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The Situation Room
Disturbing Police Video; Off and Running; Jerusalem Under Siege; Trump to Host 'SNL'. Aired 18-19:00p ET
Aired October 14, 2015 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:02]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Can the U.S. help defuse the crisis?
Often and running. The Democratic presidential candidates hit the campaign trail after a debate that set a new record, cashing in on their political winnings. Who has gained the most momentum from the Las Vegas face-off?
Slammed to the ground. Disturbing video of police aggressively detaining a black college student sparks protest and an investigation. With no charges and no evidence of wrongdoing, is it another example of excessive force? I will ask the head of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks.
Crying foul, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump set to host "Saturday Night Live" more than a decade after this memorable performance, a very funny clip, indeed. But why has that clip been all but erased? And why are Trump's rivals complaining about his upcoming "SNL" appearance
We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
BLITZER: We're following breaking news, including the escalating crisis in Israel. The government there deploying hundreds of extra troops and police tonight amid a wave of stabbing attacks on Israeli civilians. Some Palestinian neighborhoods are now being sealed off, increasing tensions that are already boiling over in deadly street clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.
Also breaking this hour, dozens of new airstrikes by Russia and Syria coming after what the Pentagon describes as a dangerously close encounter between Russian and U.S. warplanes and now we're learning the two countries may be getting close to finalizing an agreement on air safety over Syria.
We're covering all of this, much more this hour with our correspondents and our guests, including the president and CEO of NAACP, Cornell William Brooks.
Let's begin in Jerusalem.
Our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, is on the scene for us.
Ben, the tension clearly growing tonight. What's the latest?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, Wolf, it's been yet another day of stabbing attacks in Jerusalem and clashes on the West Bank.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Israeli police shot and killed a man dressed in combat fatigues, armed with a knife near Damascus Gate. The gates of the Old City have been the scene of multiple stabbing attacks; security camera footage released Monday shows a young man stabbing a police officer in the neck.
The most chilling scene caught on surveillance video was just one of five different attacks on Tuesday. The graphic video shows a man plowing his car into a group of people waiting as a Jerusalem bus stop. He jumps out of the vehicle and begins to attack another pedestrian with a meat cleaver. He was shot and killed by a man with a handgun. The attacker was a 33-year-old Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem.
Hundreds and soldiers and border police are being deployed to Israeli cities and under new security measures from the Israeli government allows the police to seal off Palestinian neighborhoods. Under mounting pressure to take decisive action to bring all this to an end, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been meeting with senior security officials.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I'm interested in the immediate resumption of peace talks with our Palestinian neighbors with no preconditions and it will be a difficult negotiation because in order to achieve peace, terrorism must stop and real security arrangements must be implemented on the ground.
WEDEMAN: At least seven Israelis have been killed so far this month and many others wounded. Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, took to Twitter saying "The Hamas movement blesses the heroic operations in Jerusalem."
Palestinians have taken to the streets of the West Bank clashing with Israeli police and military. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 30 Palestinians have been killed, including several of the attackers.
MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator): Peace and security will never be achieved unless there is an end to the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem at its capital.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN: Of course, despite all the latest efforts by Israel to clamp down and try to prevent more of these attacks, these two attacks happened after those measures went into effect. [18:05:00]
And reading Haaretz, the Web site of the Israeli newspaper, you get an insight into how difficult it is to try to come up with ways to stop these lone wolf attackers. The defense minister, Moshe Ya'alon, is quoted as telling his colleagues during the security cabinet meeting, "Do you want us to go around and confiscate all the kitchen knives in East Jerusalem?" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: What a tense situation, indeed. All right, Ben Wedeman, thanks very much.
Let's bring in our global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott.
Elise, what's the next step for the United States in all of this?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Secretary of State John Kerry is planning a trip out to the region. He really wants to try to bring both sides back from the brink. U.S. obviously concerned, as everyone else, about a possible third intifada.
And the secretary is concerned about a couple things, first of all, incitement by what U.S. officials are say are by Palestinian officials. Not only have Palestinian officials not condemned a lot of these attacks against Israelis, but they have also done -- you know, U.S. officials say they are actually encouraging it. Secretary speaking out yesterday very forcefully about that, but the U.S. is also concerned about what they say are credible reports of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian rock throwers.
