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CNN NEWSROOM

Obama Dives into GOP Race, Slams Candidates; Coast Guard Searching for Missing Teens; Whitney Houston's Daughter Dies at 22; Government Smacks Chrysler with Record Fine. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 27, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:01] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't even know what to say to that. What a morning, what a way to wake up today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Amazing. That's goodness begets goodness, Chris Cuomo. Thank you for that good stuff. That ends our show for today. Let's hand it over to Carol Costello and "NEWSROOM."

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That was a nice end. Thanks so much.

PEREIRA: That's great.

COSTELLO: It was awesome. Thanks. Have a nice day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, lost at sea. The Coast Guard searching now for two teenagers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hours are getting long that the boy have been out there.

COSTELLO: Their boat capsized off the Florida coast. Their parents holding out hope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are positive that our boys are still out there.

COSTELLO: As an NFL legend gets involved.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The love is there. We're all praying.

COSTELLO: Also, leader of the pack. A brand new CNN poll puts Trump on top again.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is more than me. This is a movement going on. People are tired of these incompetent politicians.

COSTELLO: And guess who he's targeting now.

Also, a road rage fight escalates. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My guns already out. It's cocked and loaded.

COSTELLO: While both drivers are on the line with 9-1-1.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That son of -- has a gun.

COSTELLO: Now one of them is dead, the other facing murder charges. How the fight escalated so quickly.

Let talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

We begin with the war of words between President Obama and the Republicans who want his job. Moments ago the president hit back against recent attacks by GOP candidates like Donald Trump while addressing the press in Ethiopia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In fact, it's been interesting when you look at what's happening with Mr. Trump when he's made some of the remarks that, for example, challenge the heroism of Mr. McCain, somebody who endured torture and conducted himself with exemplary patriotism.

The Republican Party is shocked, and yet that arises out of a culture where, you know, those kinds of outrageous attacks would become far too common place and yet circulated nonstop.

We're creating a culture that is not conducive to good policy or good politics. The American people deserve better. Certainly presidential debates deserve better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And despite controversial comments by Donald Trump, CNN's new poll showed the billionaire candidate is still leading the pack with 18 percent. Jeb Bush comes in second with 15 percent.

Let's bring in CNN's Athena Jones. She has more from Washington.

Good morning.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. A lot of interesting numbers here to look at. You mentioned that Trump is now in the lead at 18 percent. And he's actually been gaining. He's gained six points since our last poll in late June, whereas the second place finisher, Governor Jeb Bush, has actually lost a couple of points and Walker has gained just four.

But it's interesting to see this because you have Trump's own rivals for the Republican nomination who have been saying, look, his tone is offensive, his rhetoric is divisive and inflammatory. He doesn't represent the Republican Party. But it's looking like Republican voters, at least at this point, do not agree.

I want to move on to Donald Trump himself talking about or trying to explain, let's say, his appeal on "STATE OF THE UNION." Let's go ahead and play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They view me as an outsider, I guess, and now they're starting to view me as not an outsider because I'm leading in all the polls, not just yours. And I think they've been really nice over the last few days. They're starting to see what's happening. I mean, there's a movement going on. This is more than me. This is a movement going on. People are tired of these incompetent politicians in Washington that can't get anything done. They can't make deals. They can't do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So he says there's a movement behind him. Certainly he is appealing to a certain segment of the Republican base, but even though he's appealing to those Republicans, his popularity with that group does not extend to the general broader electorate. If you look at the numbers for his unfavorable ratings. They're among the highest of any of the people we polled. 80 percent of Democrats had an unfavorable view. 53 percent of independents. And there you have 42 percent of Republicans.

You average all that together, it gets to the 59 percent. That's very, very high. And so it doesn't bode well for any potential future general election run if he were to make it that far.

One more thing I should mention to you in terms of who Trump is appealing to. One of our poll numbers is interesting. It showed that 53 percent of Republicans do not feel the government in Washington represents their views at all. That number was 27 percent for Democrats.

[09:05:10] Now among those Republicans who say Washington doesn't represent their views, of course Washington where President Obama, a Democrat, is leading in the White House. But Republicans have control over Congress. For people who are not satisfied, Republicans who are not satisfied, they are much more likely to back Trump. He leads by quite a bit at about 24 percent compared to about 12 for the second place finisher.

