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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield
CNN Republican Debate; Obama ISIS Strategy. Aired 12-12:30p ET
Aired December 14, 2015 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:20] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. We are live from the Venetian in Las Vegas. It's nice to see you. I'm Ashleigh Banfield, on a balmy Vegas morning. I'm telling you, I've never been to Vegas when it's been close to freezing. Welcome to this special edition of LEGAL VIEW where the Republican presidential debate, the candidates are getting ready for yet another one of the debates in their series.
And also this hour, live from the Pentagon, the president is expected to talk about the war on ISIS. He's meeting with his national security council at this moment and he's going to make a statement live in just a few minutes as well. Will there be significant announcements to come from it? You're going to have to wait to find out with the rest of us.
First, though, and most importantly at this time, one day before the final GOP debate of 2015 and a brand new poll has come out, wait for it, it gives Donald Trump his biggest lead nationally since this race began. This new national poll from Monmouth University finds Trump now holds the support of 41 percent of the Republican and Republican- leaning registered voters. That is 27 points ahead of Ted Cruz, with Marco Rubio and Ben Carson neck and neck close behind that.
The Monmouth poll is a huge contrast from the latest NBC News/"Wall Street Journal" poll, which had Trump leading Cruz by only five points. And look at the new Iowa poll, and, again, Iowa, not national, Iowa. Cruz is on top, 31 percent, to Trump's 21 percent. And then Carson back behind, and plummeting from first place in October to down to third place.
The main subject of tomorrow night's debate, national security and terror. Both the main event and the undercard take place at the Venetian behind me here in Las Vegas. This is a live picture we have for you from inside of the debate hall. CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston is inside the hall with more on the preps and the behind the scenes activity.
It's been a flurry of activity, but it looks like it's just about ready to go. Take me in there.
MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: It is. The lights are up and we're here in the beautiful Venetian Theater, which is famous, of course, for "Phantom of the Opera." You have these very ornate chandeliers. And, obviously, we have the undercard debate first at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow and then the main event with Donald Trump at center stage.
You can take a look at the podium here. Donald Trump is going to be right next to Ted Cruz. Obviously those two are fighting for the lead right now in Iowa and so it will be interesting to see what the dynamics are there. Donald Trump going after Ted Cruz on temperament issues. And so it's going to be a big night.
Obviously, Chris Christie is staying on the stage. Also John Kasich and Carly Fiorina. So there's a lot of candidates for these candidates who are down in the polls to really break out. You know, but the polls this morning that we are seeing, what they really tell you is this race is incredibly volatile. You have to remember that so many voters make up their mind at the absolute last minute. Sometimes the weekend before in New Hampshire. So it's really anyone's game. Donald Trump, obviously, really strong, but is going to have to show that he has command of those national security issues here tomorrow night, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: All right, Mav, thank you so much. We'll come back to you to get updates as we get closer and closer to the wire.
RESTON: Thanks.
BANFIELD: I want to talk about the debate itself now. Here with me are Republican strategists Kayleigh McEnany, and then also CNN political commentators Ana Navarro, who's a friend of Marco Rubio and a supporter of Jeb Bush, and Patti Solis Doyle, who was Hillary Clinton's campaign manager in 2008.
So the Monmouth poll, it shows that Trump is way out in front right now. The other polls are showing that the race is a lot closer. Either way, it seems to be a real fight between Cruz and Trump, but it certainly seems to be that way in the press, ladies. Let's just go in order. How is it that we can be so incredibly disparate in polls and in one poll see that the gap is tight, and in another see that Trump has broken through that magical ceiling that everyone's been talking about?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, it really comes down to sample size and - and within the certainty and the polling range that they - they've taken. But, you know, we look back to - to the last election and Mitt Romney was, in many places, declared the winner. And this was the day before the election. So polls are uncertain.
A lot of voters make up their mind just beforehand. But I think that the telling point of it all is that the three men who you see on top, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and Ben Carson, are not the establishment candidate. They're the conservative candidates. So whatever happens, I think a conservative candidate will end up being the nominee this time around.
BANFIELD: Yes, well, they all say they're conservative candidates. Some conservatives don't like other conservatives and suggest they aren't conservatives. Donald Trump has been accused of not being conservative enough and yet, Ana, he said some pretty strident things, and he just keeps doing better and better, 41 percent in this last poll.
[12:05:09] ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, but, you know, Ashleigh, you just highlighted the three polls. The three polls are very different and I think it's a - it serves as a reminder of, number one, polls are a snapshot of time, OK? Just what they are at that time. And in places like New Hampshire, like Iowa, voters are known for making up their minds at the last-minute. In New Hampshire, something like 50 percent of the voters make up their mind in that last week. And a poll is only as good as its methodology.
BANFIELD: But these ones were leaning as well. These weren't people who had made up their minds. These were people who had made up their minds and -
NAVARRO: Yes, but you have to ask yourself, do they self-identify as voters, were they cell phone calls, were they, you know, online polls? I mean you have to really dig -
BANFIELD: Monmouth is not online. We - CNN is extraordinarily careful with the kinds of polling that we will quote. Online polls, you can hit them a million times. They're not legitimate. But this one was a legitimate - this is the Monmouth University. It had all of the standards operating procedures.
NAVARRO: When you see - when you see - when you see three polls that vary so much, you know that there's varying methodology and so -
BANFIELD: It makes me crazy.
NAVARRO: And - and - and I - you know, and we love - we love obsessing about daily polls in the media.
BANFIELD: Yes.
NAVARRO: And I think if anything that we should have learned from poll results in 2012, from poll results in Iowa and New Hampshire, is that obsessing about daily polls a month out does not make any difference.
PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But I just - I just need to cut in here. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is winning nationally by 25 points. She's winning every -
NAVARRO: Well, that's right, there are Democrats.
DOYLE: But she's seen and she's winning every state except for New Hampshire, which she's losing by 10 points. Donald Trump is winning nationally by 25 points. He's winning every state except for Iowa, where he's down by 10 point. He's running against 13 people. Hillary Clinton is running against two. No one's questioning that Hillary Clinton is going to be the nominee. I think we should stop questioning that Donald Trump is going to be the nominee. He's going to be the nominee as well. And I think that's (INAUDIBLE).
