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New Day

North Korea Orders Troops to be Ready for War; Will Biden Run for President?; Trump Supporters on Immigration. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 21, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:33:31] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Back to our breaking news that we are watching: North and South Korea on the brink of war. North Korea's state-run media reporting that Kim Jong-un has ordered front line troops into wartime state after both sides traded artillery fire over their border. The North is threatening to destroy loud speakers blaring anti-North Korean broadcasts over the border. Meanwhile, the South is vowing to retaliate against attacks from the north.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Political upheaval in Greece. The prime minister there announcing plans to resign after less than a year in office, and calling for new national elections to be held next month. This is a month after they approved austerity to receive a third bailout from the country's European creditors.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Donald Trump preparing for the biggest rally of this campaign season thus far. Tens of thousands going to pack a football stadium in Mobile, Alabama, tonight.

Also, new poll numbers from Quinnipiac University find Trump leading the former Florida governor among Republicans in his former home state. Trump and Bush now defending their term of anchor baby, both asking if there's a better way to describe children of undocumented immigrants.

PEREIRA: He is already serving life without parole that convicted murderer David Sweat could get an extra seven years tacked on from the brazen escape from that brazen escape New York prison in June. Sweat was indicted Thursday on those charges. A judge entered a not guilty plea for him. Sweat, as you recall, spent 21 days on the run before he was recaptured.

[06:35:00] Fellow escapee Richard Matt was killed by police.

CUOMO: Rain soaking much of the East Coast this morning. So, what does mean for the weekend, let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers for a look at the forecast.

We have been dealing with so much extreme weather. I guess, if you get normal rain, it's better than normal. But what do you see?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we are not going to say rain, rain go away. Rain you are welcome, come on, bring it on, because at least it's not severe. We are seeing some showers across the state. That could slow down a plane or two later on today. But other than that, we are in good shape. A beautiful weekend, your producer just talked to see me. She's going to see Zach Brown at Citi Field this weekend. It's going to be a great, great day, a great evening, good weekend plans for the Northeast today.

Cooler weather coming in for next week and showers for the rest of the country. But really, really decent weather. We are out of the 105 degree heat index finally, it feels good here. New York City 84. That is just perfect.

Let's get now out to Danny. Oh, Danny boy. Danny is a small hurricane. It looks big here, but when I zoom out, it's smaller than Rhode Island. It's tiny little hurricane out there. It is still a hurricane, we'll keep watching it.

Forecast to get slightly smaller before it moves into the Gulf of Mexico and could get bigger. For now, it's way out there and a tiny little storm.

CAMEROTA: Smaller than Rhode Island. That's got to hurt, Danny.

Thanks so much, Chad.

CUOMO: Chad referencing Paulina Gigante (ph), one of our senior producers here. She said the weather better be good. She will literally change the weather.

CAMEROTA: She will change the map.

Meanwhile, we have to talk about this. A former all American football player was convicted of sexual assault last night in Texas. And the story of how this player even got on Baylor's campus is shocking.

So, Andy Scholes has much more in this morning's bleacher report.

Hi, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Alisyn.

Sam Ukwuachu is going to be sentenced later after being convicted of rape. The details surrounding the story are pretty disturbing. Ukwuachu was kicked off Boise state's football team in 2013 after multiple off the field incidents. But Baylor brought him in right away despite that, even though Boise State did warn them about his past.

Now, shortly after arriving in Waco, Ukwuachu was accused of rape by a Baylor soccer player and he was not indicted of rape charges until June of 2014. And since then, no one spoke about the charges until this week. Baylor never said why they did not allow him to play last season. And just a couple months ago, one Baylor coach even said that they expected Ukwuachu back on the field this season.

Now, Baylor has released a statement saying in part, maintaining a safe and caring community is central to Baylor's mission and at the heart of our commitment to our students, faculty and staff.

On a much lighter note, RGIII and the Redskins and some pre-season football last night. It was a rough night for RGIII. He dropped a pass eight times. He was hit hard on six of those attempts. RGIII had to leave the game with a concussion in the second quarter.

