Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Thousands Line Fifth Avenue to Welcome Pope; Pope Francis to Address World Leaders at U.N.; White House to Welcome Chinese President; NYU Student Detained in North Korea Speaks Out; Trump's Rivalry with Rubio Intensifies. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired September 25, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pope Francis waking up in New York.

[05:58:57] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The city still buzzing with the arrival of Pope Francis.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Taking that small motorcade through Central Park to some 80,000 people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest event that's going to happen in New York is the address to the United Nations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He continually repeats the fact he, too, is an immigrant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much actual influence does he have?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there's anything true about Pope Francis, he is close to the people.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via phone): Marco Rubio, he's like a kid. He shouldn't even be running in this race, as far as I'm concerned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's very thin-skinned. Very sensitive to criticism.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Trump is vulnerable. I think he had a very poor performance at the debate last week.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's part of what it takes to be in the arena. You have to be able to take criticism.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, September 25, 6 a.m. in the East. You see Alisyn and Michaela in New York. We are live at the United Nations. We're about to witness the largest gathering of world leaders in the U.N.'s 70- year history. And one man is the reason why: Pope Francis.

He will be the fourth Pope to speak to the U.N. You've got Paul VI, John Paul II, Pope Benedict, but none faces a moment of crisis like this. We are told the Pope is aware and has never given more attention to what to say than he has for this trip and this day.

Religious extremism, the neglect of migrants, approach to war, the climate, all of these problems find their source and their solution in the room the Pope will address.

And guess what? This is only his first stop today. The 78-year- old Pope has shown amazing resilience thus far. He's going to crisscross the Big Apple. He's got stops at the 9/11 memorial. He's going to visit a Harlem school. Remember how important the less fortunate are to him. He's then leading a procession through Central Park, and he's going to celebrate mass at Madison Square Garden tonight.

When he got here last night, this city exploded with enthusiasm when he arrived. The city was on lockdown. You know what? No one wanted to move if they had a chance to see Francis, who was blessing crowds along New York's Fifth Avenue, and then he led evening prayers at St. Patrick's Cathedral, one of the hottest tickets in the history of this town.

Let's begin our coverage with chief national correspondent Jim Sciutto. He's here with me at the U.N., and I grew up in this city. And we're used to security, but there is something different about having Francis here.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No question. When I saw that convoy moving down Fifth Avenue yesterday, I was -- I haven't seen a motorcade like that, even for the president. I mean, it's incredible.

And when you think about his audience in Washington was Congress and the American people. Today his audience is really the world, as he speaks here at the U.N., and expect similar tough messages on things like climate change, global poverty.

But this is New York City. This Pope is not going to leave here, and frankly, New Yorkers are not going to let him leave here without connecting with real people. And we're going to see that today, as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (voice-over): This morning, tens of thousands of people are gearing up across the Big Apple to witness Pope Francis on day two of his New York tour.

The Pope, waking up at a townhouse on the Upper East Side, donated to the Catholic Church decades ago. Shortly after 10 a.m., he'll address leaders from around the world at the United Nations. Some in attendance Cuban President Raul Castro and Nobel-Peace-Prize- winning activist Malala Yousafzai. The speech expected to be one of his toughest yet, likely urging action on climate change and the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST/AUTHOR, "THE FRANCIS MIRACLE": He makes a difference. He's utterly revitalized the political and diplomatic relevance of the Vatican in our time.

SCIUTTO: He will travel more than four miles downtown to Ground Zero, where he'll meet with families of victims from 9/11 before going into the World Trade Center Museum for a remembrance service. Afterward, the Pope heads nearly eight miles uptown, visiting a Catholic school in Harlem serving 300 children, mostly black and Latino, some of them immigrants.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: He continually repeats the fact that he, too, is an immigrant, that he is the son of immigrants.

SCIUTTO: The people's Pope will also meet with immigrants and refugees from Latin America, Africa and Asia. In the early evening, Pope Francis will ride his open Popemobile through Central Park, where nearly 100,000 people are expected to see him.

