of course, the Clinton campaign feeling like they're the ones who are in the wrong here. So we'll definitely see how this plays out and if Hillary Clinton goes on the attack against Sanders, or if she leaves it alone and kind of leaves it out of the arena. We'll have to tune in tonight to check it out.

WALKER: Yeh, fortunate or unfortunate timing with the debate just hours away and, of course, the Iowa caucuses several weeks away. Chris Frates, thank you.

FRATES: Hey, thank you guys.

BLACKWELL: We've got on the phone with us now -- do we have Brian? We don't have Brian? We'll get Brian. Let's go now to Maria Cardona and Errol Lewis, who are both CNN political commentators. Errol, of course, a political anchor at Time-Warner Cable News, Maria a Democratic strategist. And I want to go first to you, Errol. These two sides have very different interpretations of this agreement. I wonder if we have heard or will know if the Clinton campaign is satisfied with this end of the suspension, or if they're going to go and ask for further action?

ERROL LEWIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think the Clinton campaign is going to use this as sort of a moral club to hold over the head of the Sanders campaign. The Sanders campaign I think is, for reasons that we just discussed, very much in the right when they say that the process in general has been tilted in favor of Hillary Clinton. I mean she's an elder in the party. Her husband was the President. The, the, everything that they could do to help her seems to have been done.

So, so now the Clinton campaign, instead of maybe feeling a little defensive about that can say, well, look, you are the guys who did this data breach. You're not playing fair. I think they're going to hold onto that for as long as they can, and the Sanders campaign is going to have to live with it. The reality is that what they did was in fact wrong. It wasn't sort of critical, it's not a game changer, it's not going to really change the outcome of any particular primary. But I think this is something that the Clinton campaign is going to, is going to seize on, and they're going to hold onto it for as long as they possibly can.

BLACKWELL: Well, you'll remember, Maria, in that first Democratic debate Bernie Sanders said that people are tired of hearing about your damn e-mails. Is Hillary Clinton going to be as gracious in talking about the damn voter base?

MARIA CARDONA, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know what? I think it depends on what the moderators tonight do in terms of how they handle the questioning about this. I don't think that either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would themselves choose for this to be the topic of conversation tonight at the debate. It doesn't behoove Hillary Clinton because she's ahead, and I don't think she gains anything by looking to be the heavy and, and continually sort of clubbing the Sanders campaign for the egregious breach that they actually perpetrated. I think is all going to be behind the scenes, the campaign staffers going at each other the way that we have been seeing it up until now, and I think that tonight at the debate the two candidates are going to be focusing on their issues.

I also don't think it behooves the Sanders campaign for this to be the number one issue because it was his campaign and his staffers that we the ones who perpetrated this breach. I think they will focus on the issues. Bernie Sanders has terrific issues, he's got great supporters, he has been the one to focus on income inequality. Hillary Clinton has also focused on economic security. She has focused on national security, which is one of her big strengths, and that is one of the things that Americans are most focused on right now. I think they both will focus on, on the issues at hand, which will be a great contrast to the circus that has been the Republican debates up until now.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about that because the, the debate tonight in New Hampshire. You mentioned national security, foreign policy, and the latest CNN WMUR poll, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sander by 33 points. People who question who will be best on ISIS, but you look at these numbers and she's trailing in the state by 10 points. Errol, to you, despite the numbers as it relates to foreign policy and national security, why is she still 10 points behind in New Hampshire?

LEWIS: Well, some of it is because Vermont is right next door to New Hampshire, so people have a long experience with, with Bernie Sanders.

BLACKWELL: Well, they loved her in 2007. I mean they picked her over President Obama.

LEWIS: And I wouldn't count her out by the way. I wouldn't count her out by he way, especially if she wins Iowa. But, but, no, some of it is also because it -- look, there's a libertarian streak that runs through both Democrats and Republicans in New Hampshire, and that's very much in line with where Bernie Sanders is coming from. I mean because he's sort of, you know, pro-gun, used to get great ratings from the NRA, and yet he's a Socialist, and he's talking about free college for all, as well as a much higher minimum wage. So, you know, there's this quirky kind of individualistic streak there, and they seem to like that with Bernie Sanders, 'cause that's what you get with Bernie Sanders.

