Return to Transcripts main page

NEW DAY

School Officer Caught on Tape Using Force Against Student; Ben Carson Leading Donald Trump in New National Poll; U.S. Navy Destroyer Sails By Chinese-Built Island; Bernie Sanders: No More "Mr. Nice Guy"? Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired October 27, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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


[08:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Defiance is a part of what makes teenagers teenagers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is Ben Carson gaining momentum in Iowa?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen Carson officially knock Trump from his perch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ben Carson has played this brilliantly. He has not gloated about polls.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Carson is lower energy than Bush. I don't get it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Neil says the flight attendants watched as he crawled his way up the aisle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was like I don't have time for this. And I decided to get out and crawl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, October 27th, 8:00 in the East. And up first this viral video that must be discussed. It is certainly sparking outrage nationwide. Take a look. It is what it appears to be. That is a teenage girl in class. They call a cop, a resource officer. She won't get out of her seat. And this is what happens in this South Carolina high school. Now a lot of people are talking about whether the cop was obviously using force that was not justified and why he was called in the first place.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So we don't know what happened in the minutes before this video. But you can hear the officer telling the student to get up. And when she refuses he knocks her to the ground and arrests her. CNN's national correspondent Jason Carroll joins us with the very latest. What have you learned, Jason?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think a number of people are looking at this video, her parents specifically, and asking themselves, would they want their daughter treated that way if she refused to leave class? The investigation into what happened now well underway.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: South Carolina school police officer Ben Fields, seen here, is on administrative leave this morning after his violent takedown of a high school student was caught on camera Monday afternoon. You can see the sheriff's deputy tossing a female student to the ground after she refused to get up from her desk, then throwing her across the classroom floor.

LT. CURTIS WILSON, RICHARD COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: We won't want anyone to rush to judgment, but we also feel the video was very, very disturbing.

CARROLL: According to police, the student was asked to leave the classroom. When she refused Field was called in to arrest here for disturbing class. School officials say the video is, quote, "extremely disturbing" and has banned the deputy from all district schools pending an investigation. The sheriff's department, who's also looking into the matter, says it is still unclear what happened before the cameras started rolling.

WILSON: We'll have to look at this in its totality to understand what happened. Is this a pattern? Is this something that he's done before?

CARROLL: The deputy has been the subject of two lawsuits in the last ten years. In 2007 a couple claimed he used excessive force in questioning them about the noise complaint. The husband says Fields slammed him to the ground, cuffed him, and began kicking him. But the jury ruled in Field's favor in 2010. In 2013 a student claimed Fields falsely accused the teen of being involved in a gang, the school expelling him. That lawsuit is ongoing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you see a video like we've seen earlier today it certainly alarms you and makes you awe little bit afraid of what is happening in the schools.

CARROLL: The deputy has been working with the school district seven years and recently awarded the culture of excellence award in 2014 for proving to be what they say was an exceptional role model to the students.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And still a number of questions about what happened before. The young girl's name has not been released. We are told that she was not hurt during arrest. We've also reached out to the officer who was involved. He had not responded to our requests for interview.

CAMEROTA: OK, Jason, thanks so much for all of that background.

Let's bring in now the executive director of the South Carolina ACLU Victoria Middleton, and CNN contributor and former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives Bakari Sellers. Thanks to both of you for being here. Ms. Middleton, I want to start with you. We've had two representatives from law enforcement on NEW DAY this morning, and they remind us to sort of take a deep breath because we don't know what happened in the moments leading up to this video. All we know is what where he see on the video. Is it possible that there was something that proceeds what we see that will tell a different story?

VICTORIA MIDDLETON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ACLU OF SOUTH CAROLINA: I can't imagine any justification for treating a child like that in a classroom. We were shocked -- felt disbelief and then outrage when we saw the video. So whatever led up to it, whatever rationale may be presented does not justify the force with which that student was treated.

CAMEROTA: This officer is a sheriff's deputy. He was a school resource officer, meaning he was assigned to be in the school. We hear him say "Get up or I'm going to make you."

[08:05:00] How can a school resource officer not be trained to deal with a defiant teenager? Isn't that part and parcel of dealing with the teenagers?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well he treated her as if she was just Sammy the neighborhood drunk from the local pool hall who was disturbing the peace. And that's not the case at all. The settings were totally different. And what we do know, the facts are this young lady was arrested for disturbing the peace. The facts are that it was a school setting. And the facts are she wasn't about to harm herself or anybody else. That is all we need to know that know that the results of this was more than that. It was wrong. He assaulted that young lady and he has to be held accountable.