A lot of Palestinians have died in some of these clashes. Beyond the violence, Wolf, are the fears of a third intifada and more deaths, and the secretary is looking for the horizon. Where is this going to end? This takes everybody so farther away from the peace process he was trying to get going and wasn't able to.
BLITZER: How much does the U.S. influence really have in dealing with this right now? Do the Israelis, for example, even want Secretary of State John Kerry to come to Jerusalem?
LABOTT: You spoke to Mark Regev, the prime minister spokesman, earlier today, and he wasn't saying so explicitly. But he was saying this is not the time for diplomacy, this is the time for added security measures.
And I'm not really sure what influence the U.S. does have right now, because, look, the Israelis and U.S. have a very tense relationship over the Iran deal. Israelis are increasing security measures. Palestinian President Abbas has made threats about withdrawing from the Oslo peace process and also resigning and moving more towards the international community for the Palestinian cause.
No one really wants to say so explicitly, but I'm not really sure Secretary Kerry has much that he can do and if he goes out and creates these expectations that he will be able to do something and the violence doesn't stop, that could further exacerbate the situation and also weaken U.S. credibility at a time the U.S. is bogged down in Syria. Credibility is not so high right now in that region.
BLITZER: Incredibly dangerous situation right now. We know the president, President Obama, invited the prime minister to come to Washington in early November. We will see what happens on that visit. Thanks very much.
There is more breaking news, a U.S. source now telling CNN that American and Russian officials are finalizing an air safety agreement after a series of very close calls between their warplanes in the skies over Syria.
Our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, is working this story for us.
Jim, the Russians are downplaying the latest close call, but the U.S. says this is a very dangerous situation.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No question. The airspace getting even busier and the Russian Defense Ministry says Russian warplanes conducted 41 combat sorties against 40 ISIS targets today.
The U.S. disputes whether they were actually ISIS targets. The ministry adding that its warplanes are in Syrian airspace "absolutely on a legal basis" at the request of the Syrian government with the flights coordinated the Syrian government. The flights not coordinated as yet with the U.S.-led coalition and that's raising stern U.S. protests.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO (voice-over): U.S. and Russian military officials meeting for a third time Wednesday, saying they are close to an agreement to avoid risky contact in the skies over Syria. But their warplanes are already coming dangerously close. Two U.S. and two Russian aircraft came within miles on Saturday, so-called visual range before they moved away.
JOHN KIRBY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: You need to make sure that you can continue to answer all bells, as we say in the Navy, and that means having an assurance of safe and professional conduct in this case by the Russian side.
SCIUTTO: Russia insists its fighter jets intended no harm.
MAJ. GEN. IGOR KONASHENKOV, RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE (through translator): Our jet turned and approached it, not to scare someone, but to identify the object and whom it belonged to.
SCIUTTO: The close encounter comes as Russian aircraft continue to shadow U.S. drones monitoring the border with Turkey amid a massive expansion of Russian air and ground operations inside Syria.
ASHTON CARTER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have seen some unprofessional behavior from Russian forces. SCIUTTO: Defense Secretary Ash Carter calls Russia's actions in
Syria a mistake, saying that of the 80 airstrikes the Russians have conducted so far, only a fraction have struck ISIS targets.
CARTER: Russia has chosen to double down on their longstanding relationship with Assad, committing additional military hardware, capabilities and personnel. We have not for our part and will not agree to cooperate with Russia as long as they continue to pursue a misguided strategy.
[18:10:10]
SCIUTTO: Relations with Moscow made more tense with a new Dutch investigation concluding it was a Russian-made and supplied missile system that shut down the Malaysia passenger jet MH17 over Ukraine last July.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Donald Trump waded into the MH17 story today, appearing to express doubts about the certainty of Russian involvement.
He said -- quote -- "You will probably never know for sure," before later adding that the culprit was at least probably Russia and pro-Russian fighters. This of course is differing not only with Dutch investigators who concluded yesterday it was a Russian-supplied missile, but U.S. intelligence which determined in fact very quickly after the crash with confidence, Wolf, it was a Russian system fired from territory controlled by Russian separatists there.
BLITZER: Jim Sciutto, thanks very much.
