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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER

CNN Poll: Key Senate Race a Dead Heat; Patrick a "Maybe" for Future White House Bid; Lonely Night on "Sherman Island"; Lava Heading for Homes

Aired September 5, 2014 - 16:30   ET

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


DR. BETH BELL, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: And we do know how to stop it. And we're all working together as a global community to do that in West Africa.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Dr. Sacra will not get the ZMapp serum because of a very limited supply. The ZMapp serum, of course, what the other two American who have recovered from are the virus were given. What will Dr. Sacra's treatment look like?

BELL: Well, I can't really comment on this particular individual, this really will be between him and his family and his doctors. We all would hope that we would have more in the way of treatments for Ebola.

As you say, there are very, very limited treatments available. They're all completely investigational and they haven't really been used widely in people. So we're certainly working very hard to speed up testing and availability of these treatments.

But they're not going to really be available certainly over the near term of the next three to six months. Having said that, however, there is a lot that can be done to improve the survival of Ebola patients.

Things that we call supportive care, keeping them well hydrated, treating infections if they have infections, making sure their blood pressure is normal and that they have good nutrition.

All things as I say that we call supportive care that really can make a very big difference in terms of improving survival for Ebola patients

TAPPER: Dr. Bell, today the United Nations set a goal for stopping Ebola transmission within six to nine months. How would this be done, and is it even possible to stop Ebola transmission?

BELL: Yes, it is possible to stop Ebola transmission. We know how Ebola is transmitted and we know what we need to do to stop transmission. Having said that, there is certainly a big challenge before us. But we know what we need to do.

We need to increase the treatment facilities. We need to increase clinical management with good infection control. We need trained staff to staff the treatment units. We need additional logistic support. We need better practices in terms of contact tracing.

These are all areas where CDC is working very hard. We have over 500 people working here in Atlanta, over 70 people in the field. We're working to support these efforts to stop Ebola transmission.

Helping to build emergency operations units to do surveillance, to track cases, to help with contact tracing. And doing a lot of training in many, many areas in these countries in West Africa.

TAPPER: All right, Dr. Bell, thank you so much for joining us.

BELL: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up, some brand new polling from CNN. It could be another warning bell for Democrats fighting to hold on to every seat they can in the fight for Capitol Hills. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. The politics lead now. We have some brand new CNN polling for you out of one of CNN's five key races to watch this midterm election season.

It is now a dead heat in the Arkansas Senate race where Republican Congressman Tom Cotton now has a razor thin lead in the home of the Razor Backs, just a two-point advantage over Democratic senator and incumbent, Mark Pryor.

Well within the survey's 4.5 margin of error but still in the lead. Right now every seat counts in the fight for control of the Senate. Our senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The political mischief of Halloween is weeks away, but Arkansas's incumbent Democratic Senator Mark Pryor and his Republican challenger, Tom Cotton, are running hard and already into some pretty scary stuff, fighting over who voted to support the Ebola virus or at least pandemic prevention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I voted for preparedness. He opposed it.

JOHNS: I asked Cotton about that. He first voted no on preparedness, later voting yes when he got a second chance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It goes to show that Mark Pryor cannot be trusted when he's calling me pro-Ebola.

JOHNS: Pryor is 51, a cancer survivor, now in his second Senate term. Cotton is 37, a freshmen and a lawyer, a veteran who earned the Army's bronze star in Afghanistan. It's a bitter battle over their voting records.

Frankly, less about the plague and more about the president. Cotton linking the man in the White House unpopular here to Arkansas' only remaining Democrat in Congress, $16 million in spending so far, the airwaves saturated with ads.

ANNOUNCER: What Pryor doesn't say is that law was Obamacare.

JOHNS: In a 5-minute speech, Cotton uttered the name Obama 11 times mentioning Pryor almost in the same breath.

REPRESENTATIVE TOM COTTON (R), RUNNING FOR SENATE IN ARKANSAS: We need a senator who stand up to Barack Obama and put Arkansas first and on issue of an issue, Mark Pryor is a loyal supporter of Barack Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the biggest bunch of hogwash I've heard in my life.

JOHNS: The senator and allies hope Cotton's voting record is his Achilles heel painting his votes as against the interest of Arkansas taxpayers on things like a popular children's hospital here, money for veterans, even against the farm bill in a state that depends on agriculture.

COTTON: It should be called a food stamp bill because it's 80 percent food stamp spending in a program that doesn't have adequate reforms.

JOHNS (on camera): These two candidates could not be more different. Pryor is political royalty in Arkansas, which opens him up to the charge that he's a creature of Washington. His father was also a United States senator.

(voice-over): Pryor's dad, David was also Arkansas' governor. He remembers Mark as a kid who didn't like it when things got ugly, a

little ironic for what's happening in this race for re-election.