Yes, she should have gotten up on the first command or second command, but she didn't. She was an unruly teenage in a classroom setting. This did not have to end this way.

And again, we didn't have to get to the point where, once again, as Victoria knows, South Carolina is on the front lines of embarrassment. And that is the tragedy, because we've made so much progress, but this colossal failure of judgment of this officer and this assault is tearing us apart again.

CAMEROTA: Ms. Middleton, as we just heard from Jason Carroll's report, we do know a little bit about this officer's background. He was the subject of two lawsuits, one in 2007 for excessive force. But a jury found in his favor. There is another one that is still pending.

He also, though, interestingly got this commendation from a school that he worked in last year. This was an elementary school. He was described as, quote, "an exceptional role model to the student he serves and protects." What do you think should happen to this officer who's now on administrative leave? MIDDLETON: I don't want to pass judgment on this individual

officer. What our organization, the ACLU, is interested in looking at the whole system. How do we get to that point? Why do we have so many police in schools in any case resolving disputes and handling problems that may be emotional and could be solved in other ways?

We are really over-criminalizing childhood misbehavior. And to allege that this is one officer going rogue is to miss a very big point, which is that we are not investing in counseling, medical care, community treatments, even in identifying what the problems are. We're simply criminalizing behavior that in adults would not be criminal.

CAMEROTA: One of the things that I'm struck by in watching this disturbing video is the response of other kids. I can tell you that in high school when I saw fight, I screamed involuntarily. It was my naturally reaction, I would scream. These kids sit at their desks. They are quiet. They are barely fidgeting. What does that tell you?

SELLERS: Well, there are two things going on. And this is really a study that we really have to look at their reaction. One, I believe the students are very fearful. They are fearful of the police. They are fearful of that setting. There's one young man in the front who puts his hand up. He won't even make eye contact with what's going on.

And two, there's also this theory that maybe those students are immune to this type of violence. Maybe they see it all the time, they see it in their classrooms, they see it in their schools, so this is nothing new.

I will tell you and the viewers this morning on CNN there was one other young lady who actually stood up. She stood up and said that this young lady who was being arrested, she knew she didn't have anybody. She was praying for her out loud. She was asking what is going on. She too was arrested. This was just the colossal failure of the judgment.

CAMEROTA: We don't know that part of the story. So tell us more. There was a classmate who stood up to her defense, and what was she arrested for?

SELLERS: There was another young lady arrested for disturbing schools as well. She stood up, and her statement is that she was attempting to fight and stand up for this young lady. Her mother came out and said she's not mad at her daughter at all. She's happy she had the courage. So not all the students were docile. But your line of questioning is on point. You know, I think many of the students, I think they wouldn't have been upset if they were asked to leave the classroom while the officer attempted to deescalate the situation. I think all of them feel really bad that this young lady was brutalized the way she was.

CAMEROTA: So Ms. Middleton, if these students sat there because they were immune or fearful, where does that leave South Carolina schools? What is going to happen as a result of this video? MIDDLETON: Well, we all want our children to be safe in school

understandably. But intimidating police tactics are not going to increase respect for the authority of law enforcement, and they are going to terrorize, traumatize children. So the way to build respect is to get discipline right. And we need things like memoranda of understanding between school districts and law enforcement agencies about who handles school discipline in which cases. But we're simply over criminalizing --

[08:10:00] CAMEROTA: I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just want to get you on the record of this. Do you think the sheriff's deputies should be inside the schools?

MIDDLETON: We think there are too many law enforcement officers in the classroom. Every time we have a school shooting in the country, the rush to do something is to put an officer in every classroom, even in elementary school classrooms. It's not even a good use of law enforcement assets. Police chiefs will tell you that.

But we need -- we're now using those officers against the children rather than outside intruders for minor disciplinary infractions like disturbing schools, which could be anything from, you know, kicking over a chair, slamming a locker, talking back, not staying in line in the hallways. So we're really criminalizing minor infractions.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for coming on and giving us your perspective on all of in this morning. Let's get over to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you. We have huge political news. It is not good for Donald Trump. A brand new CBS/"New York Times" national poll gives Ben Carson a four point lead over Trump. It's a the first. CNN senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns more live from Washington. Hey, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey Joe -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: You're o Joe.

(LAUGHTER)

JOHNS: Long morning. A couple of stories here. Ben Carson quadrupling his support among Republican voters since August, now looking stronger than ever in a national poll from the "New York Times" and CBS News. And for the first time since the month of July, Donald Trump not in first place in a survey of likely primary voters from across the country. It is a narrow lead for Ben Carson at 26 percent, Trump at 22 percent. Going down the list of Republican presidential candidates, no one else close to the top two. The two candidates from Florida, Marco Rubio, former governor Jeb Bush at eight percent and seven percent, and the former CEO Fiorina neck and neck with Bush. A number of other candidates all bunched up at four percent, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, and John Kasich.