So there you get a hint as to who he's appealing to, these disgruntled Republican voters -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Athena Jones, reporting live from Washington. Many thanks to you.

With me now CNN senior political correspondent Nia-Malika Henderson and political correspondent Sara Murray.

Thanks to both of you for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Great to be here.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks for having us.

COSTELLO: Nice to have you here. So, Sara, did President Obama just legitimize Donald Trump's candidacy?

MURRAY: Well, I'm sure President Obama would not want to go that far. But look, I think he does Hillary Clinton a favor by being the one to come out and say Donald Trump is not good for the Republican Party. He's not good for the rhetoric. Better to have the outgoing president who is obviously already established be the one saying this than Hillary Clinton who then makes it look like, you know, he's up head- to-head against Donald Trump. Even now when we look at the polling it's pretty clear she leads him if they were to go head-to-head at least at this point.

COSTELLO: Nia, what do you say about that? Because I was surprised that President Obama spoke out about Donald Trump specifically.

HENDERSON: Well, I think the political genius of what he said is that he is piggy-backing on something that you've seen Hillary Clinton try to do. And that is to make Donald Trump's synonymous with the Republican Party. Of course you're seeing Republicans themselves trying to distance themselves from Trump, trying to say he's not quite a Republican, that he doesn't reflect the Republican Party's values, but then have the president of the United States name checking Donald Trump and essentially saying he is one and the same with the Republican Party that he's emblematic of where the Republican Party is now.

It's a neat thing for them to try to do because voters very much draw their sort of impulsion about a party from what presidential candidates say. And so that's what they're really trying to do. Who knows of course how he's going to do when this things really starts up in January. But for now, I think this is a very effective strategy.

COSTELLO: So, Sara, is Donald Trump emblematic of the Republican Party?

MURRAY: Well, on a lot of issues the Republicans would say no. I think the main issue that they're sort of trying to paint Republicans all alike on this is in immigration. And when you do look across the field of Republicans running, there is a broad range of views when it comes to immigration policy. You have everyone from Donald Trump and Ted Cruz who have almost sounded a little bit isolationist to someone like Lindsey Graham who has supported a pathway to citizenship, has supported a comprehensive immigration reform.

I think the problem is that there is no one singular message coming from the Republican Party on immigration. On a couple of other issues it's easy to say, look, Donald Trump is the spokesman for the GOP. He's leading in the polls. This is what the Republican Party stands for. COSTELLO: Yes. And, you know, the RNC is still a little concerned

about Donald Trump. Reince Priebus over the weekend talked about a third party candidacy by Mr. Trump. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: My job is not to call balls and strikes but to treat everyone respectfully and fairly. But certainly I think our candidates should pledge not to run as a third party candidate. I don't see that happening. I think everyone understands that if Hillary Clinton's going get beat, she's going to get beat by a Republican. And most people that run for president run to win. And if our candidates want to win, then they'll have to run as a Republican.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Nia, I don't really see Donald Trump pledging not to run as a third party candidate.

(LAUGHTER)

HENDERSON: Right. Yes, exactly. He doesn't seem to be one -- to want to sign on to what the party wants him to do. He seemed to hint that he would run maybe as a third party something that he would look at because he was upset, frankly, with some of the language that was coming out of the RNC there. And he said, well, listen they've got to treat me a little better or I might think about doing this. Then he pulled back and used the similar language that you saw Mr. Priebus use there and say listen, it will take a Republican to beat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, whoever comes out of the Democratic Party nomination side.

COSTELLO: All right. Nia-Malika Henderson, Sara Murray, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it as always.

Now on to the search for those two teenage boys missing at sea after a fishing trip. Coast Guard crews are looking for Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos. The 14-year-olds were last seen on Friday, gaffing at their boat at Jupiter, Florida. When they did not return after a few hours their grandmother called the Coast Guard. Their capsized boat was found yesterday about 67 miles offshore near Cape Canaveral. But there was no sign of the boys.

Alina Machado is in Jupiter this morning with more. Good morning.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The search area is expanding. Right now we're told the Coast Guard is searching near Jacksonville, Florida, which is north of where the capsized boat was found as the families of these teens continue to hope for the best.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[09:10:13] MACHADO (voice-over): The desperate search for two teen boaters missing off the coast of Florida since Friday evening intensifying overnight. Their capsized 19-foot white single engine vessel found overturned, 67 nautical miles off Florida's Ponce De Leon Inlet, with no trace of 14-year-old Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a mother, the worst feeling ever not knowing where your child is.

