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Donald Trump Leading Other Republican Presidential Candidates in New Polls; "New Yorker" Publishes Article on Darren Wilson; Deputy Sued Over Handcuffing Third Graders in School; Massive California Wildfire Jumps Containment Line. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 04, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:01] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, August 4th, 8:00 in the east. And we have three new national polls, and they all have one common trend -- Donald Trump is on top. He is riding a wave of voter anger and media attention and is at his strongest position yet, atop the field ahead of this first presidential debate.

Now, the newest poll of Republicans from CBS News shows Trump with 24 percent, Jeb Bush 13. You see the numbers there. This is very relevant. Bloomberg, Trump leading Bush by more than a two to one margin. So now you'll have what they call the poll of polls, Alisyn, and we'll figure out who is the first debate.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Chris, look at this new FOX poll. It has Trump at his highest personal best yet at 26 percent. So what does all of this mean for Thursday's debate? This as 14 of these 17 GOP candidates took part in a forum in New Hampshire last night. So who was missing? We begin out coverage with CNN's Athena Jones. She's live in Manchester. Give us all the latest Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. We're only a few hours away from learning which 10 candidates will be on that debate stage on Thursday night. And for the top tier candidates here, last night's forum was a chance for them to practice their debate talking points. For those candidates who won't make the cut, it was still a chance to connect with voters, albeit on a much, much smaller stage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please welcome the candidates.

(APPLAUSE)

JONES: The first GOP forum wasn't technically a debate. But it certainly felt like a preview. On Monday night 14 presidential hopefuls for the Republican ticket took the stage at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pledge allegiance to the flag.

JONES: The candidates discussing their policies and some using their one-on-one time with the moderator to dole out purchases against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

CARLY FIORINA, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She lied about Benghazi. She has as well lied about her servers and the kinds of information she had on her server. These go to the core of her character.

JONES: Senator Lindsey Graham used his time onstage positioned himself as the best candidate to take on the Clinton.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: As to the Clintons, I've been dealing with this crowd for 20 years. I'm fluent in Clinton speak. When he says, Bill says "I didn't have sex with that woman," he did. When she says I'll tell you about building the pipeline when I get to be president, it means she won't. And when she tells us, trust me you've got all the e-mails that you need, we haven't even scratched the surface. So I understand this crowd and I can beat them. And if we can't beat them it doesn't matter.

JONES: Noticeably absent from the stage the current GOP frontrunner. Donald Trump is still surging above the rest in three polls out by Bloomberg, FOX News, and Monmouth University. In fact, he's leading next closest Jeb Bush by double digits. On Sunday, the Donald told NBC News he doesn't think you can artificially prepare for something like a debate. The unconventional debate prep from an unconventional candidate further fueling the intrigue around his performance in this Thursday's debate. But fellow candidate governor John Kasich says he's not worried.

JOHN KASICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Maybe I'll give him a hug. I don't know. I don't think about all that. It's not important. What's important for me is what I say, and let people kind of see. There's going to be to so much time between now and then.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Now, Trump did not come up at all during the forum. The candidates were more focused on selling their own policy positions. It's a sign the folks who are with him on stage Thursdays night are going to do their very best to keep their focus on them and not on the frontrunner. Chris?

CUOMO: The problem is they're not at the top of the polls, Athena. At some point they're going to have to deal with the man. Thank you for the reporting.

Let's discuss these recent polls and what they mean for the rest of the field. We have CNN political commentator and Jeb Bush supporter Ana Navarro and former Reagan White House political director and contributing editor to "American Spectator" Jeffrey Lord. Good morning to both of you. Well, there is no more Trump bump, Ana. This is the real deal. He's on top of the every poll. He is obviously the face of your party's discontent. Yes the media is fanning Trump's flames a little bit, but that's not all that's going on here. What is your latest take on it?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think he has been able to unify the antiestablishment, anti-Washington, frustrated with Washington, angry with Washington vote. I think that's why you see the numbers for practically everybody else on the right lane in the Republican primary going down. He has been able to become the guy for that movement. And I think it sends a very strong message to everybody else running that there is a lot of anger, a lot of frustration, a lot of fear, concern, angst amongst Republican voters.

CAMEROTA: We have some new poll numbers. Let's see if we can show all of these to you, because there are a lot of polls out this morning, Jeffrey.