The Pope then ending his day back in the heart of Manhattan at Madison Square Garden, where he'll lead a mass for some 20,000 people, all hoping to be blessed by the leader of the Catholic Church, like this young wheelchair-bound girl at St. Patrick's Cathedral Thursday night.

STEPHANIE GABAULD, NEW YORK RESIDENT: Just to get an actual blessing from him was just so amazing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: On the Pope's security, there really are two challenges here, one keeping him safe; and the perception is, there is a real threat. But also allowing him to be himself, to connect with real people, to meet with real people.

And we've been hearing some frustration, frankly, Chris, with the level of security. He understands it. He's a global leader. He understands the facts. He understands that the Secret Service and the New York Police Department want to keep him safe. But he also wants to get out there. It will be interesting to watch today how many opportunities he has to do that.

CUOMO: Well, look, you've got the U.N. You've got all the world leaders. This is New York City, which has been a target, you know, to use the phrase, in every sense of the word, God forbid, something happens to the Pope on your watch, you don't want that. The Vatican recognizes it. They receive it. But here's the big headline.

No one is stopping Francis from doing anything. If he wants to get out and walk into a situation, he will.

All right. So there's been lots to discuss here. Let's bring in CNN Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher and, of course, we have CNN senior Vatican analyst and associate editor of "Crux" magazine, John Allen.

Two moments for you when I got back home here yesterday. The first is I walked to Central Park to see what was going on. I had people coming up to me, John, who had seen our coverage on CNN, who wanted to touch me because I had been near Francis. I had a priest come up to me. And he looked at me, and he double fist-pumped and went, "We're back, baby."

You know, the relevance of what Francis means for a message and a man, is it bigger here than you expected?

[06:05:00] ALLEN: No. Because I've followed Francis all over the world. I mean, let me just echo your experience.

When I was with him in Manila in the Philippines in January, Filipinos were lining up around the block to shake my hand, simply because this hand had also touched the Pope. I become what Catholics would call a relic by contact, because I had made contact with the Pope; I was somehow a holy thing.

I've seen this man electrify audiences all over the world. So it's no surprise that he's doing it here. Except that, you know, in the abstract, I think a lot of people, and certainly, some in the Vatican felt that this would be a very challenging trip for the Pope. They know well that his message, although it plays well pretty much every place, has probably had more blowback here than anywhere. That is his criticism of capitalism, his opposition to militarism. Also, there's the fact he'd never been here before, doesn't really speak the language and so on. They were a little bit nervous about how the Pope was going to play on the American stage.

You know, I think at the conclusion of his opening act, we have to say he's playing OK.

CUOMO: So far, so good.

Delia, the understanding that the Pope, the Vatican do not believe all moments in time are equal, that this is a pivot point and that he is here for a reason and they have tailored this reason as much as any other message he's delivered.

GALLAGHER: Well, there is a sense of urgency to Pope Francis's papacy. I mean, he has even said it himself. When he talks about his own personal sense, of you know, "I'll be here for a few years." And that's only with regard to him. But he also has the idea that the world is at a crucial moment.

And this country, in particular, being the world leader, needs to take on that responsibility for all of the issues that we're seeing him lay out, and in particular, today, obviously at the U.N., it will be one of his top issues, the environment. Because he devoted an entire teaching document of the church, the highest one he can issue. I mean, that in itself says to you, this is -- this is an urgent message. This is something that we all need to take a listen to and not just because of the environment, but because of the connection that this issue has for the rest of humanity, in particular, for the poor.

He thinks that there is a connection between degradation of the environment on the part of the global north countries. He says there is an ecological debt on the part of northern countries towards the southern countries that creates the other phenomena that we see, like immigration. Migration.

CUOMO: Now, Jim, you pointed out very well yesterday that this Pope, in what we've heard so far, is a combination of intellect and faith. You know, he has identified the environment and the stewardship of it as a right. That's a word that will mean something in the U.N. G.A. And when you hear his comments, he's been weaving it together as a tapestry, where even though he's talking about the climate, his reasons for what he thinks about global climate goes to poverty, goes to what we have as a duty of tolerance. Everything kind of winds up being a thing...