So, Michaela, definitely, not the start to the season RGIII we're looking for.

PEREIRA: No, far from it. All right, Andy. Great talking to you. Happy Friday.

SCHOLES: All right. You, too.

PEREIRA: Vice President Joe Biden still considering whether or not to jump into the presidential race. Up next, we are going to hear from the Draft Biden Committee that's trying to convince him to run.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:49] CUOMO: Want to know the state of play? Of course you do.

New polls from key battleground states show that Vice President Joe Biden could take on the leading Republican candidates and possibly beat them. Sources tell CNN Biden is still reaching out to party leaders around the country to see if he should run.

Our next guest says, yes, Biden should run. Who is he? Robert Hoopes, an informal adviser to the Draft Biden Committee, a group trying to recruit the veep into the race. Hoopes is the former chief of staff of Vice President Biden at the DNC, the Democratic National Convention Committee, that is. He's currently president of Vox Global.

Mr. Hoopes, thank you for being here.

ROBERT HOOPES, INFORMAL ADVISER TO "DRAFT BIDEN": Thanks. Good to be here.

CUOMO: Do you believe the V.P. will run?

HOOPES: I think it's highly likely. I think he's giving it a tremendous amount of thought. He's at a time where as a sitting vice president who is grappling with extraordinary personal issues, the idea that he can add value to this contest and a thoughtful voice to this contest, 40 years of experience to this race and to this discussion. I think they are all compelling reasons for him to be considering it the way he is.

CUOMO: Let's assume that you don't need to draft him, theoretically dragging him into the race when he doesn't want to be there and he does run, why is he the best choice for the Democrats when you already supposedly have who you think is the best out there in Hillary and then you have Bernie Sanders bringing up the passionate core of the party. How does Biden fit in? Why is he better than they? HOOPES: Yes. Look, I think the Democratic primaries, historically,

candidates do better in the general election when they have a competitive race. In 2008, Barack Obama came out of that primary, a much better general election candidate than, say, he had been unchallenged.

Walter Mondale in 1984 had sort of a nice walk to the nomination and only one state against Ronald Reagan.

So, look, the vice president brings an incredible amount of experience. He brings incredible amount of executive experience. There's really two people who know how this government operates and all of this nuance, and that's the president and vice president.

[06:45:04] The other part of this is the connectivity. There's an authenticity to Joe Biden that I think resonates with voters. There's a humility. There's a familial quality to him. I think those are some of the personal traits in addition to some of those core policy issues that are really going to resonate with voters.

CUOMO: Let me put a couple polls up there and if see if it walks you back on your optimism at all. Let's put up the vice president, here he is against the Democratic field. He's been at 10 percent, 11 percent. He's not in the race, but his numbers don't really move either. This is in Florida specifically. Clinton, 48, Sanders, 15, Biden, 11, his numbers are generally, in that, you know, ten to low teens areas. Some say that suggests a ceiling for him. That when he gets in, he'll get a bump, but he doesn't have the growth that supporters like you suggest.

Your rebuttal?

HOOPES: Yes, I don't agree with that. I think, you know, you are not in the polls until you are in the race. It's really measuring a lot of non-opinions of some of those states.

The vice president has run two times before. He knows what's involved. He's got a lot of friends in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He is a unique voice to speak to the issues, the middle class issues, the independent issues in those states.

I also think, in these states that -- in these polls, there's a number of polls out that has Biden beating a Republican nominee in Ohio, in Florida and Pennsylvania. So, early days, polls don't mean a tremendous amount. There's good news for the vice president as well.

CUOMO: The two main push-backs would be, I like Joe Biden, but too old, not enough time to get the money and organization together.

HOOPES: Yes, I don't think he's too old. I don't think -- that's not accurate. I think, you know, experience comes with age. You can't teach experience. The only way to get it is by doing.

So, he brings a tremendous amount of experience with him.

The money and the organization -- I think those things come. I think for a sitting vice president, the infrastructure for somebody who has 100 percent name recognition, I think there are a lot of enthusiastic people out there ready to support the vice president. I get those e- mails on a daily basis into my inbox. I think if he declares, you will see a structure come about easily and swiftly.

