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CNN NEWSROOM

GOP Rivals Target Trump Amid Controversy; Ferguson Shootings: Gunfire Erupts, Police Crash with Protesters; Dow Up After 7-Day Losing Streak; Clinton to Unveil College Affordability Plan; NFL Great, Sportscaster Frank Gifford Dies. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 10, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:00] MARGARET HOOVER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: If they can't take small and gentle jabs from their opponents. What's -- what's also so interesting is that the majority of the GOP field is getting traction when they hit back at Trump. That's when Carly Fiorina hits the news. That's what Rand Paul gets in the news. He has changed the center of gravity.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Why aren't more doing that then?

HOOVER: They - they all are. It's like, who does it the best? You know, you have Lindsey Graham breaking up his cell phone after he gives out his number. I mean this is a bully who's entered the race.

The flip side is, 24 million people watched the GOP debate for the first time. Far more people have turned in. They heard a little bit of bluster from Donald Trump and they heard a lot of substance from 16 other candidates in the field. So there's a flip side to this, too. It's not all bad. And I don't think this rubs off on the Republican brand. Donald Trump's the first guy to say he's happy to run as an Independent. So I don't think he besmirches all Republicans. There's a pretty stark contrast if you're looking closely between Donald Trump and the rest of the field.

BROWN: And he takes full credit, by the way, for bringing in all those additional millions of viewers to the GOP debate.

HOOVER: He sure does. And you know what? He's right.

BROWN: OK. And - go ahead, John.

JOHN AVLON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "THE DAILY BEAST": No, just look, it's a mirror up to our culture. You know, even in a presidential campaign, celebrity has a way of dominating real substance. And that's something - that's a larger issue for us to deal with.

BROWN: And something that he's been criticized for, as we all know, is that he just - you know, he's a lot of fire, all talk, but there's not a lot behind. Not a lot of substance. He's been criticized for not providing these in-depth positions. But now we're learning from Politico that the campaign will publish the first in a series of policy papers this week. So, John, what do you think, will this help change the conversation or is it a little late here? AVLON: Look, I mean, if he's putting forward serious policy proposals,

even if they're written by somebody else, if it helps elevate the debate even a little bit, that's a good thing for the country because, you know, policy is treated as the side issue but, in fact, it's the core of what we expect presidents to do and implement when in office and we forget it's not simply a reality show kind of food fight on the Republican side of the aisle. So any policy that kicks off a real debate would be welcome right now. Donald Trump being - being expected to be someone who's going to elevate the debate in this country wouldn't hold you bet (ph). That's not what he does. That's not what he cares about, ultimately.

BROWN: All right, Margaret Hoover, John Avlon, thank you so much. Great having you on.

HOOVER: Thanks for having us.

AVLON: Thank you.

BROWN: And still to come right here in NEWSROOM, making college affordable. Hillary Clinton's plan to keep students from needing loans. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:36:51] BROWN: Well, right now, authorities are investigating a string of shootings in Ferguson, Missouri. Overnight, peaceful protests cut short by chaos, anger, and gunfire. The video you're about to see shows the moment when one of those shootings broke out.

At least four people are now behind bars. And during one of those incidents, police say a man in his 20s fired on police using a stolen gun. He is now in critical condition.

And the video appears to show the suspect on the ground right here. Take a look as he is surrounded by police. You can hear the chaos in this video. All of this happening one year after unarmed teen Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer. Even though a year has passed, many in the community are still angry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: We're ready for war. We're ready for what? We're ready for war. We're ready for what? We're ready for war. We're ready for what? We're ready for war. We're ready for what? We're ready for war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And more protests are planned for today. So let's talk about all of this with Bakari Sellers, former South Carolina state representative. He joins us over the phone.

Thank you so much for being here with us, Mr. Sellers. We appreciate it.

BAKARI SELLERS, FMR/ SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REP. (via telephone): Thank you so much for having me, Pamela.

BROWN: First off, what is your reaction to the violence that unfolded last night one year after the death of Michael Brown? What do you make of this violence?

SELLERS: Well, for me, it's simply a wants (ph) of being able to have Michael Brown truly rest in peace. And right now that's not the case. There's so much unrest in Ferguson. There's so much unrest in cities across the country. And this is an issue that we have to tackle head on. This is an issue that Democrats and Republicans have to come together on. Black and whites have to come on, and talk about how we save lives and we don't have these very unnecessary and violent interaction and killings when it comes to people in law enforcement, especially young African-Americans in law enforcement.

BROWN: There have been a number of controversial, if you will, interactions between law enforcement and the communities over the last year since Michael Brown's death. Do you think that tension has only escalated over the past year?

SELLERS: Well, I don't know if tensions escalated per say, but I do know - I do know that the light is shining brighter. And I don't want to say that they're just some happenstance occurrences. I mean we've had some flat out murders, whether or not it's Walter Scott here in South Carolina, or whether or not it's the young man who was murdered by the police officer in Cincinnati. You know, these instances are flashing across our screen on a - on a relatively regular basis. I mean we even had a white gentlemen, Zachary Hammond (ph), here in South Carolina get shot by police and we're still sorting out the facts in that because the facts don't match up with the police report.

