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More Deaths Amid Middle East Violence; New York Mayor Condemns Palestinian Attacks; Key Deadlines Approach as Biden Considers Presidential Run; Evander Holyfield to Raise $1M for SEAL Veterans; Viewers Suggest the Most Exciting Finish in Sports History. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 18, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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


[07:30:00]

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that has especially been the case over the last two weeks since these stabbing attacks began on the streets of Jerusalem here and in other places.

In a number of those cases, there are witnesses, Palestinian witnesses, who dispute the official Israeli version, who say that they did not see a knife, that they believe the shooting dead of the alleged attacker was disproportionate.

Having said that, there is no doubt that knives are being used in this way because Israelis have been killed, seven of them, and others have been injured.

Today, no attacks so far. None of those stabbing events that we have been talking about.

Yesterday, however, was very violent, as you touched on. And what all of this means is that it is calm but tense and the increased security measures that have been put into place by Israeli officials and the Israeli armed forces have, well, they stay. And that is what you're seeing behind us here. We are just on the outskirts of a Palestinian community called Isawiya in East Jerusalem.

What you see is a fortified checkpoint that has been put into place as a direct response to this recent violence. It's happened at a number of other Palestinian communities in Eastern Jerusalem as well.

And what it effectively means is that, to a significant extent, these communities, with sometimes tens of thousands of people in them, are under lockdown; coming and going is heavily restricted.

Here behind us you can see people who are checked; they want to walk out of this community. Before they do so, the men in particular, they are made to stand at a distance, lift their shirt, show they are not armed and not dangerous. And you can sense from these men who undergo this that they are not happy about it. They find it a very undignified experience.

Palestinians believe that it is -- it is punishing many more people than is required, collective punishment, punishing entire communities, rather than just those who are involved in the attacks.

For the families of those who take part of these attacks, the punishments are even greater. Their homes are going to be demolished under the orders of the Israeli government. Their right to live in Jerusalem will be revoked.

Now as I say, Palestinians don't like any of that. They think it's unfair. The Israeli view is that all of this, it is necessary. It is reasonable and they hope short-term in order to reestablish safety and security on the streets here -- Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: And the question here is if this entire conflict that is happening now is short-term or if it is going to lead to something much larger. Phil Black there for us in Jerusalem. Phil, thank you so much.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST: New York mayor Bill de Blasio is in Jerusalem meeting with some victims of recent stabbing attacks and calling an end to the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK: We feel extraordinary closeness, our people, by blood, by history, feel such a connection, and so when you are going through pain, we feel pain, too. When you're under attack, we feel under attack, too.

And I'm honored to be here in that spirit of solidarity.

Today, we saw three families deeply affected by these acts of terror and we understand that any act of violence against a civilian is unacceptable and we have to condemn it and we have to fight to stop it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now to discuss, we are joined by Aaron David Miller, he's a former State Department adviser on Arab-Israeli negotiations and the vice president for new initiatives at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Mr. Miller, always so grateful to have you with us.

We know that President Obama has asked both sides to tamp down the rhetoric.

What did you make of Mayor de Blasio's visit and his voice in this?

AARON DAVID MILLER, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS: You know, American politicians and the U.S.' relationship is extremely important as a political facet of the American life.

And you're going to see any number of officials, elected and otherwise, demonstrating their support for Israel. This is part of the rhythm and the ebb and flow of the U.S.' relationship. I think the problem here is that this is only the latest manifestation

of a rhythm and ebb and flow of violence between Israelis and Palestinians that has lasted half a century; some people would say longer.

And the reasons and the competing narratives and the outstanding issues -- Jerusalem, borders, refugees, what to do about Israeli settlements -- how to reconcile the fact that Israeli is still a threat nation but also an occupying power. All of this, it seems to me, is a very familiar and unfortunate tragic manifestation.

For now, there is simply no way that you are going to be able to resolve the underlying issues that divide Israelis and Palestinians. And I think the latest manifestation is worrisome in the extent -- to the extent now you have young Palestinians between the ages of 13 and 20.

