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CNN NEWSROOM

U.S. Troops Killed in Afghan Car Bomb Attack; 2016 Presidential Politics; Frank Fiorina: Proud to be Carly's Husband; Royal Flub at Miss Universe Pageant. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired December 21, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:29:56] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We're back with news out of Afghanistan where officials say American troops were killed in a car bomb attack. Actually, the suicide bombers were on a motorcycle.

Barbara Starr has more from the Pentagon. Good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning -- Carol.

According to the first reports, six members of the NATO alliance were killed in this suicide vehicle attack near Bagram Air Base earlier today. Now -- right now it is six killed in action. We do know that there were American troops on this mission, Americans among the killed but the Pentagon not yet ready to say that all six were Americans. They're trying to verify all of the details.

Six killed, three wounded. This was a mission that was apparently simply American troops and Afghan troops. They were outside the base going to attend some sort of meeting when this suicide bomber struck -- a very, very difficult, tragic situation, of course, for military families at this holiday season.

More information expected in the coming hours. The Taliban certainly able to still mount, stage and execute very deadly attacks. Of course, they've been staging attacks elsewhere in northern Afghanistan and in southern Afghanistan as well, in Helmand Province where there are reports that the Taliban has been able to overtake successfully some small areas in Helmand Province, an area where U.S. troops fought very bitterly just a few years ago.

There are now about 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan expected to stay there through most of next year -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon this morning -- thank you.

New developments in that Air France bomb hoax. We're learning a passenger taken into custody is a retired French police officer. French border police are questioning him after a fake bomb apparently made of cardboard and a kitchen timer was found in the plane's bathroom. The discovery of that device forced the plane to make an emergency landing in Kenya.

It's apparently the season of the hoax. Add this to the latest Air France scare to fake bomb threats in schools in Los Angeles and in New York last week. Add them to the list taken from a quick Google search of recent news articles. Look at that -- all those hoaxes. We're well on our way to heightened anxiety over people doing really stupid things that -- actually, curious things because why are they doing this?

Let's talk about that with CNN terror analyst Peter Bergen and CNN aviation analyst David Soucie. Welcome to both of you.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERROR ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: David, I must say I was kind of shocked when I learned the suspect was an ex-French police officer because this plane was bound for Paris.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes, it's very interesting that this guy would decide to do this. And we'll find out more about that as we move forward. The most important thing about this is to learn, and for passengers to know, how it was handled by Air France and how they kept calm and how someone noticed this thing happening -- noticed something in the bathroom yet didn't cause panic throughout the airplane because panic throughout the airplane was exactly what this guy was after and allowing this reckless endangerment to happen is what would have caused the problem. So the way the crew handled this is important to note.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. Going back to the number of hoaxes we've experienced over the past several months. I mean take a look at the list. In November 2015, a Turkish Airlines flight from New York City to Istanbul was diverted due to a phony bomb threat. November 22, 2015, a Singapore Airlines flight from San Francisco to Shanghai Airport, I think, received a bomb threat. The list goes on and on.

Peter, why are so many people deciding to do this?

BERGEN: Well I think part of the context, of course, is the Metrojet attack, which killed -- you know the most significant attack on aviation since 9/11 where 224 people were killed leaving Sinai.

Clearly, you know, anybody who's either a terrorist or somebody who's merely seeking to make mischief understands that people are very concerned about air travel right now. And they can bring attention either to their cause or their idiosyncratic desire to cause mayhem by launching one of these hoaxes.

COSTELLO: I don't know if you've ever done any research on that, so are the people making hoaxes like this necessarily attached to any particular terrorist group?

BERGEN: I don't think so. I mean it's not necessarily the case. I mean you essentially had a hoax in Los Angeles which more or less closed down the city when you have 650,000 school children not going to school and all their parents being very concerned and having, in some cases, to pick them up or take a day off work because their kids are out of school.

We saw that happened, actually on your program, Carol, as you recall just a few days ago where the Los Angeles superintendent announced all schools will be closed down. And you know, clearly, you can have a large affect even with a hoax.

