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Trump Supporters Speak Out; Steve Carell's New Movie 'The Big Short'; Golden Globe Nominees. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 10, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] TORI ANN DIBARTOLO, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Jersey on 9/11 and, yes, like you said, he saw thousands of people celebrating. But he didn't get into specifics. Did he see it on TV celebrating? Did he look out the window and see them celebrating.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Sure. But either way, there weren't thousands and thousands of people celebrating in New Jersey. Everybody -

T. DIBARTOLO: It - it was a lot of people celebrating.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw it on TV.

T. DIBARTOLO: In Manhattan alone there was over a dozen that was arrested because they were celebrating.

CAMEROTA: People have made the point, Pauly (ph), that eight people celebrating on a rooftop in New Jersey is different than thousands and thousands. And, in fact, the attorney general for New Jersey, the mayor of Patterson, the police chief of Jersey City have said, we were on guard, it did not happen. So are you comfortable with Donald Trump's relationship with the truth?

PAUL DIBARTOLO, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I'm - I'm - I'm a hundred percent comfortable with it. When San Bernardino happened, that's the first terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11, let me tell you something, it brought back a lot of bad memories for all of us, OK, especially New Yorkers. I'm a New Yorker. I watched as those towers were coming down, OK. And 9/11 to me - I don't care about upsetting a few Muslims or upsetting a few people, OK, because when I think of 9/11 every day, OK, I think of the firearm's faces, the looks on their faces as they were running into the towers to save people, OK. They were running towards death, OK. And I think - I think of all of the little boys and the little girls, OK, that lost their heroes that morning, their moms and their dads. I think of that, OK. That's what I care about and that's what Donald Trump cares about.

I think of all the wives and the moms and the dads that for probably weeks and months and years or maybe even today are still crying themselves to sleep. That's what 9/11 means to us. So I could care less about a few Muslims or a few people that are upset. I could care less about people saying they don't like Donald Trump's tone, OK. We need a true leader in this country and Donald Trump is that leader.

WILLIAM BAER, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I grew up in New York City, not far from the World Trade Center. In 2001, I lived in New Jersey about 20 miles from the World Trade Center and watched them burning. And I also watched on television people in - whether it was Jersey City or Patterson, cities to the east of where I lived, celebrating in the streets. What he said, whether it was thousands or hundreds or tons of people happened and I watched it on television at the time and it was common knowledge in New Jersey at that time and in the metropolitan area that people were celebrating what happened in New York.

CAMEROTA: So just to be clear, he said, and it is the quote, he said thousands and thousands of people were celebrating. And to your point, I mean if I'm understanding you, it doesn't matter to you what the number is.

BAER: I wouldn't swear that it was thousands, but I would swear there it were - there were a lot of people in the streets, in cities right along New York City, in New Jersey, that were celebrating what happened on September 11th.

P. DIBARTOLO: He didn't say I was in Jersey City and saw people in Jersey - thousands and thousands of people in Jersey City. He just said, I was in Jersey City. Where was he? Was he in - was he in one of his offices? Was he in a hotel room? Like - like some of us were at home turning on the TV and we saw images in the Gaza Strip that people in Palestine. There was crowds of thousands of people.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Yes, but that's different. The Gaza Strip is different than Jersey City. So people - but he's not making that distinction.

P. DIBARTOLO: Right. I know, but there were some there. There were some here.

PAULA JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: When you say thousands of people, I mean, these people come to our country and they still came and they cheered when those planes went through those towers. They're in our country. I don't care if it was one person. I don't care if it was two people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

JOHNSON: They were in the streets cheering. And we should respect these people who took down the towers? And how many people got killed? So he says thousands of people. Thousands of people all over the world. But you know what, I feel a lot safer knowing that Mr. Trump will be our president.

SUSAN DELEMUS, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: As far as the truth goes, we've got people in - in positions of power who I know for a fact are liars. Liars. I watched the TV. My - my president comes on the TV and he lies to me. I know he's lying. He lies all the time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) -

DELEMUS: I don't believe any one of them. Not one. I believe Donald.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Um-hmm. Exactly.

DELEMUS: I'm telling you, he says what I'm thinking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.

DELEMUS: Never been involved in politics. Never had an interest in any of it. Now suddenly he is resonating. He is resonating with the people and he's speaking our minds, our minds. When the pundits and the experts and all the people who are supposed to be in the know and know all this stuff and they're so great, I know some of them, maybe not all, but some of them are lying to me, straight to my face, and I am so sick of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, you can hear all of the passion. Here to respond, CNN political commentator and former Reagan White House political director Jeffrey Lord, who is also a Trump supporter himself, along with CNN political commentator and Jeb Bush supporter Ana Navarro.