[08:05:04] So this one is CBS. This one just came out with Trump at 24 percent. Jeb Bush is the closest, second at 13. The next poll we're showing is Bloomberg, that's 21 percent. It's more than double what Jeb Bush has at 10 percent. The third one is FOX and it has Trump at 26 percent, Jeffrey. How do you explain why he is so far ahead of all the other people?

JEFFREY LORD, FORMER REAGAN WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, the one thing here, these polls are no longer outliers. I mean, this is a very, very real and serious thing going on here. And it's very interesting. In watching that debate last night, I had the sense -- and I suspect Chris will remember this tale, when Walter Mondale was running for president, the then Democratic governor of New York, said that his mother said that Walter Mondale reminded her of polenta, i.e. bland mush. And I have to say, and these are smart, talented people on that stage, but this reminded me to some degree when you compare it with Trump of Republican polenta. And how they're going to cope with this I'm not really sure.

CUOMO: But they are going to have to. And in truth it wasn't of my father favorite things that he said. He loved Walter Mondale. And he would later say polenta is very good for you. It's just not flashy and spicy.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: But whatever, the point was made that he wasn't popping for people, and Donald Trump is. The question is, Jeffrey, how does he win? Now I know that would have been an outrageous suggestion early on. I don't think it is right now because you don't have people distinguishing themselves, and at some point you have to hold people accountable for their lack of progress. Obviously the barrier to entry we keep hearing is policy. Here's a take on him this morning on MSNBC about what he would do about, let's say, trade. Here's his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to negotiate great trade deals. Carl Icahn is a friend of mine. I would say, Carl, congratulations. Handle China. I'd get other guys like Carl. I'd say good luck, here's Japan.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CUOMO: Ana, if that answer were given by Jeb Bush, he would be

getting beaten with a big stick for a long time by the media. It seems like Donald, people take him a little differently. But how do you assess.

NAVARRO: By the media? He'd be beaten with a big stick by his friends, including me. Look, there's people who can give substantial answers and there's people who can't. I think that that's part of the reason why Donald Trump did not show up to that forum yesterday. It wasn't a debate but it was a forum that had very substantial questions on actual policy issues. That's his answer on trade. His answer on immigration is I'm going to build a wall and I'm going to have the Mexicans pay for it. His answer on health care is I'm going to replace Obamacare with something that's great and terrific.

Those are all good sound bites and they may be what some people want to hear, but there's no substance there. And I think that one of the things we're all watching for is will Donald Trump show up with some policy, with some substance on Thursday night? Or will it be more of the same? If he shows up with some substance, I think we're all going to be surprised.

CAMEROTA: Jeffrey, let's look at the CNN poll of polls. And what that is crunching all the numbers together of all the latest polls to see who will be on the debate stage Thursday night. And here's how it looks. Trump obviously is in the lead, so he will be there. Then there's a whole list of candidates, which are Bush, Walker, Carson, Huckabee, Cruz, Paul, Rubio. And the last two are always open for debate but sort of questioning until now. It looks like Chris Christie is going to make it and John Kasich is going to make it. Here's who's not going to make it, Perry, Jindal, Fiorina, Graham, Santorum, and Gilmore. Jeffrey, what do you think voters lose out on by that many people not being on that stage?

LORD: In truth, I'd love to see them all on stage. I realize it's unwieldy. I think they should have tried to find a way to do that. One of the interesting things there in terms of Governor Perry's situation, he has been the most vociferous in his anti-Trump attacks. I believe he said he was a cancer on the Republican Party, this kind of thing. And this hasn't helped him at all. And so I just find that a very interesting thing, the idea that you're going to get on a stage and bellow at Donald Trump and you think that will help you, I think that's a mistake, otherwise Governor Perry would be in the debate.

CUOMO: Strong point, strong point. I'm only echoing it because I made it on Twitter not too long ago.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Ana, that raises a very significant issue. If you say bad things about Trump on the stage which some are anticipating, that does not necessarily help you win his base. What is the right strategy you think for the people who are on the stage around Donald Trump? NAVARRO: I don't think the strategy is to say bad things about

Trump on that stage, and I'll tell you why -- because then he gets the right to rebuttal.

[08:10:00] So if you mention somebody directly, and that's also something Donald Trump needs to keep in mind, that if he goes after anybody on that stage directly, they're going to get a 30-second rebuttals. So it would serve them all well if they stop attacking each other and actually answer the policy issues. I don't think you go after Trump's voters. I think if you don't like Trump, it's one thing. But I think the message that is being sent by Republican primary voters is loud and clear.