[10:35:09] COSTELLO: The same thing is happening in New Hampshire, where there are supposedly credible threats. They closed down several schools there. Nobody knows if it's a credible threat but they're doing it out of an abundance of caution. It's just causing upheaval in many of our lives in the United States.

Back to the airlines and how they handle such hoaxes, David. How many hoaxes do airlines get in a year or two years? Is it an everyday thing?

SOUCIE: It does happen every day. Not bomb threat. There are other hoaxes. There are things that even the television and movies, they say the word "bomb" on an airplane and how that's responded to. It's become somewhat a term that people joke about. It's not something to joke about. It's not something to take lightly.

And Air France -- again, going back to Air France and how they're handling this, it's very unique. They've actually filed a lawsuit already about reckless endangerment and that reckless endangerment's being investigated by the Air France police. And that's why this gentleman has been singled out and will be arrested for it.

It's how the response happens now. It's how seriously we take the hoaxes; before there hasn't really been any action other than criminal action. Now they're taking civil action. They're saying that reckless endangerment, endangered those 459 people on board that airplane.

And, indeed, it did. It did endanger them. If it wasn't handled properly and people started panicking, there's danger of people being injured and the airplane losing control of the airplane over this mob or crowd -- what can happen on board the airplane.

So during this holiday travel, I really, really push that people need to stay aware of what's happening but stay calm and understand that their flight crew is their best friend during this time and please don't act against them. We can act together and make this a very safe holiday travel season.

COSTELLO: All right. Advice taken. David Soucie, Peter Bergen -- thanks to both of you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the race for the White House and "Saturday Night Live". Are voters really influenced from what they see from Tina Fey and others? We'll talk about that next.

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[10:40:34] COSTELLO: The race for the White House loses one contender. Republican Lindsey Graham says he's ending his campaign for president; Graham making the announcement to supporters last hour. Kate Bolduan talked to him about the decision. You can see her full interview with Lindsey Graham in just about 20 minutes.

Lindsey Graham's dropping out of the race probably will not land him a spot on "Saturday Night Live" but one thing is for sure, the other candidates will have a spot, including Jeb Bush, and it isn't all good. Check out this faux debate between Bush and Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Bush, go ahead and say out loud what you've been quietly muttering to yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump, I mean, this guy's the chaos candidate. Am I right? Chaos. Is he for real? Nah, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeb, you're a very nice man, but you're basically a little girl. Folks, this is true. I got hold of Jeb's birth certificate, and full disclosure, his real name is Jebra.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is not true.

TRUMP: That is true. Yes, it is. Jebra. Jebra.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not my name. That's not my name.

TRUMP: Hey, Jebra, losers say what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Chuck Nice, really? Chuck Nice joins me now. He's a comedian, contributor to "The Daily Share". It is funny.

CHUCK NICE, COMEDIAN: That was -- I'm sorry but that hurt. That hurt, you know. It's kind of like when a schoolyard bully affixes a name to you and it follows you all the way to college. Like you got to leave town and go to college across the nation because that name is so synonymous with who you are. Jebra may be the death nail in the campaign right here.

COSTELLO: You really think so?

NICE: Because what happens with comedy is it doesn't work unless the association is actually believable. So what you do is you take something and you exaggerate it or aggrandize it to a point where it becomes ridiculous, but underneath that veneer is the truth. And so that's what people start to focus on as they're laughing.

Consciously they're saying, wait a minute, you know what, that is right. So, you know, seeing how in this sketch that Trump is bullying, basically bullying Jeb, you kind of make that association. Like, wait a minute, I watched the real debate.

COSTELLO: So the parody of Donald Trump being a bully won't hurt him?

NICE: No, you know, because we accept this from Trump. It's like we know that is he a bully, point blank. We know that he's basically Biff from "Back to the Future". That's who he is -- the political Biff from "Back to the -- McFly". That's him.

COSTELLO: Oh my God.

NICE: That's him. And so we accept that because that's who he is. Whereas Jeb -- and by the way, Donald owns that -- Jeb is trying to present himself as a tough, manly guy. When you make a joke that points out the fact that he really isn't, that's when it sticks.