DAVID PRYOR, FORMER SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS: Once we found a snake in our backyard and he refused to kill it. He just said no, I don't think we should kill that snake.

JOHNS: Cotton is an upstart newcomer, Harvard educated, a new face in Congress with plenty of energy, but will it make up for what he lacks in experience.

He's also a lawyer. In the Army, he served tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, growing up a high school and college JV basketball player. We talked to one of his old coaches.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a good athlete. He was very focused, you know, education wise.

JOHNS: Cotton still has a lot of running to do. In a red state in a year where Republicans are running strong nationwide, it's a dead heat in Arkansas. Joe Johns, CNN, Little Rock.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Let's bring in our panel, co-host of CNN's "CROSSFIRE," Stephanie Cutter and CNN political commentator and Republican strategist, Kevin Madden. Stephanie, this Tom Cotton supports Ebola ad was mocked by no less than Jon Stewart yesterday. Is this the way -- the only way that Mark Pryor can keep his seat is by being so negative?

STEPHANIE CUTTER, CNN HOST, "CROSSFIRE": I think Mark is running a pretty good campaign. This is a very, very red state in a year where basically every single fundamental is working against Democrats. But Mark Pryor has a dead even race.

So I think he's running a great campaign. I think that the votes that Tom Cotton takes matter. And there's nothing wrong with letting voters in Arkansas know about them.

KEVIN MADDEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The problem I think for Pryor is that like Joe Johns said in his package, he is practically political royalty down there, somebody with his sort of name I.D. to only be at 45 percent as an incumbent, that is a very, very dangerous place to be.

So I think if Cotton goes out there and he continues to draw the contrasts with Obama, remind voters that he would be a vote to be a check against the Obama agenda, which is very unpopular.

Obama is at 60 percent disapproval rating in a place like Arkansas. This is going to be a prime pickup opportunity for us in November.

TAPPER: But does it suggest the fact that Cotton is attacking Pryor by attacking Obama, does that suggest that there isn't much really about Mark Pryor that he can go after as much as about Pryor supporting Obama and trying to change the subject.

MADDEN: That is where Pryor's biggest vulnerability is. His agenda is aligned with President Obama's agenda, which is very unpopular in the state.

TAPPER: I want to move on to 2016 politics if I could. Governor Chris Christie on a trip to Mexico City said he will not take a position on immigration reform unless he runs for president. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I have no role in the immigration debate except for how it may affect the individual citizens of New Jersey, which I'll deal with as governor. But I won't have anything to say on immigration until and unless I become a candidate for president of the United States. If that happens, I will articulate a full position on it and you guys can pick it apart and praise it or damn it however you like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Where is the candor? Where is the bluntness and the straight talk?

MADDEN: I think that is a big problem here. Not commenting on immigration, which is an important issue to the people of New Jersey. And it's an important economic condition affecting the people New Jersey and their economy. Not commenting on it in such a combative way really does run counter to that brand that -- that profile that he's built up to this point that he's this no nonsense straight talking guy.

TAPPER: Stephanie, I want to get you to weigh in on another possible 2016 hopeful, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who said this when asked if he would run for president in 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR DEVAL PATRICK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Maybe but not right away. I'm not being cute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it's a possibility. It's there in the distance?

PATRICK: There are a lot of people who asked me to think about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Maybe. What does that mean?

CUTTER: Well, I think he's right. There have been a lot of people that have asked him to think about it. I know that to be true.

TAPPER: Who?

CUTTER: A lot of people.

TAPPER: OK. That's narrowing it down.

CUTTER: You're welcome. I'm being a profile in courage. I think that a Deval candidacy would be great. It would be a candidacy of a governor from Massachusetts with actually a record.

MADDEN: OK, cheap shot. Cheap shot.

TAPPER: Madden used to work for Governor Romney. Would he have any chance against Hillary Clinton at all?

CUTTER: I don't know that he would run if Hillary -- first of all, we don't know if he's going to run. He said he was -- people have asked him to think about it so he's thinking about it. We don't know if he would run if Hillary runs.

I think that look, he's got a very strong record to run on. I think governors as presidential candidates are good candidates because they have managed, they're executives and can point to specific things they've done that would have an impact on this country.

TAPPER: And in fact in that interview he did point to -- he was asked, they pointed out some flaws and he pointed to some strengths. How much do you think this is about Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts? No, not at all? MADDEN: No, I don't think it has anything to do. First of all, if you're a potential candidate and thinking about running, there really is no down side to running for president.

It may set you up to build your political profile somewhere down the road. Anytime a candidate says that they are may be running for president that means they're definitely interested in potentially being a VP.

TAPPER: Vice president.

MADDEN: All of this is about political positioning. It has to do with Deval Patrick thinking about Deval Patrick, not about Elizabeth Warren.

TAPPER: All right, Kevin Madden, Stephanie Cutter, great to have you guys. We'll be doing a lot more politics over the next couple of months. Thanks for being here.