CUOMO: Is there anything to this notion that there is a chance the vice president would say, yes, I'm going to run and if you believe my age is an issue, I'm only looking to serve one term. Is there truth to that suggestion?

HOOPES: So, I haven't talked to the vice president about that. But I think it's inconceivable to say he would only serve for one term.

CUOMO: Well, thank you for throwing a big bucket of freezing water on what was otherwise a very tasty theory.

No, Mr. Hoopes, thank you very much. Please stay in contact with us. Let us know if you get any word of a decision coming down.

HOOPES: All right. Thanks a lot.

CUOMO: Appreciate it.

So, what do you think? Should the vice president run and do you think he could win? Tweet us using #NewDayCNN, you go on to Facebook at Facebook.com/NewDay.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: All right, Chris.

Is Donald Trump's heated rhetoric to blame for a beating that a homeless Hispanic man took in Boston? The perpetrators say that was their motivation. What do Trump supporters say? We have a panel of them, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are illegal immigrants. They came over illegally. Some are wonderful people and they have been here for a while, they've got to go out.

CUOMO: How do you do it in a practical way? You really think you can round up 11 million?

TRUMP: You know what? At some point, we are going to try getting them back, the good ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Well, Donald Trump credits himself with bringing the topic of illegal immigration to the fore this political season. Trump's plan includes deporting all undocumented immigrants and ending birthright citizenship. Here on NEW DAY, we have been taking the pulse of Trump supporters and we want to do that again this morning on these topics.

Joining us are: Terra Grant, Jesse Lopez and Pax Hart.

TERRA GRANT, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, Tara. Great to have you. Great to have you gentlemen here in the studio.

GRANT: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about this unfortunate situation that has happened in Boston this week, where these two South Boston brothers saw a homeless man on the street who they believe was Hispanic, I believe he was Hispanic, and they beat him up. They broke his nose, they urinated on him and when arrested, they told police and I will quote them, that it was OK to assault him because he was Hispanic and homeless.

Quote, "Donald Trump was right. All these illegals need to be deported", they said.

Pax, what do you make of that?

PAX HART, TRUMP SUPPORTER: It's very unfortunate. I think it's terrible. I'm assured Donald Trump would think it is terrible as well.

I don't think the things that he is saying is incendiary. I think he's having a very honest discussion for the first time in a very long time about immigration.

CAMEROTA: So, you don't think the rhetoric has become overheated?

HART: No, I do not.

CAMEROTA: Jesse, what do you think?

JESSE LOPEZ, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I agree with Pax. It's not something people are feeling right now out in the communities.

CAMEROTA: You don't think people are getting more angry about immigrants or illegal immigrants because he's talking about them?

LOPEZ: We are getting angry at -- we're angry at the process that has not been fixed. The anger is not directed towards the immigrants, it's more directed towards the administrations that have not fixed the immigration process and made it so that people can come across legally and make it easier for them to do that.

CAMEROTA: Let me tell you what Donald Trump did say in response to this. He first said, "I hadn't heard about it." But then he said, "It would be a shame if it were true." And he says, "I will say people who are following me are passionate. They love this country and they want it to be great again. They are passionate." Terra, is that the right response?

GRANT: You know, I think passion is one thing, but beating someone just because he's Hispanic. Everyone is looking for the go-to button.

[06:55:02] OK. Well, Trump said it was OK.

Now, Donald Trump did not say it was OK to beat a man allegedly and urinate on him because he was Hispanic. That's ludicrous. That is ludicrous.

The immigration policy is one thing. The immigration problem is one thing. But going to that extent of hurting someone and doing that because they are homeless, Hispanic, who the hell cares, you don't do that to another human. Come on.

CAMEROTA: Terra, I want to speak to you for a second because you are of our panel, the person who I think does not wholeheartedly support Donald Trump's immigration -- his plan to deal with illegal immigration. What's your issue with it?