COSTELLO: Ok. So, interestingly enough, Ted Cruz was also parodied in that "Saturday Night Live" skit and they parodied him as this guy who is unlikable by everyone. But Ted Cruz fought back in an interesting way. He created his own "SNL" skit and ran it as a commercial in Iowa. So let's watch a bit of that and then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The greatest Christmas stories told by the senator who once read "Green Eggs and Ham" from the Senate floor.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It was the night before the shutdown. Now all through the House, not a bill was stirring, not even the fund-a-mouse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole family will enjoy reading stories like "The Grinch Who Lost Her E-Mails".

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "I know just what I'll do," she said with a snicker. I'll use my own server and no one will be the wiser."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ok. So, I mean initially you thought "Saturday Night Live" did it.

NICE: I thought that was the "Saturday Night Live" sketch. The intuitive thing will be like, wow, that's going to hurt you because people think that this is "Saturday Night Live" but he's actually doing a "Saturday Night Live" type parody of himself.

I think this is actually pretty smart. He's talking to a very specific audience here. And you notice he owns the shutdown in that ad. He owns the fact that he's the one who shut down the government. And you know, there are certain people who think that's a good thing and that's who he's talking to.

[10:45:00] COSTELLO: And the filibuster with green eggs and ham.

NICE: And the filibuster which was like, you know, for most people bizarre. But he's saying, hey, I'm the filibuster dude. Remember me? It's me, I'm Filibuster -- remember me? COSTELLO: Actually, I wish we had time to show my favorite part

because, you know, Kate MacKinnon's impression of Hillary Clinton is priceless and so is Amy Poehler's and they were together. Kate MacKinnon showed Hillary Clinton in the bathroom in her bedroom getting ready for bed. She took off her bathrobe and she had a suit on and then she went to bed.

NICE: That was my favorite part of the sketch, too, is the fact that because, honestly, that really showed the Hillary perception that we all have because Hillary now seems tight. Even though she's supposedly the heir-apparent, there seems to be this feeling that -- remember last time you were the heir-apparent, she even said it as some guy with a basketball and a cigarette came and took my dream. That's a great line.

COSTELLO: I know we laugh but I'm glad I'm not the candidate because, man, they would have to have such thick skin. And even as like, you know, someone who does television news, I to have thick skin but it's nothing like that.

NICE: But the deal is, your thick skin looks luxurious.

COSTELLO: Because I have lots of makeup on. Chuck Nice, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it.

NICE: My pleasure.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the video you've been hearing about. Miss Universe crowned and then dethroned a few minutes later.

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COSTELLO: There's been some talk about what Bill Clinton's role would be if Hillary Clinton becomes president. Similar question playing out on the Republican side with Frank Fiorina, of course, he's husband of presidential candidate Carly Fiorina. What does he think of his wife's run for the White House?

CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash sat down with him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANK FIORINA, HUSBAND OF CARLY FIORINA: Good morning girls, how are we doing?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Inside Carly Fiorina's headquarters, a visit with young campaign aides and a thank you.

[10:50:05] FIORINA: We really appreciate it.

BASH: This is Frank Fiorina's role these days -- a supportive husband who does whatever he can to help his wife's presidential bid.

You are Mr. Carly Fiorina. FIORINA: I was always proud to be. Always proud to be.

BASH: Taking a backseat to his wife is hardly new for him. He predicted it when he met Carly more than 30 years ago, when they were both working at AT&T.

FIORINA: Now, I was a higher level than her, but there was no doubt in my mind she was going to surpass me in the ranks at AT&T -- rightfully so. And she would be chairman some day. Now --

BASH: Did you tell her that?

FIORINA: I did tell her that. I'm not even quite sure why. At the time it was a mixture of a great line and the truth.

BASH: It wasn't AT&T but Carly did eventually become a CEO at Hewlett-Packard and Frank decided to quit his job to support her.

BASH: You retired at age 48, the peak of your career, to be Carly's husband.

FIORINA: That's true. And it was quite controversial, believe me. I knew it was the right thing to do.

BASH: But playing the supporting role isn't always easy.

