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CNN NEWSROOM

GOP Rivals Gear Up for Debate Showdown; Mizzou System President Steps Down; Source: "Domestic Abuse" Incident Led to Chase; Israeli Police: Boys Stabbed Security Guard. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 10, 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: 90 percent of couples can have significant improvement with help.

PEREIRA: Are you kidding? Wow.

CUOMO: Web site is on your screen.

CAMEROTA: There you go.

PEREIRA: That is amazing. All right. It's time for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

Hello, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Michaela. You guys have a great day.

PEREIRA: You too.

COSTELLO: Thank you. Something new.

PEREIRA: She's not (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: Oh my gosh. NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, ahead of the debate, candidates come out swinging.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you try and hit your mother over the head with a hammer, your poll numbers go up.

COSTELLO: Campaigns getting testy. Will the media be the target again?

Plus --

TIM WOLFE, FORMER UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI PRESIDENT: I'm resigning as president of the University of Missouri.

COSTELLO: A shake up at Mizzou. Protests bring down top university officials amid racial tensions. But is it enough? And free Tilly. SeaWorld phasing out its killer whale shows. But are

critics satisfied?

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.

The stage is set for yet another debate. Hours from now the Republican presidential candidates go head-to-head and take center stage in Milwaukee. Setting the scene for what is expected to be a fiery night. A new South Carolina poll showing Donald Trump and Ben Carson in a dead heat. And Donald Trump wasting no time taking aim at his top competitor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You stab somebody and the newspapers say, you didn't do it. And you said yes, I did. I did it. No, you didn't. Yes, I did. I stabbed him and it hit the belt. And they said you didn't do it. If they said I didn't do it, I'd be so happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So will Carson get hit even harder on tonight's debate stage? And will the candidates blast the media again for so-called gotcha questions?

We're covering all of this with our CNN team of experts. Let's begin, though, with CNN national correspondent Sunlen Serfaty. She's in Milwaukee this morning.

Good morning, Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, we've already seen some rumblings between some of the candidate this morning. There's been a real escalation in words between the Jeb Bush campaign and the Marco Rubio campaign which certainly sets an interesting backdrop as they head into battle tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY (voice-over): Tonight's debate a critical moment for candidates in the Republican race to the White House. The main stage a bit roomier this time around. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie bumped off the main stage to the undercard debate.

Fewer people means more time for each GOP hopeful. The network saying it will allow them to respond to each other's criticisms directly.

TRUMP: This is a strange election, isn't it?

SERFATY: Donald Trump giving an early indication he may not be so nice with his chief rival, going after Dr. Ben Carson over questions about his violent past at his rally in Illinois Monday night.

TRUMP: This is the only election in history where you are better off if you stab somebody. What are we coming to? People are getting away with murder. I never saw anything like this. You could say anything about anybody and their poll numbers go up.

SERFATY: The billionaire taking on Starbucks after they changed their holiday cups.

TRUMP: Maybe we should boycott Starbucks. Starbucks is taking Merry Christmas off. No more Merry Christmas. If I become president we're all going to be saying "Merry Christmas" again.

SERFATY: Trump also has had guns a-blazing for Senator Marco Rubio, attacking his previous stance on immigration.

TRUMP: And then I look at the guy like Rubio who's very, very weak on illegal immigration. He was a member of the gang of eight.

SERFATY: Tonight Rubio may be forced once again to answer allegations of messy finances and other attacks coming from his mentor Jeb Bush.

KATIE PACKER, FORMER ROMNEY DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Jeb Bush has certainly telegraphed that, you know, Marco Rubio has a target on his back and he's going to be coming after him.

SERFATY: FOX Business, the host of tonight's debate, hoping to draw a sharp contrast to CNBC, taking a jab at the previous moderators, saying they never asked real questions. The network instead promising a real debate on the economy.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm not so sure that these personal attacks that we're looking for will be there because I'm not sure they will be provided necessarily.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: And the main debate tonight will be two hours long. The candidates will also have 60 seconds to respond to any attacks that are waged against them, Carol. That is double the amount of time that they were given in the last debate.

COSTELLO: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, reporting live from Milwaukee this morning. Thank you.

It will be a night of first. The candidates back together for the first time since blasting moderators for gotcha questions at the CNBC debate. It will also be the first time only eight candidates grace the main debate stage. Governor Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee now forced to prove themselves after being bumped from primetime. As for Jeb Bush, who many agree fell flat last time, well, he's out showing a more fiery side. But was this the way to do it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[09:05:05] JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Said if you could go back in time and kill Baby Hitler, would you? I need to know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And?

BUSH: Hell, yes, I would.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even if he's really cute?

BUSH: No, look, you got to -- you got to step up, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So that was Jeb Bush during an interview with the "Huffington Post."