Coming up in our Sports Lead, is it possible that the Seattle Seahawks Richard Sherman is so good he wins without even touching the football?

And in our national lead, one American town is being told to look out for hot molten lava. The latest on a dangerous situation coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. The sports lead now, last night, Richard Sherman, he was a lonely man, residing on a place called Sherman Island, population, Richard Sherman. The defensive back who became a household name with a playoff rant and stellar performance last year was thrown at exactly zero times in the first game of the NFL season.

Packer quarterback, Aaron Rogers, avoided Sherman as if he were one of those quickie mark hotdogs. But after the game, Sherman kept the trash talking to a more refined and exquisite level.

Rachel Nichols host of "UNGUARDED" on tonight at 10:30 Eastern on CNN. She spoke to Sherman. She joins us now. Rachel, great to see you. Richard Sherman all grown up?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, "UNGUARDED": Kind of for the most part. He's still interested in having some fun, Jake. He's been taking advantage of all of the incredible interest in him over the last six months.

You know, he was named one of "Time" magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. He's been doing all kinds of commercials, did a few visits at the White House.

In fact, he re-created his famous sideline interview you were just talking about, but instead of doing it with the Fox Sports reporter, he did it with the first lady, Michelle Obama. You know I asked him about that. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: Richard, take me through your final play.

RICHARD SHERMAN: Let me tell you, we're the best chefs in the game. When you try us with an easy meal, that's the result you're going to get.

That was a great time. Me and Barack and getting a chance to chop it up.

NICHOLS: Meeting Barack, a first name basis with the president. Whatever.

SHERMAN: It was fun, man. I had to talk to the Secret Service and make sure I wouldn't get in trouble. They told me to raise my voice. The Secret Service was right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLS: He said he was really conflicted, Jake, because his mother told him you don't yell at the first lady of the United States and yet they wanted him to scream. It was a difficult moment. You are name checked in this piece tonight.

We do have the clip of President Obama saying that he took Richard Sherman's advice about how to yell at Jake Tapper.

TAPPER: That was fun. Me and Barack. I do want to ask you though, football season back. America is a better, stronger nation as a result.

NICHOLS: Clearly.

TAPPER: Big weekend ahead for football plans.

NICHOLS: Absolutely. I'm looking for all of the sunshine boys, the over 35 quarterbacks that Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Breese, they are all still looking for another Superbowl ring. It's funny, Peyton and Tom Brady were going back and forth when it is time to quit. I think Peyton Manning put it best. I'm going to play up until the point I start sucking and he thought I'm not there yet.

TAPPER: So am I. Rachel Nichols, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Looking forward to your show this evening at 10:30.

Up next on THE LEAD, turning up the heat. Lava within a mile of some homes threatening to cut off an entire community. The latest warnings on this crisis next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. In national news, there are weather alerts and then there are the alerts that say there is molten lava heading for your house. People in Hawaii are being warned that lava from the Kilauea volcano is only about a mile away and could be on a path straight to their living rooms. Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is watching this closely --Jennifer.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Jake, that's right. About a mile away, but this lava is moving so slowly, less than about 1,000 feet per day. It could take up to a week to get there. So residents in this little village have definitely been warned so they can start making preparations.

You can see not very populated, but nevertheless, these residents are concerned and the main concern too is that some of these roads are going to be impassable over the next four or five days. So what's been happening? This particular volcano has been erupting constantly since 1983.

The lava has been flowing south right on into the ocean. But on June 27th, a new vent popped up. So this in particular vent is causing the lava to flow to the north.

In fact starting to impact some of these residents and some of these places that are occupied. That's the concern right now. But we are seeing incredible pictures coming out of the big island.

Of course, you can see it's smoldering. The lava just as you were showing before. Residents definitely need to be on the lookout for this as in the next week or so. Their homes definitely could be impacted -- Jake.

TAPPER: What kind of safety and precautious measures can be taken? Just fleeing? Is there any structure one could build to stop lava?

GRAY: Well, I think people are just trying to secure their homes at this point because they don't have much time, only about five to seven days. It would basically be just as people would prepare for these wildfires in California, I would assume, just grab their belongings, the things they need and yes, eventually, they may have to flee their homes.

TAPPER: You said this has been going on off and on since '83, but this new vent just came up on June 27th. Did they know it would get to these homes?

GRAY: Not initially. Once it started flowing, they saw the lava in which direction it was going and quickly saw that these homes would be impacted. It's been erupting constantly since 1983. Like I said, the lava is now flowing south right into the ocean.

TAPPER: All right, Jennifer Gray, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Make sure to follow me on Twitter @jaketapper and also @thelead cnn. You can check out our show page @cnn.com/thelead for video, blogs, extras. You can subscribe to our magazine on Flip board.

That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. I now turn you over to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Have a great weekend -- Mr. Blitzer.