And the attacks are brazen; 80 percent of them are coming, frankly, from areas that the Palestinian Authority doesn't control. They are coming from neighborhoods in Jerusalem that the Israelis have controlled since 1967.

[07:35:00]

MILLER: So even if you can tamp this down and I think it won't end quickly, it's going to be very hard, given the gaps that separate Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to address the underlying causes here.

PAUL: So how do you think that it can -- the U.S. can proceed?

Diplomacy obviously can only do so much. But you hit it on the head when you're talking about these younger kids, 13-20, and they're random stabbings, it seems.

MILLER: Yes. This surprised everyone. And most of all, I suspect, the Israeli security establishment. You know?

You've seen massive protests in the West Bank in years past. You've seen three Israeli-Hamas confrontations over the course of the last decade or so.

But the fact that this is spontaneous, that most of these young Palestinians do not have security profiles and, I think most alarming, they are prepared -- remember, these are Palestinian, young Palestinians, who speak fluent Hebrew, who have Israeli identity cards, who have mixed easily and easily with Israelis, even though they, for the most part, live separate lives, in Israel's capital of Jerusalem.

And yet, what you have now is an abnormal situation and, for a government, Benjamin Netanyahu, that prides itself in security and demonstrating normalcy, this is a serious problem, as it is for Palestinians, Palestinian communities in Jerusalem, three-quarters of which live below -- 77 percent live below what Israeli regards as its poverty line. There are economic sources of tension here, there are longstanding

political issues, there are religious issues that flow from overlapping sacred space. You have two mosques holy to Islam, literally sitting on top of the remains of both the first and second Jewish temples.

All of this is just inextricably linked in a conflict, frankly, that is going to be difficult -- I would argue almost impossible -- for the United States in the year and change that remains on Barack Obama's presidential clock to moderate.

PAUL: All right. All right. Aaron David Miller, always appreciate your insight. We're so grateful that you took the time to be with us. Thank you, sir.

MILLER: Pleasure.

BLACKWELL: The question that political pundits have been asking for months, arguably for years now, will Joe Biden run?

And when will he decide?

A closer look at when the V.P. must make this presidential decision.

Also we've got boxing champion Evander Holyfield joining us, coming up next. We're talking politics, the Black Lives Matter movement, also a cause very close his heart. Stay with us.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK (voice-over): So will he or won't he? Sources close to Vice President Joe Biden say that he is talking to Democratic strategists about how to launch his 2016 presidential campaign, although most say he hasn't made a final decision.

Now, there are some crucial dates coming up on the primary calendar. Here are a few of them.

First coming up, the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, that is next Saturday on the 24th.

If he decides to run, his supporters are going to have to rally Iowa activists at that dinner.

Another big date, November 14th, that is the date of the second Democratic debate. After Hillary Clinton's strong performance at the first debate, Democrats say that the vice president needs to be on that stage. Then you've got November 27th, that's an important date as well

because that is the deadline to get on the primary ballot in New Hampshire.

Let's go now to CNN's Jim Acosta, taking a closer look at Vice President Joe Biden's decision.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, top Democratic officials are telling me privately the party is growing impatient as Joe Biden is taking longer than expected to make his decision on running for president.

But the vice president's political team sent out a smoke signal that a final answer may be coming soon.

ACOSTA (voice-over): It's the big question all over Washington, will he or won't he?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are having a press conference.

ACOSTA (voice-over): When Joe Biden's political future came up in the Oval Office, the vice president was just a few feet away, listening with his lips sealed. President Obama later brushed off the question.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not going to comment on what Joe is doing or not doing. I think you can direct those questions to my very able vice president.

ACOSTA (voice-over): But a decision appears to be coming soon, so says Biden's former Senate chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, in a message to the vice president's political network.

"I am confident that the vice president is aware of the practical demands of making a final decision soon. "

Kaufman also described what a Biden campaign would be like. In other words:

TED KAUFMAN, JOE BIDEN'S FORMER SENATE CHIEF OF STAFF: They're going to put y'all back in chains.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA (voice-over): Lots of Biden being Biden.

"I think it's fair to say knowing him as we all do that it won't be a scripted affair' after all, it's Joe"

But Democrats are all but begging Biden to hurry, as one senior party official put it, "If the silence goes into next week, friends think the decision is made for him."