Let's talk about this and more with CNN's Brian Stelter. I'm also joined by director for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato.

Welcome to both of you.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thanks, Carol.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thanks.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, let's save the baby Hitler question for last and talk about the moderators tonight, Brian. Neil Cavuto, Maria Bartiromo and "Wall Street Journal" editor, Gerard Baker. They're the moderators. Bartiromo recently said, quote, "Look, we're here to facilitate. We're not looking to please the candidates and give them their own produced show in any way. We're a news organization."

So what should we expect tonight?

STELTER: Bartiromo told me that she agrees with President Obama. Two weeks ago President Obama said, what are these Republican candidates doing saying they couldn't handle the CNBC moderators? If they can't handle the CNBC moderators, how are you going to handle Russia and China? She said she agrees, she expects much less pushback from the candidates tonight. She says it's all about a respectful tone. As long as you have a respectful tone you can ask some very pointed questions about the economy.

But we'll also hear about the news of the day. There are no doubt there will be questions about Carson's life stories because that will be one of the elephants in the room. Even if the moderators don't bring it up, some of the candidates probably will bring it up. Donald Trump perhaps bringing it up to Ben Carson. So we will see some sparks around that. Even though it will be fundamentally a debate about the economy.

COSTELLO: OK. So fundamentally a debate about the economy. So, Larry, Ben Carson had trouble articulating his tax plan last time around. Will it matter if he cannot explain it this time around?

SABATO: Well, I think it will. Assuming they really do focus on the economy. It's easy to say they are going to do that. And it's very difficult. I think the main difference in this debate versus the other ones is that the candidates are much more likely to take control and go after each other. There are fewer candidates on stage. And they have twice as long to rebut the other candidate who mentions their name.

Plus you now have almost every candidate on that stage with an agenda to attack one or more of the other candidates. So I would expect this to be an intense very tough debate that is centered around attacks.

COSTELLO: OK. So along those lines, Brian, Donald Trump already tweeting trash talk about not Ben Carson but Marco Rubio. Here is a sample. Here is a tweet from Mr. Trump. Quote, "Marco Rubio couldn't even respond properly to Obama's State of the Union speech without pouring sweat and chugging water. He choked."

Although I remember that, I remember when Marco Rubio took that sip of water, I thought that was kind endearing. But is this a sign Trump will skip over Carson and go right on to attack Rubio, Brian?

STELTER: It would seem to me that that is a signal of his interest in Rubio. Then again last night in Springfield he had a lot to say about Carson. I have a feeling Trump will bring ammunition about several of his opponents. You know, Trump is a big reason why people tune in for these debates. But he didn't seem to be nearly as present during the CNBC debate. So maybe we will see try to take more of an aggressive posture tonight.

I think it is really significant there's only eight candidates instead of 10. It will make for probably more engaging debates. This is what television producers have wanted all along. They wanted the group to be smaller so you can have more real interaction between candidates. And we should keep in mind, there are 35 days between this debate tonight and the next one, in mid December on CNN.

That means there's is a long time before these candidates will be on stage again. That makes tonight even more important because these candidates -- some of them especially Rand Paul, some of the ones that are barely on the stage in terms of their polling, they've got to stand out tonight.

COSTELLO: OK. Last and hardest question for you, Larry, who has the most to gain tonight and who has the most to lose?

SABATO: It's probably the same person, Jeb Bush, although I have to say what has happened to the sweet smiling dancing Donald Trump of "Saturday Night Live"? I don't think he'll be on stage tonight, though some other candidates may mention that particular appearance.

But look, Jeb Bush is in the -- Jeb Bush is in the corner. No question about it. He's had terrible debate performances. He's down at the four, five, six percent level in most of the public opinion polls. This is not the frontrunner that people expected. So he's either got to deliver or his donors and his volunteers are going to have a difficult time opening the wallets and spending more time for it. COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there.

STELTER: The CNBC debate he did see a media coach. So we'll see how that media coach performed tonight.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Brian Stelter, Larry Sabato, thanks to both of you.

On to Mizzou. Protesters there this morning warned yesterday's campus revolt was just the beginning. Although their calls for the university system's president's resignation were answered amid a growing controversy over racial tensions on campus, the fight is far from over. Rallying students remain prepared to protest this morning and some professors are still threatening to walk out of classes.

But the hunger strike is over. You know, that one student who went on strike -- on a hunger strike demanding action. The student spoke to CNN about the risky protest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN BUTLER, STAGED HUNGER STRIKE: I don't think I had any doubts because for me I never took it as the deficit approach. A lot of people know how corrupt the system is. And they thought I was going to die from day one -- from the moment I made my announcement. People thought I was a dead man walking. So for me, especially with faith in God, I really didn't look at it from a deficit approach that I would die.