BLACKWELL: All right, Errol Lewis, Maria Cardona, thank you both.

CARDONA: Thank you, Victor.

LEWIS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: And be sure to tune in to CNN for the post-debate coverage and analysis tonight. Starts at 10:30 Eastern, and it's hosted by Wolf Blitzer.

WALKER: In the meantime, Donald Trump isn't just holding his massive lead over the GOP field, his numbers are growing. A new Fox News poll, the first national poll since Tuesday's debate here on CNN, has the billionaire businessman dominating the Republican field with 39 percent support from likely voters. That is a double-digit climb from November. Trump's closest competitor, Ted Cruz, is at just 18 percent; Marco Rubio 11 percent; Ben Carson nine percent. Now Trump's even anticipating a clean sweep of the first in the nation voting states. Listen to what he said to WABC's Rita Cosby.

RITA COSBY, POLITICAL EDITOR, WABC: Do you think you'll win Iowa and also New Hampshire? Are you expecting a clean sweep?

DONALD TRUMP: I think so. I think we're doing great, and I just had a poll today where I'm leading in Iowa. And I think we're going to do a great in Iowa. I have amazing relationship to the people in Iowa, and to the evangelicals, and everybody. We're doing really well. We're doing well all over. We have a big poll just came out nationwide where I'm leading by 27 points, the Monmouth Poll, very respected. And so I think we're doing well. We're getting the message across. We're not being politically correct because we don't have time to be politically correct. We have to do what's right. WALKER: I want to bring in CNN Politics senior reporter, Steven

Collinson. And, first off, the rest of the Republican field is stuck in the low single digits, all with three percent support or less. So the question is, you know, does Bush or any one of these candidates have a shot catching up to Trump's number and, considering the fact that Jeb Bush had a pretty strong performance in the last debate, I'd imagine that his campaign is hoping to ride that trajectory.

STEVEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, I mean, they are so far behind and there's so little time left before Iowa, it looks very difficult for them to come back. I think the last hope for the likes of Jeb Bush and New Jersey Governor Chris Christy are that a very strong showing in New Hampshire, which has been historically more amenable to, to centrist, center right Republicans than Iowa, will help vault them back into this race. They need a victory or a very strong second place in New Hampshire, and that will give them some momentum going into the later contests in South Carolina and Nevada, and then those big primaries throughout the South. But it's going to be very, very difficult. I mean it would be stunning comeback if someone that's at three percent in the polls right now were to come back and win Iowa or New Hampshire.

WALKER: What's also been stunning for a lot of people is to watch Donald Trump rise in the polls pretty steadily, despite some of the controversy that he's kind of whipped up with the things that he's said in the past, you know, aimed towards women, Muslims, Hispanics, what have you. How do explain his, his staying power?

COLLINSON: That's the million dollar question about this campaign. Everybody and everything we know from the history of elections and political logic tells us that Donald Trump would have faded a long time ago. I think he's, to some extent, rewritten the rules of politics. His -- the line between entertainment and politics, which has been narrowing for decades, is almost non-existent in the Donald Trump campaign. And I think he's really seized upon some issues which are very powerful in the Republican base. Immigration, the idea that Republican leadership has left behind the grass roots people, that doesn't speak -- that don't speak for them anymore on, on big issues.

So I think Donald Trump has managed to give voice to the grievances of people, while not necessarily having to give solutions to those grievances. Now the test next year is going to be are people still looking for someone to give vent to their feelings, or are they looking for someone to come up with solutions and details on policies to fix them. And that's now going to be the big test for Mr. Trump.

