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CNN NEWSROOM

Majority Disapprove of Obama on Economy; Did Live Anthrax Get Inside Pentagon?; Rescue Team Cut Hull of Overturned Ship; Woman Mauled to Death at Wildlife Park. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 3, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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


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[10:30:06] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Americans may feel the economy is starting to recover but they don't think it's a result of President Obama's policies. New CNN polls are out and they show 53 percent disapprove of President Obama's handling of the economy. But when asked if they believe the economy is either in recovery or has fully recovered, a total of 50 percent say yes. Kind of weird, right?

Joining me now, Rana Foroohar who's assistant managing editor for "Time Magazine" and Daniel Mitchell senior fellow with the Cato Institute. Welcome to both of you.

RANA FOROOHAR, "TIME MAGAZINE": Thank you.

DANIEL MITCHELL, CATO INSTITUTE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Hi Daniel.

Rana, most people disapprove of how Obama's economic policies -- they're talking in my ear and I lost thought my train of thought. Ok. So most people disapprove of President Obama's economic policies. But most or at least half of Americans think the economy is in recovery or is in full recovery. It doesn't really --

FOROOHAR: It doesn't quite -- I think what that reflects is the fact that Americans don't think Washington had a lot to do with the recovery. I think that there is this sense that six, seven years on from the crisis and the recovery Washington didn't do a lot. Washington was gridlocked.

The Fed did a lot for the economy. Interest rates have been low for a really long time. The Fed pumped $4 trillion of money in so there's a lot of liquidity out there, there's a lot of cash flowing around and I think that that's what's really affecting things.

COSTELLO: Interesting. So Daniel, you know, politicians always play that game that they can fix the economy. But that's not really true, is it?

Mitchell: Well, I think politicians can affect the economy's long-run performance and I think one of the problems that Obama is having in this polling data is that we're now in the sixth year of recovery, June 2009 until today and yet median household income is still far lower than it was when the recession started. The labor force participation rate has fallen off a cliff.

These are things that affect the real living standards of the American people so, yes, we're in a recovery but it's the slowest one since the Great Depression. So, of course people aren't overly happy.

COSTELLO: Many politicians are playing into that especially the politicians who that want to be president. They actually talked about the state of the economy at a Florida summit yesterday. And here's just a sample.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: Let me start where, first of all, by being honest about where we are economically as a country. I had the privilege of being a Rhode scholar at Oxford University, an Ivy League graduate from Brown University. I worked at McKinsey, a consulting firm -- it's a Fortune 500 firm. So I'm going to take all that collective wisdom and put it in this in-depth detailed economic analysis for you.

We have one hell of a mess here in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So Rana, is that actually true?

FOROOHAR: How eloquent.

COSTELLO: You think?

FOROOHAR: Well, it is the things. And you know, I'm actually going to have to agree with that. I think that the fundamental problem with this recovery which has been the longest and the weakest of the postwar era is that you have a hallowed out middle -- right. People at the top have done pretty well and lower income jobs have started to come back, too. There's a lot of $15 an hour jobs -- minimum wage is a big issue but everything in the middle is still very stagnant. Wages are flat.

And in an economy that's made up 70 percent of consumer spending, if the middle class doesn't get a raise and do better, you're really not going to have a sustainable recovery.

COSTELLO: So we're looking for ideas, Daniel. We're looking to you for that. I mean is the flat tax the answer? Should we abolish the IRS? Should we raise the minimum wage? What should we do?

MITCHELL: Well, as you're talking to someone from the Cato Institute, I want to get government out of the way.

FOROOHAR: Don't say lower taxes. MITCHELL: I look at what we had in the 1980s -- in the 1980s

under Reagan and in the 1990s under Clinton. We had good economies during both those periods and if you look at the aggregate data on economic freedom, the U.S. got better scores compared to what we've had this century under both Bush and Obama so I'm not making any partisan points. You make government bigger and you have an R after your name or a D after your name, I don't think it's going to work.

But here is some good news. Compared to Europe, our economy is going gangbusters. So it is possible to get worse. I just hope we don't go further in that European direction.

COSTELLO: Rana, I turn to you for ideas.

FOROOHAR: Well, I don't think there's quick fixes to be honest. I mean really fixing the middle of the pie is about education. It's about retraining workers. And, you know, this is an area that you can see some bipartisan coming together. Companies are doing really interesting things in terms of teaming up with universities. The federal government and the state governments could play a bigger role I think in connecting educators and job creators.

