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Dow Up Almost 200 in Early Trading; Suspect Charged in Ferguson Police Shootings; Trafficking Bill Delays Attorney General Votes; Killer Storm Flattens Vanuatu; U.S. Reaches $18 Trillion Debt; Instantly Stream Your Life with Meerkat. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired March 16, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

<10:31:16> RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: This just in.

It's shaping up to be a strong day on Wall Street. The Dow shoots up nearly 200 points in its first hour. So will it last? We, of course, will ask that to CNN's Alison Kosik.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is the operative question.

KAYE: We have it here -- 161.

KOSIK: Yes. This is kind of a schizophrenic market. What we're finding is the market is going down in triple digits and then up. You look at last week -- really volatile. And this volatility coming from a couple of things.

First of all, oil prices actually plunging to a level we haven't seen in six years -- oil now at $43.32. That's pretty darn low. And usually what we've been seeing is the market plunge when we see oil plunge but now what we may be seeing is investors saying maybe this could be a good thing for the economy because consumers get to have lower gas prices.

So this is why I say it's a schizophrenic stock market because on other days it says, no, this is bad for the market.

KAYE: Right.

KOSIK: The other thing at play here is the Fed. The Fed is looking to raise interest rates and on any given day, you'll see the market either liking that or not liking it. As for today, we're seeing investors embrace the positive.

KAYE: So of course, with it all over the place, no way to know if this is going to continue throughout the day. But it's surely a nice way to start the morning.

KOSIK: No, we don't know if -- absolutely.

KAYE: All right -- Alison. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. A .40 caliber handgun and an admission to opening fire: this morning

20-year-old Jeffrey Williams, the suspected gunman behind that shooting in Ferguson, Missouri that nearly killed two police officers, is behind bars.

Williams told authorities he fired the shots but denies that he was targeting the officers. Instead he says he fired his weapon after a dispute with protesters.

Joining us to discuss more about this, Bishop Derrick Robinson, he's an area organizer and he also spoke to Williams after his arrest. Bishop -- thank you so much for joining us this morning.

So you spoke to Williams. What did he tell you?

BISHOP DERRICK ROBINSON, SPOKE WITH FERGUSON SHOOTING SUSPECT: Thank you for having me.

I spoke with Williams yesterday, and he was very remorsed for what happened and wish that he could replay that whole thing all over again. And he was very hurtful for what happened. He was very apologetic and he told me that's not the way he is. So we had a chance to talk to him at a length, a moment and he sounded very hurtful and very remorseful.

KAYE: And based on that, what do you think happened here. What do you think his role was?

ROBINSON: Well, he told me that he had been robbed and he was self- defending himself. So it was -- one of the things I told him is that I hate that things went down the way they did. But also that I think we should have been able to work -- I wish we would have worked things a little bit better within our camp to be able to. One of things -- our goal is to bring reconciliation within -- not just protesters -- but within our whole entire community.

And so -- but he's a great young man. And I was very disappointed for what happened and even while he was arrested on yesterday, he was brutally beaten by the police and he was sore. Still had bruises all around his neck, his back and his entire body and also was denied medical attention and also he was placed in isolation when he asked for medical attention and also he was denied food yesterday as well.

KAYE: And have you spoken to the police about that?

ROBINSON: I spoke to the front desk clerk on yesterday and asked them why. They could not give me an answer. They said they would call and find out and no one ever returned my phone call.

<10:35:11> And I reached out to his family to share. I reached out to his family on his behalf to share his story, but no I have not heard anything.

KAYE: In terms of just getting back to the shooting. He said that he wasn't aiming at these police officers. Do you believe that? ROBINSON: Well, I really -- I really can't really say. I know that

he wasn't shooting at the protesters. So I'm not certain what was going on. I really can't speak to it because --

KAYE: Did he share anything about how many shots he had fired or anything like that?

ROBINSON: No, he did not. We didn't even go into that discussion. I rather for him to share that and discuss that with his attorney.

KAYE: What is your message and your advice to him at this point?

ROBINSON: My advice to him and my wisdom to him is to just really -- we'll pray for him to let him know that we're going to be praying that God sees him through this. It's a very difficult time even in his mind. I don't think even on yesterday to the magnitude of what's going on was he even understanding.

My thing -- my purpose for speaking was a rebuttal to what about my color stated that he was a protester. I knew him from church prior to protesting and he never protested before. So it was just a rebuttal of what Bob McCullogh wanted to paint the protesters in a bad light and we worked so hard to rebuild our community and we wanted to make sure that our community and the things that we're doing to rebuild this whole metropolitan area is that protesters don't get a black eye.

KAYE: And just very quickly, is there any indication from him that somebody else was involved in this?

ROBINSON: Well, I told him I would rather him talk with his attorney to discuss those matters and his attorney will be able to do a press release later today.