WALKER: But when you look at the way this poll right now, I mean, Trump in the lead and you have Ted Cruz at number two, and that in itself is really a nightmare for the Republican establishment, wouldn't you say? I mean are they hoping for a Marco Rubio or a Jeb Bush or somebody, you know, from the establishment to, to rise quickly to gain momentum?

COLLINSON: Certainly. There's no love for Ted Cruz in Washington. He's made himself very unpopular with the Republican leadership since he came here as a Texas Senator. And that actually is one of the keys to his appeal out in the heartland. I think there are a lot of people in the Republican Party hoping that Marco Rubio can surge in Iowa, do well in New Hampshire, perhaps win South Carolina, and put this race away fairly quickly. If we get down to a three-way race, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump, and Marco Rubio, we could see a situation where no candidate is able to get a simple majority of the delegates handed out to all these primary races, and to get to the convention with the majority that they need to win the nomination. Then we could see a flight -- a fight, a floor fight on the convention that could get very interesting and very sticky for the Republican leadership.

WALKER: And that in itself would be a nightmare for the Republican leadership as well. Stephen Collinson, thank you.

COLLINSON: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: A major battle between Canadian forces and ISIS fighters in Iraq. We're going to have details on that fight. Plus President Obama stopped in San Bernardino, California, late last night for really an emotional visit with the family members of the victims of the, the massacre there two weeks ago. And we're learning new details about the, the gunman and how he was able to get his hands on the weapons used in the attack.

WALKER: The Farook and Marquez relationship is something that FBI agents, and historians, and counterterrorism officials will be studying for years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right, live pictures here of Air Force One landing at an airport here in Honolulu. The President will be on vacation there, his annual vacation, two weeks. He will be there until January second. No public events scheduled. He left California last night, of course, after meeting with the victims of the San Bernardino shooting. Of course the President will get his daily briefings while he's on vacation. But two weeks of R&R for the First Family.

Now we know that President Obama spent those three hours at a local high school in San Bernardodo -- San Bernardino, rather, with the First Lady, and they met individually with those affected by the tragedy.

WALKER: Many of them said the meeting would help them cope with their losses, and the President said he came away with an understanding of their strength.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That we met some of these folks, despite the pain and the heartache that they're feeling. They could not have been more inspiring, and more proud of their loved ones, and more insistent that something good comes out of this tragedy.

MANDY PIFER, SHOOTING VICTIM'S GIRLFRIEND: There was a reassurance that I feel like those two at least have our back. And they said to me, you know, I got you, and they're not going to let Shannon's virtues disappear any time soon. WALKER: And that was the girlfriend of Shannon Johnson. He covered a co-worker with his body during the shooting, and was one of the 14 people killed.

BLACKWELL: We are learning a lot more now about the friend of one of those San Bernardino shootos -- shooters, rather. Investigators say that Enrique Marquez bought weapons for Syed Rizwan Farook, and even planned an earlier attack with him. Here is CNN's Jim Scuitto with a look at what happened to those plans.

JIM SCUITTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Victor, Amara, one of the most alarming discoveries in this case is that the San Bernardino shooting was not Farook's first plot, but the second. Farook and Marquez had another plan three years ago, potentially just as deadly, possibly more so, to attack a major highway and a college. And that attack not thwarted by authorities having any inkling of their radicalization or their planning, but by Marquez and Farook simply getting spooked.

This busy California highway nearly became the sight of a deadly terror attack. Enrique Marquez, longtime friend of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook, has told law enforcement the two watched videos of al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, became radical, and plotted in 2012 to throw pipe bombs onto the SR 91 freeway, and then gun down motorists in the aftermath. The pair also planned to target Riverside City College by planting pipe bombs in the crowded cafeteria, the deadly plot stopped not by law enforcement, but by Marquez himself, who backed out in fear after other terror arrests around the same time. As time passed, Marquez says the two then grew apart.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: The Farook and Marquez relationship is something that FBI agents, and historians, and counterterrorism officials will be studying for years.