But perhaps what matters most at this stage is what's happening on the ground in the first states to make the decision. And the latest poll in Iowa shows Carson up there too actually widening his lead among non-evangelicals. The latest Monmouth university poll showing Ben Carson now out to a double digit lead over Donald Trump. Carson is at 32 percent. Trump at second at 18 percent. Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio tied at 10 apiece, Jeb Bush just a couple of clicks behind at eight percent.

Also there, a big dip in this poll for Carly Fiorina. So a lot to talk about. Saw Donald Trump just yesterday out in New Hampshire and of course he's distinguishing these polls. He says we don't talk about the ones where he's up.

CUOMO: Right. Everybody can pick a poll. There are lots out there. But the trend is pretty clear if the conclusion is still in doubt. Joe, Thank you very much.

President Obama and his senior advisors are working on a new plan to take down ISIS. Here is what the plan considers and this is going to get a lot of controversy -- moving U.S. troops closer to the front lines in Syria and Iraq. This as tensions between the U.S. and China are peeking after an American naval destroyer sails within miles of islands claimed by Beijing. We have live team coverage of these developing stories beginning with CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. U.S. boots on the ground bad enough. Moving them to the front lines will be controversial.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed. Good morning, Chris. We will have to see, however, of course whether President Obama signs off on such a plan. Just about 45 minutes from now Definitely Secretary Ash Carter, General Joe Dunford, the brand new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff scheduled to testify before the Republican led senate armed services committee. It's chairman, Senator John McCain, very much wanting to see more involvement on the ground in the fight against ISIS, involvement air and ground.

Now, U.S. officials, Pentagon officials telling me there are a number of ideas out there, a number of options. The president has told the Pentagon, they say, he wants to see some options for more rapid action for more success for trying to build on what they have already done. Carter in fact hinted at some of this last week after that special operations raid in northern Iraq, saying that there would be more raids like that, that U.S. troops might again go into the field. They are advising, assisting, and accompanying Iraq forces. We might see more of that, but right now we are told no finals decision have been made. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Barbara, keep us updated. Thank you for that.

Well, an American destroyer passes within 12 nautical miles of artificial islands in the South China Sea, and Beijing calls it illegal.

[08:15:05] But a U.S. defense official says this is a, quote, "routine patrol".

CNN's chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto joins us live in Washington.

What's the latest with this, Jim?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESONDENT: Well, Alisyn, the Chinese definitely do not see this as routine. And, in fact, I just learned from a senior military official that the Chinese navy communicated with the bridge of the U.S. destroyer, that is USS Lassen, during its transit inside these 12 miles of what China claims to be its territorial waters but which the U.S. by sailing the ship is sending the message it does not believe it is Chinese territory.

And I'll tell you, you may remember that in May, we were on a U.S. spy plane as it flew over these same islands, a demonstration that the U.S. does not view the air space over these island as Chinese air space. And you may remember at that time that we were warned as well by the Chinese navy.

And this is what its sounded like inside the cockpit.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CHINESE NAVY: Foreign military aircraft, this is Chinese navy. You are approaching our military alert zone. Leave immediately.

You go!

This is the Chinese navy. This is the Chinese navy. Please go away quickly.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Now, this senior U.S. military official has not characterized what kind of warning the U.S. destroyer received from the Chinese navy during this transit. But you did hear some very strong words from the Chinese foreign ministry today in reaction to this transit. And it shows just how serious the Chinese are taking this.

In that reaction, the Chinese saying, "If relevant parties, read the U.S., insist on creating tensions in the region and making trouble out of nothing, it may force China to draw the conclusion that we need to strengthen and hasten the build up of our relevant capabilities. I advise the U.S. not to create such a self fulfilling prophecy."

What does building up relevant capabilities mean? U.S. will be very concerned it means further militarizing these islands. They've already seen airstrips, ports, even artillery positions, and that is a step that the U.S. would take very seriously -- Alisyn, Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Jim, thank you so much for that.

The death toll from the powerful 7.5 magnitude earthquake that shook South Asia on Monday rising overnight. At least 345 are dead now across Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. And with access limited to many of the hardest hit rural villages around the epicenter in Afghanistan, fatalities are expected to rise.

If you would like to help the earthquake victims in Pakistan and Afghanistan, you can go to CNN.com/impact to find out the details.