There's another big story we're following tonight. The Democratic candidates for president of the United States are back on the campaign trail and they're fresh off their history-making debate night in Las Vegas. More than 15 million people watched the CNN debate, making it the most watched Democratic presidential debate ever.
Our senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar, is joining us now from Las Vegas.
Brianna, tonight, the candidates, they are trying to capitalize on the debate movement, right?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they sure are, fund-raising big time for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. We're actually here at Hillary Clinton's rally site outside of Vegas as she goes on a swing, a campaign swing across the country trying to increase enthusiasm and she's also trying to raise money, reassure some of those donors who are concerned about her flagging poll numbers here in recent months.
Bernie Sanders, pretty amazing he raked in $1.3 million in the four hours during and after the debate. It was quite a haul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): In Washington today, Vice President Joe Biden joked he was in a rush to meet the president.
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a luncheon date with a guy I'm unable to say no to.
KEILAR: But no hint of any decision on his own Oval Office ambitions as he weighed in on his potential rivals' big night.
BIDEN: I thought they all did well.
KEILAR: It was Hillary Clinton center stage as she pushed back on criticism that she frequently changes possessions.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Are you a progressive or are you a moderate?
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a progressive. But I'm a progressive who likes to get things done.
KEILAR: Trying out a defense of her 2002 vote to authorize the war in Iraq.
CLINTON: Well, I recall very well being on a debate stage, I think, about 25 times with then Senator Obama, debating this very issue. After the election, he asked me to become Secretary of State.
KEILAR: She hit her chief rival early on taking aim at his weak spot with liberals.
COOPER: Secretary Clinton, is Bernie Sanders tough enough on guns?
CLINTON: No, not at all. Senator Sanders did vote five times against the Brady Bill.
KEILAR: The Vermont senator on the defensive.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (VT-I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can raise our voices, but I come from a rural state. And the views on gun control in rural states are different than in urban states, whether we like it or not.
KEILAR: Sanders was more comfortable talking about climate change.
SANDERS: The future of the planet is at stake.
KEILAR: And the economy, railing against casino capitalism while in a Las Vegas casino hotel.
SANDERS: I believe in a society where all people do well, not just a handful of billionaires.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) KEILAR: Sanders tried to portray himself as mainstream,
explaining why he identifies as a Democratic socialist.
SANDERS: I think we should look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway, and learn from what they have accomplished for their working people.
KEILAR: Clinton painted his ideas as impractical.
CLINTON: But we are not Denmark. I love Denmark. We're the United States of America.
KEILAR: Though this moment about her recent decision to oppose the controversial Keystone XL pipeline after leaning towards its approval as secretary of state could come back to haunt Clinton.
CLINTON: I never took a position on Keystone until I took a position on Keystone.
KEILAR: But it was Sanders who gave Clinton one of her best moments of the night when asked about her e-mail controversy.
SANDERS: Let me say something that may not be great politics. But I think the secretary is right, and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CLINTON: Thank you. Me, too. Me, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And with that, the Clinton campaign feeling the Bern, as Bernie Sanders call it, probably for the first time, Wolf.
It really comes at a good time for her because next week she's before the Benghazi Committee on Capitol Hill. She will be grilled by Republicans and her campaign feels that that comment puts her in a stronger position, really, especially with what we heard from Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy recently where he talked about the efforts of the Benghazi Committee and how that has decreased Hillary Clinton's poll numbers.
BLITZER: Yes, she will be grilled for hours and hours on that day, October 22, at that select committee.
[18:15:03]
Brianna, thanks very much.
Just ahead, new poll numbers on the Republican presidential candidates. Is Donald Trump maintaining his lead in the critical early voting states?
Plus, a black college student aggressively detained by police after an unfounded complaint. We're learning new details of the investigation sparked by this very disturbing video. The head of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks, he is here with me and we will discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:20:18]
BLITZER: More than 1,000 people are expected to turn out at a Bernie Sanders rally in Los Angeles tonight as he rides his momentum from the CNN Democratic presidential debate and he is cashing in as well. His campaign says Sanders has taken in almost $2 million since the debate ended.
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is in L.A. with more on what is going on.