Even though I took precautions that I might, I really did come at this with an approach of victory knowing that the fact that the harder we fight the greater the reward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Stephanie Elam live on the Mizzou campus with more.

Good morning, Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. This is not the first time that we've seen student athletes actually take up a line and protest something. But you can definitely say when the football team joined in with these student activists here, changes happened quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (voice-over): This morning students at the University of Missouri are waking up to a massive shakeup, one that activists say is just the beginning of change. The university system president and the school's chancellor ousted amid racial tensions and weeks of student- led protests.

WOLFE: Please use this resignation to heal, not to hate.

MARSHAL ALLEN, CONCERNED STUDENT 1950: This is just the beginning in aiding and dismantling systems of oppression within higher education, specifically the UM system.

ELAM: Effectively immediately, the resignation of university president Tim Wolfe who some say failed to adequately address several hate crimes on Mizzou's campus.

WOLFE: We didn't respond or react.

ELAM: Wolfe striking a different tone than the one captured in this tense exchange with students.

WOLFE: Systemic oppression is because you don't believe that you have the equal opportunity for success.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you just blame us for systematic oppression, Tim Wolfe?

ELAM: Even some long-time faculty say racism has been a problem on campus for years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have been called the N word too many times to talk about it on camera and to write them all out.

ELAM: Tensions reaching a boiling point around mid-September after the student body president posted on Facebook that he was called the N word, something that happened, he wrote, multiple times on campus. Then in mid-October, a swastika painted in feces inside one of the residence halls. By November second graduate student Jonathan Butler launching a hunger strike, pledging not to eat until Tim Wolfe resigned.

BUTLER: A lot of people know how corrupt the system is and they thought I was going to die from day one, from the moment I made my announcement. People thought I was a dead man walking.

ELAM: The football team and their coach also vowing to stay off the field until Wolfe agreed to step down.

GARY PINKEL, MISSOURI HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: A young man's life was on the line and basically that's what it came down to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: So while there are -- we understand still some students that are sleeping in these tents that are here on campus, overall the feeling is yes, that this has been a victory, Carol. But the change that is necessary is going to take a lot more than just two figure heads stepping down.

COSTELLO: All right. Stephanie Elam reporting live for us this morning.

Next hour I'll talk to one of the associate professors behind Monday's walkout.

Also still to come in the NEWSROOM, bond now set for two police officers accused of murdering a 6-year-old boy. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:50] COSTELLO: New details this morning about the moments before that deadly police chase this ended with the death of a six- year-old boy. A source now telling CNN the marshals now facing murder charges begin pursuing the boy's father Chris Few after witnessing what they thought was a domestic abuse -- a domestic abuse incident with his girlfriend outside a bar.

Nick Valencia is in Marksville with more on what happened next.

Good morning.a

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. That's right.

A source close to the investigation telling CNN that a domestic incident between Chris Few and his girlfriend actually let deputy marshals to pursue his car to begin with. Even still, that hasn't stopped people from coming up with their own theories.

Carol, this is a very small community, about 5,000 people, where everyone has a reputation. Everyone seems to be tied to each other. In fact, the district attorney here in Marksville has recused himself from the case because the assistant district attorney is the father of one of the suspects, Norris Greenhouse.

Yesterday, when we were outside in front of the parish detention center where those two inmates were being held yesterday, we had several residents approach us yesterday to tell us their stories about unfavorable encounters with either one or both of these deputies. Even the mayor has his own story, saying he was arrested and thrown in jail based on false accusations by Derrick Stafford, one of those charged with murder of the 6-year-old.

I asked the mayor, how can one deputy be so powerful if he himself the mayor is supposed to be the head of the police force here in Marksville?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JOHN LEMOINE, MARKSVILLE, LOUISIANA: It is a close knit community. And he has friends in high places. And we tried to go ahead and I tried to talk to the previous chief about it, you know, and nothing was done. That's why at the time that I -- I had a problem they wanted to get rid of the chief because some of the issues weren't getting addressed. So, we hired another chief --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: The mayor went on to tell me that this city is corrupt. And he was very nonchalant and casual about it given how serious the accusations he was making. Meanwhile, a judge has issued a gag order for those involved in the case. All of this happening as new information this morning, those two inmates have been moved 40 minutes away to Alexandra, Louisiana, where local officials say their security and safety will be better suited to be handled there in Alexandria -- Carol.

[09:20:06] COSTELLO: All right. Nick Valencia, reporting live for us this morning, thank you.

Checking some other top stories for you, at 20 past.

Police are questioning the man in shooting of a Texas judge. Officials say the man has some connection to Judge Julie Kocurek, but won't describe exactly what that connection is. Kocurek was shot outside of her Austin home on Friday night. Local reports say that a trash can was moved into the middle of the home's driveway, forcing her to get out of her car. It made her an easy target.