Guys, thanks so much for being here.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hi, Ali.

CAMEROTA: All right, you heard - you hear the passion of these Trump supporters and, look, it's reflected again this morning in this new "New York Times" poll. Let me pull it up. This is out just at 7:00 a.m. Eastern. Trump has 35 percent. He has gone up since October when he had 22 percent. Look at these numbers, Ana. Ted Cruz is second at 16 percent. There's Ben Carson, 13 percent. Marco Rubio, 9 percent. And Jeb Bush at 3 percent, going the wrong direction. How do you explain these numbers, Ana?

[08:35:28] ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Is it too early for me to drink on national TV, Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: No. Feel free.

NAVARRO: Look, I - I think, you know, I think we have seen this same pattern now for many months with Donald Trump holding on top. I think he's got a very committed level of supporters who are not leaving him. The very interesting movement there, frankly, is Ted Cruz. I think he's coming up on his heels. It's going to be a very interesting dynamic to watch at the debate next week what this bromance that used to exist between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz turns into now that he feels Ted Cruz yapping at his heels.

You know, I think what you saw in that focus group is angst, anger, distrust of government, distrust of the political system, frustration with the dysfunction. I think people are fed up. And definitely Donald Trump is tapping into all those feelings.

CAMEROTA: Yes, you - I mean, look, you felt the passion. I also - two of those people, I don't know if you can see it on TV, it doesn't translate as well, but they teared up while speaking. I mean that's the depth, Jeffrey, of how strongly they feel about their country and they feel about what's happening and they feel about the fear and Donald Trump, obviously, is tapping into all of that. But something else is going -

LORD: You know - you know what, Ali -

CAMEROTA: Go ahead, Jeffrey.

LORD: I find this - I find this very much like the Reagan phenomenon if you will. When you listen to that last woman that you talked to there, the passion in her voice and the fact that she said that she generally never gets involved in this stuff and has never paid attention, that was also true with Ronald Reagan. He brought out a lot of people who never participated in politics before. They were just that passionate and they upset a lot of the people in the Republican establishment who, in the day, you know, just didn't seem to see these people. And they certainly couldn't attract them. I mean these kind of people didn't come out to vote for Gerald Ford. They didn't come out to vote for George H.W. Bush, but they came out in droves to vote for Ronald Reagan. And that's what's I think is quite striking here because I think we've got somewhat of the same situation. Donald Trump is not Ronald Reagan, don't mistake me, but I do think he is attracting the same kind of people that Ronald Reagan attracted.

CAMEROTA: Ana, there was another interesting revelation in this poll and it speaks to the fear that people are feeling, but it's the flipside of the fear. This - these are people who fear Donald Trump. Fully one-third of Republicans this is say that they fear or are concerned about Donald Trump. Forty percent there. Now, Hillary Clinton, people also fear. So the two front runners on both side of the aisle, 23 percent are concerned about Hillary Clinton, 34 percent fear them, 40 percent fear Trump. So how - explain that paradox, Ana.

NAVARRO: I think what you see is a divided Republican Party, a divided America, a polarized Republican Party, a polarized America. You're seeing some of the same thing then on the Democrat side. You know, you've got two front runners who also have the highest numbers of untrustworthiness. It is a very strange paradigm going on right now in American politics. And I think, you know, I think there are a lot of Republicans who are seeing what's going on with Donald Trump with great concern. How much is he damaging the Republican brand? Even if he's not the nominee, how much repair work will there have to be with African Americans, with Hispanics, with the Muslims, you know, you name it. You know, the Muslims love me, the Hispanics love me, the blacks love me. Well, no, none of those people love him and he's burnt a lot of bridges and he's caused a lot of damage and I think a lot of us are watching it with a lot of consternation.

CAMEROTA: Jeffrey, should Donald Trump be concerned that one-third of Republicans say they are scared about Mr. Trump?

LORD: No, no, again, I remember all kinds of Republicans who said they'd never vote for a Republican - a Republican nominee if Ronald Reagan was that nominee. You know, when we get long, long down the road, if in fact the nominees are Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, all of this is going to refocus. And when people are faced, if that's the choice, with - frankly any choice, you know, they are always going to be negatives about candidate a and candidate b. And people, up against it, they'll pick. So I mean I think it's way too soon to be looking at all these figures and worrying about it. But certainly there is precedent with this kind of thing and I certainly - I mean I knew people who said they could never vote for Ronald Reagan and today they think he's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

CAMEROTA: Funny how that happens.

