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AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA

Confusion over Plane Part Confirmation; Video of GOP Candidates' Pre-Debate Routine; What to Expect from Debate; Update on Theater Shooting Investigation, Attacker. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired August 6, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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


[11:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New plane debris found on the island where a piece of flight 370 is believed to have washed up, window parts, seat cushions. That is the word from Malaysian officials, but a frank question this morning, can they be trusted?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And another attack against innocent people, families simply enjoying a movie. The new calls now to change security at theaters across the country.

BERMAN: And the "X Files" meets a telephone meets Donald Trump. The secret phone call between Bill Clinton and Donald Trump just before Trump announced for president. Conspiracy theory: Is Trump a Clinton plant? The truth is out there.

BOLDUAN: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman.

New this morning, a statement from the Malaysian transport minister that has created huge excitement and at least a little bewilderment. Malaysian officials tell CNN they believe airplane cushions, windowpanes, and aluminum material have been found. They say they are sure the debris is related to an aircraft, though they are not saying it is relating to the missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370.

BOLDUAN: The debris was found on Reunion Island off the coast of Africa, the same place that part of a wing from a Boeing 777 washed ashore, and it will be sent to the very same lab in France where that wing part, the flaperon, is being examined.

Our Andrew Stevens has been speaking directly with Malaysian officials and is joining us now from Kuala Lumpur.

Andrew, are they offering up any more details about this new debris they found and what's behind their confidence?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, Kate, they're still saying at the moment that this is related to an aircraft, this new debris. It's parts of the window they say, aluminum material as well as that cushion. So that's what they are saying. They're not making any linkage between 370 and the aircraft class, but there is a lot of confusion here as well. French authorities are saying -- well, they're saying nothing basically. Not offering any comment at all on this new claim from the Malaysians.

It first surfaced, this information, at a briefing for local journalists here in Kuala Lumpur and we heard about it and I spoke to senior people within the transport department. The briefing was given by the transport minister, and they basically confirmed everything that had been said at that briefing, but as I said, there is a little confusion. There certainly has been in the past false leads and the government and Malaysian Airlines itself has given false information particularly in the early days, so there is a degree of suspicion, certainly confusion I guess rather than suspicion at the moment surrounding these new claims.

BERMAN: Andrew Stevens for us in Kuala Lumpur.

Let's talk more about this debris. Joining us, sea operations specialist, Tim Taylor; and CNN aviation analyst, Mary Schiavo, former inspector general at the Department of Transportation.

Mary, first of all, obviously a healthy dose of skepticism and caution here because statements made by Malaysian officials before have turned out to be sometimes confused or not factual at the end. But let's assume for a second that it is for real, that these pieces of degree are from MH370. How would that help the investigation?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: It would help the investigation an all lot for many ways. First of all, it would reconfirm that the debris is arriving on Reunion and other islands because of the theory being proven out that this is the big south Indian Ocean trash gyre and these things are moving from the search site where the plane is thought to have gone down to these islands by ocean currents and it would match the Australians' modeling of the ocean currents and give more credence to the search zones. It would shoot down the theories that someone deliberately took the plane, landed it softly on the ocean, and sunk it to the bottom of the ocean so no one would ever find it because these items if they are items from this plane came from the interior of the cabin. That would mean the fuselage was breached and that the plane had a very catastrophic impact with the water and broke apart.

BOLDUAN: And, Tim, we're showing this new release by Australian officials showing the drift models. We all discussed this, where debris could have gone and would have gone over a period of time. It does show you it is possible that the debris would have made it all the way to Reunion Island. With that in mind, where do you turn now because look at where it could all be spread out over the vast area of the Indian Ocean.

TIM TAYLOR, SEA OPERATIONS SPECIALIST: These are clues, and this is a tragedy that's kind of unfolding in slow motion. This could be years. This could be an event that we find debris now and then we find another bunch later, but every clue has to be followed. What can be gleaned out of this -- these finds, these things that are watching ashore, besides that it's the plane, which is the biggest thing that we have right now --

(CROSSTALK) BOLDUAN: The first question, right.

TAYLOR: -- it's part of the plane. Are how long have they been in the water? Things are affected by water, things that grow on them, and so how long have they been on the beach? Because if they've been on the beach for a year, that means a whole different thing than if they've been on the beach for a week because it plugs into a different model. It could move the search area. Not to say it will. I think they're in the right location, but all these things are clues that will help verify that they're looking in the right place or that they're not. But more than likely they are.