Hillary Clinton is practically pushing herself in this interview with CNN's Jake Tapper. HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: A decision has to be made but certainly I'm not, in any way, suggesting or recommending that the vice president accept any timetable, other than the one that is clicking inside of him. He has to make this decision.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Plus, the longer Biden waits, the more it hurts. The latest poll in New Hampshire shows Clinton and Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, way out in front of the vice president. When Democratic voters were asked if Biden should enter the race, half said no.

HILARY ROSEN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think he knows this is -- this is D-Day and he has got to make a decision. A lot of people are waiting. And people who really care about him and want to help him are waiting, too. So he needs to move on there.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Democrats are starting to compare Biden's lengthy deliberations to those of the late New York governor, Mario Cuomo, who actually had a plane on a tarmac, waiting to take him to New Hampshire in 1992. But Cuomo pulled back at the last minute.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ACOSTA (voice-over): And a Clinton went on to become president.

ACOSTA: A top Democratic source said Biden's inner circle has indicated a decision could come in the next few days but some Democrats --

[07:45:00]

ACOSTA: -- aren't buying it.

As one party strategist said, "This latest message from Biden World just might be buying time." -- Victor and Christi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Hey, thank you so much.

Listen, boxing champ Evander Holyfield is in the house. He is talking to us about his favorite charity, what he is going to be doing here in Atlanta tomorrow. We have a few other things we have to discuss. Stay put.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

PAUL: Well, the champ is in the House. Look at this. The one, the only, five-time heavyweight world champion boxer in the world, Evander Holyfield, it's so good to have you here.

EVANDER HOLYFIELD, BOXER: Thank you. PAUL: Thank you for being with us.

Tell us first of all what you're doing here in town, in Atlanta. Big event tomorrow.

Virtual walk?

HOLYFIELD: Yes. So man done manned. We team up together and giving other people opportunity if they can't be here but they can still participate.

PAUL: So you're walking for the U.S. Navy SEALs, is that right?

HOLYFIELD: Yes.

PAUL: OK. And that is a near and dear charity to you?

HOLYFIELD: Well, it is, because the fact of the matter is, with me, getting the opportunity to help that kid that needed an opportunity and that got an opportunity. The opportunity made me become the person who I am.

So life is about appreciation, being able to show people the things that you do now, that -- to inspire other people not to quit.

PAUL: When you go out to these events -- and we are seeing some of them here -- because you do so many charitable --

[07:50:00]

PAUL: -- things and lend your name and your voice.

What do you think -- is it not only changes them but does it change you as you go through these?

HOLYFIELD: It let me know life is more than yourself. I wouldn't be who I am as a -- watching my mother. So you know with my mother and also with the other people who contribute and -- because my mother didn't have any money. But someone else did.

PAUL: And she was the one, we were talking during the break -- he said it's so easy, especially I think today, with social media and everything, to hear all these voices telling you what you should and shouldn't be.

You just needed that one.

Yes?

HOLYFIELD: Well, you know, it -- like they say, it take a village. You know. But success starts at home. You know, success starts at home, (INAUDIBLE) home (INAUDIBLE) because when you come home, what you come home to. So I was fortunate enough to have a great mother.

PAUL: Who was telling you, you stick with it, despite what anybody else says. HOLYFIELD: Right. And because, it's, you know, you walking down the line, all the distractions. And somebody got to take these excuses away.

PAUL: OK. Listen, PAL I know is another organization you're involved with, the Police Athletic League.

Have you talked with any of those officers about the #blacklivesmatter movement and what are your thoughts on that movement and the debate about it?

HOLYFIELD: Well, the thing is is that, you know, really got to stay focused. Stay focused on, you know, you got to stay focused on your kids and lives do matter you got it but one day at a time.

PAUL: You know, the folks with Black Lives Matter are saying we -- you know, because we are African Americans, don't feel that we have that voice.

What do you say to them?

What do you say to other people, who look at this and question the movement?

