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CNN NEWSROOM

Trump Blasts Carson and Fiorina; Japan Flooding; Phoenix Highway Shootings; Baltimore Judge to Announce if Trial Will be Moved; NYPD Addresses Officers Tackling Ex-Tennis Star. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 10, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:29:44] RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean he's obviously struck a nerve. He's running at roughly one-third of Republican primary voters in your new CNN/ORC poll today. An incredible number in a field this big. But ultimately I think, you know, between now and when the voters -- voting starts in February, his rivals are going to have to figure out a way to make these questions about his temperament more relevant than they are today for more Republican voters.

I mean the question of whether they want him to be the face of the party much less the President is something that I think ultimately if they are going to dent this machine that Trump has going, his rivals are going to have to kind of force front and center.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So Cheri, you're a Republican strategist. Ben Carson just sort of blew off Donald Trump's comments. Is that the right move because that's what many of the other candidates have done and, look, they're at 3 percent, 2 percent, 1 percent.

CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: A couple of things are going on here. First of all, Ben Carson said what he needed to say and what Trump said in response is ridiculous. A couple of things are going to change the dynamic of this poll.

First of all, according to Nate Silver of 538, arguably one of the best election prognosticators in the business, he says that Trump is probably not going to be the nominee for many reasons. He knows a couple of things.

First of all, the media has helped Trump. The media -- and good for Chris this morning for pushing back and doing his job when you have any candidate talking like that. And the media has covered Trump more than all of the other candidates combined. I think that has a lot to do with his numbers because --

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COSTELLO: But still nobody thought he would garner 32 percent -- nobody did.

JACOBUS: Yes, but you know what -- it was feeding itself throughout the summer. We're now post-Labor Day. And here is another thing that's going to change the dynamic.

Trump has now gone after Carly Fiorina on her looks, he has gone after Ben Carson, and these are the two candidates who are not part of the so-called, quote, "establishment". So I don't think that's going to go over very well.

BROWNSTEIN: Carol --

JACOBUS: And also he covers only one issue that he cares about that he stumbled into -- the illegal immigration issue. It is the only issue on his Web site. He does not want his core voters to know some of the other things he has said and supposedly stands for because they won't agree.

COSTELLO: Right, right, right. I just want to say one thing about Carly Fiorina.

BROWNSTEIN: Can I --

COSTELLO: One thing about Carly Fiorina. And, Ron, maybe you can address this. And maybe it's what you're going to say. He has attacked Carly Fiorina and you say that his comments about women will matter. Carly Fiorina got 3 percent. She's not rising like a rocket in the polls.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, look, first thing that came to mind is just to underscore that point, at this point in 2007 Rudy Giuliani was leading in the national polls. At this point in 2011 Rick Perry was leading in the national polls.

COSTELLO: Did they have 32 percent?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, Rudy Giuliani was higher. Rudy Giuliani got to 50 percent at points in 2007, yes. And Rick Perry was right around 30 percent or maybe even the high 30s. And neither of them ended up winning a single primary. There's a lot that has to happen between now and Iowa and New Hampshire in February.

But I think that the clear message of this poll is really to the other Republican candidates that Donald Trump is not going to deflate on his own. And that if they are going to get past him, they are going to have to figure out a way to raise questions about his temperament, his ideology. You know, coming at him from the right on some of the positions that he's taken before.

This is not going necessarily to deflate on its own. It's not simply a question of Trump going away. They're going to have to find a way to flank him whether it's Scott Walker and Ted Cruz probably going at him from the right. Or people like John Kasich and Jeb Bush trying to mobilize that center right Republican coalition that has usually picked the nominee in recent times.

COSTELLO: Well, I will say -- I will say the only public figure out there that's gotten Trumpy in fronting to Trump has been the guy from REM because REM was mad that Trump played their song. Not only Michael Stipe, but who is Miller? I think he's also in the band. He called Donald Trump an orange clown.

Is that what we have -- is that what the candidates have to sink to?

JACOBUS: I don't think that's what they have to do, but here's what they do have to do. They have to hold his feet to the fire. The media has to cover this stuff rather than just yawning. And I think that Chris Cuomo did an excellent job of that.

When a candidate of any party uses the type of language and has that type of temperament that should be run on a loop. And reporters and anchors need to call him on it rather than just saying, hey, voters, what do you think? As John Avlon said on CNN sitting there chewing their cud --

COSTELLO: We have --

JACOBUS: Did you see Dana Bash's interview with him.

COSTELLO: She was excellent.

JACOBUS: He's great for rating. And that's why the media loves him. A lot of the mainstream media love Donald Trump because, you know, it hurts the Republican Party and helps Hillary but at some point it's time to get serious. We're now in the post-Labor Day mode, people are paying attention --

COSTELLO: Ron, last word.

BROWNSTEIN: I don't know if it's that but look the temperament issue is already there. In the Quinnipiac poll last week only 50 percent of Republicans and a third of the country overall said they believe he had the temperament to handle an international crisis.

This is a campaign calling out for a 3:00 a.m. phone call ad. Do you want Donald Trump at the other end of the phone in an international crisis? I think ultimately as I said the other Republican candidates are the ones who have to raise doubts about him because this poll I think underscores that he is not simply going to go away on his own.

