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CNN NEWSROOM

New Debris Found in Reunion Island; GOP Hopefuls Prep for Debates; Jeb Bush Stumbles Into Debate Night; Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 6, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:01] CAMEROTA: Also Michaela wants to say happy birthday. And we -- she and I both put a message online that you will have to go online.

CUOMO: No mockery. Very nice.

CAMEROTA: To Facebook and Twitter, to see from us.

CUOMO: You get a little dig in there also?

BERMAN: Yes. Happy birthday. You made it to 45. No one thought it would happen.

CUOMO: It's true. It's true. My wife is very disappointed.

CAMEROTA: Happy birthday.

All right. We'll see you tomorrow. Time for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

Hi, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happy birthday, Chris.

CUOMO: Thank you, sweetheart.

COSTELLO: I baked a cake, but I forgot it at home. I'm so sorry.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, new plane debris. What Malaysian searchers say they just discovered. Are we closer to solving the mystery of MH-370?

Plus --

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All of us who are running owe voters an explanation about who we are and what we plan to do if we're elected. COSTELLO: Two debates, 17 GOP candidates. Will any of them be able

to get their message to voters?

And --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought it was a scary movie.

COSTELLO: Police take down a man wielding an axe and a pellet gun in a Nashville movie theater. Is it safe to see a movie?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Breaking news this morning, the press secretary for Malaysia's Transport minister telling CNN aircraft window parts, airplane seat cushions and aluminum materials have been found on Reunion Island in the west Indian Ocean. He cautions it's still not clear if this debris is also from that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Reunion Island is where part of an aircraft wing was found last week. Malaysia's prime minister says it's now conclusively confirmed that this wing part known as a flaperon is from a missing Boeing 777. A French prosecutor was less definitive, though, saying more tests need to be done. Distraught families of the flight's passengers and crew say they want more proof. A woman whose mother was on board the plane says she doesn't believe Malaysia's prime minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): I don't believe it. I'm furious and I think this announcement is very irresponsible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. But let's talk about the breaking news this morning.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin joins us now to tell us more.

Hi, Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Well, I'm here at Mauritius which is about 120 miles away from Reunion Island where they discovered that flaperon. And the reason we're here is because we got a chance to go up on a coast guard flight over the island to look for any signs of MH-370. We got back just an hour ago.

And I'll tell you, being up in the air really sort of illustrated the challenges that these searchers are facing. The water is expansive, the coastline is long. And this is a very tedious, tedious process. We were up there with a team of three. And they managed to spot what they said was a white object. One of the pilots just caught it in the corner of his eye. They turned the plane around to try and find it again and it had disappeared.

What they ended up doing was calling into a dispatch on the island and they put out a boat to try and find it again. But, you know, by the time we landed, still no signs of this debris. And it really illustrated just how challenging this search is.

COSTELLO: Erin McLaughlin, reporting live this morning, thanks so much. Like I said at the top of the show, though, more debris was found on Reunion Island, very near the island where Erin McLaughlin is now. Aircraft window parts, airplane seat cushions, and aluminum materials.

And I want to talk about that debris for the moment. With me now CNN aviation analyst and former managing director of the NTSB, Peter Goelz.

Welcome, Peter.

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. Are you surprised more debris was found?

GOELZ: I am a little bit. But it has not been confirmed that this debris is from Flight 370. The Malaysians are anxious to put a wrap on this portion of the identification. They moved quickly to identify the wing piece prior to anyone else was willing to do that. So I think we ought to treat these latest discoveries with a little degree of skepticism. Let's see if they're confirmed.

COSTELLO: Yes. Because an airplane's windshield is a little more tricky to identify exactly where that came from, right?

GOELZ: That's right. Well, I mean, there should be serial numbers. But the issue is I've seen, you know, some distant video of the piece. It did not look right to me. But let's get it to the investigators, people who have the engineering drawings to compare the piece to. You know, let's be a little bit methodical about this.

[09:05:07] COSTELLO: Yes. And then they said aluminum material was found and also seat cushions. Could seat cushions survive for that length of time in the ocean?