HOLYFIELD: Well, actually, you know, it's within, you know, it's at home. It's at home. The years back at home, you look at the thing, going back to your parents, you know, you got a father and a mother, the first thing is be -- you got to be loyal to your family members.

You got to be able to do what they ask you to do and parents got to take responsibility. This is my child; this is what you're supposed to do.

PAUL: Yes. I understand; as a parent you can get give your child that self-worth. That's so much more than they might be able to find it outside the home. That's what we know from our own experience, right?

I want to show you some video that we have in May of you with one, Mr. Mitt Romney, in a charity fight there.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: And you're laughing. You obviously had a good time with that.

Is there any politicians that you would like to take on next?

HOLYFIELD: Well, not really, you know, I don't think I -- that was so great and I don't know if I could overcome that. That was one of the best thing; we raised $1 million to help the people that, you know, for the site.

PAUL: Yes. All right. I want to get to some questions here because people -- we got a lot on my Facebook and Twitter page, asking questions. Rick wants to know -- I'm sorry -- Jesus wants to know if you're

concerned at all about the recent findings of brain injuries from concussions.

HOLYFIELD: Well, not really. If you -- if the thing in life is that you have to take care of yourself. The route, you know, the art of the game of boxing is hit the guy and not get hit. But eventually you're going to get hit.

It's the nurturing, you know, how you take care of yourself. You know, they have the head gears and somehow they want to take the head gears away. That's the most important thing, the headgear, the safety are the key is while they're young. If you can be healthy, come up in a healthy life and say -- it's you save yourself at the end. Also then the -- at the end, you say, well, this happened from boxing. But really it didn't happen from boxing. It's the lifestyle that you --

PAUL: And real quickly, I have to go, but what do you think of Floyd Mayweather Jr.? That was a big one we got from --

HOLYFIELD: Well, you know, he's a good fighter. He's a good fighter. And regardless to what people say, he knows how to fight and he started at a young age and didn't quit.

PAUL: Mayweather versus Ralphie?

(CROSSTALK)

HOLYFIELD: It might. It shouldn't even -- people shouldn't even think that way. He's a man. And he's good. He's the very best.

PAUL: All right.

And, you know what, I was supposed to ask you about Mike Tyson and whether you're friends. I'm going to ask you that and then I will tweet about it afterwards. Because we've run out of time, I'm sorry to say.

But Evander Holyfield, so grateful to have you here.

HOLYFIELD: I thank you.

PAUL: Thank you for making time for us. We're back in a moment.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:55:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL (voice-over): Look at this.

That's not always my favorite shot as an Ohio State Buckeye.

However, there's going to be a shot coming up that I might enjoy.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): This one you like.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL (voice-over): I'm sorry to all my Michigan, you know, family and friends that love Michigan but...

BLACKWELL (voice-over): And this is the reaction I like. Wait for this.

Look at this guy.

PAUL (voice-over): Yes, that's it. Yes. That's it.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): What just happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That says it all.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACK (voice-over): -- ask you what is the most exciting finish in sports history and our CNN sports anchor, Coy Wire, is back with some of the responses.

PAUL: It's -- the funny thing is that Michigan State -- they didn't really quite know what happened, either.

COY WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly, did that really just happen? It was unfathomable, unimaginable.

And we asked you guys what were the greatest, most exciting finishes in sports history? And there have been some good ones.

Remember 1982 Cal-Stanford game when the guys running through the band and Christian Laettner's buzzer beater win for Duke against Kentucky in '92.

Well, you plugged in your wayback machines and came up with some great responses. Take a look.

WIRE (voice-over): Yancyfaith says, "Most exciting sports finish ever, Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass at Boston College" -- you guys remember that in 1984 against Miami.

How about Bob, who said "1972 NFL playoffs, Franco Harris with the Immaculate Reception," his finger tips as soft as a butterfly butt or you say caught that ball. Oh, what a win.

Rae said "Kevin Dyson coming up one yard short for the Titans in the Super Bowl, when Mike Jones made that game-saving tackle."

Lynne said "Auburn beats Alabama in the 2013 Iron Bowl, most exciting win ever." That is tough to beat.

Remember that missed field goal that they took to the house to win?