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CNN NEWSROOM

Trump Questions Carson, Defends Immigration Plan; Kim Jong Un May Have Purged Top Adviser; First Uterus Transplant Planned in U.S. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 13, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:30:04] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Donald Trump heads to Florida today where many are expecting to hear his rhetoric towards Ben Carson. This as Trump doubles down on his immigration policy which has been facing criticism of late.

In the meantime, Trump talked about his plan and questioned Dr. Carson's past during an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He said he's pathological. Somebody said he has pathological disease. Other people say he said in the book and I haven't seen it. I know it's in the book that he's got a pathological temper or temperament. That's a big problem because you don't cure that.

That's like, you know, I could say -- they say you don't cure, as an example, a child molester. You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: So I want to ask you about the immigration fracas that's going on out there. You obviously put immigration front and center in the GOP conversation.

TRUMP: You wouldn't even be talking about immigration if it wasn't for me.

BURNETT: You have put it on the table. And now, of course, you were criticized heavily at the debate -- right. Kasich, Jeb Bush saying that your proposal to deport was --

TRUMP: Well, they're weak people. No, no, excuse me. They're weak people. I watched Jeb today. They're weak people. And Kasich made a fool out of himself in the debate.

BURNETT: The question I'm asking though is how do you take 11 million people and make them leave?

TRUMP: You do it through a process. You do it in a very humane matter.

BURNETT: But they're not going to want to leave. You're going to have to hire a lot of people to find them and get them over the border -- right.

TRUMP: First of all -- they're here illegally. If a person comes across the border and you send them right back, the border patrol sends them right back -- there's not a big court situation. They send them back. They're here illegally.

BURNETT: Yes, but what about the guy already living in Detroit?

TRUMP: Excuse me, excuse me. What's the different between somebody that comes over the border for two days, he gets court and they bring him back. And somebody that comes over the border, he's here for a year and you bring him back. There is no difference.

Illegal immigration each year costs us between $200 billion and $300 billion -- I don't if anybody gives you those numbers, probably not. But -- and when you include crime and other problems, it's more than that. So, you're talking about between $200 billion and $300 billion the way it is now.

BURNETT: But they pay in taxes. They pay $24 billion in taxes.

TRUMP: Who pays in taxes? Do you really believe they pay in taxes?

BURNETT: They pay social security, state and local.

TRUMP: Yes. What percentage of them? 10 percent?

BURNETT: It's $24 billion a year, this economy wouldn't have if they weren't here.

TRUMP: Excuse me. Excuse me. Do you know how few pay taxes -- Erin? Don't be naive. Do you think that an illegal immigrant getting money is going to be paying taxes.

BURNETT: So on this point about humanity, though, are you going to be sending in officers --

TRUMP: We're going to be sending in people in a very nice way.

BURNETT: -- a force of people into people's homes to get them out?

TRUMP: We're going to be giving notice. We're going to be saying, you have to go back to wherever the country is. I mean it's going to be countries -- all different countries.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: All right. Katie Couric actually sat down with Ben Carson. She's tweeting out highlights of that interview. When it comes to Trump's "child molester" comments, Carson said, quote, "Someone needs to tell him, Trump, what pathological really means." There's another tweet too and if we could put that up so that I can read it off the screen.

Ben Carson -- ok, so Katie Couric says, Ben Carson tells me, "If the media will be honest and fair, I will reveal the identity of the young man involved in the childhood knife incident." Interesting.

So let's talk about this with Larry Sabato, he's the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics; and Michael Warren is a staff writer for "The Weekly Standard".

Welcome to both of you.

It's exhausting, isn't it, Larry? I don't even know what this means.

LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: It's a full-fledged presidential campaign a year ahead of schedule, no question about that. And Trump has clearly outdone himself -- let's just put it that way.

COSTELLO: Michael, what do you make of this 95-minute rant? Because that's really what it was?

MICHAEL WARREN, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": Yes, I think there's two things going on here. One, Donald Trump is, I think, genuinely nervous about the fact that Ben Carson's ahead of him in the polls not just nationally but in Iowa. You know, if Ben Carson beats Trump -- really if anybody beats Trump in Iowa in that first contest of the primary season, then he's tagged with that label of loser and he really can't sustain a presidential campaign that way.

The second thing I think is happening is people are getting bored with Trump's shtick. Even if you look at that, the audience behind Trump in that rally last night, they all kind of look bored when he's going through the story of the knife and all that stuff. And so I think he's sort of ramping up the attacks.

It's notable, though, he doesn't say this to Ben Carson's face on the stage at the debates. I think that's noteworthy and maybe says something about what Trump's motivations are.

COSTELLO: I know. I thought the exact same thing -- Michael. So you saw the picture of Trump with his belt buckle. Do we have that Trump sound ready to go -- Carolyn? Not yet.