CAMEROTA: Ana, Jeffrey, thank you so much for being on with us and previewing all this. We should also mention we've been inviting Donald Trump on NEW DAY for weeks now. He has thus far declined our invitation. We're about to take it personally, but we haven't yet. And we'll still send the invitation if he wants to come on and we'll ask some tough questions.

CUOMO: Donuts, coffee, ride here and back on my shoulders, whatever it takes to get him here. It's 461 days. We've got some time to work on him. Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's look at some other headlines here. The former Ferguson Missouri police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown is breaking his silence in a "New Yorker" magazine interview. Darren Wilson says he can't find another job in law enforcement but does not regret what he did that day. Michael Brown's family infuriated by his comments. We'll get more now from CNN's Boris Sanchez. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. Darren Wilson several times in that interview says he wants to move away from what happened in Ferguson and he literally has moved away. He's moved to a new home where he has a young daughter born in March. He's also got cameras installed outside that home and his name is not even on the property.

While he's clearly trying to stay out of the spotlight, his comments in the New Yorker raising questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Darren Wilson speaking out almost a year after shooting and killing unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown. A new photo of the former police officer on the cover of an in-depth interview by "The New Yorker" magazine. A reporter who spend several days with him in March says the now 29-year-old lives in an undisclosed new home, very few know where.

Far from Wilson's wish for he and his wife in an interview with ABC News nine months ago, Wilson now says he'll only go to places where there are like-minded individuals and it's not a mixing pot. And about the death that sparked outrage, Wilson says he doesn't think of Michael Brown as a person, because, quote, "It doesn't matter at this point." When asked if he thought Brown was truly a bad guy, Wilson said "I only knew him for those 45 seconds in which he was trying to kill me, so I don't know."

Brown's family says they're not surprised.

ANTHONY GRAY, BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: There's so many inconsistencies and hypocrisy throughout the article itself it just perpetuates the view of Darren Wilson as being self-serving.

SANCHEZ: Wilson admittedly has not read the justice department's report on the systemic racism in Ferguson. The former cop says he's not going to keep living in the past. Wilson says if you live in a high crime area with a lot of poverty there's going to be a large police presence. He claims it's not a race issue. Wilson goes on to say that in Ferguson there's a lack of initiative to get a job. The youth are running in the streets, he says, not worried about working in the morning. The 29-year-old claims that culture is everywhere in the inner cities.

JEFF ROORDA, BUSINESS MANAGER, ST. LOUIS POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION: Darren Wilson is no racist. I know him well. I think the article misrepresents who he is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Wilson also says he has interview at several other political departments but he has not been hired because they see him as a liability. He also says he'd like to return to return to the Ferguson police department at least for just one day to prove that he was, quote, "not defeated."

PEREIRA: We're going to talk a little bit about this coming up about the article. It's very in depth, very long.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much, Boris.

There's outrage this morning after a Kentucky sheriff's department is caught on tape after handcuffing an eight-year-old boy above the elbows for allegedly misbehaving. The boy has ADHD, and now the ACLU and a children's advocacy group are suing on behalf of that boy and a nine-year-old girl also restrained by the same officer. CNN's Martin Savidge is live in Atlanta for us. What do we know about this, Martin?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. We know this actually occurred in November of 2014. There were three incidents, two children involved here. And essentially the lawsuit is saying that the use of handcuffs was excessive force and a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now you are going to behave the way you know you're supposed to or you suffer the consequences. It's your decision to behave this morning. SAVIDGE (voice-over): This controversial video is difficult to

watch. The sheriff's deputy not facing a lawsuit by the ACLU restrains the third grade boy with handcuffs.

[08:15:04] According to the complaint, the boy's arms pulled with excessive force behind his back. He can be heard crying out in pain.

The small eight-year-old child, according to the lawsuit, suffers from disabilities related to ADHD and a history of trauma is shown in the 15-minute video cuffed at the biceps. His wrists apparently too small for the adult-sized restraints.

OFFICER: You can do what we've asked you to, or you can suffer the consequences.

CHILD: Ow, that hurts.

OFFICER: Now sit down on the chair like I asked you to.

