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AT THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA

Trump Discusses Foreign Policy, ISIS; Kevin McCarthy Seeking House Speakership; Report: U.S. Efforts to Stop Americans Joining Jihadist "Largely Failed"; Paul Walker's Daughter Sues Porsche; Georgia State Parole Board Considers Woman's Fate; Planned Parenthood Director Question on Capitol Hill. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 29, 2015 - 11:30   ET

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


[11:30:00] AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He understands people are war-weary, we want a more noninterventionist foreign policy. Marco Rubio brought up in the debate where he made gains on Donald Trump was talking sensibly about what America's role should be in the region and recognizing that Vladimir Putin is an aspiring power broker that's trying to get our allies to turn to Russia rather than us. So, the more we can talk about that and how this plays into a general election is that a Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, what have you, can contrast that role of robust American leadership in the role with what Hillary Clinton did as secretary of state. As we have that debate, I think Hillary Clinton's numbers are certain to go down. But I don't think Donald Trump is the one to make that case based on what he said.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also you can see, as you lay out, the more specifics we hear, the more you can really compare these candidates and what they would do for the country, rather than, as we talk so much to this point, out of necessity, out of style and what they say and some of the grandiose statements they make.

Great to see you both. A lot more to discuss on this. Amanda Carpenter, Peter Mansoor, great to see you. Thank you.

A reminder, the first Democratic presidential debate is Tuesday, October 13th, right here on CNN. You do not want to miss that.

And before that, tonight, former President Bill Clinton will be sitting down with Erin Burnett to discuss his wife's campaign, and will touch on Donald Trump and the race for the White House, at 7:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN.

Also just in, House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy, one of the Republicans, probably odds-on favorite, hoping to replace outgoing Speaker John Boehner, he's telling CNN why he is different than John Boehner. Listen here to Kevin McCarthy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: I won't be as tan.

(LAUGHTER) John is a very good and decent man. This is a man that came into this office, and if you looked at those that maybe want to fight, how did the House bank get shut down? John Boehner is the last one standing who shut it down. He then fought to give us majority, went into leadership, left, become a committee chairman, then came back and fought for another majority. He's one of the few standing that won two majorities. But everybody is different. There's a generational difference about us as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: There you have it, Kevin McCarthy. A lot more we're going to hear from him.

Coming up for us, a new report suggests the U.S. homeland is in danger because of specific security weaknesses. We're going to discuss that.

Plus, a man pumping gas, he sees a spider. Moments later, the station is in flames. See what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:36:15] BOLDUAN: Breaking news AT THIS HOUR. A report released by bipartisan task forces, the United States efforts to stop Americans from traveling overseas to join jihadists have, quote, "largely failed." A U.S. intelligence -- U.S. intelligence believes ISIS is also stepping up recruiting efforts. Now, according to this report, overall, more than 25,000 international recruits have streamed into Syria and Iraq since 2011, showing that clearly gaping security holes are making it easier to join ISIS.

Joining me now to discuss is justice correspondent, Pamela Brown. She's got this report. Colonel Peter Mansoor is back with us as well.

Pamela, tell us, what more are you learning in this report?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty alarming the amount of Americans who have been able to leave the U.S., evade law enforcement and actually make it into Syria to fight with ISIS. In fact, of the 250 Americans who have attempted to join extremists in Iraq, the report says the majority, 85 percent still manage to evade law enforcement and several dozen still make it back into the U.S. The problem, of course, is that many of these people were operating under law enforcement's radar. That continues to be a huge issue because people are being radicalized so quickly, Kate, that essentially there isn't enough time for them to be in law enforcement's radar. Before they know it, they're on a plane to Turkey and on to Syria.

BOLDUAN: Colonel, this clearly exposes security secrets, but the number overall, more than 25,000 people international recruits have flowed into Syria and Iraq -- Syria and Iraq since 2011. And I believe also in this report it says more than 30 American women have also left to join the fight. What do you make of it?

COL. PETER MANSOOR, CNN MILITARY ANALYST; I think it calls into question the administration strategy using air power to degrade ISIS over the past year at best case, and there's some controversy about this, we've killed maybe 10,000 people. Well, there is at least that number coming in every year into ISIS's domain. So, what we're doing is not working either in preventing jihadists from flowing into the region or from killing them once we're there.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. A lot more to learn from this report.