So, you know, the world is pay attention. The country is playing attention. And there is a new generation of civil rights leaders, of activists. There's a new generation with people and with social media and telephones and things of that sort. We're not letting these things pass us by anymore.

[09:40:11] BROWN: And on the flip side, Mr. Sellers, just to be fair here, there have been a number of police officers killed over the last year. The couple of examples that come to mind, the two officers in New York, the officer just recently killed in Memphis during a traffic stop.

SELLERS: And that's a - yes.

BROWN: And what is the solution here? I mean, you have all these incidents where, you know, as you said, there is a spotlight now shining on this issue. But what is the solution? What do we need to do for both sides?

SELLERS: And you - you can't lose sight of the law enforcement men and women who go out and do their job very well every day and have a family who expects them to come home. You can't lose sight of that in this whole discussion. And that has to be a part of the discussion. It can't be left to the side. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about that. You know, my heart aches for those two families in New York. And I was

actually in Memphis, Tennessee, when that incident occurred there. And so, you know, we have to understand and we have to begin to reevaluate the value that we give to human life. And that's important. And then we have to also have a conversation about guns in this country, who has access to them and how they're using them because we have people with guns and we have violence going on in this country that it's just nonsensical.

BROWN: Yes.

SELLERS: And we just need to take a pause and breathe.

BROWN: Violence like what we saw last night in Ferguson, Missouri.

Bakri Sellers, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

SELLERS: Thank you for giving the coverage, Pamela. Thank you so much.

BROWN: And still to come right here in NEWSROOM, drones near landing aircraft. New worries for pilots heading into one of the busiest air spaces in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:25] BROWN: To Wall Street now. The Opening Bell just moments ago, as you hear, and the Dow bouncing back after seven days of losses. Good news for a lot of people. Up almost 170 points right now, and there's a lot to discuss, because I guess the first big question is what changed over the last seven days?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Warren Buffett wrote the biggest check of his life. He bought a big company, his Berkshire Hathaway bought another company, pays $37 billion for it. So there's a lot of merger and acquisition optimism today.

Also Twitter announced a deal with the NFL to put some new kind of cool content via Twitter of NFL, you know, in-game highlights, best plays, custom game recaps, all that kind of stuff. So there's some excitement in tech. That stock is up 4 percent here today.

And really you had a bounce back because you needed one, Pamela. Because we had seven days -- The longest losing streak in four years. It turns out, stocks can go down. They've been going down for six years.

BROWN: I know, we were all getting foiled for awhile there.

ROMANS: I know, I know. So stocks were worried about -- Investors were finally worried about higher interest rates. Higher interest rates are coming. Probably next month, but if not next month, very soon. And so there was this reality check. Higher interest rates, as you know, Pamela, means car loans become more expensive. Mortgages become more expensive. You pay more in interest when mortgage rates rise. And credit cards, you'll likely see credit card debt will become more expensive. So for -- I would say highly leveraged households or people who are in

the market to borrow money or companies in the market to borrow money, interest rates will rise. And that's something that was putting a damper on stocks. I think they worked through it. I think investors know it's coming. They've worked through it. And this morning you're seeing sort of a bounce back, I think, because you're looking at the fundamentals of the American economy and business conditions right now.

BROWN: So they're looking at the positive right now.

ROMANS: That's right. That's right. Happy Monday, right?

BROWN: Yeah. "CNN MONEY" chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, thank you so much.

ROMANS: Thanks, Pamela.

BROWN: We appreciate it.

Well, Hillary Clinton's pledge to boost the middle class will focus on education today as the Democratic frontrunner unveils a plan to make college more affordable, a proposal that could cost some $350 billion over ten years.

CNN serener political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson joins me now with more on this. Nia?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: So, this is something that progressives have been looking for from Hillary Clinton for quite some time to unveil some sort of college plan, college affordability plan. So she'll do that today in New Hampshire, and this plan would basically make -- allow students to attend in-state universities or colleges without having to take out any loans. It would also continue Obama's plan. He, of course, announced a plan on the State of the Union address that would allow for tuition-free community college.

And this plan, as you said, would cost $350 million. For those existing borrowers - remember there's something like a $1.2 trillion owed in college debt -- For those borrowers it would cap the amount of loan repayment to 10 percent of their income.

So this is something that comes as there is this discussion that we have seen from folks like Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats on Capitol Hill, something that is crucial, repaying the student loan debt that is so massive for so many young kids, young students. And remember, this was part of the coalition that elected Barack Obama.