JACOBUS: Ron -- there's a lot of fodder for a lot of ads and I think the 3:00 a.m. call is just one of them but I think Donald Trump has put it all out there and frankly I think that's what the media likes because this can come back to haunt Republicans. So, yes, Trump is -- I don't think he'll be the nominee as a result of this despite the numbers where they stand now. It's such a large field.

[10:35:03] COSTELLO: OK. I got to leave it there. I got to leave it there.

Cheri Jacobus, Ron Brownstein -- thanks so much.

And don't forget, you can catch the Republican presidential debate live from the Reagan Library next Wednesday right here on CNN. Also, coming up in the NEWSROOM, in just about ten minutes, we

should learn whether the officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray will indeed be tried in Baltimore. The judge is expected to make an announcement in just about ten minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A disaster unfolding in Japan right now. At least nine people are missing in Joso City due to flooding. Raging waters ripping this home right off its foundation. A massive typhoon slamming the country -- nearly two feet of rain falling just this week.

[10:40:06] The situation is so dire, military helicopters are now having to pluck people from the rooftops. More than 120 people have been rescued so far.

Will Ripley is in northern Tokyo. He has more for us. Hi -- will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi -- Carol.

That two feet of rain this week comes after nearly a month of continuous daily rain here in Japan. It's part of the reason why there was so much concern when this typhoon Etau was approaching, and now residents living near the Kinugawa River are finding out a very difficult lesson about what it's like to live close to the water when those floodwaters rise up.

This is really long-time residents say something that hasn't happened in at least several decades. It was very quick, very frightening for these people. Some of them senior citizens who didn't have much time to get out of their homes. In fact, a number of people couldn't even leave their homes. They could only go upstairs to their balconies or even to their rooftops to wait for rescue.

The Japanese military was called in, they were deployed. They're highly trained to deal with a whole host of natural disasters that we see here in Japan -- tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and also flooding and serious mudslides which is what we're seeing in this part of the country right now.

You mentioned that at least nine people are missing. 121 people have been rescued so far, but it's believed that there are still many more in this late hour. It's now the evening here in Japan, but there are people that still need rescue, and the effort is continuing around the clock.

Even though the helicopters are grounded for the evening there are boats that are going from house to house looking for people who may still be trapped hoping to find those missing and those who have called for help and are just waiting right now.

And in Fukushima prefecture, they have also been drenched with very heavy rain. In fact the rain during the tropical storm overwhelmed their drainage system and it caused radioactive water to spill out into the ocean for several hours at a far greater rate than normal. They say that this situation is now contained but they're monitoring radiation levels in that area just adding to the concern for residents around here -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Will Ripley reporting live from Tokyo, Japan this morning.

The city of Phoenix on edge as someone takes aim at drivers. Bullets and projectiles have struck at least ten vehicles over the last two weeks. Another incident this morning is being investigated. Police say a sniper is targeting this stretch of Interstate 10 and they are warning the public these attacks could turn deadly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. FRANK MILSTEAD, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Anytime that you have multiple shootings against American citizens on a highway, that's terrorism. They're trying to frighten or kill somebody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Many now taking desperate measures. Last night four armed volunteers spent hours walking through a neighborhood that runs parallel to that interstate.

Sara Sidner live in Phoenix with more. Good morning.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, we were with those volunteers who come out and go to neighborhoods that have trouble, have crime. They've decided to focus their attentions along I-10 and they were looking all over in cracks and crevices trying to see if they find anyone who is suspicious. That is also what the Department of Public Safety is saying to regular citizens who are out there, to pay attention.

All along Interstate 10, Carol, there are signs. They are saying I-10 shooter, if you have any information call this hotline. There's a $20,000 reward.

Now here is what we know so far. At least six cars have been hit with bullets. We know at least four others have been hit with projectiles. That's just in the past 11 days. And this is causing great concern.

The head of the Department of Public Safety saying this really does amount to domestic terrorism. People are afraid. There are passengers here, there are drivers here who are very concerned about taking I-10.

You look on social media, some folks are saying we're going to try a different route. But for a lot of people this is a main artery into downtown Phoenix and out of downtown Phoenix and they're going to have to use this road. Thousands upon thousands of people use it every day but there is great concern here in Phoenix today -- Carol. COSTELLO: All right Sara Sidner reporting live from Phoenix this

morning.

In just a few minutes I'm going to take you out to Baltimore once again. A judge will make an announcement we believe in just a couple of minutes on whether those six separate trials for those police officers accused in the Freddie Gray case will be tried in the city of Baltimore or will their trials be moved outside of the city? We'll take you live to Baltimore next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:48:53] COSTELLO: Republican presidential candidate Bobby Jindal ripping into Donald Trump just moments ago during a fiery speech at the National Press Club. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R-LA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is for Donald Trump. He believes in nothing other than himself. Look, he's not a liberal. He's not a moderate. He's not a conservative. He's not a Democrat. He's not a Republican. He's not an Independent. Donald Trump is for Donald Trump.