NAVARRO: Yes. Well, I think that's called - I think that's called wishful thinking (INAUDIBLE).
DOYLE: I think that's called math. That's called math.
NAVARRO: And, first of all, I do think that Bernie Sanders is questioning, and there are some others, or Martin O'Malley, if Hillary Clinton's going to be the nominee. You know, I remember back in 2008 when you were working for her and she had it in the bag at this time of year as well.
DOYLE: No, she (INAUDIBLE) -
NAVARRO: So let's not put all the eggs in one basket and let's not call victory before this - it's time.
MCENANY: But I - I - I think we have to glean from these polls, though, is that Donald Trump has been the consistent frontrunner since he entered the race, and that has not changed. The only hope I see for another nominee is Ted Cruz getting Iowa and then that brokering off -
BANFIELD: So who's got the target on - on his back or her back tomorrow night then, because that's - that's the conversation this week?
MCENANY: Ted Cruz.
BANFIELD: Ted Cruz is the conversation -
MCENANY: Ted Cruz, because he's going to be double attacked. You're going to see Marco Rubio attacking him from the left side and you're going to see Donald Trump attacking him from the right. He has an unenviable position tomorrow.
NAVARRO: I think everybody's going to be attacking him. You've got Rand Paul who is - you know, who's barely made it on to the stage, who needs to make himself heard, make himself felt, and I think you're going to see him go out and hit both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. I think, you know, it -
BANFIELD: You know Amanda Carpenter, who used to work for Ted Cruz, she said on the morning show on CNN this morning, there is nobody who takes attacks better than Ted Cruz. He is so practiced at this game. He has been doing things in the Senate to irk many of his Senate colleagues. By the way, he hasn't got one Senate colleague behind him right now.
MCENANY: Right.
BANFIELD: So if there's anybody who fares really well when you get beaten up, it's Ted Cruz and it's also Donald Trump.
MCENANY: He's been practicing since the days on the Harvard debate teams. I mean Ted Cruz has been preparing for this for many, many years. So I do not underestimate him when it comes to handling attacks.
NAVARRO: There are some very good debaters on that stage tomorrow. I think, you know, Chris Christie has proven himself to be very good a brawler. BANFIELD: Yes, he's back on the stage.
NAVARRO: Marco Rubio is very - really very - very quick.
BANFIELD: He is back on the stage. He didn't make it in the Fox debate.
NAVARRO: But stylistically, they're very, very different. You know, the stylistic differences between a Marco Rubio and a Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz is very legalistic, whereas Marco Rubio, I think, is much more poetic in his rhetoric. I am very interested in that matchup between the two rookie senators and how they're going to go at each other because they're competing for number two.
BANFIELD: By the way, the whole world has changed since the Fox debate. The whole world has changed for these Republican candidate. We have had two major terrorist attacks and we've had a terrorist attack on an abortion clinic as well. You could call that a terrorist attack as well. So the landscape is very different. And this is a national security debate.
DOYLE: It is very different.
BANFIELD: So do you expect there will be anybody who will really fire ahead of the others, because this topic is so critical and is so high on the mind of the voters right now?
DOYLE: I think the person who's going to suffer the most on this debate stage tomorrow night is Donald Trump, because he's not a good debater.
BANFIELD: Don't people always say that?
DOYLE: Well, he - he's not good - he's not a good debater.
MCENANY: He's an excellent debater.
DOYLE: He is not.
BANFIELD: (INAUDIBLE).
DOYLE: When it comes to substance and policy, and tomorrow night is going to be about policy -
MCENANY: But you know what -
DOYLE: He fades into the (INAUDIBLE).
MCENANY: When Donald Trump speaks, he pervades strength. He is strong. He - he shows executive capacity. And I think when you contrast that with our president, it's a very stark difference that voters like -
(CROSS TALK)
NAVARRO: Donald Trump supporters like - like his luster.
DOYLE: (INAUDIBLE) peak at a debate. He can't (INAUDIBLE).
BANFIELD: They do. You're right.
NAVARRO: They don't judge him on accuracy. They don't judge him on knowledge, on substance or facts. They judge him on style, on bluster. I think the ones that are going to have a difficult time on a national security debate are Ben Carson, who has proven -
[12:10:02] DOYLE: Right.
NAVARRO: You know, that this is one of his weak points. And, frankly, also Rand Paul, who has taken the angle of being, you know, more of an isolationist in the Senate and he's got to - he's on the defensive on this now.
BANFIELD: Do we find out after this debate where the establishment falls, like who the establishment is going to back at this point? Because if you're looking at Ted Cruz, some of them are saying, good God, the envelope has been pushed so far by - by Trump that Cruz may end up getting some establishment votes.
NAVARRO: Nobody - nobody's going anywhere at this point until -
BANFIELD: You don't think so?
NAVARRO: Until votes are cast. I think that when you see the results in Iowa, a few people are going to fall off. I think when you see the results in New Hampshire, a few people are going to fall off. And you're going to see different factions in the Republican Party, you know, beg for unity at that point.
BANFIELD: And are they going to be battling - let's just say the others of the nine on stage. You've got your Cruz, you've got your Trump, they're going to be making lots of noise, probably together and against one other. But the others guys, are they - and gal, are they going to be battling for perhaps the establishment? For that big huge leftover bloc. Who is the establishment going to back? Who is going to get all of those supporters?
MCENANY: I mean, I think it's going to go to Marco Rubio. That's the obvious choice now.
BANFIELD: (INAUDIBLE).
MCENANY: Because he is the one in - among the establishment candidates who's leading, who is closest to being in the top three here. But that's just not going to happen. When you look at polls, when you look at New Hampshire and you look at Iowa, unless Marco Rubio makes a big play of strength, I don't see how he cracks into the top three. This is his time. I think this will be a defining moment for Marco and the establishment.
NAVARRO: Look, I think - I think they're all going to make a fight for this - for this vote. Certainly I think, you know, Marco wants to be that candidate who wants to bridge the gap between the base and the establishment. I think Jeb Bush, the expectations on him are not very high. They're quite low. So if he goes out there and has an actually good, strong debate, it's going to lead the media narrative next week. We're all going to be talking about, whoa, did you see that Jeb Bush showed up. Chris Christie knows he's got so much on the line and he is laser focused on New Hampshire. He's practically pitched a tent and moved there. He knows he's got a lot on the line.