KAYE: All right. Bishop Derrick Robinson, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

ROBINSON: Thank you so much.

KAYE: Loretta Lynch, President Obama's choice to replace Eric Holder as attorney general is running into a bit of a challenge on her way to being confirmed. It's not her qualifications that are an issue apparently. Instead it is a human trafficking bill that is being held up in congress.

Democrats say the bill includes an abortion provision that they want stripped out but Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell says the Democrats were ok with that provision just a few months ago and the failure of his colleagues to fully read the bill is now delaying Lynch's vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: This was a noncontroversial bill that came out of judiciary committee unanimously. The language that they now profess to find offensive was in there from the beginning. They all voted for the very same language in a bill in December. This will have an impact on the timing of considering the new attorney general. I had hoped to turn to her next week but if we can't finish the trafficking bill, she'll be put off again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski joining me now from Washington. So, Michelle, is this a problem of the Democrats making?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Randy. Yes, that's an interesting question. I mean this kind of bears some resemblance to the holdup over funding for Homeland Security we saw a couple of weeks ago. But Democrats do admit that when this bill went through the senate judiciary committee and was approved by both Democrats and Republicans, they didn't read it fully. I mean they were saying well maybe it was staff to blame. We don't know. It's true. We didn't see this language that Democrats now accuse Republicans of sneaking in there that bars federal funds from being used for abortions for some of these victims of human trafficking.

The bill gives them restitution funds but says they can't use that money for abortions. And Republicans are saying well, wait a minute -- Democrats have approved similar language and similar stipulations in other instances in the past so why not now?

So they blame Democrats for hold things up and Democrats blame Republicans for putting language in there in the first place but also now for using this as an excuse, Democrats say, for holding up the confirmation of the new attorney general.

<10:39:56> They say this is the longest delay we've seen for an attorney general in three decades and some of those Democrats were pretty strenuously criticizing this over the weekend saying that, you know, now is not the time to be holding someone up in such a crucial position -- law enforcement when we have things like ISIS and other threats facing America -- Randi.

KAYE: Crucial position for sure. Michelle Kosinski, thank you very much.

Still to come, tropical cyclone Pam batters Vanuatu. How the country is coping after one of the strongest storms to hit land.

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KAYE: Checking top stories now.

A new twist in the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal. According to reports House speaker John Boehner will announce a new investigation into Clinton's practices as secretary of state. One of the main points of the probe: her admission to deleting more than 31,000 e- mails because she deemed them personal. Clinton's team says each e- mail was individually read before it was deleted.

The prospect of a major upset is looming over tomorrow's Israeli election; even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning supporters that he may lose this pivotal vote. Listen to what he told tens of thousands at a rally last night in Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINSTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): As long as we could it's empower we will not divide Jerusalem. There will be no concessions. There will be no withdrawals.

Therefore, our rivals are investing a huge effort to harm me and the Likud to open a gap between my party, the Likud, and Labor Party and if we don't close this gap, there's a real danger that a left-wing government will rise to power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Just about every major poll echoes Netanyahu's fears putting him and his right wing Likud party four seats behind a little known mild mannered politician named Isaac Herzog and the Zionist Union Party. You can see Herzog talk to CNN's Wolf Blitzer today at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time right here on CNN.

<10:45:04> Facebook is now clarifying what it bans and why. The social media giant has forbid certain type of content, graphic sexual images or hate speech but will now allow pictures of breastfeeding or post mastectomy scars. Still banned: butts, of course. Facebook is banning any type of bullying, revenge porn and hate speech unless the poster is using the words to raise awareness.

Vanuatu's president says it could be years before his country recovers from cyclone Pam. Eleven people are confirmed dead and dozens of others hurt. But it could be several days before we know the extent of the damage because communication has been cutoff to some of the island chain's most remote places.

Senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is in Vanuatu with the latest recovery efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: the tiny South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu devastated after monster cyclone Pam tore through the remote chain of islands for most of a 24-hour period between Friday and Saturday. The unrelenting storm leaving a trail of utter destruction in its path -- homes flattened, buildings reduced to rubble.

The government declaring a state of emergency as the death toll continues to rise with more than 30 injured, thousands in need of shelter, food and water including some 60,000 children.

A near total communications blackout across the other provinces, making it nearly impossible for officials to determine the total scale of injuries and damage. Aide workers calling this one of the worst disasters to ever hit the region, a beautiful island paradise attracting world travelers now hardly recognizable. In some areas were winds up to 165 miles per hour and torrential rains have stripped roofs and decimated buildings in the capital.

An estimated 90 percent of the city's infrastructure wiped out. As search and rescue operations continue, authorities believe it will take days to understand the extent of the misery cyclone Pam left in its wake. Ivan Watson, CNN, Port Vila, Vanuatu.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And if you would like to help out the people of Vanuatu, you can head over to CNN.com/impact your world. There you will find a list with links to all of the organizations ready to help once it is safe to do, so of course.