He's not for anything. He's not against anything. Issues don't mean anything to him. Policies, ideals, they're not important to him. He is for Donald. Donald Trump is a narcissist and he's an egomaniac.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. I just had Cheri Jacobus on, a Republican strategist who said someone had to do that and here is Bobby Jindal doing just that. If you heard Donald Trump on "NEW DAY", you know what I was talking about. And if you want to check out what Donald Trump said on CNN's "NEW DAY", I'm sure it's online at cnn.com.

We're also following breaking news out of Baltimore. The judge expected to announce his decision on a motion to change the venue for the trial, change the location.

[10:50:01] Jean Casarez live in Baltimore, CNN legal analyst Paul Callan also joins me.

Has the judge made his announcement yet, Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going on right now. And the judge had said when the break began that at 10:45 he believed he would make that decision. So they're all in court right now.

But we do know a little bit about the argument this morning. It was 15 minutes for both sides. The defense as expected really argued strongly about that $6.4 million civil settlement to the family of Freddie Gray which was authorized by the city yesterday saying that it, in fact, was an admission of guilt by the leaders of this community that the police officers had engaged in criminal wrongdoing coupled with the leaders of this community from the state attorney to the mayor who spoke out in May when this all happened against the police officers. From what I understand, the judge really didn't seem to have any reaction to that.

The prosecutor said that in regard to that civil settlement you need to have the voir dire, the jury selection right here in Baltimore City to see if it influenced the people of this community. That it was widely said yesterday that it had nothing to do with the criminal charges against these police officers.

We also know that the defense said that Baltimore was under siege in May. That is how they termed it. That this entire jury pool has been tainted.

And the judge, Carol, can make three decisions. He can decide that the trials -- and, yes, it's plural, it's six trials, one for each police officer -- all of them can be moved out of Baltimore city. We also know that the judge can determine that all of them will remain in Baltimore City, or the judge can say you know what? Maybe we can't get a jury here, but we've got to try. We've got to give the respect to this community that owns this case that we can try to get a jury right here in this city.

So the decision right now, Carol, most likely is being announced by the judge. As soon as we get that decision, we will let you know.

COSTELLO: I know, I'm waiting. I can't wait to hear the decision.

I just want to check in just briefly with you, Paul Callan. What do you think the judge will say?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I have never seen a stronger argument for changing venue. I mean you had a city that was, you know, destroyed in some areas, very substantially by riots. You have public opinion that's terribly against the police officers. And you have the city admitting guilt in essence by settling the case against the cops for $6.4 million.

And you know something? I don't think the judge is going to grant the change of venue yet. I think he'll probably take a more conservative road of saying, we're going to continue with discovery proceedings, pretrial proceedings, and we'll make a decision farther down the road when maybe public sentiment has calmed down. And then you can really find out whether the prejudice has lasted, the anti-cop feeling has lasted and will impact on the trial.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

CALLAN: This is a coin flip. And if you look at high-profile trials, O.J. Simpson trial -- they were calling it case of the century, tried in L.A. -- OK. Boston bombing case tried in Boston. So it's not unusual to keep them.

COSTELLO: OK. And the reason I'm hurrying you along is because there's a live news conference going on from the New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

He's talking about James Blake, the tennis player being arrested wrongly in a credit fraud case. Let's listen.

BILL BRATTON, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: -- is here to attend the U.S. Open events over in Queens. I have attempted this morning after obtaining the cell phone number of Mr. Blake to reach Mr. Blake. Mayor de Blasio has also sought to reach out to him. We have not been able to contact him through that voice mail.

I am dealing with an intermediary also to let Mr. Blake know that I would be very interested as well as the mayor to talk with him to extend my apologies for the incident in which he found himself involved in yesterday around noontime in front of the Grand Hyatt.

Our chief of the detectives will give you some of the specific details of that event, but, again, we have determined as a result of the investigation over these last now almost 24 hours that Mr. Blake had no role of involvement in the criminal investigation that we were conducting and was totally innocent of any involvement.

And as a result of this morning being able to view a videotape of the incident, that I am in support of a decision by the chief of internal affairs, Commissioner Resnick, yesterday who viewed the video last evening to place the involved officer, a police officer with this department, on modified assignment.

Modified assignment, as you are aware in New York City means his gun and badge have been removed. And he's been placed on administrative duties pending the investigation by internal affairs going forward.

[10:55:02] Concerns I have about what I witnessed on the video as well as briefings I have received by Chief Resnick, the inappropriateness of the amount of force that was used during the arrest, the investigation will attempt to determine was that use of force appropriate. We have not yet talked with the involved officer. We have interviewed the other five officers who were with him at the time of the incident.

We have also concerned administratively with the failure to make any notification of the arrest and detention of Mr. Blake. Mr. Blake was inappropriately arrested and detained in handcuffs for a period of time, five to ten minutes my understanding based on our --

COSTELLO: All right. We're going to break away. We're continuing to monitor Commissioner Bratton's statements, but I got to wrap up my show for the day.

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

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:07] KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Donald Trump on the attack. Less than a week from the CNN debate, the frontrunner unleashing on his opponents including --