Sunlen, Sanders really seems to be capitalizing on his debate performance. What happened?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. The campaign feeling very good at what Sanders did last night up there on the debate stage and saying one measure of that is really this big pouring of fund-raising that really has poured in for the campaign online.
As you said, $2 million, they note the majority of that in the first four hours during the debate. At its peak, they say it was 10.25 contributions per second and notably they're really highlighting that much of that fund-raising was in response to a specific fund- raising pitch in response to that moment, Bernie Sanders on stage saying enough with the Hillary Clinton e-mail.
Certainly, the campaign really feeling that that is resonating with a lot of voters. Now, the fund-raising pitch here in L.A. continues, and he will have two big fund-raisers in Los Angeles, including here, Wolf, at the Avalon, where, as you can see, many voters here lining up to get in, Wolf.
BLITZER: Sunlen, you're also learning about a bit of a shift in his strategy right now, shift in the Sanders campaign strategy.
SERFATY: That's right.
The campaign really feels that they are going to take this into a new phase of the campaign and part of that is in part moving a bit away from those large booming rallies we really had in a large part characterized the Sanders campaign. In addition to still holding those rallies, they will move to put the candidate into more intimate, private settings, smaller gathering.
That will start this weekend in Iowa, where Sanders will attend a barbecue and he will hit some house parties and he will have town halls, a setting we really haven't seen Sanders in much of. That will start in Iowa this weekend, the campaign saying they want to move beyond the enthusiasm events and now towards more of the persuasion events -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Sunlen Serfaty in L.A. for us, thank you. Donald Trump appears to be creating his own momentum with new
polls showing double-digit leads for the Republican front-runner in some of the most critical early voting states.
Our political reporter, Sara Murray, is joining us from Richmond, Virginia.
Sara, what's Trump doing there tonight?
SARA MURRAY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, you will notice Donald Trump is not in an early voting state tonight. He's in Virginia. It does not vote until March 1.
And, look, I think his campaign wants to prove they are in this for the long haul and they're looking beyond the first couple states and in the meantime, they are enjoying a wide lead in South Carolina and Nevada.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MURRAY (voice-over): Donald Trump pulling ahead of the pack in two key states.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Somebody said why do you talk about the polls? I said because I'm winning.
MURRAY: With 38 percent support in Nevada, Trump showing a commanding 16-point lead over his closest competitor, Dr. Ben Carson, according to new CNN/ORC polls. In South Carolina, more good news for Trump, who is doubling Carson's support 36 percent to 18 percent.
In these early nominating states, no other candidate comes close to the two men in the top tier, but a FOX News poll still shows a tight race nationwide with Trump leading Carson by just one point. Today, Trump taking a break from battling Republicans to train his fire on Bernie Sanders in this Instagram video.
NARRATOR: The world is a dangerous place. We need a tough, strong leader. And it's not this guy.
MURRAY: Trump saying Sanders blew the debate by taking Clinton's side and dismissing questions about her use of a private e-mail server.
SANDERS: The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails.
CLINTON: Thank you. Me, too. Me, too.
TRUMP: I think Bernie actually for the sake of a good sound bit let her off the hook. You have an FBI investigation on e-mails. And he just let her off and I think that -- when you are losing, because he is losing badly if you look nationally. When you are losing that badly, you have to go a lot stronger.
MURRAY: Trump's hash tone today in stark contrast with his Twitter spree last night, when he complimented Sanders, saying "Good move by Bernie S." around the same time as the exchange over Clinton's e-mails.
His burst of live tweets bringing in new fans. Trump added 140,000 Twitter followers yesterday, many of them during the Democratic debate. Back at it today, Trump is promising he will take a tougher approach to Clinton, tweeting: "The debate last night proved that Hillary is running against the B-team. She won't be so lucky when it comes to me."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[18:25:05]
MURRAY: Now, of course, Virginia isn't just an important state in the Republican primaries. It's also a key swing state in the general election, so he could potentially be up against one of his Democratic opponents then -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Sara Murray on the scene for us, we will check back with you.
I want to talk about all of this and more with our CNN political commentators. Ana Navarro, she's a Bush supporter, a friend of Marco Rubio, and also joining, Van Jones, a former presidential adviser to President Obama, and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.