SCIUTTO: It's about global responsibility, right? That we all have a responsibility, whether you're talking about the environment, alleviating poverty or even yesterday in the part of that message to Congress was, we've got to work together.

You know, it was against polarization, which was -- which was -- has a global message but also a message to Washington, where we know there's a fair amount of polarization.

And the thought occurred to me, this guy is so good, he to my ears delivered some very stern messages yesterday on -- certainly on climate change, on poverty, on that polarization, on the arms trade. But he delivered it in such a diplomatic way that a lot of people said that wasn't a scolding. I listened and I said, well, he was being pretty stern there, actually. I think we can expect more of that today.

CUOMO: Certainly being direct.

ALLEN: Well, absolutely. You know, often when the Pope is on the stump, so to speak, there is a little bit of decoding that needs to go on to understand the full force of what he's saying.

Now Francis has often been sort of a break with that. You know, when he was in Latin America over the summer, for example, he gave a speech to a group of popular movements in Bolivia, which was some of the fieriest and most direct rhetoric you will hear. I think it's true that he's been a little softer and gentler, at least so far on this trip. And I think there's a reason for that.

I think the Pope has sniffed out that this is an extraordinarily polarized political climate in the United States. I think he believes that the United States potentially has the power to be a change agent on so many issues in the world.

But to some extent, its capacity to harness that energy is hampered by the polarization and the division. I think the last thing he wants to do while he's here is feed that polarization. GALLAGHER: One of the really interesting things that we don't

normally see when a Pope speaks is a clear indication that he wants to influence the international discussions on things. And he's done that over and over with his talk on the environment and says, "I want to influence the discussions that are going to go on here."

CUOMO: We keep coming back to his phrase, which is now one of my favorite things. I'm going to put it on a T-shirt: "Haciendo un lio," you know, making a ruckus. He does not care if you don't like his position. He's going to bring it anyway.

GALLAGHER: Yes. He wants to make a ruckus, but he wants to make a ruckus that's going to be heard and decided on in the U.N. and in Paris on the climate talks that are going to happen there in December. So very specifically saying, "I want this to influence international discussion, and I want there to be international cooperation."

[06:10:11] You know, a lot of people in the United States are skeptical of what the U.N. can do. It's seen as ineffective. And the Vatican is very supportive of the U.N., because they say, OK, it might not be perfect, but it's the only thing we've got.

CUOMO: It's what we've got.

SCIUTTO: And the thing about that right there, he's speaking before two of the most -- what are perceived to be two of the most dysfunctional bodies in the world. Right? The U.N. and Congress.

CUOMO: ... lot of opposition.

SCIUTTO: If he can move those two bodies, that will be impressive.

ALLEN: But you know, Chris, you mentioned a moment ago about how the Pope does not believe all moments in time are equal. And I think that's absolutely right. There's another word he uses a lot, which is opposed to being Spanish, is actually Greek. It's a New Testament word which is kairos, and it's a word that means a kind of privileged moment in history.

He always talks about this as a kairos. And if you want to know why he's not afraid to sort of shake things up, I think it's because he believes, historically, we're at one of those pivot points in which things can go one of two ways. We can either go the path of exclusion and dysfunction and end up some place we don't want to be, or we can turn things around. And I think he believes this is not a moment for timidity. This is a moment for boldness, and he's willing to traffic in boldness.

CUOMO: You know, it's interesting. People are trying to identify his significance right now. It's obvious to Catholics, all 70 million of us know him as the head of our church and a point of aspiration of faith.

But you would say, oh, he's kind of like the new Nelson Mandela, you know, he's a global uniter. It's interesting. Most men and women of influence, when they get

a moment like this, they want to seize it and they want to magnify this moment. It is attention for Francis because he does not want it to be about him. And we heard last night from those close to him, saying he is frustrated at all the attention he is getting. He doesn't want to be distracted from the message. How uniquely Pope Francis.