FIORINA: When you think about a person that's that smart and that hard working and that focused, it's hard to keep up some times.

BASH: They never had children of their own but Carly boned with his then young daughters like none of his other dates had.

FIORINA: It was just like a Disney movie. I mean they would play havoc with my dates. When I finally got to bring Carly home, it was pretty clear to me that the three of them loved each other.

BASH: In 2009 one of Frank's daughters, Lori, died of a drug overdose, the same year Carly was diagnosed with breast cancer.

FIORINA: It was a bad year. I kept saying, this is going to end badly. She was too smart, too educated -- she would never admit she had a problem.

BASH: He wears a bracelet made from a necklace Lori wore the day she died.

FIORINA: It was a necklace that Carly bought her. I know it looks silly.

BASH: No, it doesn't.

FIORINA: I wear it all the time.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My husband and I lost one of our daughters to addiction.

BASH: Carly often talks on the campaign about the loss of her stepdaughter and the need to fight addiction.

C. FIORINA: My husband frank is back there.

BASH: She also talks about how Frank, who started out as an AT&T technician and a tow truck driver, keeps her grounded.

C. FIORINA: Ok. Why would I want to be president? My husband asks me that occasionally.

BASH: Do you like politics?

FIORINA: Frankly, not particularly. Politics is so different than business. And, of course, I spent my whole life in business and working.

BASH: He's often with Carly on the trail, but mostly keeps his opinions to himself.

FIORINA: I'm very cautious about when I give her advice -- very cautious.

BASH: Why?

FIORINA: Because she has so many people giving her advice, so I really try to pick my targets. If there's something I really feel she's being misled about, I speak up.

BASH: Like most political spouses, he takes attacks on his wife harder than she does.

When you hear criticism of your wife, what do you want to do?

FIORINA: I'm an Italian boy from Pittsburgh, so I don't need to quite explain what I'd really like to do. But it just infuriates me.

BASH: And when Donald Trump made fun of his wife's face.

FIORINA: I almost thought it was humorous. I mean, out of all the people on this stage, it would be hard to say Carly -- there anything was wrong with Carly's face, I would say.

BASH: Do you think that she's treated differently because she's a woman?

FIORINA: Carly won't say this, but I will. I've watched for 34 years how she's been treated differently in everything she's done in life -- everything.

BASH: Still, frank's prediction about Carly's business success came true. They're both hoping he was also prophetic about politics.

FIORINA: At least 18, 20 years ago I said she was going to be president some day. I wasn't encouraging her to do that. I was just stating the obvious, that's all.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BASH: And remember during last week's CNN debate Carly Fiorina

in her opening statement said she's been called every "b" word in the book. Carol, her husband told me a story about that. One "b" word we can kind imagine. But another was back when she was first managing people at AT&T. Her boss came in and said to the new people that she was going to manage that she was his, quote/unquote, "token bimbo".

And when Frank Fiorina told me that, he said, can you believe that? Can you believe he said "token bimbo"?

I think that's just one of several stories she has from her days in business and in politics.

COSTELLO: Yes, he sounds like a great guy. Dana Bash reporting live for us. Thank you.

[10:55:01] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, two women crowned Miss Universe but only one was the winner. Sorry about that, Miss Colombia. See the cringe-worthy mistake next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Miss Colombia blew kisses and waved her country's flag after she was accidentally named Miss Universe last night. Then host Steve Harvey apparently realized his mistake and corrected it on stage -- awkward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HARVEY, TV HOST: I have to apologize.

The first runner-up is Colombia. Miss Universe 2015 is Philippines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, can you imagine? Steve Harvey says he simply misread the card. It took a few minutes but the crown was eventually given to the real winner. That would be so painful.

Harvey apologized again on Twitter saying, quote, it was a huge mistake. He feels terrible about it. Miss Philippines actually came out and she said she can imagine how embarrassed and humiliated Steve Harvey is. And she feels sorry for him. But there are no hard feelings. As for Miss Colombia, you can see her big beautiful smile, she says no hard feelings either.

So there you have it. Congratulations, Miss Philippines.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

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