MACHADO: Cohen and Stephanos both avid boaters embarked on a fishing trip Friday morning. The pair was last seen at about 1:30 p.m. in the Jupiter, Florida, area buying $110 worth of fuel. A few hours later vanished. Early reports to the Coast Guard indicated the boys had told others they planned to travel to the Bahamas. The Coast Guard's search effort on the sea and from the air now spanning more than 26,000 square nautical miles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It can be very tricky specially searching from the air. It's a needle on the haystack out there.

MACHADO: The effort to find the two teens getting some big named support from family friend and neighbor NFL Hall of Famer Joe Namin who helped the families raise a $100,000 reward for the boy's safe return.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're optimistic. We're praying. The Coast Guard is wonderful. The history of the high seas shows survival rates over the years. There have been miracles out there. And we're planning on finding the children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: We're told the U.S. Navy joined in the search overnight. So far the search area is almost the size of the state of Indiana -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Wow. Alina Machado reporting live from Jupiter this morning.

Now we don't know exactly what happened to the two teenagers, of course, but take a look at the radar on Friday afternoon when the boys disappeared. There were storms in the area at the time.

One man who knows all about this is retired Coast Guard Captain Larry Brudnicki. He led two rescue missions during a monstrous weather event off the East Coast of the United States known as the "perfect storm."

Captain, welcome.

LARRY BRUDNICKI, RETIRED COAST GUARD CAPTAIN: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Is it possible that these boys are still alive?

BRUDNICKI: Well, we can't know in certainty whether they are or they aren't. But when you're out there searching you have to believe they're out there, they're alive, and I'm going to find them. And you don't quit until you've exhausted all of your efforts to find them. COSTELLO: Apparently there were life vests on board that fishing

boat, so I suppose it would be possible for the boys to put on life vests but it's been two days now.

BRUDNICKI: Well, news reports haven't said whether the life jackets were found on the boat or not. If they weren't found on the boat, then there's a possibility that the boys were able to put them on and that would certainly increase their chances of being alive and being found.

COSTELLO: They're searching such a large area. How do you go about doing something like that?

BRUDNICKI: Well, when you begin the search, it's always better if you know exactly what time they went in the water and where they went in the water. It gives you a better starting point. But when you're searching an area that big and you really don't have a good starting point, you do -- I'm going to call it a grid search.

Think of a football field and with the yard lines marked on it. You start off at the corner where the goal line is, at the sideline, and you walk up the goal line until you get to the opposite side, you turn, you walk along the sideline until you get to five-yard line and you walk all that five-yard line all the way back to the beginning side and walk up the sideline to the 10-yard line and walk along that line.

And that's really how you want to do a search like that. Now with a person in the water, you're not even looking for a person, you're just looking for a head which is very, very small and for a person in the water you really like the spaces between those grid lines to be about a tenth of a mile. And when you're talking 30,000 square miles, that's an awful lot of search area. So then you really have to decide whether you want to cover more area or you want to be efficient in one small area.

And it's a tough call and you have to look at the weather and you've got the Gulf stream pushing them north and the winds the last couple of days have been out of the southwest. So that would push them north into offshore. And that's about consistent where the boat was found. It was found about 48 hours after they were reported missing and Gulf stream maximum is about 5 1/2 miles an hour, or about four, at max, 48 hours, that's pretty much 200 miles where the boat was found. There's been another 24 hours since that. So quite possibly they could even be another 100 miles north of that.

COSTELLO: Oh, my goodness. Well, miracles do happen and they have happened in the past.

[19:15:02] Thanks for your insight, Captain Larry Brudnicki. I appreciate it.

Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: nearly three years after the death of her mother, Whitney Houston's -- nearly three years after the death of her mother, Bobbi Kristina Brown dies. But so many questions remain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: After more than a month in hospice and nearly six months after she was found unresponsive in a bathtub, Bobbi Kristina Brown has died. Brown died surrounded by her family, a family rep saying last night, quote, "Finally, at peace in the arms of God." Bobbi Kristina was only 22 years old.