Ok. So, basically Trump said, you know, your belt moves around a lot and it couldn't be possible that a knife could be stopped by a belt buckle and he's slamming Ben Carson. Now Ben Carson tells Katie Couric that he's going to provide the name of the boy he attacked when he was 14 years old.

[10:35:00] So, Larry, when all is said and done, will this mean anything -- this snafu between the two men? And should Ben Carson really do that or should he just ignore Donald Trump?

SABATO: I don't think he can ignore him at this point. But Carol -- the bigger picture is this. We hate long campaigns but they're actually very useful in this way. Americans don't pay close attention to politics but there's so much going on every day that over time people are getting a real sense of what at least the major candidates might do as president sitting in the Oval Office. The effect of all this is cumulative -- especially for Trump it's cumulative. It will have an impact once we get to the actual voting next year.

And also the other point, Carol, is Trump is creating little video bits that will make devastating TV ads for some of the other Republicans running against him, not to mention Democrats in the fall -- whether he is the nominee or not. And that's the concern Republican leaders have.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

So, something else that Ben Carson told Katie Couric, Michael. He said that none of the Republican candidates are well-versed in foreign policy. And when you heard Donald Trump talking about just bombing Iraq, really we should just bomb them and bomb the oil fields and build it up.

And you heard General Hertling -- what he said. General Hertling said, if he would carry out those orders, he would be brought up before the Geneva Convention.

WARREN: Yes. Look, I mean we've got a number of these top candidates who don't have a lot of foreign policy experience and that doesn't just go for Ben Carson or Donald Trump. It goes for a lot of the governors as well, you know.

Some of the senators do have foreign policy as part of what they deal with every day as senators. Marco Rubio talks a lot about this. But it is notable that none of the people on either stage on Tuesday night's debate have served in the military. And I think that's a significant thing to think about as well.

But in the end, you know, there are a lot of Republican foreign policy and defense thinkers out there who are talking with these candidates, and helping them -- bringing them up to speed.

Ben Carson's sort of rant at the debate the other night was kind of hard to follow. And again I agree with Larry. This is all going to have a cumulative effect when those voters get together in Iowa or in New Hampshire to vote in those primaries. They're going to be remembering all of these things and thinking, is this the person that we really to want have with their finger on the button.

COSTELLO: We'll see.

Michael Warren, Larry Sabato -- thanks to both of you.

SABATO: Thank you.

This just in to CNN. David Sweat, one of the two inmates who broke out of an upstate New York prison earlier this year is pleading guilty to all charges associated with the escape. He was charged with two counts of escape and one count of promoting prison contraband. He faces sentence of 3.5 to seven years for all three counts. He's now serving a life sentence though without patrol. His partner, as you know, Richard Matt, was shot and killed while the men were on the run.

I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:42:24] COSTELLO: In North Korea, being part of Kim Jong-un's inner circle is probably the most dangerous place to be. And today there are new concerns that Kim has removed yet another senior adviser for unknown reasons.

Brian Todd has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An ominous sign that Kim Jong-un may have eliminated another person from his inner circle. Choe Ryong-Hae (ph) considered one of Kim's closest confidante, a right hand man, was not seen recently among names of officials planning for the funeral of a top military leader and reportedly did not show up for the funeral itself.

BALBINA HWANG, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: It tells us that he has likely been purged or at a minimum sidelined from the top elites. This would be a very significant event. Unless he's on his death bed, he would attend this kind of a funeral.

TODD: It's so significant that South Korean officials are taking the rare step of saying publicly they're looking into it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Considering previous incidents, it is unusual.

TODD: Why was Choe apparently purged? Experts say it could have been incompetence, betrayal or possibly an internal dispute with others in Kim's circle over shady business deals.

HWANG: The North Korean regime is essentially now a kleptocracy. And the easiest way for most Americans to understand this is to think of it as "The Sopranos" drama, where families representing different cliques are vying for power.

TODD: The Yeon-Hap (ph) news agency citing South Korean intelligence says Choe Ryong-Hae has been sent to the Kim Il-Song higher party school in east Pyongyang where analysts say officials who run afoul of Kim undergo brutal psychological conditioning and interrogation. The North Koreans call it re-education.

VICTOR CHA, CTR FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: It's not a country club. It's almost certainly a very grueling process where there is both physical and mental abuse and strains.

TODD: Experts say Choe may not have been executed because he's a so- called princeling, the son of a revolutionary hero who fought with Kim's grandfather, Kim Il-Song against the Japanese.

But Kim Jong-un doesn't shy away from killing legendary figures. He executed his powerful uncle, Jang Song-Thaek who he suspected of betrayal. He reportedly had a defense minister killed with an anti- aircraft gun.

South Korean officials say he's executed more than 70 top officials since taking power four years ago.