BANFIELD: Yes. Real quick, last comment, Patti.
DOYLE: I just - all debates matter, but tomorrow night's debate is significant because it's the last debate before people tune out for Christmas, before -
BANFIELD: The doldrums.
DOYLE: Right, and before they come back for that January sprint.
BANFIELD: Yes.
DOYLE: So everyone on that stage had - it's a high stakes game for all of them.
BANFIELD: All right, ladies, thank you. So appreciate all off you, Kayleigh, Ana, Patti, thank you.
MCENANY: Thank you.
BANFIELD: Coming up next, there is so much to talk about going on inside that hallway, what those candidates are up to right now as we lead up to the very last GOP debate of this year. Straight ahead, the art of crafting questions for the people who want to be president. Behind the scenes of the CNN GOP national security debate, just imagine what Wolf Blitzer and his team are up to right now.
And also, President Obama, busy visiting the Pentagon this hour. We expect to see him in the Briefing Room just moments from now. we've got the live cameras up and ready to go and we're going to bring you into that briefing home - Briefing Room just as soon as it happens. Back in a short break.
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[12:16:36] BANFIELD: We are just a day away from the next Republican debate. A showdown looming between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. And if you think politics is all about hot air, you should come to Vegas because it's freezing and that wind is really, really cold.
Trump is already giving us a taste of it. He's calling Cruz a bit of a maniac. Those are his words. And the way he's gone against his own party leaders in Congress as well. Cruz himself firing back with this, and I'm going to quote Senator Cruz. "In honor of my friend at real Donald Trump and good-hearted maniacs everywhere," and then the tweet included this link to a YouTube video of the song "Maniac" from one of my favorite movies of all time "Flashdance." Can't get enough of that, can we? Pretty good hearted. Certainly not mean spirited. But there is strategy behind every one of these moves, folks, make no mistake. With me now from Las Vegas, CNN senior media correspondent Brian
Stelter, who's been watching all of these -- I like to call it gamesmanship or brinksmanship or whatever you want to call it.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
BANFIELD: But something - I mean there's a lot of - there's a lot of strategy behind even the good-hearted ribbing, and I think in Ted Cruz we've really seen an example of that. He has been loath to attack Donald Trump like the other candidates, and yet you can't sit back if you're called a maniac. You've got to do something.
STELTER: You have to do something. Ted Cruz is in a very uncomfortable position here as he tries to respond in some way. And I'm sure now the focus is on what to stay on stage tomorrow night when any of these issues come up. There's a rumor out there we're going to hear more leaked audio from Ted Cruz from a fundraiser where he may say not so nice things about Donald Trump or he may sound more moderate than he does on the campaign trail. Clearly whether the Trump campaign benefits from it or others benefit from that, there are folks out there that are trying to stall Ted Cruz's surge in the polls right now. And even as we say the word surge, it is Donald Trump that is so far above everyone else.
BANFIELD: Leaked audio. Leaked audio, OK.
STELTER: Leaked audio.
BANFIELD: In every other debate, in every other campaign that we've covered, a leaked audio with something like the -- you know, what was the - what was the Mitt Romney one, the richest -
STELTER: The 47 percent happened in a private fundraiser, yes.
BANFIELD: Forty-seven percent. These are itty bitty, little tiny comments that don't sit well with people and they can have catastrophic effect. Donald Trump delivers those out in public, with a megaphone, one after the other like an avalanche or a waterfall, use your metaphor, and they don't seem to have anywhere near the effect. Is this a Teflon factor? Is it a saturation factor? How is it that a teeny insy, binsy leaked piece of audio from Ted Cruz has such power over what Donald Trump gives us every day?
STELTER: Well, Ted Cruz has been a politician for many years, right, and Donald Trump has not. And maybe, at the end of the day when -
BANFIELD: He gets back (ph).
STELTER: I kind of think about what happens when you're the person who takes the call from the pollster. The pollster calls up. They ask if you want to participate in a poll. And you hear all these names, many of them you know are politician, you know they're senators, you know they're former governors. Then you hear Donald Trump's name. That in and of itself is like voting for the anti-establishment person, voting against Washington. So maybe that's why we're seeing a 41 percent result for Donald Trump now in this most recent poll. BANFIELD: Are we at this point still, this late - I hate to say this
late in the game because we're very early in the game, but technically speaking, we're pretty late in the game given that it was over six months ago Donald Trump announced.
STELTER: I was going to say, we're at the six month mark, can you believe it?
BANFIELD: It is name recognition.
STELTER: Six months since he entered this race.
BANFIELD: Yes, but name recognition. Everybody said this was all name recognition last time.
STELTER: Yes.
BANFIELD: He's getting - he's getting the votes, Donald Trump, because of "The Apprentice," because he's famous, because he's been The Donald, he's had "New York Times and "New York Post" covers for 30 years.
STELTER: Right.
BANFIELD: Are we past that now? It is not just name recognition why people are answering that question when that phone rings?
[12:20:00] STELTER: Absolutely. And many of the talking heads who were saying those things in June and July and August should talk a little bit less now rather than try to predicting what's going to happen. Just try to explain what's happening right now, because so many of the predictions were wrong about why Donald Trump, what was going to happen to Donald Trump in the summer and in the fall. It was the summer of Trump, right?
BANFIELD: Right.
STELTER: But then it was the fall of Trump. Well, it's winter out here now, and it's still the winter of Trump.
BANFIELD: And, by the way, be careful when you say the fall of Trump. Some people might hear that differently.
STELTER: Right, the autumn of Trump.
BANFIELD: The autumn of Trump. Very, very smart.
I want to bring in Nia-Malika Henderson, who's one of our smartest craft (ph) reporters on the political team.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
BANFIELD: Glad to see that you've - you've got crafted out -
STELTER: Also much better dressed, especially for the weather out here.
HENDERSON: (INAUDIBLE) it's cold out here.
BANFIELD: Can I just remind anybody who's watching, this is crazy. I don't know if you can see our set-up, but there - I've got something on every piece of paper on the set. The wind is kind of howling, even though I've got more spray in my hair that belie that fact. But it is really cold. It's going down to 29 degrees overnight tonight. I don't think that has any effect on - on the -
STELTER: This debate might as well be in Iowa.