In South Carolina, a campus police officer shoots at Spartanburg Methodist College shots and kills a man. Police say the officer was investigating report of a car break in when he spotted two people. One of them allegedly struck the officer as he tried to take off in a car. That is when the officer opened fire. Classes will go on as scheduled this morning.

Health officials have found no source to the E. coli outbreak linked to Chipotle restaurants and that the chain's Northeast stores could be reopening this week. According to officials, none of the food samples taken from the restaurants in Washington and Oregon contained traces of the bacteria, but say the contaminated food could have already eaten or thrown away.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the news room. Talk more and voters will like you less? Candidates might want you do hear them out, but is it a losing strategy for some Republicans tonight?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:39] COSTELLO: It's been a terrifying day so far in Jerusalem. Israeli police say there have been two stabbing attacks within minutes of each other inside Jerusalem. We're learning two of the assailants who allegedly knifed and wounded a security guard were just 12 and 13 years old. And there's just been a third attack at the border checkpoint. Police say the alleged attacker was shot and killed.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is live in Jerusalem with more for you.

Hi, Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

We're learning about these attacks, that third that you just mentioned there happened a short while ago in Abu Dis, which is just east of Jerusalem. The first two attacks this morning happening within minutes of each other in Jerusalem, which is unusual because Jerusalem has been relatively quiet the last few weeks.

Now, it is also stunning because the first attack, as you mentioned the accused attackers here, 12 and 13-year-old boys. Israeli police say these two young boys tried to board the light rail that runs through the station and tried to stab a security guard. That security guard opened fire shooting the 12-year-old and sending him to the hospital. Both of those young boys from east Jerusalem -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Twelve and 13 years old. That's just really -- 12 and 13 years old, how often does that happen with boys this young?

LIEBERMANN: Very uncommon. We have seen a number of attacks in these incidents over the last eight weeks or so. Most of the alleged attackers are in the sort of later teenage range, 17, 18. Up until their young 20s. There are some sort of -- there are some alleged attacker outside of that.

But 12 and 13 years old stunning because of the youth there, and we saw that the 13-year-old was arrested when a number of people on the train and both just outside at the light rail station actually tackled him following this incident and held him until police arrived.

COSTELLO: Does there seem to be a coordinated effort to get younger and younger children to carry out these kinds of attacks?

LIEBERMANN: That's a very difficult question to answer. There's no doubt it seems that Israeli and Palestinian leaders are trying to ease tensions and put an end to this violence. Also as I mentioned, surprising this happens in Jerusalem. So, what were these young boys thinking?

It is difficult to say, but certainly uncommon for kids that young to be accused of trying to carry out on attack like this.

COSTELLO: Oren Liebermann, reporting live for us this morning - thank you.

(MUSIC)

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

I'm going to be better. That is Jeb Bush's vow going into tonight's debate. He's hired a debate coach who told Jeb to be in his words to be neat. The problem is, a McClatchy-Marist poll shows the more people hear about Jeb Bush, the more they dislike him, 58 percent feel that way compared to 32 percent who say they like Bush more after hearing more about him.

This even after Jeb changed his campaign slogan to, quote, "Jeb can fix it," dropped the Mr. Nice Guy act and started acting tough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It said, "If you could go back in time and kill baby Hitler, would you? I need to know."

REPORTER: And?

BUSH: Hell yes, I wouldn't.

REPORTER: Even if it he's really cute.

BUSH: No, look. You got to step up, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Bush making those comments to "The Huffington Post" during a swing through New Hampshire. Bush giving that response after being asked what was the most bizarre e-mail he's received at the official campaign account. I know it's kind of a silly question and a silly answer. So, maybe it's good the debate tonight will focus on the economy.

With me now, Sabrina Schaeffer, executive director of the Independent Women's Forum, Eric Fehrnstrom, who served as senior adviser on the Romney 2012 presidential campaign.

Welcome to you, both.

SABRINA SCHAEFFER, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Thanks for having me.

ERIC FEHRNSTROM, ROMNEY SENIOR ADVISER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

So, Sabrina, if Bush does not perform well tonight, is it -- is it time for him to look for an exit?

SCHAEFFER: Well, I'll have to leave that up to his campaign staff, but I definitely that this is, you know, an important night for him. He definitely does need to step up to the plate and perform in a different manner.

I'm not sure I would choose the approach I suspect he's taking which is to be a little more aggressive towards the other candidates on stage. I think he needs to do a better job at sort of bringing a lot of these complex economic problems back down to the kitchen table level so people feel like they can trust him, that they understand him and he can sort of latch on to that likability factor.