SCUITTO: Three years later as gunfire rang out in San Bernardino, Marquez would immediately recognize his friend's handiwork. Just hours after the shooting, Marquez called 911, telling the operator quote the expletive used my gun in the shooting. The, oh, my God. When the 911 operator asked Marquez quote how do you know it's your gun? He responded saying, they can trace all the guns back to me. He claims he gave Farook the guns for quote safe storage. But authorities believe he bought them with deadly intentions for the aborted 2012 attack. Despite his apparent cooperation with authorities following the attack, in San Bernardino Marquez is charged with providing material support to terrorism for his role in purchasing weapons used in the shooting.

KAYYEM: It is a statement by the FBI and by the administration that, if you even come close to these cases or to helping them, we will charge you as if you were a terrorist yourself.

SCUITTO: This is now a serious line of inquiry in the investigation. How could three people with many family connections, they had day jobs -- Farook in the local government -- they had international travel, international communications, how could they evade all surveillance by authorities and also not arouse the suspicions of any of their friends and family? The President has said that lone wolf attacks are hard to detect and prevent. We certainly saw that in this case. Victor and Amara.

WALKER: All right, and we want to take you to -- back out live? Are we taking live pictures here of President Obama? There you see Air Force One. President Obama and his family have landed in Honolulu, Hawaii, to begin their two-week holiday, and this of course coming after the President spent some time in California last night meeting with the victims, the 14 victims' families, of the San Bernardino attacks.

BLACKWELL: Of course, this is the annual vacation that the President and the First Family they take in the President's home state of Hawaii. Of course, with all this going on in the world, you know that the President gets that daily security briefing even while he's on vacation. So he will be enjoying some time away from the White House, but still the responsibilities of the office travel with the President, and he will be kept in the loop of all that's happening. We were going to try to wait to see if the President and the First Lady were going to kind of walk down those steps, that famous walk that they do, but taking a bit of -- taking a few minutes. So we will get back to this in a moment, but we'll keep moving forward. Again, the President and First Lady landing there in Hononlulu.

WALKER: All right. We're going to take a short break. When we come back, fighting back ISIS. We'll have details on how Canadian troops helped take out hundreds of terrorist targets in Iraq.

BLACKWELL: Also we're taking you to Oregon and this -- I don't know if you heard about it -- this massive landslide, look at this, burying homes, wiping out everything in its path.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right, looking here moments ago at the First Family arriving in Honolulu for the start of their two-week Christmas vacation. The President, the First Lady, the daughters Sasha and Malia will be there until January second. But of course there's a lot going on in the world, and the President will be kept abreast of all that's happening on the security front.

WALKER: I'm sure they're looking forward to some relaxation. It's really been a busy year for the President. The last few months and he talked about in his end of year news conference yesterday. He mentioned ISIS and Iran, and what have you, just the events that he's had to take charge of in the past few months.

Well, in the meantime, an officer is injured and at least one person arrested after more protests in Chicago. Demonstrators blocked traffic late last night, calling on the resignation of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Cook County State Attorney. They are angry over the handling of the Laquan McDonald shooting. Police say one person was arrested for trying to break the police line. And while that was happening, authorities say a small group knocked an officer to the ground. BLACKWELL: Canadian ground forces fending off ISIS overseas in a day- long battle. Troops fired and ISIS fired after the terror group bombed and attacked Kurdish forces in Northern Iraq. Now, Canadian Special Forces say their role is to train the local forces and advise Kurdish troops. They're not the primary fighters, but they do offer backup.

WALKER: Turkey is faced with an ultimatum, get out or else. Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari warned the country has 48 hours to withdraw its forces from Iraqi borders. He said the Iraqi government is surprised and angry that Turkish forces entered the border without permission back on December third.

BLACKWELL: Look at this, this massive landslide slamming into homes in Oregon. It killed a woman and her dog. That happened early yesterday morning. We've learned from authorities that what happened in this case was the woman opened her door to let her dog outside, and then all the mud and gunk just swept in. Her husband and another dog, they managed to escape. The landslide was caused by the fierce storms that have plagued that area all month.

