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CNN NEWSROOM

Biden May Be Close to Decision on Running; Jimmy Carter Battling Cancer; Top North Korean Official Missing; U.S. F-16s Step Up Airstrikes in Syria; New Clues in College Hazing Death Probe; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 13, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:41] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Is Joe Biden getting closer to a presidential run? A new CNN/ORC poll out of Iowa showing he's running a respectable third as the possible Democratic nominee and he hasn't even decided whether he's going to run for president. Of course this is significant because as I said, he hasn't decided. He's been talking about it with friends, though, as he vacations on the South Carolina coast.

CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski has more on that from Martha's Vineyard.

Good morning, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Right. Yes. You have to wonder what he's thinking of those numbers or how closely he's looking at something like that. That's really the first we've seen that Hillary Clinton has 50 percent support of likely Iowa caucus goers. Bernie Sanders, 31 percent. And then Joe Biden, who is not in the race yet, at 12 percent.

So there are these indications now that as he's on vacation, he has been doing a little bit of reaching out to supporters and politicos talking about at least the possibility of a run. Now you talk to his staff or the White House and officially what they say is he's focused on his family. He's focused on his work. When he makes a decision, that's when we'll know. That's when he'll make a decision.

But you go a step further than that and you speak to people who know him and they say, look, he's still grieving the loss of his son Beau who died just in May. He's considering that emotionally, and the consideration that, sure, he and his son wanted to run, but then this happened, that those emotions versus, you know, the rigors of a campaign and how well he could even do, that he has to wrestle with all of that.

So those are the possibilities there as well as the big questions of now at this stage in the game going up against Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders who is commanding these crowds of more than 10,000 people in some locations, is he going to be able to put together an effective team at this point, and how exactly is this going to go if he were to get into this race, say, now, Carol? COSTELLO: All right, Michelle Kosinski reporting live from Marthat's

Vineyard. Thanks so much. And while we mull over a possible Biden run, let's mull over the Republican field. In little more than an hour Mike Huckabee will kick off the "Des Moines Register" soapbox at the Iowa State Fair, the first of 14 GOP hopefuls to make their pitch to voters over the next few days.

And a new CNN/ORC poll from Iowa -- out of Iowa shows Huckabee makes the top five along with Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz, Scott Walker and Ben Carson among likely caucus-goers. Donald Trump, though, sits atop the field with 22 percent support.

So let's talk about that and Joe Biden, CNN political reporter Sara Murray and Stephen Collinson are here to parse the numbers for us.

Good morning.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

COSTELLO: OK. So before we dive into Trump, let's talk a little Joe Biden, Sara. Do you really think he'll run?

MURRAY: Well, I think that's kind of hard to say right now. This is a very personal decision especially given the loss of his son, but I think that if you look at some of the recent polling it's hard if you're a Joe Biden not to be enticed by some of it. When you're at 12 percent in Iowa and you haven't even said you're running, that's a pretty good sign.

And when you look at Hillary Clinton's numbers on the honest and trustworthy issue, these are not moving in the right direction for her. It's actually the only place that Bernie Sanders does better than her when they're sort of matched up on these different issues in Iowa, and he does much better. I mean, he's at 35 percent. They say he's the most honest and trustworthy candidate in Iowa compared to 28 percent. They say the same for Clinton.

So I'm sure that Joe Biden is looking at those numbers as well as he decides whether to jump in this thing.

COSTELLO: So, Stephen, should Hillary Clinton worry?

COLLINSON: I don't think she should be too worried at this point. You know, Joe Biden's decision is going to cent on the fact that has Hillary Clinton been so damaged by this e-mail controversy that there's an opening for him. Remember the last time he ran for president in 2008, although he's beloved in Iowa, he barely registered 1 percent. At this point it doesn't look like Hillary Clinton has been so damaged that it gives that lane for Biden.

And the complication for the vice president is that we're not going to know exactly how this e-mail thing turns out even if it's proven that Hillary Clinton has done something wrong for many, many months. It's in the Justice Department, the FBI. These things take months to come to fruition. Biden needs to decide very soon, he's going to put together an organization. Although there's a super PAC working on his behalf to get ready, he doesn't have the kind of organization that he would need to run for president.

[10:05:08] So there remains a substantial risk for the vice president even if he decides that Hillary Clinton could be vulnerable down the line and he decides to jump in.

