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CNN NEWSROOM

Muslim Group to Demand Ben Carson to Withdraw; Hillary Clinton Gains Ground on National Poll; Mother, Boyfriend Facing Charges on the Death of Baby Doe; Pope Francis Arrives in Eastern Cuba; Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 21, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:00] CUOMO: What a name. What, did she have to like stay in the country or something like that? How did Duber pull that off?

PEREIRA: Really?

CAMEROTA: All right. Time for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

CUOMO: That was a shocker.

PEREIRA: I know. Crazy.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: What? Chris Cuomo.

CUOMO: Do you see how beautiful she is? Did you see Duber?

COSTELLO: You know, if your mother heard you say that -- actually she would ground you.

PEREIRA: I agree.

COSTELLO: You guys have a great day.

CUOMO: The truth. The truth, Carol. The truth must out.

COSTELLO: Yes. Have a great day, guys. Thank you.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Trump loses ground as Carly Fiorina climbs, pulling neck-and-neck with Ben Carson.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.

COSTELLO: Muslim leaders calling for Carson to drop out, as Trump says, he loves Muslims but --

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have radicals that are doing things. I mean, it wasn't people from Sweden that blew up the World Trade Centers. COSTELLO: Also, the man accused of killing Baby Bella allegedly

thought she was possessed. He's in court this morning, along with Bella's mother. We'll take you there, live.

Plus, Emmy night gets political.

ANDY SAMBERG, HOST, EMMY AWARDS: Racism is over. Don't fact check that.

COSTELLO: Racism, sexism and the race for 2016. Nothing was off- limits for host Andy Samberg.

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.

Any minute now, a step toward justice for Baby Doe. Her name we now know is Bella. Her mother and her mother's boyfriend are set to appear in a Boston area courtroom. The boyfriend, Michael McCarthy, charged with murder. CNN sources say he punched the little girl because he thought she was possessed. Bella's mother Rachelle Bond is charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact.

We are live inside the courtroom. We'll bring you developments as they happen. But for now, we turn to politics.

In just a couple of hours, the nation's most powerful Muslim rights group will formally demand that Republican Ben Carson abandon his presidential bid. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, is outraged by Carson's lightning rod comments that he would not even consider electing a Muslim to the White House. We'll talk with Ibrahim Hooper from CAIR in just in a few minutes.

But first to CNN's Athena Jones. She's live in Washington for us. Good morning.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Those comments from Carson, also comments that Trump has made, have angered a lot of people and Carson's clarification of his comments haven't really helped. The question is, whether this will hurt him or Trump in the polls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARSON: I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.

JONES (voice-over): This shocking statement by Dr. Ben Carson under a spotlight this morning in the Republican presidential race. On NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Carson said a Muslim president should not be in the Oval Office, and that a president's faith should matter to voters.

CARSON: If it's inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course it should matter.

JONES: Later, when Donald Trump was asked about the possibility of a Muslim president, he said --

TRUMP: I mean, some people have said it already happened.

JONES: A reference to President Barack Obama. Trump later adding --

TRUMP: He said he was a Christian and he said he is a Christian. You know, I'm willing to take him at his word for that.

JONES: But Carson is doubling down on his controversial comments. In an interview with Washington newspaper "The Hill," he said, quote, "Muslims feel that their religion is very much a part of your public life, and that is inconsistent with our principles and our Constitution."

Democrats were quick to pounce.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You judge candidates for president not on their religion, not on the color of their skin, but on their ideas, on what they stand for.

JONES: This as the latest CNN/ORC poll shows Trump and Carson losing momentum with voters after the CNN debate. Trump still the frontrunner but his lead is slipping, as Carly Fiorina makes the biggest jump, rising 12 percentage points.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How many of you saw the debate on Wednesday night?

JONES: Over half of poll respondents who watched CNN's debate think Fiorina did the best job. Florida Senator Marco Rubio taking home second place, far better than his former mentor, Jeb Bush.

TRUMP: I think Carly had a good night but I think you gave her a lot of very easy questions.

JONES: Trump now zeroing in on the post-debate star, attacking Fiorina's record as CEO once again Sunday, tweeting, "She did such a horrible job at Lucent and HP, she never got another CEO job offer." The GOP frontrunner writing, "There is no way that Carly Fiorina can become the Republican nominee."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: And when it comes to those comments about Muslims from Carson and from Trump, a Muslim member of Congress is now weighing in, saying every American should be disturbed that the two candidates are, quote, engaging in and tolerating blatant acts of religious bigotry -- Carol.

[09:05:05] COSTELLO: All right. Athena Jones reporting live from Washington, thank you.