SAVIDGE: That officer who works at Latonia Elementary identified in court documents as Deputy Kevin Sumner of the Kentucky sheriff's office. Also named in the lawsuit, the sheriff of the Kenton County, alleging his failure to adequately train and supervise Sumner.

OFFICER: If you want the handcuffs off, you're going to have to behave and ask me nicely. And if you're behaving I'll take them. But as long as you're acting up, you're not going to get them off. Are you done yet?

SAVIDGE: The complaint was submitted on behalf of the young boy from the video identified only as "SR", as well as another special needs student, a nine-year-old girl who was also handcuffed in the same manner by Officer Sumner on two separate occasions, causing pain and trauma according to the lawsuit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was no legitimate law enforcement purpose there. Neither child committed a crime, and all of the behavior was related to their specific disabilities.

OFFICER: Look at me for a minute. Look at me for a minute. Look at me. If you want the handcuffs off, you go to stop kicking.

You want them off or not?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: And we just received the statement from the Covington Independent Public Schools. They say, among other things, that law enforcement officers are assigned to their schools basically to protect the students and also to protect staff members. They say, quote, "They are not called upon by staff to punish or discipline a student who engages in a school-related offense."

That coming from the school where it occurred -- Chris.

CUOMO: Martin, thank you very much for the background on that. We will be following up on it today and moving forward.

So, there are more than 13,000 people being evacuated as fire crews battle the Rocky wildfire, which has jumped a vital containment line. Thousands of structures now under threat. This is one of many fires torching the state from day to day.

The latest from CNN's Stephanie Elam in Colusa County, California.

Stephanie, any progress?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there has been some progress, Chris. You're talking about a fire that is massive. We now know that it has charred some 62,000 acres. They do have 12 percent containment, which is where it was yesterday afternoon as well.

But one thing we do know is they like to use these big roads out here, these rural highways as sort of active containment lines. One of these highways out here, Highway 20, where they were working to keep the fire on one side of it, that it did jump over that in one spot or so. So, they're out there monitoring it.

One thing that's interesting about this, too. When they are watching these fires, they have firefighters who actively keep their backs to the fire to face out to the other side to see if any embers blow across and start fires over there. So, that's how they keep ice and they know right away, so they try to knock those fires down very quickly.

But all in all, you're talking about in California, 21 fires burning across the state, some 124 acres the state have burned in this fire season. So, it is definitely clear that the effects of the drought are being felt. And one other thing though I can tell you, is that it is much cooler out here this morning and that is good for fighting fires.

Michaela, as you know, Northern California at night gets cool. During the day, we could see temperatures around 100 degrees. So, hopefully, they'll get some progress in these dark hours here.

PEREIRA: Yes, hopefully. And as you said, lots of technology involved, but they really rely on the human eye and the human effort on the ground to fight those fires.

Steph, thanks for that.

A suspected cop killer is expected to be arraigned today. Tremaine Wilbourn surrendered Monday to Memphis police after a two-day manhunt. He is accused of shooting and killing Sean Bolton after he apparently interrupted some sort of drug deal. Officer Bolton will be laid to rest later this week.

CAMEROTA: All right. Take a look at this heart pounding rescue caught on video in Northern California. A sheriff's deputy pulls a man out of a car and off train tracks moments before a train comes barreling through. Here is what you're about to see -- the train smashing into his car. The driver was stuck on the tracks. The deputy saw him in trouble and pulled him to safety with barely a second to spare.

PEREIRA: Oh my goodness, heart pounding.

CAMEROTA: And the heroism of the sheriff's deputy to just risk his own life to raise him and get that guy.

[08:20:01] PEREIRA: To think, he thought, OK, I can probably get to him in time.

CUOMO: I think that very often in talking with these men and women, they don't think.

PEREIRA: They react. They just react.

CUOMO: They just do. They have their training and they have what is in their head and their heart, compelling them to help people.

PEREIRA: It's also that human instinct, right, just to quickly if you can.

CUOMO: I think a lot of people do nothing.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: I think what separates these men and women who make it their job every day is they just run toward what many run away from.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I agree with you.

PEREIRA: Incredible.

CUOMO: All right. Big story this morning and it will be for some time. This video of this kid, an eight-year-old, he's cuffed above the elbows. This is done by a school resource officer, also known as a sheriff. Why this kid? Kid has ADHD.

What was going on? Does it make this legal? Does this make it OK?