COSTELLO: All right. OK. Let's talk Trump now. So, Sara, Trump is skipping the soapbox in Iowa, at the Iowa State Fair. He'll arrive at the fair on Saturday presumably in his personal aircraft. Why isn't he there today?

MURRAY: So he -- the soapbox goes on for a couple of days. So we'll see candidates over the next couple of days. But the reason he's not doing the soapbox is because he's still in this long-running feud with the "Des Moines Register." The "Des Moines Register" published an editorial essentially saying this guy should be out of the race, we shouldn't be taking him seriously. Donald Trump took that editorial very seriously and he's sort of been boycotting them and all of their events since then.

But he is not skipping the Iowa State Fair. This is a ritual for people who are running for president so he's still going to show up and you are correct, he will show up in one of his own aircrafts, and he'll sort of walk through the fair, and, you know, maybe he'll try some fried food on stick.

COSTELLO: I was hoping that he could really offer helicopter rides to the kids at the fair but I understand that the fairgrounds people don't like that idea so much.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I don't know. OK. Stephen, a final question for you. Ben Carson did surprisingly well in the CNN/ORC poll. Why do you think that is?

COLLINSON: It's very interesting. If you look at that poll in Iowa, it's the nonpoliticians, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina that catch your eye. They're really tapping into something this early in the race. There's a real public discontent with establishment politicians, doubts whether, you know, they can actually get problems solved but, you know, we're still six months or more away from the first votes being cast.

All the political science suggest that people might flirt with outsiders and nonpoliticians at this point in the race, but when it comes to deciding who they want to be the next president of the United States, they tend to become more circumspect. More people get into the decision-making base of the party and start to look at these candidates and that's why establishment politicians like Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio or Scott Walker will probably end up being at the top of the pack in January and February, and not Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina. COSTELLO: All right. Sara Murray, Stephen Collinson, thanks to both

of you. I appreciate it. Former president Jimmy Carter says he will undergo treatment for cancer. Carter says doctors discovered he had the cancer and it had spread when he had surgery earlier this month.

Carter hasn't revealed what type of cancer he's facing or his prognosis but we do know Carter has a family history of pancreatic cancer which concerned his doctors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a really, really significant family history. And what doctors will typically do and what President Carter had done, we understand, is he did get monitored through scans for some time, CAT scans, to look to see even if you don't have any symptoms at all, might you be developing some signs of an early cancer.

Several years ago it sounds like he stopped doing those scans as he got older in age and was just doing blood tests. What likely happened over the last couple of months is one of those blood tests came back and showed something abnormal and that's what sort of prompted this most recent operation 10 days ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Well wishes pouring in this morning for Carter.

CNN's Martin Savidge is live at the Carter Center in Atlanta with more.

Good morning, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes. And regardless of what people may have thought of President Carter when he was president of the United States, it is nearly unanimous that people consider what he's done after the White House, especially his humanitarian work, is just really quite remarkable, which is why this kind of announcement, even for a 90-year-old man, maybe caught some people off guard.

The way the president released it was, in his own words to say, quote, "Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body. I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary."

That means necessary for treatment. It's expected that he'll be treated at Emory Health Care here in Atlanta, it's a very fine facility. But as you point out, we don't know what kind of cancer it is. There are concerns that it could be the kind of cancer that has already devastated his family in the past. But until we know for certain, that's just sort of speculation. The medical experts also say, hey look, just because he's 90 doesn't mean that he can't have a successful outcome.

So they will say that there are ways to treat it even at that advanced age and that the prognosis could be good depending on how early they catch it. Now we already know, though, it has spread. But then on top of that, those who know the president say that he is a fighter.

Speaking of which the current president of the United States sent his best regards along with Michelle Obama. They recognize the fact that all of America is rooting for the former president. The president and vice president also called President Carter last night. They spoke to him.

But as you say, the outpouring has just been tremendous. Take a look at this political cartoon that was in the "Atlanta Journal Constitution." Normally those are pretty biting. This one is not by Mike Luckovich. It essentially shows a person who's putting what looks like a campaign sign in their front yard and it says, "Jimmy Carter for Cancer Survivor."

[10:10:06] A lot of prayers, a lot of really strong, good wishes coming his way. And I'm sure that makes the president feel very good -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And I know how beloved he is in Atlanta and in the state of Georgia.

Martin Savidge, thanks so much.

SAVIDGE: Yes.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, another top official vanishes. Is this man the latest victim of Kim Jong-Un's brutal regime?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We turn now to North Korea and the man officials fear has become the latest victim in leader Kim Jong-Un's deadly purge. CNN has confirmed this top official is now missing. The vice premier has not been seen in eight months and this morning there are growing concerns he was brutally executed.