HENDERSON: Yes. Yes.
BANFIELD: I was going to say, exactly, without question. But it is something that everybody's talking about out here, and they're talking about the debate.
But one thing no one's talking about is what happens in the cone of silence because the cone of silence is a cone of silence.
HENDERSON: Yes.
BANFIELD: And I want you to explain for our viewers, if they have never heard of the cone of silence, what happens, what is it, who's in it, and what comes out of it?
HENDERSON: Well, I think Brian might know a little bit more about the cone of silence than I do. You know, I mean -
STELTER: It's this - well, it's - I was talking to Wolf Blitzer about this yesterday, the moderator of tomorrow's debate. There is a room, you know, here at the Venetian, a conference room, not a very special room, but it takes on added significance -
HENDERSON: Yes.
STELTER: Because it is the room where the moderators, the executives, the producers, the researchers all sit and work on questions and then work on potential answers as well, right?
HENDERSON: Yes.
STELTER: They have to game out all the potential scenarios for what candidates might say with each other and how they might fight back.
HENDERSON: Yes, and it's interesting, I mean we hear about the cone of silence when you were in the bureau. I don't even know where it is. I don't know where (INAUDIBLE).
STELTER: It really is a secret, yes.
HENDERSON: I know people who were in there. They sort of take up hiatus from talking to me during all of this debate prep. But, yes, I mean, it exists and it's a fascinating thing to be (INAUDIBLE) -
STELTER: Well, you'll notice that Blitzer hasn't even interviewed candidates recently, right -
HENDERSON: Yes.
STELTER: Because he wants to remain neutral.
HENDERSON: (INAUDIBLE).
STELTER: He wants to remain above it until the debate.
HENDERSON: Yes.
BANFIELD: One of the questions I did want to know, Mia, and that is that strategy inside that room. I mean the technical, the pragmatics of the cone of silence.
HENDERSON: Yes.
BANFIELD: It's one of the great mysteries for us. It's sort of like "Star Wars."
HENDERSON: Yes.
BANFIELD: But - but there is a strategy to the kinds of questions that are being crafted, to watching these polls. There's a Quinnipiac poll, by the way, can I just - I feel like there's been an avalanche of polls this morning.
STELTER: There have been, yes.
BANFIELD: It's the third one that's hit me since 2:00 this morning.
HENDERSON: Right.
BANFIELD: And this one is an Iowa poll. It's Quinnipiac. It is, of course, the state poll. It's not a national poll. But it has Trump out - out front at 28 percent, and Cruz right there nipping at his heels at 27 percent. So, I mean, it's a little crazy because the other Iowa poll just over the last two days had Cruz 10 - wait, I'm now mixing up my polls, 10 percent ahead -
STELTER: (INAUDIBLE).
HENDERSON: Ahead.
BANFIELD: Ten points ahead. Ten points ahead.
HENDERSON: And I think it goes to show just how hard it is to poll in Iowa.
BANFIELD: But is this what Wolf and his team are dealing with -
HENDERSON: I -
BANFIELD: Sort of acting to every bit of news and recrafting, recrafting, recrafting? HENDERSON: In some ways. I mean probably not so much poll, you know,
data, but what was your position on the U.S. Freedom Act versus the Patriot Act? I think they're going - they're going to go in the weeds, I mean, I imagine, in terms of figuring out -
STELTER: And the polling that has mattered is the data showing that national security is rising as an issue for GOP voters.
HENDERSON: Yes, it's about national security. Yes, they're going to try to get at who would be the most credible commander in chief. I mean you've seen different debates. You know, they - they kind of egg on the different participants to go after each other. We'll see if that happens here.
BANFIELD: I've got to leave it there.
HENDERSON: (INAUDIBLE) between the weeds.
BANFIELD: Nia-Malika Henderson, always good to see you. Glad you got the coat.
HENDERSON: Yes.
BANFIELD: You, young man, your mother called - called to say, get your woolies out, it's freezing.
STELTER: I will for the next spot.
BANFIELD: Thank you, Brian Stelter, appreciate it.
STELTER: Thanks.
BANFIELD: You know, when you are the president, the generals usually come to you at your house. But once in a while, presidents do go to their house, the Pentagon. And this is one of those days, in fact. Straight ahead, a motorcade, folks, President Obama speaking live after the meetings that he has with his national security council over ISIS, and he's doing so after a big meeting at the Pentagon. We'll talk about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:28:01] BANFIELD: Hours until the next big CNN Republican debate. And as the candidates prepare to explain to voters how they will protect this country, President Obama, himself, is trying to calm terror fears. And he's expected to speak about that topic at any moment.
This morning you may have heard already that he's been in a very high level meeting with some very high level people at the Pentagon. How high level? As high as they get. The secretary of defense and other top military and other national security officials, all of them, talking about the fight against ISIS.
And joining me now to talk about all of that, CNN's chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper. The last time, as I look back, that the president was at the Pentagon
for one of these briefings, meetings, however you want to describe it, it was in July. And we didn't hear a lot of different policy out of it, and I don't know that we're going to hear a lot of policy coming out of today. So is this more about optics because of the climate we're in?
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think that's right, which is not to say that optics are not important. When you look at the polls, the American people are more worried about terrorism than they are about anything else. And when you look at the polls, they are not confident in the president's handling of ISIS or counterterrorism. So President Obama is going to be out there trying to convey to the American people that he is, in fact, doing a lot on this issue, talking about ISIS, talking about the strikes in Syria, the strikes in Iraq, and trying to talk about the global campaign against ISIS in general.
Look, I think one of the things that happened last Sunday, when President Obama gave his Oval Office address that was - I think it's fair to say not resoundingly deemed a success, was that he was trying to convey to the American people that this is a fight that the American people will win and that the Obama administration has been on top of in his view.
BANFIELD: And is staying the course.