We have a father who lived this with his own child and he's going to tell you what can happen in a classroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: I mean, there's really no way to look at this video and not be upset by it. It's a kid, eight years old, he has ADHD. He's in adult handcuff, squeezing tightly above his elbows allegedly from misbehaving in school. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER: You can either behave the way you know you're supposed to or suffer the consequences. It's your decision to behave this way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Well, if it's so terrible, why are we showing it to you?

Because it happens a lot. That's why. And the ACLU in this case is suing on behalf of this boy and this other kid, a 9-year-old girl who also has ADHD.

[08:25:05] And they were handcuffed by the same resource officer who works at the school, a sheriff, actually a former teacher himself.

Now, that little girl had to go to the hospital after the first time she was cuffed, because she had a severe mental crisis, all right?

Now, we have a father who has a kid who has special needs who's on the autism spectrum, and what can happen in a classroom. His name is Stuart Chaifetz. He recorded staff members bullying his autistic son in his New Jersey classroom three years ago.

Thank you for joining us. Please quickly take us through what happened with your kid.

STUART CHAIFETZ, RECORDED SON BEING BULLIED IN SCHOOL: Thank you. And, first, let me say my heart goes out to these children and their parents.

In my case, the teaching staff were just treating my son horrendously. They were tormenting him in many ways. It was this culture created where it was OK to mock him, put him down. And it really had this long lasting effect where he started lashing out at them, because when you are abused yourself, sometimes you will begin to react. And none of it was his fault.

When I see what happened to this little boy and this girl, I know they didn't do anything wrong. They're young children with special needs. And we can't treat them like they're prisoners, which is that's like the language. When I was listening to the officer, I felt like he was talking to a prisoner in a jail cell.

That type of medieval thought, that someone with special needs, you yell at them, you torment, you can lock them up, will somehow change their behavior is 100 percent wrong. These children need respect and love and that's how they begin to understand and learn.

CUOMO: What is the root of the problem when you look at something like this video? And is it the same problem as you believe you saw in your own case? Is it about training? Or is it just callousness? Why do you think he would put restraints on this kid, just to hurt him? Or do you think there's a gap in what he knows how to do?

CHAIFETZ: I say this is my opinion, since I only have the video to go from. But it's the attitude. There are some people in my opinion who simply should not be teachers or in schools. If you don't have the ability to control yourself and instead of locking a kid up because you're frustrated -- it's not the kid's fault. But if you don't have the ability -- same thing with the people who were in my son's class, they clearly had no ability. None of them should have been in the class room.

But that's why we need better training and we need to be able to fire these people, because unfortunately in my case, because of New Jersey's strong tenure law, the teacher was able to keep her job.

So, this person should never be allowed -- the officer should never be allowed with young children again, because he doesn't know how to deal and treat children with respect. When he's locking him up and saying listen to me or I'm going to punish you really bad.

CUOMO: But, Stuart, the other side says, the school's opinion here, the school's statement, "SROs, school research officers, are law enforcement officers who are assigned to the school to maintain the safety of students and staff and they act in accordance with their training as professional law enforcement officers. They are not called upon by school district staff to punish or discipline a student who engages in a school related offense."

In other words, this kid, if he meets the level of threat to himself or others must be treated that way and the officer has to do what he can, in this case putting on the handcuffs. Is it ever OK?

CHAIFETZ: No, I don't believe it is. I don't think a 56- pounder, or however much he weighs, young boy is a threat. You know, again, when you treat dealing with special needs of any kind like a law enforcement issue, which is what they did, then you're going to result in people being handcuffed. That's not what they need. They need behaviors.

Look, there are so many children every year with special needs. It's truly a crisis in our country. We really need to deal with this seriously. We need more schools to understand this is going to be going on and on and that children needed to be treated with dignity and respect, not as if they just committed a crime.

CUOMO: Stuart, 12 percent of the mainstream school population is denoted as special needs. They are 75 percent at least of the case where is this type of restraint is used. Obviously, it speaks to a need to do something differently and better for kids like this and yours.

Stuart, thank you very much for sharing your story and your perspective. Appreciate it.

CHAIFETZ : Thank you.

CUOMO: Now that you heard from a parent and the facts and the law surrounds this situation, what do you think? Tweet us using #NewDayCNN, post a comment on Facebook. Go to Facebook.com/NewDay.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: By now, you may have seen those under cover videos claiming to show Planned Parenthood officials negotiating or at least talking about the transfer of fetal tissue.