Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Mark Cuban Claims He Could Beat Trump; Deadly Flooding in Arizona; California Wildfires Intensify; Donald Trump Supporter Wearing Trump; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired September 15, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:02] RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: But what does it do to their careers long term? And that's why a guy like Tom Brady when he was able to successfully fight that four-game suspension, it wasn't just about missing those four games, it was about what kind of long-term damage did he not do as well. And we'll have to see what happens with Adrian Peterson.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We will. Rachel Nichols, thanks as always.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have a little debate coming up on Wednesday.

COSTELLO: Eleven candidates, one stage. And one guy who says he's the target.

TRUMP: I hear they're all going after me. Whatever.

COSTELLO: Can anyone catch the frontrunner? His supporters don't think so.

BARBARA TOMASINO, TRUMP SUPPORTER: You cannot show up at a Donald Trump rally and not make a statement.

COSTELLO: Also, flash flood waters rush in. Women and children safe from a car as the water rises. But help came too late for others.

We're live at the Utah-Arizona border.

Plus North Korea warns America it is ready to use a nuke against us. And it's restarting a plant that makes the bomb fuel. Is the supreme leader serious?

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. Donald Trump looking ahead to tomorrow's debate but may feel a little

breath on the back of his neck. A new poll from CBS News and the "New York Times" shows Trump still leads the Republican field. But look at how much Ben Carson has leaped -- leaped from the pack to close in. On the flip side, Jeb Bush has seen his support absolutely plunge.

Don't expect the Donald to be humbled by any of this, though. At a massive pep rally last night in Dallas, he swatted away the challengers he'll face in tomorrow's debate on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I like Carly and I like Ben. And I like many of the people that I'm running against. I mean, many of these people are terrific people. But nobody is going to be able to do the job that I'm going to do. Nobody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Trump very much the star, using his celebrity to propel himself all the way maybe to the White House, right? It's a fact not lost on his opponents on both sides of the aisle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have to admit, Donald Trump is entertaining. I have to tell you. I really do. I really do find him entertaining.

(APPLAUSE)

And you know, I kind of wish I had that same sort of mentality like, oh, listen, I don't need to tell you anything. When I get there, peace will be breaking out everywhere.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is an entertainer. And I think I am a leader. And so what I do is talk to the American people about the issues they care about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But could their slams be outdated? Celebrity seems to be where it's at in 2016. With me now, Kwame Jackson who is a successful entrepreneur and once star on Trump's "Apprentice." And Tara Setmayer, a CNN political commentator.

Welcome to both of you. Thanks for being here.

KWAME JACKSON, CONTESTANT ON TRUMP'S "APPRENTICE": Nice to be here.

COSTELLO: So, Kwame, is Donald Trump more than a celebrity? Is he fit to be president or is he using his celebrity to catapult himself into something else?

JACKSON: Well, the short answer is, no, he's not fit to be president. And let me tell you why. I think America is faced with a crossroads. Essentially we're looking at Kennedy versus Kardashian. Are we going to appeal to our better angels and look towards the Kennedy principles of leadership, of diplomacy, of the ability to kind of lead America towards a better purpose, or are we going to go towards our reality, you know, evil angels that essentially say we're focusing everything on celebrity with no policy substance?

So I don't think in his temperament, the way he deals in the politics in the world, whether it's Iran or North Korea, you can't go fist to fist and blow to blow with leaders like that today, and that kind of retribution politics and temperament don't work.

COSTELLO: But right at the moment celebrity is working, which is kind of strange, Tara, because remember back in the day when Barack Obama was running against John McCain and John McCain ran this famous ad. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's the biggest celebrity in the world, but is he ready to lead? With gas prices soaring, Barack Obama says no to --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. We'll come out of this. But you get the drift, right, Tara? So that ad probably wouldn't work today.

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes -- no, I agree with Kwame 100 percent. I've said this from the very beginning that the Trump fascination, a lot of it has to do with cult personality. We live in an era of entertainment, from social media, to the YouTubers, to bloggers, to the plethora of reality shows that we watch on television now. This seems to be something that's appealing. And I feel as though it's like the Jerry Springer-ization of the campaign because of -- you know, what -- we would never -- you know, this is the thing.

I think the conservatives, and I'm a conservative through and through, but I think that those conservatives that are supportive of Trump willing to stop and say, Donald Trump was a Democrat, would we tolerate his behavior? And I think the answer is, absolutely no.

[10:05:15] There is no way in the world that we would allow someone to call people names and act like a 5-year-old in a political discussion, concerning the future of this country, which is what we're discussing here.