Still to come, time is ticking for congress to make its move. Is another debt ceiling disaster looming?

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<10:51:13> It's debt ceiling deja vu. Time is running out for Congress to keep the government from defaulting on its $18 dollar borrowing limit.

Tough words from Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Friday in an open letter to House Speaker John Boehner and Congressional leaders. He wrote this, "The credit worthiness of the United States is not a bargaining chip and I again urge Congress to address this matter without controversy or brinksmanship."

Top Republicans ensure this will not be a 2013 repeat but say they do have demands. Alison Kosik joins me to discuss this. All right. So I guess everybody's question is how did we get here again?

KOSIK: Ok. Let me go do a little debt ceiling 101. The debt ceiling is the borrowing limit. Congress goes to the Treasury and says you have this much money to borrow meaning you have this much money to pay your bills out of. It's not new money that the government is looking to spend. It's actually paying the bills that we've already committed to.

Ok. So what's happened today?

KAYE: Today we reached the debt ceiling - $18.1 trillion. Now congress has to either raise the debt ceiling or do something else. What's going to happen in the interim? The treasury right now is taking what's known as extraordinary measures so it's doing some creative accounting making sure the U.S. Doesn't default on its obligation.

This really turns into quite the political football. We were just talking about what happened in 2011 where we saw the U.S. Credit rating being downgraded. We saw the financial markets go crazy and that's why really we should care about this because politicians wind up waiting until the last minute to take care of this.

KAYE: Right. KOSIK: And in this instance, the predictions are we should really start to worry around October and November. That's when kind of the curious line is going to start to come to pass because politicians most likely will wait until the last minute to raise that debt ceiling and that's what the big worry is. The big worry is if it roils the financial market, you'll feel it in your 401(k).

KAYE: Yes, that's everybody's worry right there -- right?

Alright, Alison. Thank you very much. Appreciate that.

Still to come, ever want to broadcast your life in realtime to the world? Stay here and learn about one of the hottest new apps today. It's called Meerkat.

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<10:57:00> KAYE: Is live streaming every second of your life to the world the next big social media craze? Maybe. CNN's Laurie Segall is at South by South West in Texas where everyone is talking about this new app Meerkat.

LAURIE SEGALL: Hey Randi, it's so interesting. Everyone here is talking about Meerkat. People are walking around on their phones using it. They're calling it Meerkatting. So I sat down with its founder to find out what is that buzz about.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN RUBIN, FOUNDER, MEERKAT: You log on with your Twitter handle. And all you need to do is press one button and immediately you'll start to stream, people can watch it. And people can comment and like and re-stream we want to be the most comprehensive impactful live streaming community, live streaming medium out there.

What people need to feel? They need to feel spontaneous together. You get a push notification and it's one of your friends in New York that is streaming live from a party. There's something I think very exciting about that feeling that you are here but you actually can talk to this person and see your other friends on the screen.

SEGALL: Why the name Meerkat?

RUBIN: The animal actually is one of the most social animals in the world. They all move as colonies and they're always alerted together and watch something. There's always something nice about a brand that takes itself not too seriously. We're all going to be alerted and watching something.

SEGALL: You only launched this for a couple weeks. What have you seen as the most powerful use cases?

RUBIN: So we have seen worship services in churches. We've seen real estate agencies doing scheduling an upcoming stream for an apartment showing and we've seen Tony Hawk taking people to an empty pool.

SEGALL: After this interview, we decided to go walk on the street and live stream to Meerkat and see what would happen. We had about 100 people watching and tweeting in questions. It was really cool.

RUBIN: What's up, everyone?

SEGALL: Hello. You guys want to see Austin? They want to see Austin. Let's go see Austin.

(inaudible)

RUBIN: That's good. Thank you.

SEGALL: Have you heard of Meerkat? You're live right now on Twitter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Twitter.

SEGALL: We're now at 72 but this is a very engaged audience. Do you have obsessive sneaker disorder -- people like your sneakers.

RUBIN: I've actually (inaudible). If you come in with fancy shoes, you are good. I have to tell you, this is -- tomorrow you are walking with flip-flops. Bye.

SEGALL: Thank you for watching. Goodbye. This will be airing live. So you should also watch it live on CNN because we would appreciate that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SEGALL: You'll still need us here at CNN. Hopefully this will not replace us -- Randi. And I would say after I sat down, Twitter actually ended up limiting some of their use making it hard for people to find other people using Meerkat. You have to get the idea that Twitter definitely felt some competition there -- Randi.

<10:59:58> KAYE: Yes, it seems so. Looks like a lot of fun. I'm going to watch your live streams from now on, Laurie. Thank you.

SEGALL: Thank you.

KAYE: And thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Randi Kaye.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts right now.