[12:29:49] TAPPER: And that - and that all that needs to happen is to stay the course. But there is a chasm out there felt by vast swathes of the public, rightly or wrongly, that not enough is being done. It's one of the reasons we hear from voters when we say, what do you find so appealing about Donald Trump when he proposes things that are so shocking and deemed counterproductive by the national security infrastructure, Democrats and Republicans. If the voters say, we need to do something. We need
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:20] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. We are live from the Venetian in Las Vegas. It's nice to see you. I'm Ashleigh Banfield, on a balmy Vegas morning. I'm telling you, I've never been to Vegas when it's been close to freezing. Welcome to this special edition of LEGAL VIEW where the Republican presidential debate, the candidates are getting ready for yet another one of the debates in their series.
And also this hour, live from the Pentagon, the president is expected to talk about the war on ISIS. He's meeting with his national security council at this moment and he's going to make a statement live in just a few minutes as well. Will there be significant announcements to come from it? You're going to have to wait to find out with the rest of us.
First, though, and most importantly at this time, one day before the final GOP debate of 2015 and a brand new poll has come out, wait for it, it gives Donald Trump his biggest lead nationally since this race began. This new national poll from Monmouth University finds Trump now holds the support of 41 percent of the Republican and Republican- leaning registered voters. That is 27 points ahead of Ted Cruz, with Marco Rubio and Ben Carson neck and neck close behind that.
The Monmouth poll is a huge contrast from the latest NBC News/"Wall Street Journal" poll, which had Trump leading Cruz by only five points. And look at the new Iowa poll, and, again, Iowa, not national, Iowa. Cruz is on top, 31 percent, to Trump's 21 percent. And then Carson back behind, and plummeting from first place in October to down to third place.
The main subject of tomorrow night's debate, national security and terror. Both the main event and the undercard take place at the Venetian behind me here in Las Vegas. This is a live picture we have for you from inside of the debate hall. CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston is inside the hall with more on the preps and the behind the scenes activity.
It's been a flurry of activity, but it looks like it's just about ready to go. Take me in there.
MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: It is. The lights are up and we're here in the beautiful Venetian Theater, which is famous, of course, for "Phantom of the Opera." You have these very ornate chandeliers. And, obviously, we have the undercard debate first at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow and then the main event with Donald Trump at center stage.
You can take a look at the podium here. Donald Trump is going to be right next to Ted Cruz. Obviously those two are fighting for the lead right now in Iowa and so it will be interesting to see what the dynamics are there. Donald Trump going after Ted Cruz on temperament issues. And so it's going to be a big night.
Obviously, Chris Christie is staying on the stage. Also John Kasich and Carly Fiorina. So there's a lot of candidates for these candidates who are down in the polls to really break out. You know, but the polls this morning that we are seeing, what they really tell you is this race is incredibly volatile. You have to remember that so many voters make up their mind at the absolute last minute. Sometimes the weekend before in New Hampshire. So it's really anyone's game. Donald Trump, obviously, really strong, but is going to have to show that he has command of those national security issues here tomorrow night, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: All right, Mav, thank you so much. We'll come back to you to get updates as we get closer and closer to the wire.
RESTON: Thanks.
BANFIELD: I want to talk about the debate itself now. Here with me are Republican strategists Kayleigh McEnany, and then also CNN political commentators Ana Navarro, who's a friend of Marco Rubio and a supporter of Jeb Bush, and Patti Solis Doyle, who was Hillary Clinton's campaign manager in 2008.
So the Monmouth poll, it shows that Trump is way out in front right now. The other polls are showing that the race is a lot closer. Either way, it seems to be a real fight between Cruz and Trump, but it certainly seems to be that way in the press, ladies. Let's just go in order. How is it that we can be so incredibly disparate in polls and in one poll see that the gap is tight, and in another see that Trump has broken through that magical ceiling that everyone's been talking about?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, it really comes down to sample size and - and within the certainty and the polling range that they - they've taken. But, you know, we look back to - to the last election and Mitt Romney was, in many places, declared the winner. And this was the day before the election. So polls are uncertain.
A lot of voters make up their mind just beforehand. But I think that the telling point of it all is that the three men who you see on top, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and Ben Carson, are not the establishment candidate. They're the conservative candidates. So whatever happens, I think a conservative candidate will end up being the nominee this time around.
BANFIELD: Yes, well, they all say they're conservative candidates. Some conservatives don't like other conservatives and suggest they aren't conservatives. Donald Trump has been accused of not being conservative enough and yet, Ana, he said some pretty strident things, and he just keeps doing better and better, 41 percent in this last poll.
[12:05:09] ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, but, you know, Ashleigh, you just highlighted the three polls. The three polls are very different and I think it's a - it serves as a reminder of, number one, polls are a snapshot of time, OK? Just what they are at that time. And in places like New Hampshire, like Iowa, voters are known for making up their minds at the last-minute. In New Hampshire, something like 50 percent of the voters make up their mind in that last week. And a poll is only as good as its methodology.
BANFIELD: But these ones were leaning as well. These weren't people who had made up their minds. These were people who had made up their minds and -
NAVARRO: Yes, but you have to ask yourself, do they self-identify as voters, were they cell phone calls, were they, you know, online polls? I mean you have to really dig -
BANFIELD: Monmouth is not online. We - CNN is extraordinarily careful with the kinds of polling that we will quote. Online polls, you can hit them a million times. They're not legitimate. But this one was a legitimate - this is the Monmouth University. It had all of the standards operating procedures.
NAVARRO: When you see - when you see - when you see three polls that vary so much, you know that there's varying methodology and so -
BANFIELD: It makes me crazy.
NAVARRO: And - and - and I - you know, and we love - we love obsessing about daily polls in the media.
BANFIELD: Yes.
NAVARRO: And I think if anything that we should have learned from poll results in 2012, from poll results in Iowa and New Hampshire, is that obsessing about daily polls a month out does not make any difference.
PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But I just - I just need to cut in here. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is winning nationally by 25 points. She's winning every -
NAVARRO: Well, that's right, there are Democrats.
DOYLE: But she's seen and she's winning every state except for New Hampshire, which she's losing by 10 points. Donald Trump is winning nationally by 25 points. He's winning every state except for Iowa, where he's down by 10 point. He's running against 13 people. Hillary Clinton is running against two. No one's questioning that Hillary Clinton is going to be the nominee. I think we should stop questioning that Donald Trump is going to be the nominee. He's going to be the nominee as well. And I think that's (INAUDIBLE).