Maria, our new CNN poll shows Trump with really impressive double-digit leads over Ben Carson in South Carolina, the third state to vote, Nevada, the fourth, and he's ahead in all of these states right now, very impressively in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada. If he wins all four of those, he's well on his way potentially to being the Republican nominee.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He is well on his way, Wolf, and up until now, most of the pundits, a lot of the analysts and frankly most of the Republicans have hoped that he was just a blip.
I think that ever since he announced his campaign, people have thought that it was going to be just a blip, but, frankly, what we have seen is he has staying power. The kinds of leads, the margins he has in these early states should worry every single other Republican if they think that they have the time to catch up to him.
I think Republicans really need to gird themselves for the very real possibility that Donald Trump could be the Republican nominee, Wolf.
BLITZER: More and more people are beginning to actually think that.
Ana, our poll also asked which candidate would best handle illegal immigration in the United States. Look at this; 55 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers in Nevada said Trump is the man. Are you surprised by that?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Not really because I think that particularly in the Republican base he has hit a nerve with that.
It's one of the issues he touched upon early in his announcement speech and he has taken advantage of that issue the entire campaign. It has worked for him, whether he's talking about Mexicans or whether he's talking about undocumented or whether he's talking about building a wall or not accepting refugees from Syria.
He's been consistent in being a hard-liner on immigration and, frankly, it's worked for him.
BLITZER: You know, it's very interesting because Marco Rubio seems to be the insider candidate whose on the rise right now in several of these states, not in double digits, 9 percent in South Carolina, 7 percent in Nevada. Jeb Bush only at 6 percent in these states.
Ana, you're a Bush supporter and you're friendly with Senator Rubio. Why do you think Rubio is now doing better than Jeb Bush, his mentor, in several of these states?
NAVARRO: You know, Wolf, everybody other than Trump and Ben Carson are in the single digits, and, look, I have said from day one, you have heard me say it over and over again.
I think the person with the most natural political skills in either side is Marco Rubio. He is a skilled, skilled politician, whether it's retail politics, in debates. I think the debates have made a difference. I think he has been very impressive on the trail and in the debates. Now he's got to show that he can raise the money. He has got to show that he can build out the team.
It's things that he's got to concentrate on. I think Jeb Bush has focused a lot on that, on building out the teams, on raising the money. He's got to prove that he can be a better retail politician.
BLITZER: Van, you have said many times Marco Rubio is a Republican candidate that potentially scares you the most. Is he the best candidate from your perspective for the GOP's establishment right now to try to rally around?
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Listen, he is the most dangerous.
Even Bill Clinton has said this is a guy you got to worry about. Why? In a head-to-head matchup with Hillary Clinton, he can say, look, I'm a fresh face, I'm a new voice. He has a biography that you couldn't script for yourself if you wanted to.
And he does his homework. He doesn't just get up there and do zingers and one-liners and entertain the crowd. He does his homework. Americans like that work ethic. He had a strategy to become everybody's favorite number two. He has achieved that and, frankly, if you remember, Donald Trump tried to go after him and called him a boy and all sort of stuff.
There was a blowback. Even the crowd when he said that started booing. That lets you know he has tapped into a reservoir of goodwill with that Republican base. For Democrats, you got to hope that Donald Trump can stop this guy. I think he's the toughest for us. He brings Florida into his column almost automatically. He messes up the math with Latinos. This guy is dangerous for Democrats.
BLITZER: Van, stand by. Everyone, stand by.
There is more we're going to discuss, more on Donald Trump. He is set, by the way, to host "Saturday Night Live." Will he outdo his performance from a decade ago, which, mysteriously, almost completely vanished?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[18:30:15] UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): You know our wings will make you happy. You know our wings will fill you up. If you want a place where you love chicken wings, yes, Donald Trump's Hot Wings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:35:12] BLITZER: We're back are our political commentators. Ana, Donald Trump, as you now know, will host "Saturday Night Live" November 7. That's only three weeks or so. I want to play for you and for our viewers a sketch from the last time he hosted "SNL." This was back in 2004. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Cock-a-doodle-doo, folks. I'm Donald Trump, and there's two things in the world I love: a good deal and a good meal. So when I drove by a defunct Meineke muffler shop in Inglewood, New Jersey, I knew what I had to do. I had buy it on the cheap and convert it into a restaurant specializing in buffalo chicken wings. So I did.
