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A Look at Presidential Race Polling; Lightening Could Be to Blame for Church Fire; Bill De Blasio Blasts Andrew Cuomo for "Lack of Leadership"; Chris Christie's Wife His Biggest Support; Christie Asked about Temper. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired July 01, 2015 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Here's where the Republican race stands right now. Jeb Bush is in first place with 19 percent, followed by Donald Trump at 12 percent. They're the only two Republicans, by the way, with double-digit support, at least for now.
Our CNN political director, David Chalian, is here with us watching what's going on.
What do you make of this development? It's not a fluke. He's number two in New Hampshire, nationally. Donald Trump is doing well.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: And we've gotten an Iowa poll today, he's number two in Iowa as well. He obviously is here for a little while and having an impact.
Listen, Wolf, when you have a field of 16 candidates, if you just -- if you get to something like 12 percent support, as Donald Trump has, that can have an impact. We see it in our poll. We see, because of his rise, other people have fallen in our poll.
BLITZER: Well, look at Marco Rubio. Look at. This we'll show our viewers, he's at 6 percent nationally in our new poll down from 14 percent. Scott Walker hasn't declared yet but he's only at 6 percent, down slightly from 10 percent so they're going down. Trump is going up.
CHALIAN: Right. I think what our poll really shows is that Jeb Bush has solidified himself as the front-runner in this very crowded field but Donald Trump is sucking up all the oxygen right now and oxygen is what Scott Walker and Marco Rubio, two contenders, serious contenders, for the nomination, that's what they need to expose themselves to not just Republican voters but donors and the Republican universe at large. So with Donald Trump sucking up the oxygen, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker don't have as much ability to get their name out there.
BLITZER: What he's saying is resonating with some folks out there. Hillary Clinton leads all the Democrats by huge numbers right now. More than 40 points. Bernie Sanders has been drawing enthusiastic crowds but he's behind the Vice President Joe Biden, who hasn't said whether he's running. What do you make of that?
CHALIAN: We expect an announcement from him come August. We asked Democrats, who's your second choice for this nomination? 35 percent of Democrats, a plurality, say Joe Biden. And if you look in those numbers you see those are Hillary Clinton voters that give Biden the second choice. So if Biden disappears, you'll see Hillary Clinton consolidate some of the people with Joe Biden.
BLITZER: Do you think he's going to run, Biden?
CHALIAN: If I had to place a bet on it today, I'd say he won't run, but he's not made the option.
BLITZER: He's pointedly not saying whether he's going to run so we'll see.
Thanks very much.
Still ahead, flames roar through a historic black church in South Carolina. The building's tragic history and why the feds are now investigating whether a string of fires across the south could be hate crimes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:36:42] BLITZER: A senior FBI official is now telling CNN a lightning strike, not arson, may be to blame for a fire the Mount Zion AME Church in South Carolina. The feds were looking into whether the fire at the Mount Zion AME Church in Greeleyville could be racially motivated. On the record, investigators say they're not ruling anything out but a CNN weather analysis shows there were four lightning strikes in the immediate vicinity of the church last night. This, by the way, is the sixth black church to catch fire since the massacre two weeks ago. Only two of those are confirmed arson right now.
Joining us now is our law enforcement analyst, former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes.
As you know, there's a lot of concern out there, Tom, that these fires are not necessarily natural fires from lightning or something else but they are arson, that these are hate crimes target historically black churches.
TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: And that's always the concern. Any time one of these churches gets burned or bombed or whatever might happen, the FBI immediately diligently investigates to determine whether it's been a hate crime. In these cases, ATF assists with the crime scene investigation and local state arson investigators as well. This particular church was burned down 20 years ago by the Ku Klux Klan and the investigation was conducted and the people that set that fire went to prison for 20 years for setting it. So yes there is extensive investigation done any time one of the churches goes up.
BLITZER: Because this specific historically black church was burned down 20 years ago in Greeleyville, South Carolina, people are not necessarily going to believe it was just lightning or something like that. A lot of people will fear the worst. FUENTES: And there's not much you can do with that if the evidence
shows it wasn't an arson. The FBI consulted with National Weather Service immediately about lightning strikes that occurred around 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., the time of the fires, and determined there were lightning strikes in that immediate vicinity of that church.
BLITZER: Two of these six churches that have burned in recent days have confirmed that's arson, that's two too many.
FUENTES: It's two too many. The unfortunate thing is that in the United States there is a church, temple, synagogue or mosque burned almost every single day. One a day minimum that occurred. The FBI has determined in its domestic terrorism program that 60 percent of those are arsons. Unfortunately, they've also determined that the majority of the arsons are self-ignited for insurance fraud purposes. Some are accidents where local kids start a fire as a prank not realizing the whole structure will burn to the ground.
BLITZER: Is it time for some of these historically black churches, especially in the south, to add security at their locations, given the massacre that occurred in Charleston a couple weeks ago?
FUENTES: Well, it might be. But some of these churches don't have the resources to do that. If you look at this church, I think the pastor said he had 62 parishioners or something. That won't generate enough revenue to hire 24/7 security or at least overnight security because you have to set up something on the perimeter that somebody can't throw an incendiary device or pipe bomb or light the corner of the church on fire. So you're talking about a lot of resources that would be required.