We also remember Marco Rubio, remember that debate, remember that debate, he had that great line in the debate where he said, listen, how is somebody like Hillary Clinton going to lecture me on student loan debt -- given that he owed $100,000 just four years ago. So this is very much going to be a key part of this campaign, not only from the Republicans, but also Democrats. [09:50:03] I think From Hillary Clinton's perspective, she sees this

as her big domestic plan, really akin to what Obama was talking about and, of course, did with Obamacare under his administration.

BROWN: So, Nia, this proposal would cost some $350 billion over ten years, as we said. Where is that money going to come from?

HENDERSON: Well, it's going to come from -- her plan is that she would limit the itemized deductions on wealthy families. And that's what you see a lot of these plans -- Bernie Sanders' plan that is actually tuition free -- it would be free tuition for all, in terms of public university education. He would tax Wall Street transactions from large investment firms. That's where it would come from. Then the money then would be transferred to the states and the states to participate and get this money, they would have to agree to increase their spending on education. That is something that in some ways has been cut back on, education has, because of the recession. And so it would take not only agreement from Congress but agreement from Republicans and Democratic governors to participate in this plan.

BROWN: All right. Nia-Malika Henderson, thank you so much.

HENDERSON: Thank you.

BROWN: And checking our top stories at this hour. In Iran, the final hearing in a trial for a jailed "Washington Post" reporter has ended. No verdict was announced and it remains unclear what happens next. Jason Rezaian, who was accused of espionage, has been held by the Iranian since 2014. "The Washington Post" calls the trial, quote, "a sham" and denies all of the allegations.

And next hour, Ali Rezaian, Jason Rezaian 's brother, joins us. We'll have more on this coming up.

In Afghanistan now at least five people were killed today by a suicide car bomber at a checkpoint right outside the international airport in Kabul. 16 others were wounded. The Taliban took credit for the attack. It's the latest in a series of assaults that have claimed more than 50 lives since Friday. One of those attacks wounded ten U.S. military personnel and two U.S. contractors.

The FAA is now investigating another drone sighting near an airport. It happened Sunday afternoon when four commercial flights reported seeing an unmanned aircraft as they approached Newark's runway. Reports say the drone was about 13 miles from the airport and flying at an altitude between 2,000 and 3,000 feet. No one was injured.

Well, NASA's astronauts have a special meal plan today, but you can't buy it in stores. Astronauts will sample red romaine lettuce that was grown on the International Space Station. It's all part of NASA's plan to eventually grow food on their spacecrafts.

And in just a few minutes from now, two Russian crew members are heading outside for a space walk to install equipment and take new pictures right outside of the station.

And still to come right here in the NEWSROOM, from the gridiron to the broadcast booth, we remember the Hall of Fame career of Frank Gifford.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:57:21] BROWN: The sports world is mourning the loss of football legend Frank Gifford. The 84-year-old NFL Hall of Famer died this weekend of natural causes in his Connecticut home.

The former NFL player and current CNN sports anchor, Coy Wire, joins me now with more on how Gifford's being remembered as a pioneer on and off the field.

Coy, a lot of people are mourning his loss. He really touched so many lives. Tell us what the reaction has been in the football community.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Absolutely, Pamela. Good morning to you. Frank Gifford was an icon. I can say, as a former player, in more ways than one. On the field he rose to fame as the face of the New York Giants in the '50s and '60s doing what likely will never be done again. He became a pro-bowler at three different positions. As a player, that's just unfathomable. He was a Hall of Famer who played offense and defense, went to eight pro bowls altogether, was the league MVP, led his team to a championship and he's arguably the most iconic Giants player of all time. By the way, he was also inducted into the college football Hall of Fame as well.

Now, he went on to make the transition into broadcasting, helping pave the way for former athletes who are fortunate enough to do it today. Many people remember Frank Gifford as the voice of "Monday Night Football." One of the premier positions in all of sports broadcasting. And on top of all that, Pamela, he may most well-known - be well-known for being the husband of an icon in her own right, Kathie Lee Gifford. Pamela.

BROWN: Absolutely. And beyond that, he's known for more. He had an incredible life outside of football broadcasting and outside of being married to Kathie Lee Gifford for something like 30 years, right?

WIRE: Absolutely. People always think of him and associate him with the football, but you have to remember, this guy reported on Olympics, he commentated for golf, he even was part of the famous Evel Knievel dare-devil stunts and he was really a game-changer.

When you look at what he did in the booth for football, he convinced his partner, Howard Cosell, to talk about when John Lennon passed away. So he really helped shape the game in terms of sports broadcasting.

Now I want to get to some of the comments that were out there. We heard on social media from entertainment stars, politicians like Chuck Schumer and Donald Trump and, of course, sports stars as well.

Here's Shannon Sharpe, said "Growing up there were two people you wanted to call your games. Frank Gifford and Pat Summerall. So sorry to hear of his passing."

Also, legendary coach Barry Switzer said, "Sad that Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and now Frank Gifford have all passed away. The original Monday Night Football ABC telecast was the best."

Pamela?

BROWN: Coy Wire, thank you so much.

WIRE: You're welcome.

BROWN: And the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.