Ben Carson also telling "The Hill" that whoever wins the presidency should be, quote, "sworn in on a stack of bibles, not a Quran." He also says talking about a Muslim president is irrelevant because none of the presidential candidates is Muslim and accused "Meet the Press" of gotcha journalism. Earlier today Carson's business manager defended his controversial remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, CARSON'S BUSINESS MANAGER: This is why he's not a politician. This is why he's not trying to be politically correct. This is America. It's a place of freedom of speech.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And freedom of religion.

WILLIAMS: And you express what you believe and how you feel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And freedom of religion.

WILLIAMS: No -- this is not an issue -- it is not an issue of religion to Dr. Carson. This is an issue of one's belief system. Everything is not about winning the White House for him. It's about standing up for what we believes in, telling the truth, even if it makes CNN and others uncomfortable. It is what we believes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: As for Donald Trump, he says he loves Muslims but told CNN's Jake Tapper that it wasn't people from Sweden who attacked the United States on 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We could be politically correct if you want, but certainly, are you trying to say we don't have a problem? Because I think everybody would agree. I have friends that are Muslims, they're great people, amazing people. And most Muslims, like most everything, I mean, these are fabulous people, but we certainly do have a problem. I mean, you have a problem throughout the world.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD": What's the problem?

TRUMP: You have radicals that are doing things. I mean, it wasn't people from Sweden that blew up the World Trade Center, Jake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Trump and Carson's comments now sparking outrage. Today, the Council on American-Islamic Relations or CAIR is calling for Ben Carson to withdraw because Carson's remarks violate the Constitution, mainly Article 6, which says, it forbids a religious test as a requirement for holding a governmental position.

Ibrahim Hoover joins me now from CAIR. He's the national communications director.

Welcome, sir.

IBRAHIM HOOPER, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS, CAIR: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. What would you like to say to Ben Carson?

HOOVER: Well, it's interesting that an individual who is trashing the Constitution is accusing American Muslims of not somehow following the Constitution. American-Muslims support the Constitution every day and seek its protections from individuals like from Mr. Carson who would violate the Constitution to take away our rights.

I mean, Donald Trump says it wasn't Swedes who did this or that. Well, it wasn't Swedes who went into the church and killed nine African-Americans. It wasn't a Swede who blew up the Murray Federal Building. It wasn't a Swede who went into Newtown school and killed all those people, or the theater in Colorado and killed the people.

You know, you can make all of these bizarre comparisons, but that doesn't avoid the fact that Mr. Carson is rejecting the Constitution when he says, put a religious test for public office. And then accuses Muslims of not following the Constitution. It would be laughable if it wasn't so tragic.

COSTELLO: Ibrahim, what specifically will you call for in a couple of hours?

HOOVER: Well, if an individual clearly doesn't abide by or care about the Constitution, I think that's a disqualifier in terms of running for the nation's highest elected office. So we're calling for him to withdraw from the race.

COSTELLO: You're calling for Ben Carson to withdraw. What about Donald Trump?

HOOVER: Donald Trump, I mean, it's in the same category, but with Donald Trump, it's just run-of-the-mill bigotry. With Mr. Carson, it's actual rejection of the clear language of the Constitution.

COSTELLO: Are you satisfied that other politicians have disavowed what Ben Carson said?

HOOVER: Well, we've seen some disavowals, and we appreciate those, especially from people like Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz and others, but we really need a strong response to this. It really is beyond the pale, and it should be repudiated by politicians from either side of the political spectrum. From right to left, they need to speak out against this because this is really getting out of hand. The rising Islamophobia in our society.

We just saw within the last few days, the 14-year-old Muslim arrested for bringing a clock to class in the Dallas area. I mean, we're seeing this rising hostility. And when there's no pushback from our nation's religious and political leaders, that's taken as acceptance by these bigots out there.

COSTELLO: Ibrahim, Hooper from CAIR, thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it. HOOVER: Thank you.

[09:10:03] COSTELLO: Turning now to the Democrats. Bernie Sanders pumped up a crowd of about 3,000 people last night at the University of New Hampshire. What's interesting here, the "Washington Post" says the crowd was about five times the size of what Hillary Clinton drew on the very same campus just two days earlier. But while Sanders is gaining ground in that early election state, new CNN polls show Hillary Clinton is actually gaining momentum nationwide.

Jeff Zeleny is following that for us.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Hillary Clinton's summertime slide appears to be stabilizing. Our new poll shows she's gaining ground among Democrats, a sign perhaps that she's putting at least some of those concerns and controversy surrounding her candidacy to rest.