[13:40:04] BLITZER: And local law enforcement don't always have those resources, either, to protect the churches or synagogues or mosques or temples in their community which could be targets of hate crime.
OK, thank you, Tom Fuentes --
FUENTES: Thank you.
BLITZER: -- for helping us better appreciate what's going on.
Coming up, New York City, Bill De Blasio throws down the gauntlet, accusing the New York state governor, Andrew Cuomo, of political manipulation and lashing out in revenge. We have details. Two Democrats, they're battling each other. We'll have details when we come back.
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BLITZER: A bare-knuckled political brawl has broken out between the mayor of New York City and the governor of New York. Mayor Bill De Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo are both Democrats, but that didn't stop De Blasio from blasting the governor and what he calls a lack of leadership.
Let's bring in our senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar, who's got details.
Brianna, it's shocking what's going on, even by New York standards. What's behind this feud?
[13:45:09] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's shocking. Sometimes it's normal for there to be friction between the governor of New York and the mayor of New York City, even if they're the same party. But when it comes to how public this is, this is far from normal. You could say this is unprecedented.
Mayor de Blasio has a beef with Governor Cuomo over a couple of things, one having to do with not supporting a Fair Housing Initiative in such a way this that he could have provided by more housing to low- income people in New York City. That's one of the things he focuses on in these scathing comments. Also limiting the mayor's authority over New York City schools, because what happened was De Blasio was given a one-year extension of this authority where, when you look back at Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he got a several year extension twice. So listen to some of these comments, harsh words from Mayor de Blasio in what was clearly a very calculated decision to take on Governor Cuomo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL DE BLASIO, (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: What I've found was he engaged in his own sense of strategies, his own political machinations and what we've often seen is if someone disagrees with him openly, some kind of revenge or vendetta follows.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: He won't on and on, Wolf. This is fascinating. He talked about how the governor had exhibited a, quote, "lack of leadership." He said he did not act in the interest of New Yorkers. And to put this into more context, these are two guys who have a history. Back when Cuomo was the HUD secretary, under the Clinton administration, Bill De Blasio was working under him. So they've known each other for some time. And you're still seeing this friction going on for some time behind the scenes now spilling forth publicly.
BLITZER: He's accusing the governor of acting out of revenge against New York City. That's a major charge. What's the reaction from Governor Cuomo?
KEILAR: We don't have reaction specifically from the governor but his office is reacting. This comes from the governor's communications director who says, "For those new to the process, it takes coalition building and compromise to get things done in government, we wish the mayor well on his vacation." He's heading off on his July 4th vacation.
This seems to the response of the accusation of being transactional and you sort of see the governor's office framing this in a different way about how you don't get everything you want. But you have to remember, this relationship is far from over. These two men need to work together and govern together in tandem so it raises questions about how that will play fourth going on. BLITZER: De Blasio is taking a risk, too, because the city of New
York depends on New York State for a lot of help.
KEILAR: Exactly. He's taking a real gamble, I guess, you could say here. Especially because he is eyeing reelection, you would assume, in 2017, his term is up in 2008. So he has all these years ahead of him but he's also trying to deliver on a promise of a progressive agenda that launched him into his role as the mayor of New York City. So he's trying to do that. He's feeling stymied by the governor in that regard but, at the same time, there are observers, long-time observers of New York City politics, New York State politics, who say this may not play well for the mayor going forward.
BLITZER: We'll see what happens.
Thanks very much, Brianna Keilar, reporting.
Presidential candidate, Chris Christie, he is known for his sharp words as well. Now he's trying to defend his controversial demeanor. You'll hear his explanation when we come back.
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[13:53:01] BLITZER: By formally entering the race for president, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie became the 14th Republican to do so. As his campaign gets under way, perhaps Christie's biggest supporter is his wife, who left a lucrative job at Wall Street to work on his campaign.
Mary Pat Christie spoke exclusively to CNN's Gloria Borger about her husband, the Bridgegate scandal and his run for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Chris Christie!
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: In announcing for the presidency, Chris Christie didn't stick to a script.
CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean what I say, and I say what I mean.
BORGER: But he did stick to his brand, a straight-talking, take-no- prisoners leader --
CHRISTIE: I'm going to give the answer to the question that's asked.
BORGER: -- not afraid of ruffling a few feathers.
CHRISTIE: Did I stay on topic? Are you stupid?
Your rear end will get thrown in jail, idiot.
Get over it.
BORGER: After this traffic jam became a national scandal, the candidate, who was once the man to beat, is starting his campaign behind.
CHRISTIE: We are going to go and win this election.
BORGER: An unusual spot for a political star who for most of his career has been at the top, from New Jersey's hard-charging U.S. attorney --
CHRISTIE: Justice has finally been done.
BORGER: -- to an even higher perch as the deal-making two-term Republican governor in a Democratic state.
CHRISTIE: You think you know what it's like to be governor. You really don't.
