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Democratic Presidential Candidates To Face Iowa Caucus Voters In Town Hall Tonight; Sarah Palin's Comments About President Obama Anger A U.S. Veteran; New Menu Items Added To McDonald's Menu; Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Considering Presidential Run As Independent. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired January 25, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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

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[15:32:34] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar live in Des Moines where tonight the three Democratic candidates will face Iowa caucus goers in a town hall in their final push before the caucuses one week from today.

Hillary Clinton is getting support from one of the biggest rising stars in the Democratic Party, that's Julian Castro. He is the former mayor of San Antonio. He now heads the department of housing and urban development under President Obama. And he's one of many Clinton surrogates on the stump in Iowa over this past weekend and beyond. Castro has also been widely mentioned as Clinton's possible vice presidential pick should she win the nomination. And he could also help swing Latino voters in Clinton's favor in predominantly white Iowa. I did speak with him a little earlier about that.

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JULIAN CASTRO, HEAD DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Hillary's connection with the Latino community, with the African- American community, is genuine and it goes back decades. She has been working hand-in-hand with those communities. And so they see in her somebody who has been a true champion. Saw issues that matter and fighting for them. That's why you're seeing such a big difference right now. Because she's an old and consistent friend of these communities and we know that she's going to be there in the future.

KEILAR: Why so much focus on a state that is five percent Hispanic?

CASTRO: Well, because, number one, it's a growing part of the electorate. But secondly, I think all of us, no matter which these surrogates you talk about, all of us appeal to different folks. I see myself as somebody who is also relatively young as one of the surrogates. And so we need to get the youth vote out and to energize young people and also Latino community. I'm glad to lend my voice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Like Clinton's backers there, Bernie Sanders surrogates are also pounding the pavement in Iowa. And among them, you have actress Susan Sarandon, the owners of Ben and Jerry's ice cream as well. And I'm joined now be someone else who is really trying to get Sanders elected, even though she can't vote herself.

Erika Andiola serves as the national press secretary for Latino outreach for the Sanders campaign. An action that was taken by President Obama helped her and other undocumented young people from -- gave them protection from being deported. They have become known as a group as the dreamers.

Erika, thanks so much for being with us. And I know you have an amazing personal story. You arrived in the U.S. when you were 11. You're now a big advocate for immigrant's rights. The Clinton camp reached out to you. But in the end, you decided to work with the Sanders campaign. Why is that?

[15:35:08] ERIKA ANDIOLA, NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY, LATINO OUTREACH, SANDERS CAMPAIGN: Yes, I mean, you know, I have been involved in the dreamer's movement for a couple years now. And you know, one of the biggest things we wanted to do was pass immigration reform. It was one of those challenges that we couldn't get through. We didn't get it. We couldn't make it happen, just like many other issues that have gone through Congress have fallen through the cracks.

One of the reasons why we realized that was happening is because we had such a broken Congress that, you know, one of the main reasons for that is the fact that we have so many companies and so many private interests going into so many political campaigns. And at the end of the day, those people don't necessarily work for us but they work for those private interests.

And Bernie was one of those, you know, was the candidate that I saw that was going to be able to focus on the solutions and that was going to be able to focus back on the people who have supported him since he has gotten absolutely no money from companies including private detention centers that are hosting, you know, that are having millions of undocumented immigrants in their own detention centers in their own facilities.

And, you know, unfortunately Hillary Clinton took money from them since the beginning. And for me that was the completely, you know, I got really turned off by the fact that I found out that she was taking money from these companies and I saw that Bernie was the only one who wasn't, among many other, you know, reasons why I decided to join the campaign.

KEILAR: Do you think that she would not fight for immigration reform, the immigration reform that you want? You think Bernie Sanders would and she would not?

ANDIOLA: You know, there's different ways to approach this, right, one way is to say we're going to go in and we're going to try to get Congress to act, you know, if it takes years, Congress doesn't act, then we'll get, you know, we'll try to figure out a solution. What we're asking for is as soon as the president that we elect comes into office we need to make sure that they find those solutions that we can work with and then continue to pressure Congress to get a solution in, you know, pass a law, pass immigration reform, and Bernie has been the only one who has been saying as soon as I get elected, I'm going to make sure that I, you know, get rid of the detention centers that shouldn't be there, I will make sure that, you know, when the Supreme Court decides --

KEILAR: Let me ask you about this because she has said she wants there to be a pathway to citizenship. She has actually come out further to the left on this then President Obama. Obviously, where do you see the differences that are so important? You're supporting Bernie over Hillary Clinton when it comes to immigration.