CHA: I think what we're seeing is a very protracted power consolidation process in which the leadership is acting in very ruthless ways, very draconian, not subtle ways in order to try to gain leadership within the system.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[10:45:01] TODD: But analysts say Kim's ruthless purges could backfire on him. They say it could be that no one close to Kim feels safe; that no matter how loyal they are, they could be betrayed. That raises questions, experts say, about how secure Kim himself is within his circle.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a groundbreaking medical trial for women unable to carry a baby. How a uterus transplant may transform the American family -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. We have some news about Jihadi John and it comes out of Syria. I'm just going to turn to my e-mail here because I just got an alert.

Jihadi John, this is according to the Syrian opposition group, Raqqa is being slaughtered silently. The group says that the vehicle in which Jihadi John was riding was hit directly, along with two other vehicles.

[10:50:03] They say the attack happened in front of the ISIS Islamic court in Raqqa and ISIS militants then established the security ring around those three destroyed vehicles and banned anyone from coming closer.

The activist group says it -- the activist group I should say has been a reliable source of information from inside Raqqa in the past. That's why I'm passing this along to you.

Of course, Barbara Starr, Pentagon correspondent, will have more at the top of the hour.

All right. On to an amazing medical news: groundbreaking new hope for American women unable to conceive a child. The Cleveland Clinic says it's ready to transplant a uterus into a woman who lacks one. Ten women will be chosen for a medical trial.

Success was found in Sweden last year where nine women received donated uteruses. Five achieved pregnancy and four gave birth. For these ten U.S. women, doctors say the process will be long and emotionally challenging. With me now is Dr. Sujatha Reddy, she's an obstetrician and gynecologist with Premier Care for Women in Atlanta. This just sounds amazing to me.

DR. SUJATHA REDDY, PREMIER CARE FOR WOMEN: Yes. It really is pretty impressive. I kind of call it Star Trek medicine. It's very exciting because we have not done this in the past before.

COSTELLO: So, what -- where would they get the uterus from -- a living woman or someone who's donated their organs?

REDDY: Excellent question. So in Sweden they've done both. The trial here is going to use cadaver donated organs, which is I think ethically a better thing for us in the U.S. It's going to be women that have donated their organs, they're going to remove their uterus. It's a lot more complicated than a routine hysterectomy. The removed uterus will be transplanted into the donor mom.

COSTELLO: So what is the process like? Is it completely safe?

REDDY: So far it seems to be safe. There have been some instances of infection after the transplant. The reason is it's a long, drawn-out process. These women are going to have to undergo in vitro fertilization. What this process is really doing is it's going to allow these women who probably could have only gotten pregnant through using a surrogate mom in the past to experience having a baby growing in their body. But they're still going to have to do in vitro.

So prior to the transplant they're getting drugs to collect eggs from their ovaries. They're going to fertilize those eggs, get embryos. After the transplant they're going to wait about a year to make sure all the rejection and the medications are stable. And no rejection has occurred. And then they're going to go through the process of putting the embryos in.

These women will then require a cesarean section. They're not going to be allowed to labor. So you can see, it's a long process but it's going to allow them to experience childbirth.

COSTELLO: It really does sound emotionally draining for me, especially if the procedure doesn't work.

REDDY: I think that's a big risk. But if you look at some of the interviews that we've done with the women that are in the program, they're very excited because they're -- you know, some of them have children through surrogate moms already or through adoption, which is obviously a great thing.

But the idea of having a baby growing in you, feeling a baby move, that's what these women are craving to feel.

COSTELLO: All right. Dr. Reddy -- thanks for being with me this morning.

I'll be right back.

REDDY: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:58:00] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories at 57 minutes past. Wal-Mart protesters say they're going to fast in the hopes of getting higher wages for workers. So far 1,000 people, including 100 current employees have joined a group fasting from now until Black Friday. Their demand: raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Some say they'll attempt to go all 15 days consuming only liquids.

Prosecutors want Jared Fogle to serve 12 years in prison for crimes, including possession of child pornography and having sex with minors. The former Subway front man has already signed a plea deal that requires him to pay each of his 14 victims $100,000.

Authorities say Jared Fogle's close friend and business partner Russell Taylor lured teenagers into his home, secretly filmed them naked. One of those victims, who was 14 at the time, spoke to Dr. Phil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, TV HOST: Do you know where the cameras were in there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do not.

MCGRAW: They were in the bedroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MCGRAW: They were in the bathroom. They were in living areas. Those moments you thought you were private, the moment you thought just getting out of the shower, somebody was watching. How sick was that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was so sick. It's disgusting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: After prison, prosecutors hope to put Fogle on supervised release for the rest of his life. He'll also have to register as a sex offender.

And a new era in Myanmar: the country's election committee confirming the opposition party has won an historic majority of parliament effectively rejecting decades of military rule.

The opposition party is led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi who spent 20 years under house arrest after contesting an election in 1990. This win comes on the fifth anniversary of her release.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.

[11:00:00] KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: The U.S. targets one of the world's most wanted killers, Jihadi John, the face of ISIS. So, is he dead? And what does this mean for U.S. intelligence into that terror group?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: In just moments from now Ben Carson will respond live for the first --