COSTELLO: Well --

SETMAYER: The 2016 presidential race has to deal with the future of this country. Would we tolerate that?

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: A number of Republicans believe him. So I'll ask you this, Kwame, because you know Donald Trump, right? Does he believe what he says when he talks about -- the bible being his favorite book next to his own and immigrants and hedge fund guys or is he just using those buzz words to attract the right kind of attention?

JACKSON: Well, he's the ultimate dog whistler. And some say he's gone beyond dog whistling into kind of overt racism when you look at his Willie Horton-style ad that he ran against Mexican immigrants, you know, reminiscent of the Dukakis-Bush campaign.

I think he really appeals to our worst angels. I think he appeals to racism, I think he appeals to fear, I think he appeals to nativism. And any time America has taken that direction, whether it be Joseph McCarthy, whether it be Jesse Helms, whether it'd be anyone who's kind of gone down that tact of kind of standing in the schoolhouse door like a Governor George Wallace --

COSTELLO: But are you saying that he feels that in his gut?

JACKSON: That's never been a part of his leadership for him.

COSTELLO: Or is he just saying these things because he knows it will attract a certain element?

JACKSON: I think he's dropping bombs to get attention and he does have media savvy in our current Internet age.

SETMAYER: That's true.

JACKSON: He knows how to use instagram. He's, you know, the SnapChat type, you know, candidate but I don't think that's the substance that America is looking for as we lead into a new era.

SETMAYER: I think that there's a combination of both. I think that Donald Trump is a patriot, I think he loves America. And I think he sees that the problems going on in this country, this country is going to hell in a hand basket in a lot of ways. And that people are frustrate by this. There's anxiety and he's tapping into that. I think that the issues on illegal immigration, I don't think it's fair to say that people who agree with his position on illegal immigration -- not the name calling, but the point about sanctuary cities, and the fact that we have a flood of illegals coming over here, the crime rates, denigrating schools, all those are valid concerns that people should be concerned about.

But it's his way, the way he's going about doing it is I don't think presidential at all. But people are frustrated with the politics, the very vanilla, very overly produced politics.

JACKSON: Yes.

SETMAYER: Political correctness coming out of Washington, and then people not doing anything about it. So they go, well, this guy is new. He's telling it like it is, we like him. But we have to get beyond that because can he govern? Is this who we want to govern?

COSTELLO: Well, we'll see --

(CROSSTALK) COSTELLO: We'll see if any of that comes out in tomorrow night's debate. So a final question to you, Kwame. Are you thinking about running for president yourself?

JACKSON: You know, maybe way, way down the road. But I know this process is getting out of hand. And so hopefully we can reel it back in. I don't want to be SnapChatting to become president one day.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: You know you're going to be that. Kwame Jackson, Tara Setmayer, thanks to you both. I appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you.

COSTELLO: And, remember, the second GOP -- the second GOP -- I've said this so many times. I should have memorized it, right.

The second GOP debate is tomorrow night only on CNN. And of course, there is that first debate with those four poor candidates. I can't help it. That takes place at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

While Trump brags about killing it in the polls, another billionaire businessman says he could crush Trump if he made a run for the White House. TV host and owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban now taking aim at the candidate. He -- actually he's praising Donald Trump now but he didn't in the recent past and we don't really understand that.

But anyway, in July Cuban said Trump was, quote, "The best thing to happen to politics in a long, long time," so why the change of heart? So let's bring in CNN's Chris Moody, he's inside the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Good morning.

CHRIS MOODY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning. Great to be here.

COSTELLO: So what's this stuff with Mark Cuban? Now he loves Donald Trump and he could crush him if he ran against him?

MOODY: Well, I guess we could say that Donald Trump has inspired a couple of his buddies to maybe consider running for president, even if it's just a floating idea in their head. Mark Cuban shares a lot of traits with Donald Trump. They're both billionaires, they both have a huge social media following, and they are kind of bombastic and they have been part of reality TV shows.

Now Mark Cuban was asked about possibly running for president and he said, "I get asked every day. It's a fun idea to toss around. If I were a Dem I know I could beat Hillary Clinton. And if it was me versus Trump, I would crush him, no doubt about it."

Now Mark Cuban, as you might recall, is a guy who has been fined millions of dollars in the NBA for mouthing off to referees. Again, similar to Donald Trump. But he was also, you know, asked by CNN, are you serious? And he said, no, I'm not thinking about running for president. Also, we asked him a long time ago if he would ever do it and his response was what we call in politics, Shermanesque, or the 21st version of being Shermanesque. He said, "Hell, blank, no," so I think it's pretty clear he's just doing his sideline mouthing off.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I was hoping they'd become running mates because wouldn't that be fun? Donald Trump as president and Mark Cuban as vice president? I'm just going to think about that for a minute.