GOELZ: Sure. A seat cushion could last over 500 days. And a seat cushion would be far easier to identify. You would know what kind of material if it had the exterior, you know, covering on it. You could identify it through that. But again, I think it's -- you know, this was a spokesperson for the minister of Transportation who was not on Reunion Island. They're doing this through photographs at best. I'd say we ought to take -- slow down the train just a little bit.

COSTELLO: Will do. Peter Goelz, thanks for your insight as always. I appreciate it.

All right, on to politics. Tonight is the night 17 candidates descend on Cleveland. The big debate starts 9:00 p.m. Eastern. And for the 10 players deemed ready for primetime, tonight's objective is clear. Steal the spotlight from Donald Trump. But before that, there's a so- called happy hour debate with the candidates who did not make the cut for primetime. And while the Donald won't be anywhere near that stage, he's still rubbing some candidates the wrong way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE PATAKI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In August of the year before the election, it's about name ID, it's about celebrity. It's about having a talk show. It's about being related to presidents. You know, if LeBron James were in this mix, he'd be in that 7:00 debate and the governor of Ohio would be with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I don't know about that. Tonight's showdown gives candidates a chance to test their metal, offering up opinions on everything from foreign policy and terrorism to domestic issues and the economy.

Sara Murray is following it all, she's in Cleveland this morning.

So, Sara, one burning question. We understand that this sound, a buzzer, might be used to cut candidates off. Any insight?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Carol. So a "New York Times" reporter got a little backstage access on the debate and they're reporting that one of the things they're considering to keep these candidates in line tonight is to use the buzzer, the shot clock, to keep them on their time.

We'll have to see if that plays out. The campaigns are telling me they're aware that this is going to be a tricky format. You have 60 seconds to answer the questions, 30 second for a rebuttal. That's a short amount of time even if you're not trying to navigate around someone like Donald Trump, who is so unpredictable. So that's one factor.

The second factor is, what is Donald Trump going to do on that stage? And when you talk to these other campaigns they are not interested in picking a fight with him. They realize that he does hit back the hardest when he is attacked and they don't want to start picking those fights. They want to talk about their own record and they want to make their pitch to voters.

Because the reality is, this is the biggest audience a lot of them have had throughout this presidential debate. So we're going to be keeping an eye on all of that tonight as well as whether Jeb Bush can recover from his recent stumbles and have a breakout performance -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So where are all the candidates staying? Are they all over the place? How have they been preparing?

MURRAY: Well, John Kasich lives here. So it was a pretty easy commute for him. But the rest of them started showing up in town. Some of them are hunkering down and doing debate prep today. Some of them are raising money. Others like Donald Trump flying in late this afternoon and flying out the same night. So as usual he's kind of doing his own thing.

COSTELLO: You're not kidding. Sara Murray, reporting live from Cleveland this morning. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, though the Donald will be literally center stage at tonight's debate, a lot of eyes will be on Jeb Bush. Can he bounce back from recent gaffes? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:12:55] COSTELLO: Tonight's big -- no, huge, no, populous debate will give candidates a chance to overshadow Donald Trump's bombastic policy freestyle. And no one needs to do that more than Jeb Bush. Once a shoe-in, a gaffe prone Bush is stumbling into this forum.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not sure we need a half a billion dollars for women's health issues. My dad is probably the most perfect man alive so it's very hard for me to be critical of him. In fact, I've got a T-shirt that says -- at the Jeb Swag Store that says, I'm the -- I'm the -- my dad's the greatest man alive. If you don't like it, I'll take you outside.

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Knowing what you know now, would you have authorized the invasion?

BUSH: I would have. And so would have Hillary Clinton. We're all supposed to answer hypothetical questions, knowing what we know now, what would you have done, I would have not engaged. I would not have gone into Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And while we know where Bush and his rivals will be standing on stage tonight, we don't know what questions they will be asked. But have no fear, the Twitter-verse is stepping up with the #DebateQuestionsWeWantToHear.