WALKER: It's an unbelievable story. All right, still to come on notice for three years. Why U.S. officials say hackers working for a foreign government may have been spying on the U.S. and private companies without being detected.

BLACKWELL: And new polls this morning giving Donald Trump an even bigger lead over the rest of the Republican field. This is happening as the GOP field hits the campaign trail hard today.

[07:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: So consider this, Donald Trump, in the latest poll, has more support than his three closest Republican competitors combined.

Take a look at the new Fox News Poll showing the billionaire businessman, dominating the field with 39 percent support from likely Republican voters, an 11-point climb since November.

His closest competitor Ted Cruz, 18 percent, Marco Rubio, 9 percent and Carson at -- rather Marco Rubio at 11, Ben Carson at 9.

And despite controversy over his remarks about banning non-American Muslims from coming into the country, Trump says, "He will win" and he will win over Muslim American voters in the process in the general election.

Here's what he told WABC's Rita Cosby.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

RITA COSBY, WABC HOST: Do you think that you will be able to bring Muslim Americans and what will you do to sort of bring a big group of Muslim Americans in? Because obviously, it's important, should you make it to the general election?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think I'm going to do well with everybody. And I think, I'm going to win and the recent Fox poll has me beating Hillary easily.

And I think I'm going to win and I'm going to bring jobs back to our country. I'm going to take the jobs that have been taken away. Many of those jobs are just -- it should've never happened. And I'll be bringing back jobs and I'm going to be building up the military. And we'll going to care of our vets and we're going to get proper health care, not ObamaCare which is turned out to be a disaster, was premium's going up to 35 percent and 45 percent. And we're going to do a great job.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. It will be a busy, busy day for candidates hoping to catch up with Trump. Campaign events kick off soon in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama. They're all out today.

Let's bring in CNN Political Commentators Ben Ferguson and Jeffrey Lord. And I want to start with...

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good Morning.

BLACKWELL: Good morning to you, good morning to both of you.

Ben, I want to start with you. What do these candidates need to do? I mean, we're settling into a season where some people will check out.

[07:35:00] Christmas is coming, New Year and then maybe they'll come back at the start of the year. But what do these candidates need to do to keep the voters engaged to try to cut down on that lead, Ben?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think two things. One, you got to make sure you still have a presence nationally and make sure that you still have that conversation over the holidays.

So a lot of people talk politics over the holiday. You get a lot of down time, lot of days off, people are using at the end of year and there's a lot of water cooler conversations. And I promise you, people are going to be talking about Donald Trump, and Ted Cruz, and Rubio, et cetera.

But I also think this is a time were if you have a campaign that is run well, you really start focusing on your strategy with Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina. That is what you've seen Ted Cruz do which is why he is leading in Iowa is, he has a very well-orchestrated campaign there. He has a lot of locals on the ground working for him. And you really at some point have to focus in on these election days because national polls are not near as important as momentum has coming out of each one of these states. And I think that's what you have to start to focus on.

BLACKWELL: You know Jeffrey, one of the stronger arguments up until this point, Trump has been, that he does well, beats Hillary Clinton in the head to head polls for the fall. This poll, new Fox News poll, shows that he's gone from in November being five points ahead to in this poll being 11 points behind. What happened?

LORD: Well, to be perfectly candid, I don't know. I haven't seen that particular. Is this the Fox poll you...

BLACKWELL: Yeah. The Fox poll, the new one out.

LORD: Yeah. Yeah. I don't -- Victor, I'll be honest to you, I haven't seen that particular poll here. But, you know, look, these polls are going to go up and down, and up and down, depending on the events of the day, the holidays, all of this kind of thing. So I don't particularly worry about any individual poll. I mean, I think the trend is obvious. He has incredible support.

And one other thing, these events, these polls will change radically when we get to a general election.

I often cited December, 1979, poll from Dallas that was touted by the Carter White House in the day that had Jimmy Carter beating Ronald Reagan, 60 of 36 percent. And of course, a year later, the results were quite a bit different. So, you know, I don't really pay all that much attention to all of this.