BORGER: A tough job, says Mary Pat Christie, but her husband was the perfect guy for it.
MARY PAT CHRISTIE: He's a very complex person, like any executive leader is. He thinks four or five steps ahead of most people and just comes up with all sorts of solutions. He plays things out in his mind.
TOM KEAN, (D), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: I think he's got more natural ability than any politician I've seen since Bill Clinton. He's that good.
BORGER: Former New Jersey governor, Tom Kean, has known Christie for decades, ever since the 14-year-old Chris knocked on his door while his mother waited in the car after hearing Kean give a political speech.
[12:55:04] KEAN: "Sir, I heard you talk and would really like to get involved in politics, how do I do it," and I thought and said, "I'm going up to speak in Bergen County tonight. Get in the car, come with me and see if you like it." And I've known him ever since.
BORGER: Christie is now 52, and Kean, who has had his own ups and downs with Christie, has watched his fellow Republican become a political force, navigating tough partisan terrain with a lot of back- room skill.
KEAN: A little bit Lyndon Johnson, you know. He'll almost grab you by the collar and say this is what we're going to do together, you know, and he's persuasive in very much of a strong way.
BORGER: And with maybe too much public bravado for Christie's own good.
CHRISTIE: I can go back and forth with you as much as you want.
KEAN: Has he learned over time? A little bit better self-control, keep the temper under control, to use it, not have it use him?
CHRISTIE: So listen, you want to have the conversation later, I'm happy to have it, buddy, but until that time sit down and shut up! MARY PAT CHRISTIE: If you're disrespectful you may, you know, be
called out on it.
BORGER (on camera): Too blunt, too aggressive?
MARY PAT CHRISTIE: No, those are not -- I really don't think those are faults of his.
CHRISTIE: You asked the question. I gave the answer.
MARY PAT CHRISTIE: It's a hallmark of his leadership. I think so many times our politicians kind of don't state the obvious. They don't tell the truth. I think America is looking for someone to tell the truth.
CHRISTIE: You give it, you very well may get it back.
BORGER (voice-over): That's the Christie "tell it like it is" plan. He's proudly New Jersey through and through.
CHRISTIE: Don't they know that I am from New Jersey?
BORGER: Rocking his way through more than 130 Springsteen concerts --
CHRISTIE: For those of you hooting --
BORGER: -- and feeding off the crowds as a candidate, town-halling his way through the early primary states --
MARY PAT CHRISTIE: He has a lot of fun with it. He loves to debate.
BORGER: -- Christie's outspoken truth-telling brand was tested a year and a half ago.
CHRISTIE: I worked the cones actually. I'm not --
BORGER: But it wasn't a laughing matter. Stories had surface that some of his staff had deliberately created a massive traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge to extract political retribution on Christie's behalf. He fired them.
CHRISTIE: I had no knowledge of this, of the planning, the execution or anything about it.
BORGER: While Christie hasn't been charged with anything, two of his former staffers have been indicted and one former ally has pleaded guilty.
(on camera): People abandoned you?
MARY PAT CHRISTIE: Well, I think that you felt that people were all against you and that you wanted to shout what the truth was. When you're in those kinds of situations, you know that you can trust your family. And so -- so we really leaned on one another. In a strange way, I think it was healthy. I wouldn't recommend it, but it was healthy in some ways. BORGER: It certainly didn't help politically.
MARY PAT CHRISTIE: We're past that. Everybody now knows Chris had nothing to do with that. And, look, people -- we have to remind people why Chris is such a good leader.
BORGER (voice-over): Reminding voters of the strength of Christie's leadership in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
(on camera): I remember that fleece he wore non-stop for --
MARY PAT CHRISTIE: Yes, I would have to pull it away to wash it at night once in a while. That's because he was working 20-hour days. He would literally go to the shore towns that, you know, and walk the streets. He felt people's pain, and he was able to just hug them.
BORGER (voice-over): Christie was full of hugs for everyone, including President Obama just a few days before the presidential election, a moment that some Republicans found less than touching.
(SHOUTING)
BORGER: It's a different picture now. Christie has gotten healthier, undergoing lap-band weight loss surgery in 2013, but he's struggling to regain lost momentum.
KEAN: I think he's got big problems right now. If this was another candidate who had similar problems, I might be writing him off. I know Chris Christie too well for that. Never write off Chris Christie.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: That report from Gloria Borger.
And as Gloria just showed us in her report, the Governor Chris Christie often makes the news for his angry outbursts. In a new interview, Christie was asked whether he has the temperament to be president of the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIE: There have been very few times in the course of my governorship where I've lost my temper. It's happened, but very few times.
You want to have the conversation later, I'm happy to have it, buddy, but until that time, sit down and shut up.
When you look at most of those moments, Matt, it's an absolute controlled anger, a controlled anger. I'm angry about the fact that taxpayers were being ripped off in New Jersey. I'm angry about the fact that our urban kids can't get a good education. I'm angry about those things. You're darned right I am. But I think America wants someone that's willing to fight for that. As long as that anger is controlled. And with me, it is, almost all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: That's it for me. Thanks for watching.
"NEWSROOM" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.