And it's the most important thing I've ever done in my entire life. So please, join me at Donald Trump's House of Wings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): You know our wings will make you happy. You know our wings will fill you up. If you want a place where you love the chicken wings, yes, Donald Trump's Hot Wings.
TRUMP: Am I saying I'm a chicken wing expert? No. But I can tell you this. The wing is hands down the best part of the chicken, better than the head, better than the torso, better than the back. And at Donald Trump's house of wings, you can get them with five different levels of hotness. Regular, hot, three alarm, suicidal, and hell spawn. And if you like celery, congratulations, it's on the house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Trump! You know our wings come with free celery. You know these veggies are good for you. If you want blue cheese, it will be a dollar extra. Donald Trump's House of Wings. TRUMP: Donald Trump's House of Wings is hands down the best wing
restaurant in New Jersey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Pretty good, Ana. I've got to admit, I had a good chuckle from that one.
The sketch, by the way, has actually been removed -- I don't know why -- from Hulu from some of "SNL's" greatest hits. It's unclear why, I should say.
But this is the type of stuff that we'll likely see when he repeats his guest host performance on "SNL" in a few weeks. He's going to have more time. Maybe he'll be a little bit more reserved this time. What do you think?
NAVARRO: I don't know, Wolf, if you're going to be a little bit more reserved, if "SNL" is the right platform to do it.
Look, I think that Donald Trump is -- the Donald Trump out on the campaign trail is actually, you know, removed the yellow suit and put on a blue one and is very similar to what we've seen on this skit.
I also think that he has shown glimpses of humor and the ability to be self-deprecating, even on the campaign trail. We say him have that line where he said his Secret Service code name would be Humble. Of course, you know, being satirical in the debate, in the second debate.
And we've seen him on Jimmy Fallon. So he is capable of showing humor. It's part of the persona, of the character he's built, of the brand he's built. And I want to say this, if he wants to have a chain of chicken restaurants, I will support him on that one.
BLITZER: Van, what about you?
JONES: Yes, look, I have to say first of all, that was hilarious. Second of all, you know, it actually is somewhat dangerous. I don't mean to be a buzz kill here, but this guy is going to be on one of the biggest shows, unopposed. He'll make fun of himself, but he's also going to continue to build his brand.
And you've got to start asking questions: is that fair. I hate to be a buzz kill here, but is that fair to other candidates? And is every other candidate going to get an opportunity to do something like this? There are rules in place to prevent this. This is basically going to be a big free ad for Donald Trump. He'll make fun of himself, but he's going to have, I guarantee you, an increase in the polls afterwards. It's not fair.
BLITZER: Is it going to be -- Maria, is there going to be a requirement for equal time. The FCC is going to have to come in and make sure that "SNL" gives other candidates equal time?
Maria, can you hear me? CARDONA: Oh, yes, sorry, Wolf. You know what? That is a good
question, because to Van's point, he's absolutely right. This will give Donald Trump an opportunity to continue building his brand.
[18:40:07] But here's the problem: even if "SNL" offered the other candidates the opportunity to come and host, I certainly would not recommend any other candidate to accept it.
Because this is Donald Trump as master of his domain. This is his turf. This is where he lives and breathes. And I don't know that any other candidate would have the wherewithal, and I don't think it would be a smart strategy for them to try to do it.
It would take way too much time for preparation. I think a lot of them don't have the personality to pull it off, like Donald Trump does. It would be the equivalent, Wolf, of let's say at the next Republican debate, God forbid, one of the debate watchers topples over, and they need a surgery.
Well, I would recommend for Ben Carson to actually do that surgery, perhaps assisted by Rand Paul. Maybe Marco Rubio can hand them the scalpel, but that's it. No other Republican candidate on that stage should be performing the surgery.
BLITZER: All right.
NAVARRO: I don't know, Maria, listen...
BLITZER: Hold on.
(CROSSTALK)
CARDONA: ... Donald Trump does. So...
NAVARRO: Hillary Clinton has hosted it, and she's not exactly known for her incredible wit and outrageous personality.
BLITZER: She hasn't -- she hasn't hosted, Ana.
JONES: She appeared.
BLITZER: She's had a guest appearance, which is different than hosting the show, which is obviously...