NAVARRO: Yes. Well, I think that's called - I think that's called wishful thinking (INAUDIBLE).
DOYLE: I think that's called math. That's called math.
NAVARRO: And, first of all, I do think that Bernie Sanders is questioning, and there are some others, or Martin O'Malley, if Hillary Clinton's going to be the nominee. You know, I remember back in 2008 when you were working for her and she had it in the bag at this time of year as well.
DOYLE: No, she (INAUDIBLE) -
NAVARRO: So let's not put all the eggs in one basket and let's not call victory before this - it's time. MCENANY: But I - I - I think we have to glean from these polls,
though, is that Donald Trump has been the consistent frontrunner since he entered the race, and that has not changed. The only hope I see for another nominee is Ted Cruz getting Iowa and then that brokering off -
BANFIELD: So who's got the target on - on his back or her back tomorrow night then, because that's - that's the conversation this week?
MCENANY: Ted Cruz.
BANFIELD: Ted Cruz is the conversation -
MCENANY: Ted Cruz, because he's going to be double attacked. You're going to see Marco Rubio attacking him from the left side and you're going to see Donald Trump attacking him from the right. He has an unenviable position tomorrow.
NAVARRO: I think everybody's going to be attacking him. You've got Rand Paul who is - you know, who's barely made it on to the stage, who needs to make himself heard, make himself felt, and I think you're going to see him go out and hit both Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. I think, you know, it -
BANFIELD: You know Amanda Carpenter, who used to work for Ted Cruz, she said on the morning show on CNN this morning, there is nobody who takes attacks better than Ted Cruz. He is so practiced at this game. He has been doing things in the Senate to irk many of his Senate colleagues. By the way, he hasn't got one Senate colleague behind him right now.
MCENANY: Right.
BANFIELD: So if there's anybody who fares really well when you get beaten up, it's Ted Cruz and it's also Donald Trump.
MCENANY: He's been practicing since the days on the Harvard debate teams. I mean Ted Cruz has been preparing for this for many, many years. So I do not underestimate him when it comes to handling attacks.
NAVARRO: There are some very good debaters on that stage tomorrow. I think, you know, Chris Christie has proven himself to be very good a brawler.
BANFIELD: Yes, he's back on the stage.
NAVARRO: Marco Rubio is very - really very - very quick.
BANFIELD: He is back on the stage. He didn't make it in the Fox debate.
NAVARRO: But stylistically, they're very, very different. You know, the stylistic differences between a Marco Rubio and a Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz is very legalistic, whereas Marco Rubio, I think, is much more poetic in his rhetoric. I am very interested in that matchup between the two rookie senators and how they're going to go at each other because they're competing for number two.
BANFIELD: By the way, the whole world has changed since the Fox debate. The whole world has changed for these Republican candidate. We have had two major terrorist attacks and we've had a terrorist attack on an abortion clinic as well. You could call that a terrorist attack as well. So the landscape is very different. And this is a national security debate.
DOYLE: It is very different.
BANFIELD: So do you expect there will be anybody who will really fire ahead of the others, because this topic is so critical and is so high on the mind of the voters right now?
DOYLE: I think the person who's going to suffer the most on this debate stage tomorrow night is Donald Trump, because he's not a good debater.
BANFIELD: Don't people always say that?
DOYLE: Well, he - he's not good - he's not a good debater.
MCENANY: He's an excellent debater.
DOYLE: He is not.
BANFIELD: (INAUDIBLE).
DOYLE: When it comes to substance and policy, and tomorrow night is going to be about policy -
MCENANY: But you know what -
DOYLE: He fades into the (INAUDIBLE).
MCENANY: When Donald Trump speaks, he pervades strength. He is strong. He - he shows executive capacity. And I think when you contrast that with our president, it's a very stark difference that voters like -
(CROSS TALK)
NAVARRO: Donald Trump supporters like - like his luster.
DOYLE: (INAUDIBLE) peak at a debate. He can't (INAUDIBLE).
BANFIELD: They do. You're right.
NAVARRO: They don't judge him on accuracy. They don't judge him on knowledge, on substance or facts. They judge him on style, on bluster. I think the ones that are going to have a difficult time on a national security debate are Ben Carson, who has proven -
[12:10:02] DOYLE: Right.
NAVARRO: You know, that this is one of his weak points. And, frankly, also Rand Paul, who has taken the angle of being, you know, more of an isolationist in the Senate and he's got to - he's on the defensive on this now.
BANFIELD: Do we find out after this debate where the establishment falls, like who the establishment is going to back at this point? Because if you're looking at Ted Cruz, some of them are saying, good God, the envelope has been pushed so far by - by Trump that Cruz may end up getting some establishment votes.
NAVARRO: Nobody - nobody's going anywhere at this point until -
BANFIELD: You don't think so?
NAVARRO: Until votes are cast. I think that when you see the results in Iowa, a few people are going to fall off. I think when you see the results in New Hampshire, a few people are going to fall off. And you're going to see different factions in the Republican Party, you know, beg for unity at that point.
BANFIELD: And are they going to be battling - let's just say the others of the nine on stage. You've got your Cruz, you've got your Trump, they're going to be making lots of noise, probably together and against one other. But the others guys, are they - and gal, are they going to be battling for perhaps the establishment? For that big huge leftover bloc. Who is the establishment going to back? Who is going to get all of those supporters?
MCENANY: I mean, I think it's going to go to Marco Rubio. That's the obvious choice now.
BANFIELD: (INAUDIBLE).
MCENANY: Because he is the one in - among the establishment candidates who's leading, who is closest to being in the top three here. But that's just not going to happen. When you look at polls, when you look at New Hampshire and you look at Iowa, unless Marco Rubio makes a big play of strength, I don't see how he cracks into the top three. This is his time. I think this will be a defining moment for Marco and the establishment.
NAVARRO: Look, I think - I think they're all going to make a fight for this - for this vote. Certainly I think, you know, Marco wants to be that candidate who wants to bridge the gap between the base and the establishment. I think Jeb Bush, the expectations on him are not very high. They're quite low. So if he goes out there and has an actually good, strong debate, it's going to lead the media narrative next week. We're all going to be talking about, whoa, did you see that Jeb Bush showed up. Chris Christie knows he's got so much on the line and he is laser focused on New Hampshire. He's practically pitched a tent and moved there. He knows he's got a lot on the line.
