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New Day
Trump Skips GOP Debate; Manhunt for Escaped Inmates; What Do Voters Think of Trump's Debate Boycott? Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired January 27, 2016 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:31:55] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With me, they're dealing with somebody that's a little bit different. They can't toy with me like they toy with everybody else. So let them have their debate and let's see how they do with the ratings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the stage will look different for tomorrow night's GOP debate. Donald Trump dropping out of the final debate before Iowa, saying he does not like one of the Fox moderators.
For the past 24 hours, he and Fox have been trading barbs. In fact, Trump just tweeting this moments ago. He says, "the statement put out yesterday by Fox News was a disgrace to good broadcasting and journalism. Who would ever say something so nasty and dumb?"
Let's bring in CNN's senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter, and CNN's senior media reporter and media - for media and politics Dylan Byers.
Gentlemen, this story is developing truly by the minute with various campaign managers going on the air, Donald Trump tweeting. Dylan, let's just rewind the tape for one second to less than 24 hours ago. This is the statement that Fox put out that really apparently aroused Donald Trump's ire. Let me just read it so everybody knows. "We learned," Fox News said, "from a secret back channel that that Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president. A nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings."
Dylan, what do you make of that statement and what's happened sense?
DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA AND POLITICS: Well, that's, you know, what we're dealing with is a game of chicken between two very powerful media figures. One of them, of course, is Donald Trump. The other one is Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes. And as they sort of continue to one up each other, it got to a point where Donald Trump sort of felt that if he was going to come out of this the, you know, as the victor, he had no choice but to ditch out on this debate. Now, normally skipping the last debate before the Iowa caucuses, if
you're the GOP frontrunner, is political suicide. But, of course, we've said so many of the things that Donald Trump has done over the last six months have been political suicide and he's only gone up in the polls.
CAMEROTA: Brian, for you as a media reporter, what a fascinating split screen will be happening tomorrow night. There will be the GOP debate on Fox and then Donald Trump now says he's be holding a different event, a competing event, in Iowa for wounded warriors. So which one does the media cover?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: A fundraising event no less. Something that will be a very heartwarming moment and something that competing networks will broadcast. This is a network programmer's dream.
Alisyn, we haven't seen anything like this in politics before. If this was the rule book for how campaigns work, Donald Trump has ripped it up. He's torn it into pieces.
CAMEROTA: Hey, those are your notes.
STELTER: He's thrown it all over the place. That is what's happened here. There are no rules here anymore and that's because Trump's not a politics. He's a businessman. This morning his campaign manager on "Good Morning America" saying, you know, all those advertisers who spent a lot of money on ads for the Fox debate, they must be deeply disappoint now that Trump won't be there. That's the calculation of a businessman, not a politician.
CAMEROTA: Dylan, we've dug into the irony file for this next bit of video, and that is that Donald Trump himself was supposed to be moderating a debate back in 2011. And when some of the Republican candidates, namely Huntsman and Ron Paul, found out that Donald Trump was going to be the moderator, they pulled out because they cited a lack of seriousness on his part. Mitt Romney then followed suit saying that his schedule was too busy. And the person that Donald Trump went to, to complain about them boycotting the debate was Megyn Kelly. Watch this.
[08:35:26] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS: First, let's touch on this debate that's coming up that you're going to moderate for News Max with News Max. So far only Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have agreed. Are you still -
DONALD TRUMP: We're not seeing a lot of courage here, are we?
KELLY: I - not so far.
TRUMP: Not lots of courage.
KELLY: Are you still going to do it if it's just those two?
TRUMP: You know, these Republicans, they're supposed to be brave. KELLY: It looks like Mitt Romney's not going to participate. And it sounded like you were genuinely disappointed at that.
TRUMP: I was.
KELLY: Will it - will it change your view of him as a candidate?
TRUMP: Well, I'd like to say it doesn't. It probably does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: OK, so, Dylan, there he doesn't think that those candidates have courage. It changes his view of them as a candidate. Now he's doing the same thing. What - how do you get your mind around this?