GALLAGHER: I think after he was on the cover of "TIME" magazine, he came out and said, "It's wrong to see the Pope as a superstar. I'm not a super star. The point is the message."

And obviously, we would expect Pope Francis to feel that way, because from his own humble beginnings to the fact that he really doesn't feel like it's the right thing to be celebrated as the person of the Pope, the right thing to be celebrated is what he's saying and any action that's going to follow from that.

CUOMO: John, Delia, Jim, please stay with me. There's a lot to figure out for us this morning.

We're going to be joined exclusively, by the way, by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power. You know her. She's going to give us her insight in terms of what the United States feels that is resonating with the Pope.

And of course, we want you to stay with us throughout the day, because we're going to cover all the Pope's events like no one else can. We're going to have his arrival at the U.N. in our 8 a.m. hour, and CNN will carry his address then live.

And tomorrow, we're going to have a special weekend edition of NEW DAY, live from Philadelphia. This was actually the place that the Pope needed to go to most. This is where his Council on the Family is going to be, Alisyn, so we'll take you all through it. But today, this is a big one. He literally addresses the world. What will he say?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: It's so great, Chris. It's great to watch all of your coverage, get all the context. Even my children have been glued to the set. They don't normally watch long news events, but they're glued to watching this.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Everyone is glued to it.

CAMEROTA: Yes, that's great. We'll check back with you, Chris, momentarily.

Meanwhile, other news to tell you about. Because President Obama is hosting another world leader this week. This time it's Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders have major disagreements. So how will this visit go?

CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is live with more. Tell us what to expect, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning.

Right. Yesterday, right as Pope Francis was taking off from Washington, President Xi of China was on his way in for a landing. So as we say, we're going to see another big welcoming ceremony here at the White House. Later on, a state dinner.

But last night, President Obama and President Xi were able to sit down in a more informal setting for dinner, 2 1/2 hours long. And the White House says this is where they do their best work. This is where there's the most progress. Last time they sat down that way, it lasted more like five hours.

However, yes, there are some big shadows, some touchy topics hanging over this meeting. Namely cyber security. After that OPM hack earlier this year that affected more than 21 million people -- and by the way, the White House still hasn't acknowledged that China is the culprit of that, even though some of the intelligence community have. This is going to be a big subject. They're looking for progress in that area. And if there isn't, the U.S. stands ready to sanction China. Talk about an uncomfortable situation. But they have been talking about that over the last few weeks and months.

Other big topics that are not so comfortable include trade, China's rather interesting activity in the South China Sea. Various other disagreements that the U.S. and China have had.

But we expect progress in climate change. We know that there will be announcements today. China is going to contribute a lot of money to a big green climate fund.

Also the U.S. got China to start a cap-and-trade emissions plan. That took a lot of work.

[06:15:06] But we really look forward to that press conference later today, to see just how both presidents are going to answer some of these really tough questions.

Back to you.

PEREIRA: Yes, we are anticipating that and looking forward to seeing what those talks will net. Thanks so much, Michelle.

An investigation is underway currently into what caused a charter bus and an amphibious duck boat to collide in a terrible crash on a Seattle bridge Thursday. You can see the scene there. A team from the National Transportation Safety Board is expected back on scene to begin the investigation into the crash. Four international college students on that bus were killed; 44 others were transported to local hospitals. Several, we're told, are still in critical condition.

CAMEROTA: There's another terrible tragedy. Saudi Arabia's King Salman ordering a safety review for the Hajj pilgrimage following that deadly stampede. More than 700 people died Thursday and nearly 900 were hurt. This is near the holy city of Mecca. The Saudi health minister blaming the pilgrims for being undisciplined and not following instructions during a religious ritual, but witnesses blamed authorities for being disorganized.

PEREIRA: We have some breaking news for you. An NYU student detained in North Korea after allegedly sneaking into that nation is speaking out this morning. CNN's international correspondent, Will Ripley, is live in Pyongyang with the very latest for us -- Will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, just hours ago after months of uncertainty about the status of Won-Moon Joo, a press conference here in Pyongyang where he reached out to his family and said he wants to come home.