Let's take a look at some of these new numbers. Clinton sits atop the Democratic field at 42 percent, up five points from earlier this month. Now she's followed by Bernie Sanders at 24 percent and Joe Biden at 22 percent.

But when you take Biden out of the equation, her support soars. She's at 57 percent in our new poll, while Sanders, 28 percent. So in short, she's been climbing and Sanders has been falling. Their margin now 29 points, compared to only 16 earlier this month.

Now this is why so many Democrats are keeping such a close eye on whether Joe Biden decides to jump in. If he does, the Democratic contest is so much more competitive.

Now there's no concrete timeline on this, but one Democratic supportive candidate of Biden tells me this morning, we'll likely know within the next two weeks.

Now Hillary Clinton has not commented on what she believes a Biden candidacy would do to her race. She is trying to focus on her own campaign, trying to build that up in case he does decide to run. She said Sunday the vice president deserves this space to make a decision.

She also made a very interesting comment, an interesting window into what her new, authentic campaign is looking like. She was asked who the real Hillary Clinton is. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, look, I am a real person, with all the pluses and minuses that go along with being that. And I've been in the public eye for so long, that I think, you know, it's like the feature that you see in magazines sometimes, real people actually go shopping. You know?

(END VIDEO CLIP) ZELENY: But all laughter aside after a few reinventions along the way over these last few months, her burden now is to appear authentic to voters, Carol, in a year where they're craving authenticity more than ever.

COSTELLO: Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.

All right. At any moment now, the mother of that little girl who became known as Baby Doe, along with her boyfriend, will stand before a judge. Rachelle Bond and Michael McCarthy will be arraigned today. He's facing a murder charge. She's been charged with accessory after the fact.

After months of mystery, we know now it was a 2-year-old Bella Bond who was found on a Boston beach back in June. The girl's father now speaking out, saying his daughter was killed because McCarthy believed she was possessed by demons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE AMOROSO, BELLA BOND'S FATHER: I know with all my heart that Rachelle would never ever do anything to hurt anybody. And I was with the woman, the mother of my child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Jean Casarez is following the court case for us.

Good morning, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. We're waiting for this arraignment because we should get more information as soon as it begins because one of the issues conceivably can be bailed, and that's when you hear a lot more of information. But 85 days is how long this little girl was a picture and a face to this whole country, but not knowing who she was.

And it was finally -- CNN has learned, allegedly someone who was staying with her mother that said, where is Bella? Where is she? Allegedly, the mother said, well, Bella is dead. And that's how it began. To get us to the arrest and the arraignment. And arraigned today will be her mother, Rachelle Bond, 40 years old, she is charged with accessory to murder after the fact. So in other words, after she was deceased, after she was murdered. And the boyfriend of the mother has been charged with murder. His name, Michael McCarthy, 35 years old.

And as you said, Carol, CNN learned that, allegedly, he punched her because he thought she was possessed. Now we don't know if that's the cause of death. We don't know if that's true, if that's an excuse, but that is what we have heard that has been said. And once again, this arraignment is set to begin this morning. At an arraignment in Massachusetts, they can plead guilty. They are apprised of all the charges against them, and then also the issue of bail. Because constitutionally, there is a right to bail. Not that you're going to get it, but the prosecutor will have to argue the seriousness of these crimes. And we may hear some facts.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you, Jean Casarez. And when those two suspects walk into the courtroom, we'll get back to you. Thank you so much.

We have live pictures of Pope Francis in Cuba. Is that what I just heard? His plane just landed. And -- did it land in Holguin, is that right? In Cuba? That's the third largest city in Cuba. Actually it's the site of Christopher Columbus' landing in 1492, in case you're interested.

[09:15:11] We don't expect the Pope to speak right now. We just expect him to greet the crowds. And then he's going to ditch that car that you saw for the Pope Mobile, and then he'll ride to Revolution Plaza. And he will make a few remarks there. And then he'll hold a mass there, which should be quite interesting. So we'll take you back to Cuba right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Pope Francis is making history once again in Cuba. This hour the popular pontiff is now arriving in Holguin, where he'll bring his message of hope and love to a city that no other Pope has ever visited. This follows a very busy Sunday that included celebrating mass with thousands in Havana's Revolution Plaza.

The Pope also caused some controversy with the, quote, "friendly and informal meeting with the former leader, Fidel Castro." That meeting lasted about 30 minutes, and the Pope exchanged books about religion with the 89-year-old communist leader.

[09:20:09] CNN's Rosa Flores is on the plane with the Pope. She joins us now.