BLACKWELL: Well, let me come to you, Ben. And let's stay away from the general election poll. I take your point, Jeffrey, but let's look at what we're seeing if this narrows down to a four-man race.

The general expectations that it could go down to a three man race but let's keep Carson in for the moment, let's put those numbers up, guys.

Trump then would be at 41 percent, if you take all of Carson's support and a lot of it has gone to Ted Cruz and you give to Ted Cruz here, Trump still leads here. Can you imagine the Republican establishment at some point, Ben, coalescing around Donald Trump?

FERGUSON: I don't think you're going to see the establishment necessarily do it for any candidate per say at this point because the candidates, they wanted which was, well, Jeb Bush, not doing well. And so, I think what you may see here is at some point, the candidates have to look at they're going to drop out and coalesce themselves together behind one other candidate outside of Donald Trump.

And I think what you're seeing now, is a lot of people looking at that person being Ted Cruz. He was not talked about as much early on. He does have a really good campaign on the ground in the states. He has FCC (ph) strategy which makes sense, and he has local people that he has been -- had around him now for months and then preparing them to get ready for this battle.

So, I think if you're Donald Trump, you want these guys to all keep rating where they are. And really in many ways, breaking up that vote that is not going to go for Trump. That's his best case scenario.

But if you just see at some point, if Ben Carson dropped out, if you see Rubio dropped out, or even if Ted Cruz hypothetically dropped out. And they all start going on candidate. I think that's one of the things, gets a whole lot more competitive than it is now.

But remember this, national polls really don't matter. It is momentum game once people start voting. And if you have momentum coming out to Iowa, Ted Cruz can win that first state were Donald Trump is all about winning. And he set himself up to win everything. He's never said I'm going to lose in state and I don't understand why he hasn't because nobody runs the board on all these primaries. It just doesn't happen...

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

FERGUSON: ... if he would have been smart about it, he would have said, "Hey, I may not win them all but I'm going to win enough of them", and then it wouldn't be as big of a story. But he set himself up for a greatness that is never been achieved in politics and if you loses the first one, it's going to put him in a bad position.

BLACKWELL: Quickly, Jeffrey, can he recover? I mean he is saying, "I'm going win everything around the table.

LORD: Sure.

BLACKWELL: But if he loses Iowa, can he?

LORD: Sure. You know, two things here, Ronald Reagan, himself, lost Iowa to George H.W. Bush and then came back to New Hampshire and South Carolina and on from there. And frankly, he lost even more primaries as they went, you know, down the road until finally George H.W. Bush withdrew in May.

[07:40:00] So you can lose. You can lose to Iowa. You can lose New Hampshire. George W. Bush lost New Hampshire and went on to beat John McCain.

So, yes, you definitely can -- you definitely can do that.

And as we all know, Senator Santorum and Governor Huckabe won Iowa.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, 2008, 2009.

LORD: 2008 and, you know, didn't go anywhere.

BLACKWELL: All right. Jeffrey Lord, Ben Ferguson, thanks so much.

LORD: Thanks.

FERGUSON: Thanks

WALKER: And still to come. New security measures for the happiest place on earth, why Disney World has started randomly screening visitors and searching visitors to its theme parks?

BLACKWELL: And did a California police officer accidentally shoot a suspect after during, or after high speed chase? We've got new video from the officer's body camera. Find out why the officer will not face criminal charges here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALKER: New this morning, Disney has installed metal detectors at its theme parks in California and Florida. It's also changing its costume policy and discontinuing the sale of toy guns at its parks and resorts.

CNN's Alina Machado has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Before you can walk into the happiest place on earth, you might first have to walk through one of these. Disney is beefing up security at its theme parks in California and Florida, adding metal detectors to screen people who are randomly chosen for secondary screening.