BYERS: Right. I - I am - I am shocked - shocked to find out that Donald Trump is going back on something he said and doing exactly the opposite of what he said. No, this is what he's done all along. I mean if there's - there's one thing that Donald Trump has taught us is that the American memory, or at least the memory of American voters, is very short. And that even when reminded of previous statements that would make him seem hypocritical, and there are many out there, that, you know, the American people are actually very forgiving if they like their candidate enough.
And in this case, Donald Trump has said, look, it's not about what I said, it's not about who I used to be, it's not about the fact that I used to embrace many Democratic policies. You can run as many ads against me as you want with the old footage. You can bring up all of my past statements. That doesn't matter. I'm telling you who I am now. And there's something about Trump's showmanship, his charisma that it - that it - that really makes those old statements just not matter. And that's confounding, you know, all of the Republican strategists who would like to throw the book at him and the book just falls flat.
CAMEROTA: Right. So, Brian, what does Fox do tomorrow night? Do they mention Trump? Do they ask questions about Trump? If the other candidates go after Trump, do they have to defend Trump? How does this work tomorrow night?
STELTER: People are even wondering if there will be an empty podium. But keep in mind, when Rand Paul boycotted the last debate, Fox did not show an empty podium. So I'm not sure if they'd actually go that far and show that. Clearly this will be the elephant in the room or the ghost in the room. I think Fox will have to bring it up. Clearly Cruz and other candidates will take advantage of him not being there.
But maybe Trump is once again changing the dynamics of this race. Debates have been incredibly important up until now. Fifteen, 25 million viewers watching these debates. Maybe, as of tomorrow, debates don't matter so much because Trump says they don't matter. Maybe he has that much power, that much of a warping effect. And by the way, it's usually Fox that has the power.
One of the incredible things here is that Roger Ailes, he's one of the most powerful men in all of media, all of politics, right now he seems to be on the defensive. He seems to have his back up against the wall. That's not a pleasant position for him to be in.
CAMEROTA: Dylan Byers, Brian Stelter. Brian, get a broom -
STELTER: I'm going to clean this up.
CAMEROTA: Yes, thank you.
What's your take out there? Tweet us using #newdaycnn or post your comment on facebook.com/newday. We look forward to reading those.
Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Tearing up paper, throwing them all over the studio. Geez.
So, we're going to get back to the news this morning. It's not all just about Trump. There's a huge manhunt going on. There are three escaped inmates in California and they are still on the loose. The search is intensifying. Authorities comparing one of the fugitives to Hannibal Lecter. Why? Next.
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[08:42:35] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for the five things you need to know for your new day.
The armed protesters occupying an Oregon wildlife refuge caught in a violent encounter with authorities. The spokesman is dead, several arrested, including the group's leader, Ammon Bundy.
Donald Trump at war with Fox News. The Republican frontrunner pulling out of tomorrow's debate, accusing moderator Megyn Kelly of bias.
President Obama set to meet with Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders in the Oval Office this morning. Sanders 'campaign manager says the pair will chat about the important issues facing the country.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder holding a news conference later this morning on Flint's water crisis. The NAACP met with Snyder Tuesday to discuss a fifteen point priority plan that it drew up with Flint residents.
Damage from El Nino storms forcing people to evacuate their homes in Pacifica, California. An apartment complex is sitting on cliffs that are crumbling and falling into the ocean. Wow. Precarious.
For more on the five things to know, go to newdaycnn.com for the latest.
All right, authorities stepping up the manhunt in southern California for three jail escapees. They are also increasing the reward money as authorities reveal the trio likely had a 17 hour head start before Orange County officials realized they were gone. CNN's Paul Vercammen live in Santa Ana, California, with more this morning.