Pamela, great to see you. Thanks so much.

Colonel, thanks for sticking around. We appreciate it.

Coming up for us, Paul Walker's daughter is suing Porsche over the fiery crash that killed her father, the actor. She says the car is to blame, not the driver. Does she have a case? We'll discuss.

Plus, the clock is ticking for a woman sitting on death row. Her children begging for her life. Right now, a last-minute hearing is under way, just hours before her execution. Details on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:42:51] BOLDUAN: Actor Paul Walker's daughter is suing the car company Porsche, claiming that the sports car the actor was killed in had multiple design flaws. No this is the scene we're going to show you where Walker burned alive, they say, as the car in which he was a passenger in a car that lost control and crashed into a utility pole. The law alleges the street legal race car lacked security features that should be on cars, features like proper stability control and safety components to protect occupants inside the car and keep it also from catching fire.

Joining me to discuss the lawsuit and these safety features, CNN digital correspondent, who covers many automotive topics, Peter Valdes-Dapena; and CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Danny Cevallos.

Great to see both of you.

Peter, I want to get your take on all of this. They're blaming the car for their deaths in this wrongful death suit. They also blame, according to the lawsuit, a history of instability and control issues in this Porsche. Do these cars have a history of safety issues essentially?

PETER VALDES-DAPENA, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Porsche Carrera GT does, in fact, have a very well earned reputation for being a tricky car to drive. This isn't a car for amateurs. And one would think it might -- you might want to put electronic stability control in a car like that. It certainly was available on other cars of that type. Today, in fact, electronic stability control is a required safety feature on all cars. Because it was shown to be so effective at preventing just exactly this kind of crash where a car goes out of control and hits a tree or light pole on the side of the road. So, that's a legitimate question worth asking. There are also other questions that they're talking about, the design of the fuel hose, the design of the car's doors that didn't prevent a light post from breaking through the car and tearing it in half. My initial reaction here when I heard this is, oh, great, here's another lawsuit where they're going to sue the car company, but there are some legitimate questions that need to be asked here.

BOLDUAN: It's really interesting, Danny, everything Peter lays out there. Let me read Porsche's statement. They say, in part, "We're saddened whenever anyone is hurt in a Porsche vehicle but we believe the authorities' reports in this case clearly establish this tragic crash resulted from reckless driving and excess speed."

You see what Porsche is saying here. Do you think no matter what the case is in terms of design flaws, this really is going to come down to a factor of speed?

[11:45:28] DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes and no. I know it's the lawyer answer, but here's why. We're talking about two different causes of action in the complaint. You have strict liability and you have the negligent design cause of action. They look at two very different things. Negligent design looks at the conduct of the manufacturer but strict liability focuses primarily on the safety of the product. If you read the California jury instructions, this is what a jury will hear. They will be asked the question that, did they create an unreasonably unsafe product and did the plaintiff use it or foreseeably misuse it? Even foreseeable misuse will not defeat a strict products liability claim. Not only, that including assumption of the risk is another thing that does not necessarily defeat a strict liability claim. You have to ask yourself, is speeding in general a foreseeable misuse of an automobile? I think most people would say, yes, it is.

BOLDUAN: So, then if it does come down to a question of speed, Peter, law enforcement, their assumption is they were going between 80 and 93 miles an hour when this happened. There was an independent investigation by some attorneys for the driver of the vehicle who said they may have been going at a much lower speed, so that's in dispute. When you look at if this car was going, let's say, 93 miles an hour, is there any car, any performance car out there, race car essentially, that's going to protect just your average driver in an accident at 93 miles an hour?

VALDES-DAPENA: Yeah, and this is not -- this is a car intended to be driven on the street so things like a roll cage inside the car it wouldn't have had, you wouldn't have expected it would have that. Drivers have died, even in race cars, at speeds lower than 93 miles an hour. So, it's a legitimate question. Could any car have protected someone at a crash at that kind of speed? It's really not knowable. Too many variables and we don't know exactly what happened. One thing we don't know is how fast were they really going?

BOLDUAN: Right. That's in disputes.