COSTELLO: Ok. Rana Foroohar, Daniel Mitchell -- thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

Did live anthrax actually make it inside the Pentagon? Right now officials are testing questionable shipments of anthrax to find out if it was dead or alive.

Barbara Starr has the exclusive scoop on the investigation. Good morning -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning -- Carol. This is a story we've been reporting for over a week and still the Pentagon coming up with new details. In fact, they expect to brief the media later this afternoon.

[10:35:03] So what about anthrax and the Pentagon? It was the Pentagon police force that got one of the suspect shipments, the batch did turn out to have positive anthrax in it, active anthrax. They are still trying to figure out if any of that actually made it to the laboratory that the Pentagon police were using not inside the Pentagon we're told now today.

They don't think it ever came inside the building but it was Pentagon police force operation at a laboratory. They used anthrax to help calibrate equipment. But this is just really one of the examples of what's going on right now.

They are looking at more than 30 shipments across 12 states and three countries where they believe there may have been inadvertently live anthrax shipped. Apparently the system, the process for irradiating the anthrax and killing it off at an army laboratory before it was shipped out didn't work. Now they know there's about 30 shipments they have to go through. Now they also have to go back through years of records to see what they have and try to track it all down. It's a story that's continuing to grow -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the desperate search for survivors continues after wicked weather capsizes a cruise ship with hundreds on board.

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[10:40:51] COSTELLO: A major advance for ISIS terrorists. Militants have now shut down the gates to a dam in the key Iraqi city of Ramadi. The goal -- to use the site in order to launch attacks and cut off the water supply to residents. An Anbar council member says potential solutions include a military operation to regain control of the dam or bombing the site to allow water to flow through.

In China, rescue teams are trying to get to hundreds of people trapped aboard that cruise ship that sank in the Yangtze River. It's been two days now since that ship capsized in stormy waters. Rescue workers are now cutting a huge hole in the bottom of the overturned Eastern Star vessel. 14 people have been rescued so far but more than 410 people are still unaccounted for.

Let's head there live. CNN's David McKenzie has more. Hi-- David.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi -- Carol. Yes, it's a desperate search for more survivors. This hospital behind me was expecting many more people to treat but very few have come. More than 400 right now potentially trapped in that vessel. They are trying to get people out perhaps they may have found air pockets in there and they still are holding out hope. But at this point so many hours afterward that hope is fading fast.

Family members have been streaming into the scene of what is the biggest tragedy of its kind in China certainly since I can remember and the family members have been speaking to us to say just they want to cling to that hope.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I have gone beyond the sadness. I'm preparing for the worst while still holding on to hope. One thing I want to do the most is to see my mom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: Those are the sentiments there expressing, they desperately they want to see their family members again. Most onboard were elderly who had booked this vacation cruise along the Yangtze River. The authorities say they'll do everything they can to pull out people alive but they'd expanded the search now by more than 90 miles down river. That says to me that really they are grasping at straws trying to find any sign of life -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. David McKenzie reporting live for us this morning.

Still to come, in the NEWSROOM, a lion mauls a woman to death at an African wildlife park. But these encounters are anything but rare.

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[10:47:56] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 47 minutes past.

New photos of Kim Jong-Un are raising questions about the North Korean dictator's health. In the pictures, he appears to have put on a significant amount of weight. The supreme leader is seen inspecting crops on a farm and in another photo visiting an orphanage. Kim Jong Un's health is being monitored for fears of potential uprising in North Korea.

Controversial comments from presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee are surfacing.

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MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, I wish someone had told me when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE. I'm pretty sure I would have found my feminine side and said, Coach, I think I'd rather shower with the girls today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: As you might expect, Huckabee is getting slammed on social media. He made the joke earlier this year in Nashville but the clip was uploaded to YouTube over the weekend. Members of the LBGT community are outraged. It comes just two days after the stunning reveal of Caitlyn Jenner, a move many feels contributing to transgender acceptance.

A terrifying roller coaster collision leaves four people seriously injured. The U.K.'s Alton Towers Theme Park is staying closed today as investigators try to figure out why two roller coaster trains collided. 16 riders were stranded 20 feet off the ground for hours after the car hit an empty car.

A woman mauled to death by a lion at a wildlife park in South Africa has been identified as 22-year-old Catherine Chappell of Rye, New York. She was attacked through an open window in her vehicle as she was taking pictures of the lion. Her tour operator badly injured trying to free her. Unfortunately attacks like these are not unheard of.