Paul.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
You wonder if this trail has gone stone cold. Authorities not revealing that they have any new tips or leads, significant developments. The trio escaped last Friday. You talked about that 17 hour gap. They were seen at the 5:00 in the morning head count and then not again until later that night where they were supposed to have an 8:00 p.m. head count did they discover they were missing. There was also a fight involved that looks like it was staged so these men could get away.
Among them, some very dangerous felons. The youngest of them 20, Mr. Tieu. He is accused of murder. The second in the bunch, Nayeri, he's accused of torcher and kidnapping. And the other man, Duong, also attempted murder. Quite a rap sheet for these three. The fear is they might have tried to leave the country. And Nayeri pulled that off once before, successfully escaping from the U.S. to Iran and hiding out there.
Back to you now, Chris Berman.
CUOMO: Chris Berman, I'll take it, Paul. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).
CUOMO: Now they know.
CAMEROTA: So true. Oh, boy.
[08:45:01] CUOMO: Now they know.
All right, so we know that Donald Trump is skipping tomorrow's debate just days before the Iowa caucuses. So, is this about Fox News? Is this just about Donald Trump? What about the voters? We have Iowa potential caucusers, next.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Megyn Kelly is a lightweight. This is a lightweight. This is not a reporter. This, to me, is just a lightweight. Megyn Kelly shouldn't be in the debate. I don't care about Megyn -- When Megyn Kelly didn't ask me a question, she made a statement last time, I thought it was inappropriate. Everybody said I won the debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: And with that, the frontrunner Donald Trump is out. He says he will not participate in tomorrow's Republican debate.
There is less than a week to go before the Iowa caucuses. The people will now not have the full slate before them when the debate happens. How does that meet voters expectations? Let's ask them.
Two registered Republican voters in Iowa. Adam Vandall and Michelle Aberle. Hi. It's nice to see you two again. Yes we sat down, we taped that segment. The cameras didn't work right. We're doing it again. And now we have something new to talk about so thanks for both being with us.
Adam, you have Ted Cruz in your head and your heart right now. But how does Donald Trump's decision affect you? Michelle, I know you this is your first time caucuser and you are undecided, so we'll get to you next.
[08:50:01] MICHELLE ABERLE, REGISTERED IOWA REPUBLICAN: Okay.
ADAM VANDALL, REGISTERED IOWA REPUBLICAN: Well, Donald Trump's refusal to debate is really nothing more than -- I compare to it my two-year- old toddler that throws a fit when I take away a toy because it is time for dinner. This is nothing more than a temper tantrum. I'm proud of the Republican Party for actually standing up and saying, no, we're not going to cave to your demands, whether you are the frontrunner or not. This is just more of his everyday drama that he likes to bring and get back into the news cycle. So nothing new from the Donald Trump camp. Just more of what he actually is and that's kind of a big crybaby.
CUOMO: Now, Adam used the term the GOP, the Republican Party. But this is about Fox News and Donald Trump, Michelle. Now when you look at this, does this affect your feelings about Trump or do you believe he's standing up for what he thinks is right and it's okay?
ABERLE: I think it does affect my feelings of Donald Trump because I think it proves that he's not able to get along with people and he's not able to make these compromises which is what we're going to need from someone who's dealing with foreign leaders. And if he can't make a compromise with a Fox News reporter, how is he going to make a compromise with somebody like Vladimir Putin?
CUOMO: Hm. Let me ask you something. Does it matter to you that he attacks reporters he doesn't like? Don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings. Michelle, does that matter to you?
(LAUGHTER)
ABERLE: I think it does matter. Because I think it is a huge show of character. He's showing that he doesn't have a positive image or the character to stand for something that we believe in.
CUOMO: All right. So enough about Trump. I'm assuming right now that you are not leaning towards him, Michelle. And I know you weren't last time we spoke. But let's talk about who you are looking at and why?