[10:15:05] Brian Todd live in Washington with more.

Good morning.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. This is growing concern this morning that Kim Jong-Un may be eliminating anyone who even mildly crosses him. And from Seoul to Washington, officials are scrambling to find out what happened to a man who has served Kim and his father for many years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): A top official in Kim Jong-Un's government vanished from public view. Choe Yong-Gon, a North Korean vice premier, hasn't been seen in eight months. That's according to South Korea's Unification Ministry which tells CNN it is, quote, "watching closely for possible change in the status."

NICK EBERSTADT, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: It could mean that he is on hold. It could mean that he is under suspicion or under investigation. It could mean that he got dead.

TODD: The State Department says if Choe Yong-Gon was executed, this would be yet another example of what it calls the extreme brutality of the North Korean regime.

The vice premiere's public disappearance comes during an extended bloody campaign of purges by Kim Jong-Un. South Korean Intelligence and Foreign Ministry officials say he's executed at least 70 top officials since taking power in late 2011.

KEN GAUSE, NORTH KOREAN LEADERSHIP EXPERT, CNA: I think the inner circle is a very tense place to be right now under Kim Jong-Un. The leaders within that inner circle, and there are only a handful of them, are both looking over their shoulder, looking at Kim Jong-Un, trying to define what he wants.

TODD: Kim reportedly had his defense minister, Hyon Yong-Chol, executed with an anti-aircraft gun, apparently for pushing back on Kim's orders and nodding off at meetings. There are published reports that the architect of Pyongyang's new airport was executed because Kim didn't like the design.

U.S. officials tell CNN executions are Kim's way of solidifying his position, a way of sending a bone-chilling signal to those closest to him.

JONATHAN POLLACK, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Don't mess with me. I'm the boss. And if you know what's good for you, you'll stay absolutely loyal to me.

TODD: Kim famously had his very powerful uncle, Jang Song-Thaek, executed. Analysts say that signaled a departure from the way Kim's father and grandfather operated.

EBERSTADT: They ran the most totalitarian system, of course, that's ever been operated by human beings. But during their tenure, the royals always stayed safe. That was one of their rules. If you were in the royal court, you were in pretty good situation no matter what was happening to hundreds of thousands of people in prison and so forth.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: The people close to Kim who are safe, blood relatives, namely his younger sister Kim Yo Jong who is rising in power and a shadowy older sister named Kim Sol Song, she's never seen in public. She is said to be advising him behind the scenes -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Really scary. Brian Todd reporting live from Washington, thanks.

Checking some other top stories for you this morning at 17 minutes past, imprisoned soldier Chelsea Manning, could be placed in solitary confinement for a series of disciplinary issues including having a copy of the "Vanity Fair" issue featuring Caitlyn Jenner. This is according to Manning's attorney who says Manning is also charged with attempted disrespect, medicine misuse over expired toothpaste, and disorderly conduct for pushing food onto the floor. Manning reportedly has a hearing before a disciplinary board next week. The military has not commented.

Manning, who was born a man but identifies as a woman, is serving 35 years for leaking classified government material.

An attempt by Hillary Clinton's campaign to connect with millennials seems to have backfired. It started with this tweet. "How does your student loan debt make you feel? Tell us in three emojis or less." The responses to that? Well, here's one. "Do you know what people who went to college can use? Words." And this one, "You guys know we can use emojis on occasion but then also have articulate discussions about economic matters, right?" And finally this tweet, "This is like when your mom tries to be hip in front of your friends and totally fails at it."

Swedish prosecutors say they're dropping sexual assault charges against Julian Assange because the statute of limitations has run out but they say allegations of rape still stand and can continue to be investigated until 2020. That means Assange's stay at the Ecuadorian embassy doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon.

The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up at the embassy for the last throw years to avoid extradition. He says he's extremely disappointed in the decision and maintains he's completely innocent of the charges.

The U.S. has stepped up the bombardment of ISIS targets in Syria by launching airstrikes from an air base in southern Turkey. The Turkish base puts fighter jets much closer to their targets and allows them to stay in the air longer. As punishing as airstrikes can be, though, the army's highest ranking general has not ruled out the possibility of putting some U.S. ground troops in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RAY ODIERNO, ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF: If we find in the next several months that we're not making the progress that we have, we should probably -- absolutely consider embedding some soldiers to see if that would make a difference.