CARDONA: Right, it's very different.
BLITZER: ... something that Donald Trump is going to do.
CARDONA: And I would recommend -- right, and I would recommend for them to actually show up and do the skits. It worked very well for Hillary Clinton. It could work well for all of them.
BLITZER: Hillary Clinton did a very good job in those skits, as well.
CARDONA: Yes. BLITZER: Let's see how Donald Trump does when he hosts the show
in a few weeks. Of course, we will all be watching.
All right, guys. We've got much more news coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:46:25] BLITZER: There is disturbing new video of police right here on Washington, D.C. detaining a young African-American man, in a case that's sparking protest and now, an investigation.
CNN's Brian Todd has the video, has the details.
Brian, it turns out this college student, a freshman that he hasn't really done anything wrong, did he?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what the police are saying tonight, Wolf. This is the very spot where 18-year-old Jason Goolsby was taken down by police a couple nights ago after the police say he ran several blocks from that direction.
This is just a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol. This is the latest in a series of police encounters captured on videotape which raised questions about whether young black men are being unfairly targeted. Tonight, the police here in Washington D.C. are defending their actions, saying they did nothing wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get off him. He didn't do nothing. He didn't do nothing. He didn't do nothing.
POLICE: Hands behind your back! Stop resisting! Put your hands behind your back.
TODD (voice-over): With their knees on his back, D.C. police officers aggressively restrain 18-year-old Jason Goolsby. They twist his arm behind his back as he desperately pleads with them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike, mike.
TODD: The two officers are white. Goolsby is black. Neither Jason Goolsby nor his friend who took the video could be reached for on-camera interviews. Goolsby told "The Washington Post" that just minutes before police moved in, he held the door at an ATM for a white woman pushing a stroller. He says an officer told him the woman called police because he'd made her uncomfortable.
Erika Totten, one of Goolsby's former high schoolteachers and a member of Black Lives Matter movement, defends Goolsby.
ERIKA TOTTEN, JASON GOOLSBY'S FORMER TEACHER: Any black boy is going to make somebody uncomfortable that has problems with race. As she saw him as a young man holding the door for her and that automatically went to her feeling uncomfortable, then that's a problem that she has.
He's awesome. He's very into his music, very sweet, one of the most sweetest boys I ever had the honor of teaching.
(MUSIC)
TODD: Goolsby, now a freshman studying music at the University of D.C. can be seen here in this video promoting his high school.
(MUSIC)
TODD: In the wake of Goolsby's encounter, a familiar refrain on the street.
PROTESTER: This racist police that got to stop.
TODD: Dozens of protesters briefly shut down parts of Pennsylvania Avenue, in the shadow of the Capitol. The police report says Goolsby and his friend were stopped and detained because they matched description of possible robbery or attempted robbery suspects.
Delroy Burton of the D.C. police union says Goolsby ran several blocks after police arrived and kept reaching into his backpack. He says the officers didn't know what they would encounter when they tracked him down and the officers did nothing wrong.
(on camera): They seemed to twist his arm in a severe way almost to break it. That is not excessive, not abusive?
SGT. DELROY BURTON, DC POLICE UNION: That is not excessive. Remember, we have to overcome resistance and if I'm telling you to put your hands behind your back and you're refusing and you're pulling away, so I'm applying force to overcome the resistance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike, mike!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Still tonight, D.C. police tell us they are reviewing the circumstances surrounding this encounter. They say that after questioning Jason Goolsby and his friend, it was determined no crime -- excuse me sir, excuse me sir, no crime has be committed the police say that neither of them did anything wrong. Neither of them were arrested and they were sent on their way -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Brian. Thanks very much. Brian Todd on the streets of Washington, D.C. for us.
Let's get some more right now with the president and CEO of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks.
[18:50:00] Cornell, thanks for joining us.
CORNELL WILLIAM BROOKS, NAACP PRESIDENT & CEO: Hi, Wolf.
BLITZER: First of all, have you been in touch with Jason Goolsby, his friend, his family, any of the principals involved?
BROOKS: No, I haven't bee n if touch with his family as of yet, but I suspect that our Washington branch has or will be, the NAACP.