This one is from Colin, it seems to be aimed at Jeb. Colin asks, quote, "Which of your relatives did worse as president?" For Eric, a more -- a more pressing question, "Did you all come from the same tiny car?" And one famous comedian is also taking a jab at the GOP field. Kathy Griffin asks, "How does it feel to officially be in Kathy Griffin's act?"

My next guest will actually be in the audience tonight, at the debate. He is Paul Sracic, a professor and chair of the Political Science Department at Youngstown State University in Ohio.

Welcome, Paul.

PAUL SRACIC, PROFESSOR, YOUNGSTOWN STATE UNIVERSITY: Good morning, Carol. COSTELLO: So has anyone offered to buy your ticket?

(LAUGHTER)

SRACIC: The tickets are getting more and more popular. I've had quite a few people asking, yes. No money offers, though.

COSTELLO: OK. So seriously, let's get serious. Jeb Bush, he's got a lot of ground to make up. He has to have a great performance, right?

SRACIC: Well, he's got to start moving, you know, in the right direction. And you know, with the maximum of nine or 10 minutes before they get the buzzer that you talked about earlier, I think it's going to be really hard for anyone to gain traction. I mean, we -- none of us really know what to expect tonight. That's what makes it so exciting. You know, we are all in kind of uncharted territory. We've never had a reality TV star at the center of a political debate like this before.

COSTELLO: Yes, we, that includes Donald Trump's fellow candidates. I'm trying to decide whether Mr. Bush standing next to Mr. Trump is a good thing for Mr. Bush or a bad thing.

SRACIC: Well, the camera will be there a lot. You probably don't want to be at the wings of this debate since you will look like you're not really a part of it. You've got ten people. You're not going to get a lot of close-ups there. Being next to him, yeah, good the camera is on you. But also, you know, likely to be overshadowed.

COSTELLO: Do you think Trump will go on the attack? Do you think he'll actually talk about policy? We know he hasn't prepared only because he says he hasn't prepared. Maybe he did. I don't know.

SRACIC: Yes, I mean, I wonder whether Donald Trump knows what he's going to do tonight. He seems to like to wing it. So, that's probably how he's going to approach this.

He did do a somewhat substantive interview with Bloomberg on the other day where he talked about, particularly in the economy. I think you can expect on that issue, on the economy, on the Fed, that's something Trump knows about. He's a businessman. So, you could see some substance there.

He's going to feel it out and see what goes on. If he's attacked, expect him to attack back rather viciously.

COSTELLO: You know, perhaps -- we haven't talked about it much, but Ted Cruz is a great debater, right? In college, he was masterful at that. So, he might be an interesting presence tonight.

SRACIC: Right. I mean, you've got a few people up on stage who are fairly talented and experienced debaters. I mean, most of them have elected to office. They've gone through these debates before.

But, you know, this isn't your standard debate format. They've probably never been in a debate with 10 other candidates. You know, it's not as much a debate as a sound bite war. You're going to get 60 seconds to say something.

And we all know what you say during the debate is not as important as what's reported that you said at the debate the next day, right? Because that's what people see over and over again. You know, you're going to be trying to get that sound bite for the next night's coverage.

COSTELLO: And make it perfect. Because if you say something wrong or it's a gaffe, that too is going to be played over and over again. So, actually, part of my heart goes out to those candidates.

Paul Sracic, we'll check back with you. Thanks so much.

SRACIC: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Checking some other top stories for you this morning, at 17 minutes past.

A manhunt underway in Louisiana after a Shreveport police officer is shot and killed. The officer was responding to a call about a prowler when he was shot several times. Six dozen police units are now combing the area. A helicopter is now assisting in the search.

Bounty hunters botch their search when they show up at the wrong house. Guess whose house it was? It belonged to the chief of police in Phoenix. Eleven people with two different bond recovery companies ran to his front door, demanding he come out. Some of them were armed.

The bondsmen were looking for a drug suspect who they say did not match the chief of police's description at all. So far, one of the bondsmen has been arrested.