I spoke with him earlier this year back in May. That was just weeks after he was detained here in North Korea. He admitted to traveling to China from the United States, where he was a student at NYU, crossing illegally into North Korea, going through barbed-wire fences, and then trying to get detained.

I asked him why? He said at that time he wanted to create a great event. Today at the press conference, he said he was doing it to satisfy his curiosity, but now he wants to go home.

Listen to this quote from him: "I have not had the opportunity of contacting my family, but I do hope to be back home soon. I'd like to tell my family and loved ones that I am well, I am very healthy and, again, hope to be home soon."

The timing of this is interesting. North Korea has a major national anniversary, a holiday coming up in about two weeks' time. And normally around holidays, they use that as an opportunity to grant amnesty to inmates. And when -- when detainees are put before the media like it happened here in Pyongyang today, it usually means they will either be released or could go on trial. We'll just have to wait and see what happens here -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Will. Thanks so much for the update.

Well, meanwhile, back here, Donald Trump still on top in New Hampshire. But a brand-new poll shows Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio gaining on him. We'll show you the numbers, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:22:02] TRUMP (via phone): If I do something wrong, Alisyn, I have very thick skin. I don't mind being criticized. I'll never ever complain.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE; He's very thin- skinned, obviously. He's very sensitive to criticism. But he can't have a conversation about policy, because quite frankly, he doesn't know anything about policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Well, that's the Trump/Rubio feud intensifying over the past 24 hours. This as a new CNN/WMUR poll in New Hampshire shows Rubio and Carly Fiorina making gains.

Joining us this morning to talk about all the political news, contributing editor for "New York" magazine, Jason Zengerle; and "TIME" political reporter, Zeke Miller.

Guys, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. Great to see you. I know you've both been clamoring to hear more of the Rubio/Trump feud. And we have it for you, because yesterday Donald Trump was on NEW DAY; and he explained to us what he really doesn't like about Marco Rubio. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (via phone): He's got the worst voting record in the United States Senate. He's never there, meaning he doesn't work or he's too lazy to go back and vote. Marco Rubio wants to tell every single thing that he knows to everybody so that the people on the other side, so that the enemy can learn all about. I want to be unpredictable.

Marco Rubio, he's like a kid. He shouldn't even be running in this race as far as I'm concerned. He's a kid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Jason, let me start with you. Who benefits from this feud, Marco Rubio or Donald Trump?

JASON ZENGERLE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK": I don't think Rubio benefits if he actually starts going at Trump the way Trump is going at him.

And I was -- I was surprised yesterday when he fired back a little bit, when he was on the radio; and he went after Trump. I think the clip you played earlier talking about how he was insecure.

Rubio's whole theory of the race is that he's going to just be disciplined and steady, and eventually, every other candidate is going to fizzle. The fact that he fired back at Trump, I thought, was interesting. And it maybe suggested that Trump was getting to him a little bit. I mean, Trump is very good at needling guys and sort of poking at their insecurities.

And Rubio, you know, he probably doesn't like being called a kid. I think Trump in other interviews has mocked him for sweating. And I wondered if maybe he was getting a little bit to Rubio.

CAMEROTA: Message, Zeke. I mean, it did work for Carly Fiorina when she fired back at Trump. Maybe he's taking a page from her book.

ZEKE MILLER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "TIME": You know, he's certainly trying. And the thing that Fiorina did on that debate stage a week or so ago, is that she didn't stoop to his level. She said everyone heard what Donald Trump said and sort of dropped the mike on that. Here is Marco Rubio saying, "OH, he's thin-skinned." The thing

is, Donald Trump, you know, likes to whine, likes to complain. But he's very strategic about it, as he said a couple months ago. You know, yes, he likes to whine, so he wins. I mean, you know, he can take, you know, the beating on a nightly television show.

And when he's being openly mocked by a host, with Stephen Colbert earlier this week, and he'll take it and he'll laugh about it. Whatever. But when another candidate goes after him, he sees an opportunity to go on the offensive. And when he says that Marco Rubio is young, misses votes in the Senate, he's going right, as Jason said, at those insecurities, at those vulnerabilities.