Danny, you and I talked about that. That's why they bring in the experts to dispute that and that's now going to play out in the courts.

Peter, great to see you.

Danny, thank you.

The woman in charge of Planned Parenthood is facing a pretty tough set of questioning this hour on Capitol Hill. Cecile Richards is testifying in hearings on those undercover videos that purported to show workers of Planned Parenthood in the group's clinic discussing the sale of fetal tissue. Some Republicans, many Republicans in Congress, they are so furious by the videos and by the allegations that they are threatening, or at least comfortable with shutting down the federal government, allowing it to shut down in an effort to cut the group's federal funding.

Last hour, the Republican committee chairman, he questioned her about her group's use of federal money and spending on political activities. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ, (R-UT), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE OVERSIGHT & GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE: This is why I don't think you need -- if you want to be a private entity, be a private entity, but you don't need federal dollars in order to do this.

CECILE RICHARDS, PRESIDENT, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: I don't use federal dollars to do that, sir.

CHAFFETZ: You do to run the organization. Planned Parenthood --

(CROSSTALK)

RICHARDS: Excuse me.

CHAFFETZ: Planned Parenthood has given Planned Parenthood action fund more than $22 million to exercise -- to be involved in their lobbying expenditures and their advocacy efforts.

RICHARDS: None of the dollars you're discussing are federal dollars. And the Planned Parenthood Federation of America receives almost no federal dollars. I think at this point only $21,000 for clinical trial network for --

(CROSSTALK)

CHAFFETZ: It goes to an organization and you just separate all that out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Now, this is obviously a huge issue playing out, not only on Capitol Hill but on the political stage. It's important to point out that Planned Parenthood insists that the videos that made -- made inside their clinics they've been heavily edited, they insist, to entrap their employees. They completely defend themselves saying all allegations against them are false.

One committee Democrat says Republicans' the real aim, according to Democrats, is to restrict women's rights. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS, (D), MARYLAND: This whole defunding fight is just a pretext for the real Republican agenda. It's a pretext. Take away the constitutional right of women and their doctors to decide what is best for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:49:50] BOLDUAN: So, that fight continues. The group, obviously, was -- has repeatedly denied making money off its donations of fetal tissues for research purposes.

Coming up for us, a death row inmate with just hours to live. The parole board meeting AT THIS HOUR to reconsider her fate. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: As we speak, a Georgia state prison parole board is meeting to consider the fate of an inmate scheduled to be executed an hours from now. Kelly Kisingdanner played a role in her husband's death back in 1997. And her children are asking for the state to the spare her life. If she is put to death, it is going to be the first woman to be executed in more than 70 years in Georgia.

And, Martin Savidge has been following this story.

Martin, the children forgive her, and what is expected to go in the parole board meeting, Martin?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have ruled in the past when it comes to Kelly Kisingdanner, but because it is the 11th hour, they are reconsidering once more. They could possibly commute her sentence or decide it is life with parole or not life with parole or to go on with the execution. She would be the first person executed in what they call the modern era which is 1976 on who did not actually commit the murder themselves. In other words, didn't stab or pull the trigger, and that was done by her boyfriend, and he got life without possibility of parole, and they are saying, this is disproportionate, because the guy who actually killed the husband gets opportunity for patrol, and she gets the death sentence, and this is the third time she has prepared to die. In February, the execution was delayed due to bad weather, and in March, it was delayed due to concerns about the drug to be used to carry out the lethal injection, and so it is the third time. And so we will wait to see what the parole board will do, and the governor has no say in Georgia on this matter.

[11:55:46] BOLDUAN: And her children are all involved and caught in the middle of it.

Martin, thanks so much. We will standby and see what happens. Coming up for us, an exPLOsion at a gas station, and the spider

involved in it all. It was, of course, all caught on camera.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:59:41] BOLDUAN: This is a shocking video. The guy is filling up the gas tank which is a spider and he decides to burn the critter, and you can see what happened. You can see this. Take a look again. He spots the spider on the fuel door and pulls out the lighter to get rid of it, and then that happens. This is all played out near a gas station in Detroit and, fortunately, nobody was hurt. That's why we can have fun with it. And you may be wondering, what was this guy thinking. Well, the driver did have the presence of mind to at least grab a fire extinguisher to put out the flames.