ANDIOLA: First of all, Hillary Clinton has no plan. If you look at her Web site, if you look at an actual platform, she has no platform. She has said, you know, different comments on what she would do, there's absolutely no specific plan with details on what she would do. With senator Sanders, we actually worked with him, Dreamers worked with him to create a platform on immigration reform that of course is going to provide a path to citizenship, but is also going to focus on what he can do as a president to stop the pain of so many people like my own mother who's in deportation proceedings, like other folks who are waiting to have a solution that doesn't necessarily have to require to wait for Congress to act when they're in gridlock.

And so, you know, I honestly think that Hillary would be that type of president who would, you know, play the political games and then, you know, try to figure out what to do after, you know, years. And that hasn't worked. We had a deportation machine that happened because we tried, you know, to wait until Congress acted. And so, Bernie has said I'm going to make sure that people who have been deported return to this country. I'm going to make sure as many people as possible get included into DOPA once release and once we get out of the Supreme Court.

KEILAR: OK, Erika. Thank you for being with us, Erika Andiola. Thanks for being with us.

And I do want to give you a reminder that tonight here in Iowa, you don't want to miss CNN's democratic presidential town hall. It's live from Des Moines. We have Chris Cuomo moderating. That will be tonight at 9:00 eastern right here on CNN.

Brooke, back to you in New York.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Brianna, thank you. We will take it.

Coming up next, is there room for a second billionaire, presidential candidate in this race for the White House? We'll talk to someone who is in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's inner circle.

Also ahead, a Marine veteran's open letter to Sarah Palin responding to her remarks on the campaign trail just last week about her son's domestic violence arrest and how she characterized PTSD. He will join me live coming up next.

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[15:43:52] BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brook Baldwin. Talking politics. The already crowded presidential race with one

billionaire at the helm may soon welcome another billionaire and fellow New Yorker. Sources telling CNN former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is now seriously considering a possible independent run. He reportedly told sources he is looking to making a decision in March. The news here got some mixed reactions from the front-runners of both parties.

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HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The way I read what he said is if I didn't get the nomination, he might consider it. Well, I'm going to relieve him of that and get the nomination so he doesn't have to.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If Donald Trump wins and Mr. Bloomberg gets in, you'll have two multibillionaires running for president of the United States against me. And I think the American people do not want to see out nation move towards (INAUDIBLE) where billionaires control the political process. I think we will win that election.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would love to have Michael get in the race. And Michael has been a friend of mine over the years. Perhaps we're not friends anymore. You know, he's wanted to do this for a long time. And he never pulled the trigger. We'll see if he does right now. But I would personally love to compete with Michael Bloomberg.

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BALDWIN: A source close to the former mayor tells CNN there are a lot of ifs in Michael Bloomberg's decision making. Saying he would consider jumping in the race if it appeared Donald Trump or Cruz would face Senator Sanders.

Joining me now, someone who knows the former mayor quite well. He is Bernard Whitman, president and CEO of Whitman insight strategies.

Nice to meet you and have you on.

[15:45:20] BERNARD WHITMAN, FORMER MAYOR BLOOMBERG POLLSTER IN 208: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let's get to it. What a piece of news to sort of wake up to this morning if you're following, you know, this race. And my question is, if mayor Bloomberg, you know, is looking to see, depending on how well Hillary Clinton does, we may not know by March if that sort of deadline he has. We talked to his former press secretary who also told us that Hillary Clinton nomination wouldn't necessarily rule out a Bloomberg run. So the question is, what would lead to a green light for him?