Jeffrey, Ana, thanks so much for the analysis. Great to see both of you.

LORD: Thanks, Ali. Thanks, Ana.

NAVARRO: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK, we are now just five days away from the final Republican debate of the year. It is right here on CNN, of course. The coverage begins Tuesday night, 6:00 Eastern, with the undercard debate, then the main event at 8:30 Eastern only here on CNN.

[08:40:08] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we got a good one for you. He was your favorite 40-year-old virgin. But wait until you see Steve Carell's latest roll. You remember that horrible, horrible financial crisis? Well, they've made it into a movie. "The Big Short." He's going to talk to us about this new movie coming up and what a role, what a guy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

We have a treat for you. Comedian and actor Steve Carell flexes his muscles in the new film "The Big Short." He plays a fun manager. He has an inside look at impending doom on Wall Street in 2008. Here's a taste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE CARELL, ACTOR, "THE BIG SHORT": You have no idea the kind of crap people are pulling and everyone's walking around like they're in a damn (INAUDIBLE) video. They're all getting screwed, you know? You know what they care about? They call about the ball game or they care about what actresses just went into rehab.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you should try medication.

CARELL: No, no, we agreed, if it interfered with work.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You hate Wall Street but maybe it's time to quit.

[08:45:00] CARELL: I love my job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You hate your job.

CARELL: I love my job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're miserable.

CARELL: I love my job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Joining me in the studio today is the one and only Mr. Steve Carell.

It is good to have you here.

STEVE CARELL, COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: Nice to be here. Thanks.

CUOMO: What an interesting thing to take on. Michael Lewis, the book, "The Big Short," he has a genius of talking about finance. But what was the appeal for you?

CARELL: I thought the script was great. The script presented very dry subject matter in an entertaining way. And the director, Adam McKay, posed that to me, that he wanted -- He knew that this was complicated material, but he wanted it to be entertaining and make it accessible and fun to a certain extent.

CUOMO: You are very real world friendly. Not all actors are. You pay attention to what's going on in the news. How much of this was an education for you?

CARELL: Most of it was an education. At the time, you know, you read the paper. You follow the news. But I didn't know the depths of the deceit and the corruption that, you know, is displayed in the film and certainly in the script. And it was interesting taking on a character like this.

CUOMO: Now when you were doing that, who did you want to be? How did you want to be? What was important to you to portray?

CARELL: Well it is based on a real life person. My character's name is Mark Baum, but he's based on a real guy from a hedge fund. And I met with him. I met his family. And I wanted to kind of gain access to his world a little bit. Because it is a completely foreign language to me. I don't know anyone in that world. And we had advisors. We had people helping us through it. Adam McKay, the director, likes to improvise in films too. So we all had to have a little bit of knowledge in our back pocket. So when he'd ask us to kind of spin on something we could do it and not sound like complete idiots.

CUOMO: Watching you in outtakes from credits have cost me a filling or two in the past. So I'm going to prepare myself that for that because you just have such spontaneous genius. It makes you so interesting. But you also give access to things that can make people feel and think. What do you want them to take away from this film?

Because you have two schools, right? One is, well, you know, that's how the system was and, you know, I had to be saved because otherwise we all would have gone down. And the other one is no, they made it into the casino. We let them do it and then we bailed them out.

CARELL: Right. You know, there is a moral conflict between the characters in this film because they all stand to make great gains on the backs of other people's, you know, complete failure. So there is that going on, which I think is interesting, certainly, as an actor to portray a character like that. What do I want people to take away? You know, it is a movie and you can only set your expectations so high. You hope that it at least starts a conversation, people walk out of the theater -- and that seems to be the case. People seem to be walking out and engaging with each other and talking about what happened and what could potentially happen again.

CUOMO: There are inflections of mostly irony but also as humor in what is a drama. People should know that. You certainly bring out things that by dint of their ridiculous wind up being funny and ironic. But it's a drama. There are heavy things going on and as you said in that clip, a lot of people got taken really low by what happened.

CARELL: Yeah. It is - you know, it's in the eyes of the beholder. Some people will look at it as a comedy. I didn't enter into it as a comedy, I didn't necessarily think it was a comedy on the page, but you are right. There are some really funny moments and Adam McKay is known for his comedy so he brings sort of an absurdist outlook on this world. And it is funny. They break the fourth wall from time to time and Adam has pop culture icons sort of breaking down these complicated financial theories and there are definitely moments that make it much more inclusive.