[10:20:06] That doesn't mean they would be fighting but it would be, you know, maybe embedding them and moving with then. I think that's an option we should present to the president when the time is right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Barbara Starr has more from the Pentagon this morning. Good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. General Ray Odierno who you see there is going to retire at the end of this week as the Army Chief of Staff. The top general in the U.S. Army. But his words carry a lot of weight. He has, himself, had several tours in command in Iraq. He is very highly respected. What he's giving is his military advice there which is that it could

get to that point that you will need some group of personnel -- military personnel on the ground inside of Iraq. But it's always been a challenge. If you're going to put U.S. boots on the ground in combat, you know, that's more than just putting a couple of guys out there. You have to have the complete ability to support them, rescue them if they run into trouble.

It's a very difficult proposition and that's a good reason to a large extent the Pentagon and the administration have shied away from it. But General Odierno also goes on to say he thinks that it's all at a bit of a stalemate right now, that is also a word we're increasingly hearing, stalemate. Some of ISIS' momentum has been rolled back but not enough. And so a lot of concern about how to make real progress from here.

And this comes even as earlier today there was a terrible attack in Baghdad that ISIS is claiming responsibility for. A large explosion by a suicide bomber, dozens of people killed, dozens injured in Baghdad in this vegetable market when this bomb exploded and it wasn't the first one this week. ISIS very much still on its rampage of violence. The U.S. very much still looking for a way to deal with it -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon, thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, new clues and a new witness could help piece together the final moments of a Clemson University student before he fell to his death. Why his family is accusing the university.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:26:25] COSTELLO: New clues in a possible hazing case could finally bring one family closer to finding out what exactly happened the day their son died. Tucker Hipps was a sophomore at Clemson University when he fell to his death last year. New court documents allege Hipps was forced to walk along a narrow railing as part of a fraternity stunt, and his family is accusing the university and three students including the son of a congressman of a cover-up.

CNN's Sara Ganim has been looking into this case. She joins us now with more.

Good morning.

SARA GANIM, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, this is a mystery that's been going on for more than a year. This family has been trying to figure out what happened. 19-year-old Tucker Hipps was found dead in Lake Hartwell after participating in an early morning run with his fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon. For 11 months people didn't know what happened. Did he jump over a bridge? Was he forced to jump over a bridge? Was he pushed over this bridge?

His family attorney has said that there was a history at this fraternity of forcing pledges to jump over bridges and swim to shore as part of a hazing ritual and we also know from the attorney that the brothers were upset with him that morning because he was supposed to bring McDonald's breakfast but he didn't have the money to do it. So three brothers, as you mentioned, are being sued. One them the son of Delaware Congressman John Carney.

And now we're learning the new witnesses has come forward, finally giving the family some perspective on what might have happened saying that Tucker was, in fact, forced to walk along the railing of the bridge. This is what the court documents say, that Tucker slips from the railing and caught the railing under his arms, tried to climb back onto the bridge unassisted, lost his grip on the bridge and fell head first into the water below, striking his head on the rocks in the shallow water.

Of course afterwards the lawsuit says that they tried to cover it up. They waited several hours before they called police and reported him missing. They even lied to his girlfriend about where he was, telling her he'd been seen in the library.

I talked to his mother yesterday. Absolutely heartbroken, as you can imagine. This is what she told me. She said, "It does answer some questions. It connects some of the dots. His dad and I miss him so terribly. He is still the first thing and the last thing we think about every day, and he is just terribly missed."

Of course she is still wondering if their son, their only son died over McDonald's biscuits. And I have to tell you --

COSTELLO: A stupid hazing ritual, right, allegedly. So what is the university saying?

GANIM: Well, all the defendants are denying all of these allegations, of course. The lawyer for John Carney's son, Sam Carney, says that Sam didn't see anything that day and doesn't know how Tucker went over the bridge. All the defendants are essentially saying the same thing.

COSTELLO: Sara Ganim, I am sure you will continue to look into this. Thanks so much.

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

The Iowa State Fair, butter sculptures, fried dough and good old American politics. It all starts today. Republican candidates with the exception of Donald Trump will take turns selling their agendas to Iowans itching to vote in the caucuses. Donald Trump, by the way, will make his way to the Iowa State Fair on Saturday. He'll skip the fair today because, of course, these talks are sponsored by the "Des Moines Register" and he doesn't really like the "Des Moines Register" because they wrote the awful op-ed about him, editorial, I should say.