WHITMAN: Well, you know, I think mayor Bloomberg has taken a looked at the election in the direction of the country and the tone of the campaign and he is worried. At a time when our nation need ace bipartisan approach to solving problems, we're getting to the most divisive, angry individuals rising to the top. You have Donald trump who is fear-mongering, race baiting, extremely divisive. You have Ted Cruz who, who by to quote Donald Trump, is not a very nice guy and ultimately I think would make it very hard at the country. And I think Mike is looking at this and saying, you know what, let me take a look and see what would be necessary to get on the ballot in all 50 states, which is a pretty hard task to do. But let's see what would be necessary. And after all, if you look at the poll, 60 percent of the country would like a third party --

BALDWIN: As a pollster, I want to get to you on that but what specifically would he be looking at? Because we have been talking about Trump for a while and Cruz for a while. That's not new, what's happening, you know, among Republicans. And also what's sort of new is watching this Sanders surge. Although others would argue is has been a slow climb. What is he waiting for? What will determine a yes from him?

WHITMAN: Well, I think he's going to look at a number of factors including can he get on the ballot in all 50 states? Is Donald Trump likely to be the nominee? Ted Cruz likely to be the nominee? How much strength does Bernie Sanders have coming out of Iowa, coming out of New Hampshire, going into South Carolina and Nevada? What happens on Super Tuesday?

And I think if he senses that at a time when a commonsense approach to government, which is what he did here in New York, bringing people together, getting the best and brightest minds in a room and powering them to go and really make some tough decisions to advance the country forward, if he feels that people who want to bring the country back, who want to keep people apart, who are extremely divisive, are likely to get the nomination, be that Sanders, be that trump, be that Cruz, then I think he would seriously get into the race.

BALDWIN: Bernard Whitman, come back when we know more, OK?

WHITMAN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you very much.

Meantime, Sarah Palin's comments about the president during her stump speech for Donald Trump has angered at least one U.S. veteran. During that Oklahoma rally last week, Palin seemed to blame President Obama for her son's domestic violence arrest because after her son served in Iraq, he then suffered from PTSD.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My son like so many others, they come back a bit different. They come back hardened. They come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to this country that comes from our own president where they have to look at them and wonder, do you know what we go through, do you know what we're trying to do to secure America?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, a U.S. veteran who is also a PTSD survivor's responding to Palin in this open letter. U.S. Marine sergeant and naval officer Chris Mark calls her out for quote "trivializing the disorder and being disingenuous." He writes in part. Quote "I recently read your comments related to PTSD in which you attempted to excuse your son's arrest on domestic abuse charges by firearm charges by referencing his supposed PTSD. Based upon your previous comments, I am not surprised that you would choose to use this very serious condition as a political football and once again, attempt to divert blame from your own family's abhorrent violent behavior."

Marine sergeant Chris Mark joins me now. He was part of the 1993 U.S. combat mission in Somalia, operation continue hope.

Sergeant, thank you so much for joining me. And thank you so much for your service to this country.

MARINE SGT. CHRIS MARK, PTSD SURVIVOR: Thank you for having me, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let's get to first you, I want to talk to you about your service, coping with PTSD. Know you help a lot of veterans. So not just you know this intimately, describe your struggle for me. Also I know you just lost someone who you were trying to help just yesterday.

MARK: Yes, let me correct quickly, I was actually a veteran in Somalia in 1994. So after that ranger incident everybody is familiar with. So it was 1994. I will say that my own struggle, I struggled undiagnosed for about 20 years. And for about the last 10 years or 12 years, my wife has been imploring me to go in and get tested.

So just in the past year I decided to go to the VA and get tested, quite frankly just to kind of get her off my back a little bit. And I thought they would send me home and I would be done. Instead what I got was an invitation to come back and talk to a professional.

When I went through that process, I realized that a lot of what I had been struggling with so many years was indeed due to PTSD so my diagnosis is relatively recent but I did struggle with the effects of some of the things for quite a few years.

[15:50:36] BALDWIN: So this is personal for you. And it's personal for so many men and women in our country. I know I've talked to them. I've talked to parents of men and women who have taken their own lives because they couldn't cope. So when you see Sarah Palin stand on that stage last week and say what she did, your thought was what?

MARK: Well, I was angered on two levels. One, you know, PTSD is a very serious issue, but it's also stigmatized in the press and people don't really understand it. So we don't need veterans being treated like they're violent individuals simply because they're struggling with some effects of PTSD. On the second part, you know, we have a very real issue here which is domestic violence. There was a domestic violence victim involved in this. And again, I think by blaming PTSD, she's doing a disservice to people who are in domestic violent relationships.