BANFIELD: Yes. Real quick, last comment, Patti.
DOYLE: I just - all debates matter, but tomorrow night's debate is significant because it's the last debate before people tune out for Christmas, before -
BANFIELD: The doldrums. DOYLE: Right, and before they come back for that January sprint.
BANFIELD: Yes.
DOYLE: So everyone on that stage had - it's a high stakes game for all of them.
BANFIELD: All right, ladies, thank you. So appreciate all off you, Kayleigh, Ana, Patti, thank you.
MCENANY: Thank you.
BANFIELD: Coming up next, there is so much to talk about going on inside that hallway, what those candidates are up to right now as we lead up to the very last GOP debate of this year. Straight ahead, the art of crafting questions for the people who want to be president. Behind the scenes of the CNN GOP national security debate, just imagine what Wolf Blitzer and his team are up to right now.
And also, President Obama, busy visiting the Pentagon this hour. We expect to see him in the Briefing Room just moments from now. we've got the live cameras up and ready to go and we're going to bring you into that briefing home - Briefing Room just as soon as it happens. Back in a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:16:36] BANFIELD: We are just a day away from the next Republican debate. A showdown looming between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. And if you think politics is all about hot air, you should come to Vegas because it's freezing and that wind is really, really cold.
Trump is already giving us a taste of it. He's calling Cruz a bit of a maniac. Those are his words. And the way he's gone against his own party leaders in Congress as well. Cruz himself firing back with this, and I'm going to quote Senator Cruz. "In honor of my friend at real Donald Trump and good-hearted maniacs everywhere," and then the tweet included this link to a YouTube video of the song "Maniac" from one of my favorite movies of all time "Flashdance." Can't get enough of that, can we? Pretty good hearted. Certainly not mean spirited. But there is strategy behind every one of these moves, folks, make no mistake.
With me now from Las Vegas, CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter, who's been watching all of these -- I like to call it gamesmanship or brinksmanship or whatever you want to call it.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
BANFIELD: But something - I mean there's a lot of - there's a lot of strategy behind even the good-hearted ribbing, and I think in Ted Cruz we've really seen an example of that. He has been loath to attack Donald Trump like the other candidates, and yet you can't sit back if you're called a maniac. You've got to do something.
STELTER: You have to do something. Ted Cruz is in a very uncomfortable position here as he tries to respond in some way. And I'm sure now the focus is on what to stay on stage tomorrow night when any of these issues come up. There's a rumor out there we're going to hear more leaked audio from Ted Cruz from a fundraiser where he may say not so nice things about Donald Trump or he may sound more moderate than he does on the campaign trail. Clearly whether the Trump campaign benefits from it or others benefit from that, there are folks out there that are trying to stall Ted Cruz's surge in the polls right now. And even as we say the word surge, it is Donald Trump that is so far above everyone else.
BANFIELD: Leaked audio. Leaked audio, OK.
STELTER: Leaked audio.
BANFIELD: In every other debate, in every other campaign that we've covered, a leaked audio with something like the -- you know, what was the - what was the Mitt Romney one, the richest -
STELTER: The 47 percent happened in a private fundraiser, yes.
BANFIELD: Forty-seven percent. These are itty bitty, little tiny comments that don't sit well with people and they can have catastrophic effect. Donald Trump delivers those out in public, with a megaphone, one after the other like an avalanche or a waterfall, use your metaphor, and they don't seem to have anywhere near the effect. Is this a Teflon factor? Is it a saturation factor? How is it that a teeny insy, binsy leaked piece of audio from Ted Cruz has such power over what Donald Trump gives us every day?
STELTER: Well, Ted Cruz has been a politician for many years, right, and Donald Trump has not. And maybe, at the end of the day when -
BANFIELD: He gets back (ph).
STELTER: I kind of think about what happens when you're the person who takes the call from the pollster. The pollster calls up. They ask if you want to participate in a poll. And you hear all these names, many of them you know are politician, you know they're senators, you know they're former governors. Then you hear Donald Trump's name. That in and of itself is like voting for the anti-establishment person, voting against Washington. So maybe that's why we're seeing a 41 percent result for Donald Trump now in this most recent poll.
BANFIELD: Are we at this point still, this late - I hate to say this late in the game because we're very early in the game, but technically speaking, we're pretty late in the game given that it was over six months ago Donald Trump announced.
STELTER: I was going to say, we're at the six month mark, can you believe it?
BANFIELD: It is name recognition.
STELTER: Six months since he entered this race.
BANFIELD: Yes, but name recognition. Everybody said this was all name recognition last time. STELTER: Yes.
BANFIELD: He's getting - he's getting the votes, Donald Trump, because of "The Apprentice," because he's famous, because he's been The Donald, he's had "New York Times and "New York Post" covers for 30 years.
STELTER: Right.
BANFIELD: Are we past that now? It is not just name recognition why people are answering that question when that phone rings?
[12:20:00] STELTER: Absolutely. And many of the talking heads who were saying those things in June and July and August should talk a little bit less now rather than try to predicting what's going to happen. Just try to explain what's happening right now, because so many of the predictions were wrong about why Donald Trump, what was going to happen to Donald Trump in the summer and in the fall. It was the summer of Trump, right?
BANFIELD: Right.
STELTER: But then it was the fall of Trump. Well, it's winter out here now, and it's still the winter of Trump.
BANFIELD: And, by the way, be careful when you say the fall of Trump. Some people might hear that differently.
STELTER: Right, the autumn of Trump.
BANFIELD: The autumn of Trump. Very, very smart.
I want to bring in Nia-Malika Henderson, who's one of our smartest craft (ph) reporters on the political team.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
BANFIELD: Glad to see that you've - you've got crafted out -
STELTER: Also much better dressed, especially for the weather out here.
HENDERSON: (INAUDIBLE) it's cold out here.
BANFIELD: Can I just remind anybody who's watching, this is crazy. I don't know if you can see our set-up, but there - I've got something on every piece of paper on the set. The wind is kind of howling, even though I've got more spray in my hair that belie that fact. But it is really cold. It's going down to 29 degrees overnight tonight. I don't think that has any effect on - on the -
STELTER: This debate might as well be in Iowa.