[11:05:26] BERMAN: And more data points allow you to do a better job of reverse engineering if you can do that.

TAYLOR: Right.

BERMAN: Mary, let me ask you the uncomfortable question. Obviously, we're hearing this from Malaysian officials. We didn't hear much from French officials. It's their island. You would think if a find had been made on their island that was of extreme excitement, it would come from the French or officials on Reunion Island. What do you make of the communications issues?

SCHIAVO: A couple things. I think there's a power struggle going on and Malaysia does not want to get embarrassed by being behind in the investigation. They were very resoundingly criticized early on in the crash investigation and I think they're trying to stay out front. France, because there were four French individuals on board and because the parts washed up on French territory they are taking command as they have a right to do of what they call the criminal investigation, assuming some criminal activity took place. So I think it is a power struggle. In the end, the entity who is going to determine whether or not this is part of the 777 is going to be Boeing. Boeing are the ones with the engineers who can tell them absolutely, positively this is a section of the interior of the window frame and these are the seats that go on a Boeing 777 because they have to meet U.S. Standards because that's where it was made.

BOLDUAN: And, Mary, on the point of identifying these pieces of debris, back to the main piece of debris that's been picked up, the flaperon, Malaysian officials, they say they're convinced it is MH370 because of a serial number found on the part, it matched technical records. The paint work matched, and they also say there was a Malaysian Airlines maintenance seal on the flaperon. And, again, there was a difference of opinion on the conclusions that were reached in this initial examination between French authorities and the Malaysians. With everything that the Malaysians have laid out, is that enough for you?

SCHIAVO: Yes, it is enough for me. Frankly, Boeing is saying it's a flaperon from a 777 was enough to me because the flaperon parts and the aftermarket parts, in other words, if you have a broken one of these and you have to buy one after you already own the plane, it is very, very hard to do for a Boeing 777. I was convinced Boeing saying it was their flaperon on 777. BERMAN: Thanks so much, Tim Taylor and marry Schiavo, so much

for being with us. Really appreciate it.

If we hear more from officials either from Malaysia or France, we'll get that information to you as soon as it comes in.

For the second time in a month, families enjoying a summer movie attacked inside the theater. This time, with a hatchet, pepper spray, and a pellet gun. Are film theaters safe right now? Does something need to change?

BOLDUAN: And President Obama on the offensive. He says rejecting the deal with Iran is a vote for war. But critics say he's fearmongering rather than engaging those he wants to win over.

And the countdown is on. GOP presidential candidates gearing up for their first showdown. You may be surprised what some of the pre- debate routines include. A hint, folks, solitaire and a call to mom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:11:55] BOLDUAN: Ah, the sweet sound of politics. We are just a few hours away from the first debate of the 2016 presidential race, and, of course, any good athlete or any candidate, in this case, must have a bit of pre-game ritual to pump themselves up.

BERMAN: The sweet smell also. I can smell the debate. It's coming.

We'll show you this video from the "Independent Journal Review" on the pre-debate rituals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Before a debate I say a little silent prayer and drink a diet lemon Snapple iced tea.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER CEO, HEWLETT- PACKARD: I like to be mentally focused but relaxed, so I play solitaire.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R), SOUTH CAROLINA & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I take my new phone, thanks to the Donald, I listen to Motown to mellow me out.

SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Before a debate go out and run. It's a great way to relax. You're not reading e-mails, not looking online, just out running and that clears your mind.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Before a debate I normally call my mom to get advice. Hey, mom, I can't say that on television.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I got a video from a couple of my very trusted political advisers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Pump it up!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What is Megan going to ask at the FOX debate?

SIRI: Let me check on that.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & NEUROSURGEON: I take hundreds of pieces of paper, because they have all the advice that people have given me about what to say during the debate, and light them on fire. I'm going to be me, so whatever comes out, it's me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Light a fire. Light a fire.

BOLDUAN: Light a fire. Light a fair, call your mom, drink a Snapple. I like it.

BERMAN: I covered George W. Bush when he ran in 2000, and he got a massage on debate day. I always thought --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Get to a place of Zen.

BERMAN: But you don't want to be that calm.

BOLDUAN: Too much, then? It could be like a deep tissue massage so it hurts.