BALDWIN: In addition to that too, those two points, you know, I was just talking to the IAVA on the show last week and they were bringing up the point, sort of the lack of specifics that some of these presidential candidates have offered in terms of how if elected commander in chief they would help our nation's veterans. And I'm just wondering if you have any particular candidate in mind who you think would take these issues seriously.

MARK: You know, and this is probably going to offend some of my Republican friends, but I think all candidates take it seriously. I think President Obama currently takes it seriously. And you know, I'm a Republican. So I don't have a particular candidate in mind, but I quite honestly can't envision any candidate ignoring it, especially in light of what we've seen over the last few years with the problems in the VA and, you know, kind of the exposure of veterans taking their lives.

BALDWIN: Chris Mark, thank you very much. Marine sergeant Chris Mark, I appreciate it.

MARK: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, Democrats preparing to make the final pitch tonight before the Iowa caucus in one week. We will take you live to Des Moines for a preview of tonight's critical town hall.

Plus, McDonald's. Was the demise of Mickey D's greatly exaggerated? The fast food giant proving breakfast may indeed be the most important meal of the day.

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[15:56:54] BALDWIN: Call it the burger bounce back or the breakfast bounce back. And it sends a huge turn-around today for the world's biggest fast food company. Think about this. Just six months ago McDonald's was reeling with declining sales. Flash forward to today and Mickey D's announcing soaring numbers and nearly a six percent jump in sales in the U.S. in the fourth quarter. The CEO announced a plan to turn the company around last year and that plan included all- day breakfast. And now Steve Easterbrook says the all-day breakfast is the main reason for the turn-around.

So I have Paul La Monica here with me from CNN money with this great news from McDonald's, at least for right now. All day breakfast? That was the magic solution?

PAUL LA MONICA, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: It is amazing that that was the solution for what has been years of problems for McDonald's. A lot of people complaining about the food just not tasting very good. And I think Steve Easterbrook got that. He was a McDonald's insider, was promoted to CEO. They haven't just changed the menu with all-day breakfast. That is a big reason why the fourth quarter sales were up so much because that was announced in October. They had some nice weather as well helping them, a warm weather in November and December. But they're doing well internationally also and they have revamped the menu to focus more on higher quality ingredients, better service. I think they got the fact that McDonald's was a little bit of a joke. It was known for poor quality food and not great service. And they couldn't get by with doing that forever.

BALDWIN: So - all right, so all-day breakfast. But tell me more about, you say the CEO came from within but obviously he has brought something pretty significant to the table to see this change.

LA MONICA: Yes, so far investors are obviously very happy. The stock is at an all-time high and customers are back. I mean, you can't ignore the sales growth in the U.S. And it seems that not just the all-day breakfast, that's definitely a big part of it, but they're revamping the burgers, they are having more customization. Think of all the fancy burger joints out there, the Five Guys of the world. They're competing with that, not just the Burger King and Wendy's people out there.

BALDWIN: In addition, though, to the burgers, new items on the menu like what?

LA MONICA: Yes. They're going to be experimenting with sweet potato fries, mac and cheese, they got mozzarella sticks which is an Italian- American I kind of whistle at. But that is one of the things they have now and they make pick $2 menu. So two things for $2. And that is something as well. They know they have to still focus on that value customer because there's a price war going on right now. You got Burger King for five for $5, Wendy's four for $4. So McDonald's is playing on that as well.

BALDWIN: That's what I was wondering. Thirty seconds here. What are the competitors? By the way, sweet potato fries? Yes, please. What are the competitors doing to sort of, you know, obviously go up against the boom at McDonald's?

LA MONICA: Yes. Price is part of it but also a lot of experimenting with the menu really to get millennials. Burger King, they have some spicy fries, buffalo fries.

BALDWIN: Millennials like spice?

LA MONICA: Apparently millenials like anything that's not standard, I guess. I'm not one of them.

BALDWIN: Paul La Monica, thank you very much on this new sort of iteration of McDonald's.

And just a quick reminder, of course, to all of you. This is a big day for us on CNN. You have all three of the Democratic contenders who would like that nomination for president, Martin O'Malley, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, there in Iowa tonight. Chris Cuomo is moderating this town hall, 9:00 eastern here on CNN. Definitely tune in.

Thank you so much for being with me here on this Monday afternoon. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's go to Washington. "THE LEAD" starts now.

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