I'll start with you, Adam. You are all in with Cruz because you say you are a true conservative and you believe he is your only and best choice. Why? Make the case. VANDALL: Absolutely. He's the most consistent conservative in the
field. He has fought every day since he's been elected to office in the Senate. And he even fought as the attorney general in Texas. Argued nine cases before the Supreme Court on every issue of substance. And he's put together the best organization. He's raised the most money of any movement conservative in the race. Some of the other guys just simply have not done that. And if you don't want Donald Trump as our nominee, like everybody is saying, well, he's going to be it, I believe Ted Cruz is the only viable conservative alternative.
CUOMO: Now Michelle, you have a very different take. You say you are a conservative, too, but you are a conservative who wants your president in the White House. And your concern is, well, who's going to win once they get our nomination in the general election? And where is that leading you?
ABERLE: Correct. I think that it is most important that we get somebody who's going to be able to win a general election. And for that reason I think that Marco Rubio is still my frontrunner. And I really hope that people kind of take into consideration some of the things he has to say because I think he has a lot of positive messages and I think he is a true conservative as well. So it is not like you have to compromise between being a conservative and getting somebody that is electable.
CUOMO: Adam, would you consider Rubio? Do you have any second choice option?
VANDALL: At this point in time, no. I'm all in for Ted Cruz through the caucuses.
CUOMO: And Michelle, if not Rubio, who?
ABERLE: I would say Ted Cruz would be my second choice because I think he's another conservative that would be a strong frontrunner in the GOP.
CUOMO: Bush, Kasich, Christie?
ABERLE: I'm working on her.
CUOMO: I know. Bush, Kasich -- That's what caucusing is all about. How about those, Michelle? Any of those getting any attention?
ABERLE: I think they are getting some attention, but I don't think that they have a strong enough poll with not only just Iowa voters, but voters in general that they would be able to win a general election.
CUOMO: All right, guys. Thank you for doing this again. I'm sorry the cameras didn't get it done for us and I know you are out in the cold. Appreciate it very much. Good luck in the caucuses next week.
VANDALL: Sure, you stick us outside.
CUOMO: I know. I know. I'll make it up for you when I see you. I'll see you next week. Thank you very much. Adam, Michelle, appreciate it.
CAMEROTA: Bring a lot of hand warmers and hot chocolate.
CUOMO: I know. It is cold there. And they are good and they are also largely representative. We spent a lot of time on the ground there. All of us have. These people listen with big ears and there is a big portion of the electorate there that hasn't made up their mind.
CAMEROTA: Yes. And that's what's so interesting about the caucuses. It is not that people in Iowa can't stand the cold. Of course they can. You see how hearty they are. It's that you can be swayed when you go -- He was just saying I'm working on her. When you go into the caucuses, you can be swayed from what you thought you were going to do originally.
BERMAN: They are sampling up until the last minute. And you are not walking into a voting booth. You are walking into a room with people that you know.
CAMEROTA: Right.
[08:55:00] CUOMO: Now, big points there also. The voters, they don't like what's happening with Trump in the debate right now, you know, as sampled by these two. And this idea of going after journalists isn't getting as big a hug as it used to get either.
BERMAN: We'll see about that.
CAMEROTA: We'll see about that. We haven't had our last say.
CUOMO: Almost in stereo. That is "The Good Stuff" right there. But we have more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Yesterday started out as a "Good Stuff" kind of day. This is what happened. All right? This anonymous couple rushing to the hospital anticipating the birth of their child. What they didn't expect was to be stuck in rush hour traffic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Opened up the passenger side door of the vehicle, the father was kneeling on the driver seat assisting his wife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: That was NYPD Detective Sharp. On his way to traffic court, stopped to find their car, find out it was too late for the couple.
CAMEROTA: Oh boy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 911 operator then instructed mom to push one more time. The baby came out immediately. Me and dad helped catch the child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: 911 operator says push, you push. Talk about perfect timing. After Sharp helped deliver the baby, an ambulant happened to be stuck in the traffic too. Took mom, dad and baby to the hospital. Everybody's fine.