In Japan, tens of thousands gathering at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, marking 70 years since the atomic bomb was dropped. People have been lightning lanterns in memory of those who died. Later today, U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy will attend a memorial ceremony with the Japanese prime minister.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: horror inside a theater in Nashville. A man attacked moviegoers with an ax and pepper spray. What we're learning about him, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:23:11] COSTELLO: We turn now to that terrifying attack inside a Nashville area movie theater. Moviegoers in shock as a man who appeared to be carrying a real gun snapped. Listen to the 911 call.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

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 to the back of the theater. He pulled out a hatchet and started attacking this family. And then he pulled out a gun, and we all ran out of the theater.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That attacker, Vincente David Montano, was shot to death by police, his mother confirming his long history of mental illness. Police say Montana pointed this at him and pulled the trigger. Now, this weapon, it looks real. It's actually a pellet gun.

CNN's Nick Valencia is in Nashville this morning with more.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

This is the second movie theater shooting in the United States in two weeks, a fact that is not lost on people here in Nashville. What happened yesterday at this movie theater behind has really unnerved and unsettled this community. But people that we have spoken to say they're proud of their police department and how quickly they responded, certainly preventing something that could have been much worse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

911 CALL: This shady-looking guy stood up, with like two bags, and walked toward the back of the theater.

VALENCIA (voice-over): A frantic 911 call released this morning reveals the chilling moments inside the Nashville, Tennessee, theater.

911 CALL: 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.

VALENCIA: Twenty-nine-year-old Vincente David Montano stormed into the 1 p.m. theater showing of "Mad Max" Wednesday, wearing a surgical mask, armed with an Airsoft gun, a hatchet, and cans of pepper spray.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard screams coming from another theater.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought it was a scary movie.

[09:25:00] VALENCIA: Montano attacking this father, slicing his shoulder with the ax, causing minor injury. His wife and child, doused with pepper spray.

"STEVEN," VICTIM OF THEATER ATTACK: I'm eternally grateful -- excuse me -- for the Metro Police Department for their fast response today and the fact that no one else got injured.

VALENCIA: Racing to the scene, two officers working a car crash right in front of the Nashville theater.

DON AARON, NASHVILLE POLICE SPOKESMAN: The officers stopped what they were doing and immediately ran to the meter. Our response to the theater was probably 60 to 90 seconds.

VALENCIA: At first Officer Jonathan Firth, a six-year veteran, ran inside. Montano raised his gun, and Firth fired, backing out of the theater.

POLICE OFFICER: All cars, be advised. We got shots fired, officer involved.

VALENCIA: Minutes later, the SWAT team converged into the theater, donning gas masks, when the suspect tried to escape. A firefight ensued.

(GUNFIRE)

AARON: The gunman tried to go out through a rear door. There were other officers waiting.

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Montano was believed to have been homeless. On Monday, his mother filed a missing persons report with the Texas rangers, saying her son was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and, quote, "had a hard time taking care of himself".

Police here in Nashville still working out what may have caused this man to do this -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Nick Valencia, reporting live from Nashville, Tennessee, this morning.

Checking some other top stories for you at 26 minutes past.

A Michigan judge says he wants more time to consider whether or not to go easy on a teenage sex offender. The 19 year old boy admits -- actually, 19-year-old man admits to having sex with a 14 girl who lied about her age on a dating app. The teenager gets a lighter sentence, the sex offender label could follow him for the next 25 years. Michigan law allows discretion in sentencing teens convicted of sex offenses.

Human rights group are sounding the alarm over video that purports to show the son of Moammar Gadhafi being tortured in prison. At time, he's slapped in the face and struck on the soles of his feet with a baton. It's not known when or where this video was shot. Saadi Gadhafi is being held in pretrial detention along with other officials of the former Gadhafi regime.

And in Afghanistan, the defense minister says one of its army helicopters crashed in the southern province along the Pakistani border. The cause of the crash was said to be technical. The number of casualties has not yet been disclosed.

Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: Donald Trump has been touting his great business tactics every chance he gets. But will being a great businessman make him a great president? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)