BERMAN: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: Gets you angry.

BERMAN: Pain.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

What are you going to do about it?

So what are the candidates going to need to do tonight other than prepare? What are we going to learn from them? What do we already know from them from the last time they were on stage together earlier this week?

BERMAN: Joining us, the moderator from the candidate forum earlier this week, radio host, Jack Heath in New Hampshire; also Jonathan Martin, of "The New York Times," a contributor to CNN's "Inside Politics." And, Jonathan, you wrote a column today about what each candidate

needs to do to win tonight. So let's start with the front-runner, Donald Trump. What does he need to do to win?

JONATHAN MARTIN, CNN "INSIDE POLITICS" CONTRIBUTOR & THE NEW YORK TIMES: I think he has to show that he is presidential material, John. He obviously is capable of a good TV performance, but if he truly wants to serve as the president, he's got to demonstrate to voters out there that he is not just somebody who has channeled the anger of a lot of conservatives, but he is somebody who actually has the potential to be commander in chief.

BOLDUAN: And, Jonathan, I had his campaign manager and that's exactly what he said. He said you're going to see him looking presidential. I asked him to define what presidential was to Donald Trump and he just said presidential. We'll see if he redefining the word itself. What about next in line, Jeb Bush. What do you think, Jonathan?

[11:14:55] MARTIN: Well, he has struggled so far answering questions about his family. He has to come up with a concise answer about his brother and his father that both acknowledges their popularity, and they're still fairly popular in the GOP but, at the same time, makes clear he is his own man, that he is more Jeb than he is Bush. He also has to be ready, guys, to play defense because perhaps more than any other candidate, he's going to be the one who has taken some blows, at least implicitly from the rivals on stage.

BERMAN: Jack, let me bring you in here. You had the opportunity to host the candidate forum earlier this week and Jeb Bush was there. You got to look him in the eye. One of the questions has been, has he been able to shake the rust off? When you were looking at him, did this look like a guy who was ready for a prime time debate tonight?

JACK HEATH, RADIO SHOW HOST, NEW HAMPSHIRE TODAY: I think he'll be ready tonight. I think Monday night he had had told me before we went out, he had a long day. It was an interview format, John, and I think he was a little off Monday night. That might suit him well because I think he heard that and probably will make sure that he's not off tonight. Maybe his best opportunity as your other guest said is if Donald Trump is -- has any moments where he gets a little bit carried away, if the media personalities go at Trump with a question he doesn't like or if John Kasich and Walker come in and barb him a little bit, what does Jeb Bush do? In that case Jeb Bush might not have to do much, but if Mr. Trump is presidential, calm, cool, and collected, then Jeb Bush has to raise his game up some.

BOLDUAN: Take us on stage when Jeb Bush -- when you asked him the question and he stumbled and he had that gap about his family and the t-shirt and I'll take you outside. Did it seem as awkward on stage in that moment or did it seem more awkward after the fact when everyone picked it up?

HEATH: I knew at the time -- I tried to ask it in such a way when I brought up my own family and I asked him does he feel the need to differentiate himself from his brother and his father. I think it caught him a little bit. I think he was trying to do I be kitchen table-like here or do I be serious? He got caught in the middle. I sense he had a little bit of awkwardness with that, and I think people watching it felt the same.

BERMAN: Really, as Jonathan Martin points out, the brother/father questions for Jeb Bush should be the first question he is ready to answer.

Jonathan Martin, what else are you looking for tonight from the others beyond Trump and Bush?

MARTIN: I'm very curious to see how Scott Walker performs tonight. He's been one of the real breakouts at least until Donald Trump came along. It's going to be a test as to whether or not he can turn a performance that matches his polling numbers. He's really good on paper. Can he stand and deliver tonight? And then secondly, Marco Rubio. A lot of promise, great oratorical chops, but he hasn't really been that visible in recent months, John. Been focused a lot on fund- raising. Outside of Jeb Bush, a lot of folks in this party think that when all is said and done, the candidate with the best shot to be president are Marco Rubio and Scott Walker.

BOLDUAN: And, Jack, what about John Kasich? He's the one that just made it into debate. Ron Fournier, of the "National Journal," had a good line. He said to John Kasich, "Don't be a jerk, on paper, you're nearly the perfect candidate but paper easily crumbles and burns."