GRANT: My issue is rounding up 11 million to 20 million people, like cattle, and sending them back to what? What are we sending them back to? Nothingness. We're sending them back to drug lords, we're sending them to poverty, we're sending them back to despair.

What does that say to all these kids, anchor babies, which I don't -- you know, I'm not going to get into the anchor baby debate. Undocumented is what I choose to call them.

You know, they are undocumented, yes. I don't think it would be fair and I don't think it would be right and I think we would be shooting ourselves in the foot as a nation if we round them up, these hardworking, God-fearing people, send them back to nothing, then expect them to what? What to, all these kids --

CAMEROTA: He says expedite the process back in. But I hear you, Terra.

I want to pose it to you, gentlemen. Fascinating what Terra is saying, is that it's not kind. It's not -- it's a little cruel to send them back to the drug lords and poverty they escaped from.

Pax?

HART: The people we elect to the office, their first priority is the well-being of American citizens. You have people in Ferguson. You have people in Baltimore. These are the people that need our attention. These are the people that need to be lifted out of generational poverty.

Naturalizing 11 million to 20 million -- estimates up to 30 million additional Third World low wage workers, they are going to be competing with people that are U.S. citizens that need to be raised out of poverty.

CAMEROTA: Jesse, it's interesting -- Terra, go ahead.

GRANT: You know, OK, with that said, the people in Ferguson, they are breaking laws against police officers. They are breaking laws -- these people are coming here to this country to get away from poverty, to get away from drug cartels.

(CROSSTALK)

GRANT: I understand that, but these are God-fearing, hard working people coming here, making money. And yes, they send a large majority of money back to Mexico to help their families to get out of poverty. And, OK, I understand that.

They are also putting -- do you really, Jesse, I think is who I'm speaking to, the people sitting on the welfare system right now, do you think those people who are going to run out and cut tobacco or work on the farms? No, absolutely not.

CAMEROTA: And, Jesse, I do want to bring you in.

Thank you, Terra.

I do want to bring you in, Jesse, because you're interesting. You are of Mexican descent. So, what do you think about the argument that these guys are having?

LOPEZ: The process of getting 11 million people out in an orderly fashion, it's going to be a big job to do.

CAMEROTA: Is it practical?

LOPEZ: It's not too practical, but there's a lot of things the government does that aren't practical. But one of the things about anchor babies --

CAMEROTA: What Terra, hold on a second. What Terra is saying is that it's cruel to send people back to the poverty and drug lords from which they escaped.

LOPEZ: Well, we didn't create the poverty. Their government created the poverty. Their government created the drug lords. Their government is in bed with the drug lords. They get paid by the drug lords.

CAMEROTA: So, not our responsibility.

LOPEZ: It's not our responsibility. We are not the world's baby sitters.

CAMEROTA: Very quickly, Pax.

HART: We are $19 trillion in debt. We have poor in this country. We have criminals in this country. We need to get our affairs in order, then we can help other nations.

CAMEROTA: Jessa, Pax, Terra -- Terra, hold that thought, because we are going to have you back shortly. We are going to take a little bit of a break. Thanks so much for all of your thoughts.

We will continue our conversation with all the Trump supporters in our 8:00 hour. We are more to talk with them about.

But we do have a lot of news this morning and we want to get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Are they on the brink of war?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: North Korean troops have now been mobilized.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: South Korea will strongly retaliate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation is only escalating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: War of words.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You win when you campaign like this. You don't win when you're campaigning like this.

TRUMP: I don't see how he's electable.

PEREIRA: GOP rivals, they agree on one thing.

REPORTER: Governor, do you regret using the term "anchor baby" yesterday on the radio?

BUSH: No, I didn't.

(CROSSTALK)

BUSH: I don't, I don't regret it.

REPORTER: You don't regret it?

BUSH: No. Do you have a better term?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Jimmy Carter opening up about the cancer diagnosis.

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT: They think they got it all, but they're showing up now in four places of my brain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one of the more challenging cancers to treat, certainly regardless of your age.

CARTER: Hope for the best and accept what comes.