BLITZER: What's your take when you see the video, you see the explanations. Obviously, there may be two sides to this story but it looks like this young man, college freshman, didn't do anything wrong. The police were pretty tough with him.
BROOKS: Yes. I want to know a couple of things. If this was the first video but not the last in a string, uncountable, innumerable videos, it might not be so disturbing.
But here's the reality. This young man is a tough textbook suspect. He is a freshman in college, a teenager. He's lying on the ground. He's in pain and he has two officers atop him, wrestling him and trying to wrench his arm behind his back.
This is absolutely outrageous. And this is just one in a series of these kinds of tragedies. It might have ended differently, as in the loss of his life.
I have a son who's a freshman in college. When I look at this young man, I think about my son. What is it about humanity that makes people uncomfortable? What is it about our humanity that makes people think that we are somehow the object of suspicion?
And so, I would simply note that this video is a reminder that last night's presidential debate, 15 million viewers, one question on race. And that question was a question along the lines of a phrase, "Black Lives Matter" as opposed to all lives matter, which was the same phrase used in the early Republican debate. Three presidential debates, two questions in the form of a phrase.
Here's the point, all across the country, we have millions of people, of all colors, all creeds, watching this video, saying something has to be done.
The racial challenges in our country are real and they cannot be relegated to a footnote in the debate about who occupies the White House. This is outrageous.
BLITZER: And I want to get your thoughts on the debate, what we heard last night, what we heard on some of the other debates. And I know this case right here with Jason Goolsby hits home for you because you have a son, as you point out, who is a freshman in college right now as well.
All right. Cornell, stay with us for a moment. Let's take a quick break. Much more, we'll get the NAACP's reaction to what we saw last night at the Democratic debate when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:57:01] BLITZER: We're back with the president and CEO of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks. Cornell, the Democratic candidates were asked last night at the
debate, do Black Lives Matter and do all lives matter? Who do you think gave the best answer?
BROOKS: I thought that Hillary Clinton gave the best answer substantively. Bernie sanders addressed the phrase head-on and tied it to the issues. Certainly, Governor O'Malley throughout the evening touched on issues of race.
But in the main, in the main, the discussion of the nation's civil rights challenges was not as substantive that one might have imagined.
BLITZER: So, what would you have liked to have seen? What kind of questions would you have wanted?
BROOKS: The Voting Rights Act.
Think about it, every election presupposes that people can vote. This is the first presidential election in half a century without the full protection of the Voting Rights Act.
We have young people in Alabama and older people in Alabama having their DMVs, Department of Motor Vehicles, offices closed, making it harder to vote. All men have challenges all across the country, not just against African-Americans and in terms of making it harder for them to vote, or Latinos, but young people, older people, people with disabilities, and nary a word in three debates about protecting the right to vote.
When it comes to protecting the right to vote, we've heard essentially the sound of crickets except crickets may have said more on the issue. This is a serious issue. Our people literally shed blood, sweat and tears for the right to vote and no mention of it, no discussion.
BLITZER: Bernie Sanders in Vermont basically, almost completely white state Vermont, very few African-Americans. Does he have problem bringing in support from the African-American community?
BROOKS: Well, I don't think people looking at the demographics of the state you're coming from, but rather than looking at the issues that you stand behind. He has done that in terms of some of the position he's taking with respect to criminal justice reform.
But in the main, we need to see much more. All across this country, we, right now, are in the many I had is it of an agonizingly difficult situation on challenges with respect to race and civil rights, particularly young people. Look at that video. How do you have a video, if you will, with presidential candidates, 15 million viewers, and not talk about racial profiling in a serious way.
We need five or six questions on civil rights, the most prominent of which is how do we protect the right to vote?
BLITZER: And the NAACP, though, does not endorse candidates? BROOKS: We do not at all.
BLITZER: But you don't give indication of who you like or don't like? Not even that?
BROOKS: No, not at all. We have people of all parties, persuasions, who support the work of the NAACP.
BLITZER: Cornell, thanks very much for coming.
BROOKS: Thank you.
BLITZER: Appreciate it as always. Good to have you here.
Cornell Williams Brooks, president of the NAACP.
That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. Remember, you can always follow us on Twitter. Please tweet me @wolfblitzer. Tweet the show @CNNSitroom. I'll see you back here tomorrow.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