[10:10:05] MOODY: It would be the reality TV White House. It's what America -- maybe it's what America wants. We'll have to see what happens with Donald Trump's first run and see if by the time we get to the caucuses and primaries, these other reality TV stars and billionaires are still so inspired, whether it's Mark Cuban or Kanye West.

COSTELLO: All right. We'll leave it there. Chris Moody, many thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, two vans packed with women and small children have no chance against these powerful raging floodwaters. We'll take you to Utah for the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. We're learning more information about that deadly school bus crash in east Houston.

[10:15:04] Let's take a look at the pictures here. You see the bus on its side. Authorities now believe the bus might have rolled off an overpass and fell onto the road below. We understand there has been one fatality. We understand a high school girl was killed. This bus was carrying high schoolers to school. We don't know the condition of the other people aboard the bus. But, of course, we'll have more information as soon as we get it. But such a terrible crash in east Houston this morning.

Eight people swept away by a flash flood on the Utah-Arizona border are confirmed dead today, five others are missing. All of the victims are women and children. Back-to-back storms hit the small community of Mormon Fundamentalist once led by the imprisoned leader Warren Jeffs. These women and children that you're looking at now, of course, were rescued before the waters could carry them away.

Kyung Lah has more for you from Colorado City, Arizona. Good morning.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Now that we have some sunlight here, we're really getting a look at least at this one area. I'm about one mile downstream from where those eight people who died were swept away in those flash floods. What you're seeing here is just the muck that happens afterwards. You see all this heavy machinery. This -- the area where you're seeing that water, that was once roadway. It's now completely gone. The heavy machinery working through all of that muck. You can see the

roadway continues on up. This is what's left after a flash flood. And all the people you're seeing here lining in the banks, this is something we've seen throughout the morning. A very sad scene. People here in the community, gathering, hoping that they'll get some word about those five missing people.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the front yard.

LAH (voice-over): Dramatic video this morning showing a massive and deadly flash flood ripping through a small town on the Arizona-Utah border. You can hear the screams from shocked residents stunned by the rushing water. Heavy rain falling in the mountains above the Canyon town earlier in the day caused the river to rise rapidly catching onlookers off guard.

Watch this video of rescue crews racing to save a family from a car moments from being swept away. Children pulled quickly from the car windows. The flood so strong trees uprooted by the current pile up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's pretty powerful.

LAH: A search is still under way for several people after two vehicles carrying a total of 16 parked to watch the flood were swept away by the intense rush of water. At least eight have been found dead, all of the victims, mothers and small children, the youngest just 4 years old.

KEVIN BARLOW, ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF: There are still active flood waters and they're very dangerous, very treacherous. The banks are caving off. More significant flood than we've had for quite some time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: And the weather is not expected to help the search effort today, Carol. More rain is forecast for today.

COSTELLO: Kyung Lah reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

In California this could be a rough and dangerous day on the fire lines. A cold front is expected to kick up gusting winds blowing embers far afield. Everything is bone dry here. Scientists confirmed this is the worst drought in California in 500 years.

Just look at these terrifying pictures of a driver making a mad dash up a burning mountain near Middletown. Flames are all around the car. At least 700 homes have been lost. Thousands more are at risk. One death has been reported.

Dan Simon is in Middletown this morning. Good morning, Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Carol. Here's another devastated neighborhood that our crews discovered. You can see that all the homes pretty much on this one side of the street have been destroyed. We can just sort of pan the area for you. You see all these destroyed vehicles as well.

The situation has become increasingly clear, Carol. You got almost 600 homes that have been destroyed in this one fire. This Valley Fire. No question, this is the worst wildfire of the season. One of the worst in recent memory. At this point this fire is just 10 percent contained. It is a bit frigid today. I actually have to wear a jacket. Hopefully the weather is going to make things better for firefighters. But you talked about the wind. So they're going to keep a close eye on that situation.

At this point as well one confirmed fatality. And we heard the details surrounding her death. And it's just a terrible situation, Carol. This is a woman who is 72 years old. Had multiple sclerosis, she was unable to leave her home on her own. She had a caretaker who was concerned about her. That caretaker called 911 and by the time police or firefighters showed up at her home, the home was destroyed.

[10:20:14] We still have some people who are still unaccounted for, so, unfortunately, the death toll is probably going to go up as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Dan Simon, many thanks. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. Donald Trump may be considered the ultimate showman and millions are waiting to hear what he says in tomorrow night's CNN debate. But one of his supporters also knows how to get some attention.