CAMEROTA: OK. Back to politics. Democratic challenger Bernie Sanders no longer playing nice guy after frontrunner Hillary Clinton calls him sexist. We talk to Sanders' campaign manager ahead, live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:21:35] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All the shouting in the world is not going to do what I would hope all of us want.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been told to stop shouting about ending gun violence. Well, I haven't been shouting but sometimes when a woman speaks out, some people think it's shouting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton trading jabs. And now, Senator Sanders fighting back against the accusations of sexism labeled by Hillary Clinton. Is it no more Mr. Nice Guy time?

Let's bring in Bernie Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver.

Jeff, great to see you. What does Bernie Sanders think about these charges of sexism against him?

JEFF WEAVER, SANDERS CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Well, look, you know, it is an illness here in Washington D.C. some politicians believe that no one could possibly be in a room with them without talking about them. But the truth of the manner was Senator Sanders was tack about the tenor of the debate in general over the issue of the gun violence and gun safety.

And I think anybody who looked at it objectively understands that there, in fact, has been a lot of shouting back and forth from people on both sides, and it's time to build a consensus around common sense gun safety legislation. So --

CAMEROTA: Is the term "shouting" a sexiest term?

WEAVER: Well, it wasn't leveled at Secretary Clinton. So I don't think it's relevant.

CAMEROTA: So, is this what is sort of prompting Bernie Sanders new tone? What some believe is a new tone of him going after Secretary Clinton? Let's listen to what he said last night about Hillary Clinton.

WEAVER: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: I have been opposed to these disastrous trade agreements from day one. I'm glad that Hillary Clinton has come on board and now said, well, she's against the Keystone pipeline. Well, do you know what if you take climate change seriously and understand the impact it will have on this planet, it is a no-brainer. What the American people and Democrats have to know, which candidate historically has had the guts to stand up to powerful people and take difficult decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So is that Bernie Sanders taking off the gloves against Hillary Clinton?

WEAVER: Look, there are some clear policy differences between Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton. There's no doubt it. You know, the Clinton campaign has tried as rapidly as they can to race towards Senator Sanders in terms of positions because, you know, he's setting the terms of the debate in this election.

So, you see on Keystone, she said they were inclined to support it. In terms of TPP, she said it was the gold standard. Spoke in favor of it 45 times. In terms of DOMA, she claimed it was kind defensive action when in fact it was that discriminatory gay law against Americans.

So, on issue after issue, you see there are clear differences between the candidates both in terms of their positions and in terms of the consistency with which they have held those positions over the years.

CAMEROTA: Jeff, this does sound like a different tone from Bernie Sanders. It is not to congenial tone that we heard at the debate. Is this intentional from your campaign that now sort of the gloves are off and it is time. We're getting closer to the first primaries, to more vociferously go after Hillary Clinton?

WEAVER: Well, it's not about going after anybody, but it's about laying out the differences between the candidates. I mean, an election is a choice.

[08:25:01] Voters are going to go into the caucus rooms or into the booths and they are going to make a choice between two candidates.

And it's important to know what those choices are. I would also say, you know, while we've been setting the agenda in this debate, the Clinton campaign has really been setting the tone. It was they who launched super PAC attacks against Senator Sanders. It was they who made this sort of distorted sexist attack against Senator Sanders. All baseless.

So, you know, I think, what we would like to do is we would like to have a campaign where we talk about the issues, which we are doing. And if that is the tone that they want to set in this campaign, you know, we can do that as well.

CAMEROTA: Jeff, so much was made in the debate of that moment that Bernie Sanders said, "Enough with the e-mails, nobody gives a damn about the e-mails." And we interviewed you on NEW DAY the next morning and that did seem to be one of the highlights of the debate.

But now, a couple of weeks out, in sort of the cool light of day, does Bernie Sanders regret making that statement? Because it did seem too friendly to Hillary Clinton.

WEAVER: No, absolutely not. Look, this must be a campaign about issues, about trade policy, about raising the minimum wage, about dealing with a rigged economy that is propped up by a corrupt political system. Those are the issues we want to talk about. E- mails or no e-mails, that's not an important issue to the American people. What they want to talk about are the issues that you heard Senator Sanders just talking about last night. Where he is drawing contrasts but they are on the substantive issues that American people care about, not emails and gossip and personal attacks.

CAMEROTA: Jeff Weaver, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. Nice to talk to you.

WEAVER: Happy to be here. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. Alisyn, a new national poll establishing Dr. Ben Carson as the man to beet right now among all Republican candidates, including Donald Trump. What's behind the surge? Can it last?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)