The move comes in the wake of the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris and just in time for the busy holiday season.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They should amp up their security.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're from Australia. We have extremely different scanners than you do. I had no problems with walking through a metal detector to go to Disneyland or anywhere else, if it keeps me and my family safe.

MACHADO: Just last week, a Miami man was arrested for carrying a loaded gun just outside Magic Kingdom. Authorities in Florida say, he didn't have the proper permits to carry it.

There's no indication, the arrest has anything to do with the new security measures announced this week or if any threat was behind the move.

[07:45:05] Disney only releasing a statements that reads, "We continually review our comprehensive approach to security and are implementing additional security measures as appropriate''.

Those measures include the presence of additional uniformed police officers the use of specially trained dogs to patrol key areas and new policies banning the sale or possession of toy guns on Disney property. Also, children under 14 will be allowed to wear costumes inside the park.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) what's been going on in the road but I think with a big place like Disneyland or Disney World -- sorry, with all the people that are there, I think those kind of measures are a little very appropriate.

MACHADO: And Disney isn't the only one ramping up security, Universal Studios and SeaWorld both announcing this week that they too are adding metal detectors to their screening process. Alina Machado, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Alina, thank you. I want you to watch this video.

A suspected drunk driver was climbing out of a wrecked vehicle. And watch this, the police officer comes up, shoots him in the neck.

There's new video of the officer denying it happened. He says, yes, I pulled the gun out, it discharged, but I don't remember shooting this man.

Well, family and friends of the victim are angry after learning the officer will not face criminal charges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: A new video this morning after California man is accused of driving drunk and crashing his car last month. We've got the dashcam video.

It shows he was shot by an officer as he tried to climb out of the car. But this new body cam video from the scene shows what the Officer Patrick Feaster, said after he shot the man. This is edited together from several minutes of footage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALVIES: "Who shot you?"

FEASTER: Get out of the car, sir. You're not shot, sir. Get out of the car.

ALVIES: "Who shot you?"

Thomas: "The cop."

[07:50:00] ALVIES: "The cop did not shoot you."

FEASTER: "I don't think I shot him. I wasn't even pointing at him but the gun did not go off."

ALVIES: "Oh my God, are you serious?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Andrew Thomas is now recovering in the hospital from being shot in the neck. It could leave him permanently paralyzed. And get this, he could still face DUI and manslaughter charges after his wife was ejected from the car and killed in that wreck.

Well now dashcam video released earlier this week shows what happened from the beginning. We have to warn you, the video is disturbing. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) It happened in Paradise, California, near Chico. Police say 26-year- old Andrew Thomas was caught speeding out of the parking lot of a local bar on Thanksgiving without his SUV's headlights on. Officer Patrick Feaster chases him.

The SUV hits a median and flips, throwing the passenger to the ground, killing her. As Feaster walks towards the wrecked vehicle with his gun drawn, Thomas climbs out. Investigators say Feaster fired one shot hitting Thomas in the neck. They say what looks like a second shot is an illusion caused by a reflection from the pistol's flashlight.

MIKE RAMSEY, BUTTE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The officer's immediate reaction was thinking that the man was going to attempt to flee.

BLACKWELL: District Attorney Mike Ramsey said he could not file charges under the law, calling what happened unintentional and possibly negligent, but not criminally so.

He says their investigation shows the shot was fired accidentally, and Officer Feaster was surprised by the discharge. Protests have now been organized by Thomas and supporters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are here to serve and protect us, not shoot us.

BLACKWELL: Investigators say Feaster waited 11 minutes to report that he fired the shot. He didn't even tell the paramedics when they arrived.

FEASTER: I've an unresponsive female and a male in the car refusing to get out.

BLACKWELL: The district attorney called the delay troubling but said Feaster was in shock and wasn't sure if he actually fired a shot. Feaster is on leave while an internal investigation continues within the department.

CHIEF GABRIELA TAZZARI-DINEEN, PARADISE POLICE: Discipline can range anywhere from a letter ladder of reprimand to termination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: We have back with us now CNN Legal Analyst, Joey Jackson.