CUOMO: Now you had a lot of cosmetic surgery and did a lot of steroids for this movie.

CARELL: Yes.

CUOMO: Why?

CARELL: Before the movie. That is just for me.

CUOMO: That is just how you do.

CARELL: That's - I just like -- I love Botox. I'm a huge, huge fan.

CUOMO: Because your face, doesn't -- it is tough to interview you, as a result.

CARELL: Well my face -- what I've done is underneath the skin. I have an infrastructure of mechanisms that a person backstage is controlling.

CUOMO: In real time.

CARELL: In real time. So when I -- you know, he knows back there when I'm supposed to look surprised. And I have these metal calipers here that raise my eyebrows. But otherwise I couldn't do it naturally.

CUOMO: I had heard that. I'm glad for you to substantiate it for the record. Is it true that that is not your real face? That you did have a transplant early on, just not in America, so you don't talk about it?

CARELL: I've had four face transplants.

CUOMO: You have?

CARELL: So far. Yeah.

CUOMO: That's a little bit better than my understanding at the time. But Mr. Carell, I appreciate your honesty, especially around the holidays.

CARELL: Thank you.

CUOMO: We know the big man is listening.

CARELL: I'm always aware.

CUOMO: "The Big Short" starts in New York and L.A. tomorrow and then you can see it nationwide December 23rd. Please do.

[08:50:01] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks, Chris.

Well we just learned that that man, Steve Carell, just received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. Congratulations. Who else is getting a nod? Those announcements just ahead. We'll break it down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Oh people, hot off the press. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association just announcing its 73rd Golden Globe nominations. We're going to give you a look now at who is waking up this morning with a nomination. Very exciting.

We'll start with Best Picture Drama. Nominations go to "Carol," "Mad Max: Fury Road," the latest in the franchise reboot, "The Revenant," "Room," a great novel written on this, now a screenplay and movie, and "Spotlight" on the Catholic church scandal.

All right. Moving on to Best Picture Comedy. "The Big Short," Steve Carell's film, "Joy," "The Martian," with Matt Damon, "Spy," starring Melissa McCarthy, and Amy Schumer's "Trainwreck." Congratulations to all of them.

Moving on now to Best Actor in a Drama. Bryan Cranston for "Trumbo." Leonardo DiCaprio - favorite and also needs to win, right? He hasn't won in awhile -- "The Revenant." Michael Fassbender, "Steve Jobs," Eddie Redmayne in "The Danish Girl" getting a lot of great reviews, and Will Smith, "Consussion."

Moving along to Best Actor in a Comedy. Christian Bale for "The Big Short," Steve Carell, congratulations, "The Big Short" as well. Bradley Cooper in the film "Burnt." Mark Ruffalo, "Infinitely Polar Bear," and Al Pacino for "Danny Collins."

CAMEROTA: All of those guys are awesome.

PEREIRA: In the category of Best Actress-Drama, Cate Blanchett for "Carol," Brie Larson, "Room," Rooney Mara in "Carol," Saoirse Ronan in "Brooklyn" and Alicia Vikander in "The Danish Girl."

[08:55:06] We have one more category for you here. Jennifer Lawrence in "Joy," funny girl Melissa McCarthy - we share a birthday - "Spy." Amy Schumer in "Trainwreck." Maggie Smith, "The Lady in the Van," Lily Tomlin - who we interviewed here - for her film "Grandma."

So congratulations to all of them.

Very interesting because, of course, we know that the SAG Awards were announced - nominations -on Wednesday, just yesterday.

CAMEROTA: I knew that.

PEREIRA: You knew that. But it's very interesting how the different groups judge the nominations and they have different favorites. You know these guys favor the big names. The Golden Globes, the Foreign Press Association.

CUOMO: Does it bother you about Carell now that you know that it's not his real face? Do you still like him the same?

CAMEROTA: No, but I mean, that was breaking news. You got him to admit his vast history of plastic surgery. Fantastic.

PEREIRA: Have you seen a lot of the films?

CUOMO: No. Will now.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: All right.

PEREIRA: All right. Well the big show is on January 10th, a month from today. You can get all the nominations online.

CAMEROTA: Fantastic. Thanks for bringing that us.

PEREIRA: You got it.

CAMEROTA: "NEWSROOM" with Pamela Brown who is in for Carol Costello happens right after this quick break. See you tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)