CNN's Gary Tuchman has more for you.

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A family visiting a safari park in South Africa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok, Dad come into the car. You're going to have to --

TUCHMAN: A family about to experience something absolutely stunning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yikes.

[10:50:00] TUCHMAN: Something they never expected.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lock the door.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh, I didn't know they could do that.

TUCHMAN: The lion opened the car door. A close call for this family who did indeed have their windows closed as signs in this park mandate but many ignore the warnings.

Watch these children sticking their heads out of the window at the Cougar National Park in South Africa -- an unnecessarily close call. In Tanzania, the tourists think they're in safe on top of the jeep, at least this time nothing happened to them.

Back in South Africa, a car load of passengers had their windows closed but you that did not prevent this frightening moment. This lion started attacking the spare tire.

Listen to these American tourists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't move. Don't move. Don't move.

TUCHMAN: Not sure whether to step on the gas or not move at all. They watch the lions head to other vehicles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you guys seeing this lion chewing on the license plate? Are you seeing this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My god. Dude -- the whole pack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did you derive forward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They pulled the hubcap off. They did. They got the hubcap.

TUCHMAN: Seeing lions in their habitat is a bucket list ambition for many tourists but without proper precautions, that dream could quickly become a nightmare.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you sure?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Wow.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, "San Andreas" is the top movie at the box office. But how does the earthquake thriller measure up for scientists?

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[10:56:22] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories at 56 minutes past.

Interpol, the International Police Organization, issuing red notices for two former FIFA officials and four corporate executives for racketeering, conspiracy and corruption. It comes as FIFA president Sepp Blatter says he will step down just four days after re- elected to a fifth term. U.S. Officials tell CNN, an investigation into Blatter and any possible role in a massive corruption scandal is ongoing.

More than 10 million Americans are now enrolled in Obamacare. The majority of them using federal tax credits to help pay for it. This enrollments announced as the Supreme Court is poised to vote on whether the Volt has the authority to distribute those tax credits on two-thirds of the state. Without them experts say the cost of Obamacare could surge.

Secretary of State John Kerry is in good condition this morning recovering from surgery for a pair of fractured femur in his right leg. Kerry's doctor says his hospital stay will be short and his recovery should not interfere with his official duties. That means Mr. Kerry should be able to engage in Iran nuclear talks.

The 71-year-old Kerry broke his leg Sunday while biking in the French Alps?

An earthquake blockbuster sending tremors to the box office. But how does it measure up on the scientific accuracy scale?

CNN's Jeanne Moos fact checks the summer's first big disaster movie.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A tsunami bearing down on the Golden Gate Bridge, skyscrapers collapsing.

Can't fault an earthquake blockbuster for going a little overboard.

And before it falls through the cracks, CNN and the film studio are both owned by Time Warner.

How does a seismologist size up "San Andreas"?

GRAHAM KENT, DIRECTOR, NEVADA SEISMOLOGICAL LABORATORY: I would definitely give it two thumbs up. It had me on the edge of my seat. MOOS: Graham Kent wasn't expecting much science in a film

starring The Rock.

DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON, ACTOR: All right. Hold on. We got to get over it before it crests.

MOOS: And the tsunami really had scientists rolling their eyes.

KENT: Oh, it's way too big.

MOOS: It's all a question of magnitude, 9.6, according to the movie. But the San Andreas Fault isn't deep or long enough to generate that big of a quake. Two cities get hit.

Could you lose both cities, San Francisco and L.A.?

KENT: I think it's highly, highly, highly unlikely.

MOOS: Could the Hoover Dam collapse?

KENT: No. I think the Hoover Dam is safe. You know, we all laughed at that scene and said, there is water behind the Hoover Dam?

MOOS: That's a little dry humor about the drought.

Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones posed with The Rock at the movie's premier then live-tweeted scientific inaccuracies.

When the Rock approaches the gaping fault like, Dr. Jones tweeted, "OMG. A chasm? If the fault could open up, there'd be no friction. With no friction, there'd be no earthquake."

But there's one thing the scientists love.

The movie repeats the "duck, cover and hold on" mantra experts recommend.

Seismologists speak as if there is no if. It is all when there is a big one.

KENT: Oh, yes. There's no ifs.

MOOS: And if it makes people prepare, what is a little earthquake earth-quackery.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, safe in New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Hey, The Rock is in the movie and that's enough for me.

[11:00:01] Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now. JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: What was his plan and why did he have the

knife. The man killed in Boston under -