Joey, you know, this feeds into the narrative that there is a separate justice system or process for people who wear a badge and don't. Is there any precedent in which outside of law enforcement that there is the "I didn't realize I had shot him" defense and no charges are filed?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Victor, good morning. I have not seen that anywhere, such a precedent for "I didn't shoot, I don't remember shooting. I was in shock for shooting."

You know, this is extraordinarily troubling. I'd go as far as to say outrageous. And it also feeds into another narrative and that is should the local district attorney, be investigating and potentially prosecuting the officers that they rely upon on a daily basis to make their case.

Now, I could tell you as a former prosecutor myself that you have a huge deal of discretion. And I was simply an assistant district attorney in terms of dismissing cases, elevating cases, you know, deciding to prosecute them at different levels.

And, you know, to read the D.A.'s conclusions and it's just very troubling, and I also would go as far as to say intellectually dishonest. Now, you can argue intent or lack of intent. It appears to be pretty intentional to me, but that's just me. But now, you get to the issue of negligence and then you're suggesting that it's negligent maybe but doesn't rise to criminal negligence.

And that's why you need independence in an investigation. So that the community can feel that everything, every stone was unturned to determine whether or not it was criminal or not criminal, not just the local district attorney saying, "It looks OK, let's move on to the next case."

BLACKWELL: Yeah. The officer says that he was in shock and, you know, I don't know that to be different. It's not my job to opine on that. But if this works in this case, and in this specific shooting, could this be used as a precedent in other shootings in which officers or anyone could say, "I didn't recognize that I this shot him. I didn't realize it, so that -- maybe I'm not legally liable."

JACKSON: Well, that's the problem, Victor. And, you know, was there a medical evaluation here? Was he examined by a psychologist or did the district attorney impanel one to evaluate him, or to opine on that? Or is it his word?

In addition to that, look at the actions of the officer. Were the actions of the officer consist with shock, were they consistent with someone who didn't know what they did or was it consistent with someone who was covering this up?

And so that's the issue. You mentioned the precedential effect. It also sets the effect on precedent for people who just don't trust law enforcement, and that's the problem because we need law enforcement. We need to respect law enforcement. We need to work to with law enforcement and we need to rely and really, you know, support the things that they do.

[07:55:02] And so this is very troubling. And I don't think we've seen or are going to be talking about the last of this.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. And certainly, you can expect a civil suit to come from his family. We'll, of course, follow this story, this case. Joey Jackson, thank you so much.

JACKSON: Thank you, Victor.

WALKER: And coming up next hour, combating home-grown terrorism. This week, numerous people have been arrested right here in America for alleged ties to terrorists. We'll take a look at how law enforcement is catching terrorists before they strike.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For me it's - speechless. I can't even -- I mean, I can't even say anything. I don't want to -- I don't want to spoil it, because it's so exciting to even talk about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: That man was almost going to cry there. Did you see how excited, he was?

WALKER: His eyes were glistening.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. I mean, you know, fans love the latest edition of "Star Wars," Disney projects "The Force Awakens" will rake in $100 million from Friday's box office alone, that just one day of the debut weekend. It already made a record-breaking $57 million from Thursday's early showings, expected to take in maybe $200, maybe more than $200 million this weekend.

WALKER: And one couple in Massachusetts took their love for their franchise films into a whole other level. They have named their newborn "Jedi."

BLACKWELL: Oh, come on.

WALKER: Right? And the dad explained they kept seeing news about the latest "Star Wars" flick so when their boy was born on the same day as the film's premier, you know, they decided to go with their gut, Jedi. By the way, the baby's full film is Ryker Jedi Gracie.

BLACKWELL: Better than Darth.

WALKER: Who would name their child Darth?

BLACKWELL: Who would name their child Jedi?

WALKER: Cute boy, I guess.

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the power vested in me by (inaudible) Jedi council and the state of California. I now pronounce you husband and wife. May your love longer than (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:00:00]