HEATH: Yeah, I mean, I think he's going to say something about nice to be let into my home state at the very last minute. I think he's going to have a little fun with this. I think he'll be very loose. I think he has a lot to gain. I also agree Marco Rubio has to be a little more assertive and the big thing I'm looking for, I'm really curious is it gets back to will it be a Chris Wallace question, a Megyn Kelly question of Donald Trump that he may not like, he may not answer. He may try to give a speech and do a Kasich or a Walker come in, and try to go right at Donald Trump. And is there going to be a candidate-to-candidate exchange or are they going to kind of all try and behave and get through it? And I'm really looking forward to it. I think it's going to be some good political theater.

BERMAN: The debate rules only work if they stick to them.

Jonathan Martin, Jack Heath, great to have you with us.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: And sticking to time, not easy for a lot of politicians.

BERMAN: No. And they were talking about using the shot clock in the arena --

(LAUGHTER)

-- the 24-second shot clock that LeBron James uses with the Cavaliers. They're talking about using that to tell them time is up.

BOLDUAN: I love that idea. Or the hook. Just kidding.

Coming up for us, two attacks on movie theaters in the past two weeks. They have many, unfortunately, asking the question, is it safe to go to the movies? Plus, new information just in about the attacker.

[11:19:55] BERMAN: Plus, Bill Cosby has been refusing to respond to rape allegations against him, but that is about to change. A judge is forcing him to. Why this ruling could change all the cases against him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: This morning, police are trying to figure out why a man tried to terrorize people at a movie theater near Nashville. He had no known record of owning a gun or having gun permits. We now know, though, that Vincente David Montano suffered from mental health issues and the gun an apparent bomb he carried, that they were clearly fake.

BERMAN: They were fake explosives inside his backpack. He was killed when police responded to the crime scene. Obviously, there have been other theater shootings, just one last month, in Colorado several years ago, that were terrifyingly real and made this so frightening for so many people involved.

Let's bring in CNN correspondent, Nick Valencia -- Nick?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. We are learning more about the suspect. Details of his history as investigators continue to pore into his background. He has no record of having purchased a gun, also surprisingly, especially for somebody his name, 29-year-old, no social media footprint. Montano came to this theater behind me shortly after 1:00 p.m. prepared to carry out an attack. He purchased a theater and then went forward dousing eight people including the gunman with pepper spray. He was wearing a surgical mask presumably to cover his face from that pepper spray. When SWAT teams showed up, they showed up to a fog inside that theater.

Some of those frantic moments captured on 911 audio tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO FEED)

911 CALLER: So I was in the movie theater, like literally a minute or two ago, and this guy, this shady looking guy stood up with like two bags, and he walked towards the back of the theater and he pulled out like a hatchet and started attacking this family and then he pulled out a gun and we all ran out of the theater.

(END VIDEO FEED)

[11:25:17] VALENCIA: Police are being praised for their quick response in preventing something that certainly could have been much worse.

More now on that suspect. He has a lengthy mental health history, including four times since 2004 that he's been committed into a mental health institution for issues as recently as Monday. We're told his mother filed a missing persons report telling authorities her son was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and had a hard time taking care of himself. Investigators continue to pore into that man's background to figure out motive and what would have caused him to carry out this attack.

BERMAN: I can only imagine how terrifying it was for the people in that theater. They had no idea it was a pellet gun and they were fake explosives in the bag.

BOLDUAN: Probably a lot of them remember what happened a week ago.

BERMAN: Pepper spray and a hatchet.

Nick Valencia, thanks so much.

Other news now, "wherever he goes, we will find him" -- those are the words of Shreveport, Louisiana's police chief speaking moments ago about the man who shot one of their officers in the line of duty. Officer Thomas LaValley was shot after responding to a threat of a prowler inside a home. The suspect was threatening people in the home with a gun at the time. The suspect's name, Grover Canon. Police say he's already wanted on a charge of second-degree murder and is now wanted on first-degree murder. This is the 20th officer to be killed in the line of duty by a suspect this year.

BOLDUAN: Ahead for us, Bill Cosby now ordered to testify under oath. This lawsuit brought by a woman accusing Cosby of sexual assault at the Playboy mansion. Can he remain silent this time?

BERMAN: "Hi, Donald, it's Bill, Bill Clinton. Let's talk about this whole running for president thing. I have some thoughts on the subject." The secret phone call between Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, and the conspiracy theories abound.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)