Brown's chaotic short life was chronicled by her mother's spotlight and ultimately consumed by tragedy following Houston's sudden death in 2012. Bobbi Kristina explained to Oprah Winfrey how she's coping.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[09:15:01] BOBBY KRISTINA BROWN, WHITNEY HOUSTON'S DAUGHTER: I hear her voice, you know, in spirit talking to me and telling me, you know, keep moving. You know, I'm right here, I got you. She's always with me. I can always feel it. I can always feel her with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In late January, Bobbi Kristina was found unresponsive inside this town home she shared with her boyfriend. For months, police have been treating her case as a criminal investigation.

So, let's talk about that investigation into Bobbi Kristina's life or her death. I'm joined on the phone by CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin, who knew the family.

Sunny, thanks for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): My pleasure, Carol.

COSTELLO: Have you talked to the family?

HOSTIN: I have -- I have spoken to someone very close to the family very late last night and early this morning, and they are -- while they expected this was going to happen, which is why she was moved to hospice, everyone is grieving. Everyone is deeply mourning.

It seems as they were still surprised, didn't know when the time was coming. But, of course, they are trying to deal with this as best they can now making arrangements for her homecoming is what I'm hearing. They're not quite sure when that will be, because again while they expected this, they didn't know when it was going to happen. Everyone, at this point, is just trying to make arrangements and trying to deal.

COSTELLO: I've heard there will be an autopsy on her body. Have you heard that?

HOSTIN: Yes, yes. I was told that part of the process now is that the coroner will be conducting an autopsy and after that, they will know better when they'll be able to plan her arrangements.

COSTELLO: What does the family think happened to Bobbi Kristina? HOSTIN: Well, I think at this point they're not sure. They certainly

have been very suspicious of her relationship with Nick. They were not comfortable with the relationship. They were not comfortable with Nick. As you know, they did not let him visit her at the hospital. They did not let him visit her at the hospice. While the investigation now is in the hands of the authorities, they are still uncomfortable with what may have happened and Nick's involvement.

COSTELLO: And what are the police saying?

HOSTIN: The police haven't been that open about their findings. Of course, that is the norm, Carol, because it's criminal investigation, active investigation. And so, we don't have that much information from the police department. But that is what they should be doing.

They should be keeping this investigation closed. They should be keeping this investigation very closed to the vest at this point. But I suspect that we'll be learning more in the coming days and the coming weeks about their finding.

COSTELLO: Sunny Hostin, thanks so much for being with me this morning. I appreciates it.

Forget the drip, drip, drip of accusations against Bill Cosby. "New York Magazine" today has published the chilling stories of 35 women -- 35 women who claimed they were sexually abused by Cosby at some point in the past. There might be more alleged victims but these are the women who have agreed to come forward with their stories. CNN has reached out to Cosby for reaction but so far, we have not heard back. We're currently vetting those individual accounts of these women and bring you details that are newsworthy.

Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: Regulators crack down on Chrysler, paying up big time. What you need to know.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:38] COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Chrysler has been slapped with a record $105 million fine. Federal safety regulators say the automaker mishandled 23 recalls involving some 11 million vehicles.

CNN Money correspondent Peter Valdes-Dapena joins me now with more on this.

Really? How can you mess up 23 recalls?

PETER VALDES-DAPENA, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Really what Chrysler is being punished for is not so much even 23 specific incidents. There were a lot of ways these were mishandled.

What they're being punished for really is an apparent culture of carelessness around recalls and around recall safety. They didn't seem to be taking these things quickly enough, they were -- seriously enough. They were missing deadlines, weren't getting repair parts made quickly enough and fast enough for customers. Customers were getting frustrated, even though were trying to get their cars fixed.

COSTELLO: So, what does it mean about safety and driving Chryslers on the road even today?

VALDES-DAPENA: Well, honestly, the biggest thing about this recall for Chrysler isn't the money. It's the thing you said. You're seeing these stories in the news you're going to be a little bit worried next time you shop for a Jeep or a Dodge or a Chrysler about, you know, is this a company that's got my back here? It doesn't seem like they created that impression that they are company that has your back.

COSTELLO: We seem to be hearing more and more not just about Chrysler but other car manufacturers as well being slapped with the multimillion-dollar fines. And it doesn't seem to really matter.