HENDERSON: Yes. Yes. BANFIELD: I was going to say, exactly, without question. But it is something that everybody's talking about out here, and they're talking about the debate.
But one thing no one's talking about is what happens in the cone of silence because the cone of silence is a cone of silence.
HENDERSON: Yes.
BANFIELD: And I want you to explain for our viewers, if they have never heard of the cone of silence, what happens, what is it, who's in it, and what comes out of it?
HENDERSON: Well, I think Brian might know a little bit more about the cone of silence than I do. You know, I mean -
STELTER: It's this - well, it's - I was talking to Wolf Blitzer about this yesterday, the moderator of tomorrow's debate. There is a room, you know, here at the Venetian, a conference room, not a very special room, but it takes on added significance -
HENDERSON: Yes.
STELTER: Because it is the room where the moderators, the executives, the producers, the researchers all sit and work on questions and then work on potential answers as well, right?
HENDERSON: Yes.
STELTER: They have to game out all the potential scenarios for what candidates might say with each other and how they might fight back.
HENDERSON: Yes, and it's interesting, I mean we hear about the cone of silence when you were in the bureau. I don't even know where it is. I don't know where (INAUDIBLE).
STELTER: It really is a secret, yes.
HENDERSON: I know people who were in there. They sort of take up hiatus from talking to me during all of this debate prep. But, yes, I mean, it exists and it's a fascinating thing to be (INAUDIBLE) -
STELTER: Well, you'll notice that Blitzer hasn't even interviewed candidates recently, right -
HENDERSON: Yes.
STELTER: Because he wants to remain neutral.
HENDERSON: (INAUDIBLE).
STELTER: He wants to remain above it until the debate.
HENDERSON: Yes.
BANFIELD: One of the questions I did want to know, Mia, and that is that strategy inside that room. I mean the technical, the pragmatics of the cone of silence.
HENDERSON: Yes.
BANFIELD: It's one of the great mysteries for us. It's sort of like "Star Wars."
HENDERSON: Yes.
BANFIELD: But - but there is a strategy to the kinds of questions that are being crafted, to watching these polls. There's a Quinnipiac poll, by the way, can I just - I feel like there's been an avalanche of polls this morning.
STELTER: There have been, yes.
BANFIELD: It's the third one that's hit me since 2:00 this morning.
HENDERSON: Right.
BANFIELD: And this one is an Iowa poll. It's Quinnipiac. It is, of course, the state poll. It's not a national poll. But it has Trump out - out front at 28 percent, and Cruz right there nipping at his heels at 27 percent. So, I mean, it's a little crazy because the other Iowa poll just over the last two days had Cruz 10 - wait, I'm now mixing up my polls, 10 percent ahead -
STELTER: (INAUDIBLE).
HENDERSON: Ahead.
BANFIELD: Ten points ahead. Ten points ahead.
HENDERSON: And I think it goes to show just how hard it is to poll in Iowa.
BANFIELD: But is this what Wolf and his team are dealing with -
HENDERSON: I -
BANFIELD: Sort of acting to every bit of news and recrafting, recrafting, recrafting?
HENDERSON: In some ways. I mean probably not so much poll, you know, data, but what was your position on the U.S. Freedom Act versus the Patriot Act? I think they're going - they're going to go in the weeds, I mean, I imagine, in terms of figuring out -
STELTER: And the polling that has mattered is the data showing that national security is rising as an issue for GOP voters.
HENDERSON: Yes, it's about national security. Yes, they're going to try to get at who would be the most credible commander in chief. I mean you've seen different debates. You know, they - they kind of egg on the different participants to go after each other. We'll see if that happens here.
BANFIELD: I've got to leave it there.
HENDERSON: (INAUDIBLE) between the weeds.
BANFIELD: Nia-Malika Henderson, always good to see you. Glad you got the coat.
HENDERSON: Yes.
BANFIELD: You, young man, your mother called - called to say, get your woolies out, it's freezing.
STELTER: I will for the next spot.
BANFIELD: Thank you, Brian Stelter, appreciate it.
STELTER: Thanks.
BANFIELD: You know, when you are the president, the generals usually come to you at your house. But once in a while, presidents do go to their house, the Pentagon. And this is one of those days, in fact. Straight ahead, a motorcade, folks, President Obama speaking live after the meetings that he has with his national security council over ISIS, and he's doing so after a big meeting at the Pentagon. We'll talk about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:28:01] BANFIELD: Hours until the next big CNN Republican debate. And as the candidates prepare to explain to voters how they will protect this country, President Obama, himself, is trying to calm terror fears. And he's expected to speak about that topic at any moment.
This morning you may have heard already that he's been in a very high level meeting with some very high level people at the Pentagon. How high level? As high as they get. The secretary of defense and other top military and other national security officials, all of them, talking about the fight against ISIS.
And joining me now to talk about all of that, CNN's chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper.
The last time, as I look back, that the president was at the Pentagon for one of these briefings, meetings, however you want to describe it, it was in July. And we didn't hear a lot of different policy out of it, and I don't know that we're going to hear a lot of policy coming out of today. So is this more about optics because of the climate we're in?
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think that's right, which is not to say that optics are not important. When you look at the polls, the American people are more worried about terrorism than they are about anything else. And when you look at the polls, they are not confident in the president's handling of ISIS or counterterrorism. So President Obama is going to be out there trying to convey to the American people that he is, in fact, doing a lot on this issue, talking about ISIS, talking about the strikes in Syria, the strikes in Iraq, and trying to talk about the global campaign against ISIS in general.
Look, I think one of the things that happened last Sunday, when President Obama gave his Oval Office address that was - I think it's fair to say not resoundingly deemed a success, was that he was trying to convey to the American people that this is a fight that the American people will win and that the Obama administration has been on top of in his view.
BANFIELD: And is staying the course.
[12:29:49] TAPPER: And that - and that all that needs to happen is to stay the course. But there is a chasm out there felt by vast swathes of the public, rightly or wrongly, that not enough is being done. It's one of the reasons we hear from voters when we say, what do you find so appealing about Donald Trump when he proposes things that are so shocking and deemed counterproductive by the national security infrastructure, Democrats and Republicans. If the voters say, we need to do something. We need