Check out Barbara Tomasino, one of thousands who attended Monday night's massive Trump rally in Dallas. Let's see Barbara. She's a retired elementary librarian and she came decked out in a Donald Trump dress with Donald Trump pumps. And of course a matching Donald Trump purse. And she talked about her outfit last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:25:06] TOMASINO: You cannot show up at a Donald Trump rally and not make a statement. Like Donald. So I am wearing Trump. I have my Trump purse and my Trump shoes. And I'm all about Trump. Oh, I love Trump. From the "Apprentice" to -- everything, you know, I mean, he does put his foot in his mouth sometimes but don't we all?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Barbara Tomasino joins me now. Good morning, Barbara.

TOMASINO: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Thank you for wearing your dress for us. I appreciate it.

TOMASINO: Thank you. Thank you for having me on.

COSTELLO: You've become kind of famous. You've now been dubbed the Trump lady. How does it feel?

TOMASINO: The Trump dress. I know I Googled Trump dress and I found myself on there last night. It's kind of exciting. I just want to say I'm living proof that women support Donald Trump from head to toe. And here's my purse and my pumps.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: How did you make the dress? I'm just curious.

TOMASINO: Well, my husband and I -- I went to my trainer early in the morning, I came home and I got the brain storm. I said, you just can't go to a political rally for Donald Trump and not make a statement because Donald always does. So I thought, huh, OK, I'm going to make a Donald Trump dress, so that's what I did.

COSTELLO: You just whipped it up?

TOMASINO: Pretty much. I started at 11:00 in the morning and we headed down to the rally that afternoon. Yes. I'm a former elementary school librarian, so, you know, we have to put things together quickly. And so I had good training.

COSTELLO: Man, you are amazing. You are amazing. Did you walk through the protesters outside to get into the arena?

TOMASINO: I did see them, yes. And --

COSTELLO: Did they shout at you?

TOMASINO: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you.

COSTELLO: Did they shout at you?

TOMASINO: No, no, they did not. I don't think they really saw me. They were into their protest and they were marching down the street in front of American Airlines. So I just -- you know, I kind of ignored them. I was doing my little thing. I was promoting Trump and they were -- you know.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: They were not promoting Trump.

TOMASINO: Yes.

COSTELLO: So, Barbara, you said at the beginning that you're living proof that there are women who support Donald Trump. Why do you as a woman support Trump?

TOMASINO: Well, I think he's a very intelligent man and he has some great issues. And we need a change in America. Everybody's kind of tired of a lot of the politicians, so he is change. And so that's what I support. I think he's a great guy, you know. And --

COSTELLO: How do you think he will change the country?

TOMASINO: Well, he's talked about the wall and the immigration, which is a big issue here in Texas. I think that's important. And just, you know, all of those statements. Everything that he says I agree with.

COSTELLO: So, when he -- you know, the Megyn Kelly thing, I'm sure you're well aware of that, what do you think he meant by that? Do you -- do you think he meant to disrespect Megyn Kelly? What was that about?

TOMASINO: No, I don't. I -- you know, I kind of question -- at that forum, I'm not sure that that question should have even been brought up by her. But, you know, we all put our foot in our mouths sometimes. And you know, we've all been there. And you know, when he becomes president, which he will, hopefully he'll tone it down a little bit. You know, and you look at his children. Look at all of his kids. Have they ever made the news with negative publicity? No, so he must be doing something right. Ivanka -- you know, call me Ivanka.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Ivanka is pretty amazing. Barbara Tomasino, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.

TOMASINO: OK. Thank you so much. Bye.

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

Republicans have made no secret of the need to broaden their tent to win back the White House. And in particular, score big with Hispanic voters. Now Jeb Bush is debuting a new ad that not only spotlights his ability to speak Spanish but also features someone Bush has referred to as his secret weapon. That would be his Mexican-born American wife Columba.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLUMBA BUSH, WIFE OF JEB BUSH: I have lived more than my life here. So, you know, I agree that we all have the same interests, the same feelings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, you see, Jeb Bush was speaking Spanish, something Donald Trump has criticized, but his wife was speaking English. And she was the one born in Mexico. She's now an American citizen, by the way.

Here to talk about all of this is Justin Sayfie. He's the former chief speechwriter and former senior policy adviser to then-Governor Jeb Bush and president and CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Welcome to both of you, Justin and Javier Palomarez. He's the president -- did I say your name, Javier? I don't even remember.

JAVIER PALOMAREZ, PRESIDENT AND CEO, U.S. HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: You did, Carol.

COSTELLO: I don't think I did.