And then I think that's getting under Rubio's skin a little bit, and sort of it was a surprising lack of, maybe, discipline on his side. Or maybe it's a sign that, you know, maybe Marco Rubio now wants to escalate, you know, step up his campaign and take on a more vocal -- more vocal role.

[06:25:01] CAMEROTA: By the way, we should let our viewers know that we have invited Marco Rubio on NEW DAY several times. But thus far, he has declined. The invitation stays open.

Let us show you the new CNN/WMUR poll. This is out of New Hampshire. They're very interesting. This is what the Republicans' choice for president. Look at this.

Trump is now at 26 percent. That's up from July, where he was 24 percent. Look what's happened to Carly Fiorina. She went from one percent to 16 percent. Look at Marco Rubio, 3 percent to 9 percent. Only Jeb -- Ben Carson also up. Only Jeb Bush has gone down, from 12 percent to 7 percent.

So Jason, I mean, people say that Trump's lead is softening, but it's not. He's still where he is. It's just that the other people are gaining on him.

ZENGERLE: Yes, the other people are gaining on him, and you know, I think if you look at some of the national polls, he has got them down a little bit since the debate. And I think that will be a really interesting question for Trump.

You know, he's not a normal candidate. You know, running for president is -- it's really a grind. It can be a pretty miserable experience. It's a little bit like Groundhog Day. You're getting up. You're saying the same thing every day. You're talking to half-filled ball rooms. You know, you're calling a city councilman in Dubuque for the fifth time to ask for his endorsement.

Trump hasn't had to do any of that yet. And yet, he's still leading in the polls. But it does look like his support's softening. You are seeing some empty chairs at some of his events.

And I think a lot of people wonder if he's going to have, you know, the discipline to stick with this when it's no longer very fun. So yes, while he's still at the top of the polls, I think the fact that it's softening a little bit, that can be a different -- a different situation for him than maybe another candidate.

CAMEROTA: You know, he takes issue with that assessment, if there are empty chairs at any of his appearances. He says there are no empty chairs, though sometimes the photographs tell a different story.

ZENGERLE: Yes, photographs don't lie.

CAMEROTA: But, Zeke, the numbers that we're seeing going up there for Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio, where are they getting those supporters? Are those from Rick Perry and Scott Walker, who've dropped out?

MILLER: Certainly a good chunk of that is Scott Walker, of course. For a moment he was riding very high in New Hampshire, second place, first place in even a couple surveys up there. He's obviously out of this race.

Rick Perry always had maybe 2 to 3 percent, even in New Hampshire. So some of that is now freed up. Jeb Bush has declined a little bit, within the margin, roughly. But in that poll, sort of some of that maybe came from Jeb Bush. And certainly, some of it has come in recent weeks from Donald Trump, who you know, in certainly was riding as high as, like, the low 30s.

He's coming back down to air. This is certainly, as Jason said, sort of -- maybe not the beginning of the end but certainly the end of the beginning. It requires Donald Trump to run a very different type of race going forward than he has over the last three months.

CAMEROTA: Very interesting. Jason, Zeke, thanks so much for all of your insight. Great to talk to you.

What's your take on all of these numbers and that whole feud between Rubio and Trump? You can tweet us using the hashtag #NewDayCNN or post your comment on Facebook.com/NewDay.

Also, coming up in our 8 a.m. hour, we will talk with Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum.

All right. Let's go out to the U.N., where Chris is standing by. Hi, Chris.

CUOMO: Alisyn, I just can't love enough when we go from talking about what's going on in the GOP race for president to Pope Francis. I just love the dichotomy of the two different vibes we have.

And this morning, literally, Pope Francis will take on the world. We will never have had more world leaders at the U.N. than we will today, and Francis is the reason.

We have new information for you about tension surrounding the security preparations. And what the message to the world will be from Pope Francis. We're going to get answers right from the Vatican, next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)