What's it like, Rosa?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Hi. Good morning, Carol. If you're taking a live look at the plane, Pope Francis is at the front of the aircraft and I'm in the back of the aircraft, with 70 plus (INAUDIBLE). And if you're taking a live look, you'll also see a lot of journalists come out of this plane very quickly in a few moments.

But just like you mentioned, this is the second day of Pope Francis' visit to Cuba. He was in Havana and celebrated mass with thousands. Visited with Fidel Castro for about 30, 40 minutes. They exchanged gifts. And then, of course, he had a meeting with Raul Castro, the current president of Cuba.

And one of the interesting things about Holguin where we just landed is this is the birth province of the Fidel Castro and Raul Castro. Actually visited the home where they grew up a few months ago, Carol, and it's now (INAUDIBLE). But that just kind of gives you a little lay of the land.

We're expecting Pope Francis to celebrate mass today at Revolution Square in Holguin. Another Revolution Square yesterday we saw him celebrate mass celebrations in Havana. And so we're going to take a look and see how -- what the crowds are like here. And if they're anything like we saw yesterday, there's going to be thousands of people waiting to celebrate mass with Pope Francis.

COSTELLO: Well, Rosa, Rosa.

FLORES: Carol.

COSTELLO: You know, you gave us the facts as the great journalist you are. You gave us that, but I want the know what it's like on board the plane. Where is the Pope sitting? Has he walked through the plane? Have you seen him close up and personal?

(LAUGHTER)

FLORES: Yes. Well, this time, we didn't get to see the Pope. It was a very, very short flight from Havana to Holguin. So he actually boarded and went directly to his seat. We didn't get to see him. When we flew from Rome to Havana, it was about a 12-hour flight as well.

Very shortly, Carol, after we took off, Pope Francis came to the back of the plane. He greeted all of the journalists and then went aisle by aisle, talking to all the journalists, allowing them to introduce themselves and to share a moment with Pope Francis. It was very special, it was very special to be a part of that. I got to meet him, receive his blessing. Gave me a little gift. So it was a great moment, Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, my goodness. We're seeing the picture right now. I'm so jealous. So OK. The Pope is now disembarking, Rosa. So he's going to go to a waiting car and then he's going to switch over to his Pope Mobile, right?

FLORES: I'm not sure if we'll see the Pope Mobile this time. I'm walking out just now, Carol, so excuse the noise. But we usually see the Pope being greeted at the airport. I can tell you that one thing always stands out of the greetings that we've seen at airports in Cuba versus other countries, where we have seen the Pope before.

And if you're taking a live look right now, if you're taking the pictures, Carol, Pope Francis just walked down of the aircraft, being greeted by cardinals and other dignitaries. There are children waving Cuban flags and receiving the Pope here in Holguin.

Again, Holguin is the birth province of Fidel and Raul Castro. So it's interesting. Given some of the controversy that you were mentioning moments ago involving the Pope visiting Fidel Castro in his home -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK. I'm going to let you get off the plane now. I know it's hard to talk. And I'm sure the plane is packed with people as well.

Rosa Flores, many thanks but as we watch these pictures of Pope Francis disembarking, and you can hear children singing in the background, that's a special choir, a children's choir in Cuba. This is the first time that the Pope has visited this particular Cuban city. And I think he will probably get into a car and travel to the center of the city, and then trade off for his Pope Mobile, so he can ride down along the streets for the people -- so the people can get a chance to wave at him.

And then it's on to Revolutionary Plaza where, of course, as you heard Rosa say, the Pope will officiate a mass.

I got to take a break. We'll be back with much more in the NEWSROOM.

[09:24:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBERG: Donald Trump, of course, is running for president. To the delight of uncles everywhere. But I've got to say, sure, Donald Trump seems racist, what else?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That was actor and comedian Andy Samberg, of course, taking aim at presidential hopeful, Donald Trump, at the Emmys last night. Jokes aside, Trump is now in the middle of a new controversy involving comments he made about Muslims. On Sunday, Trump told CNN's Jake Tapper that it wasn't people from Sweden who attacked the United States on 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We can be politically correct if you want, but certainly, are you trying to say we don't have a problem? Because I think everybody would agree. I have friends that are Muslims. They're great people, amazing people, and most Muslims, like most everything, I mean, these are fabulous people, but we certainly do have a problem. I mean, you have a problem throughout the world.

TAPPER: What's the problem?

TRUMP: Well, you have radicals that are doing things. I mean, it wasn't people from Sweden that blew up the World Trade Center, Jake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:30:05] COSTELLO: Trump isn't the only one taking heat. Rival Ben Carson at the center of his own controversy for saying he does not believe the U.S. should elect a Muslim president.