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Conservative Party Wins Parliamentary Majority in U.K. Election; Interview with Senator John McCain; How Will U.K. Elections Affect the U.S. Relations? Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 08, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] SOFIA VERGARA, ACTRESS: I don't want to allow this person to take more advantage of my career.

NICK LOEB, SOFIA VERGARA'S EX-FIANCE: I want to fight for the rights of my daughters to live.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Friday, May 8th, 8:00 in the east. We do have breaking news out of the U.K. An Election Day that was supposed to be David Cameron's death is instead his rebirth. The polls were wrong and conservatives in the United Kingdom secured an outright majority in parliament. The Scottish National Party also posting gains at the expense of the Labor Party and Liberal Democrats.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: British Prime Minister David Cameron meeting with Queen Elizabeth at this hour. How will the results impact U.S.-British relations, and are big changes coming for the European Union? CNN's coverage begins with Richard Quest who we once again I believe find, ah, yes, in motion on top of a double- decker bus in London. Richard, give us the latest.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am feeling a little queasy, and it's nothing to do with the electoral politics of Britain. It's because I've been on a double-decker bus. But what a view, whether your politics are to the left or to the right, it doesn't matter. Today there is a government in Britain that has an absolute majority.

When David Cameron returns to Downing Street and to Westminster he will have a majority of at least two or three MPs, and that makes a different form of ability to govern than he has in the past. Cameron will hold onto power as "The Daily Telegraph," the chief conservative paper, puts it. Alisyn, it was an extraordinary night. When we began, we thought it was going to be hung parliament with the negotiations going on for days. Now we know Cameron will be a prime minister for the next five years.

CAMEROTA: So Richard, what does any of this mean for the possible referendum for Britain leaving the EU? QUEST: Oh, hold on tight. This is a real bus going through

London with real people around us. And what does it mean for the referendum? A bit like you saw, jerky, difficult, and very difficult to stay upright, because once you negotiate with the Europeans, if they negotiate fully, how far will they go? What new powers? This is what Washington is going to be very concerned about. Yes, they may like the fact that Cameron is back, but they are going to be worried, very worried about what this means for the future of Britain in Europe. And I have a little souvenir for all of you. I know you have little chachkas all over the studio in New York.

CAMEROTA: We do.

QUEST: So now a new chachka to add.

CAMEROTA: Wow

QUEST: Here is a little red bus. Look at that.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Very strong. Somehow it looks better when he puts it up next to big ben.

CAMEROTA: That's awesome. Thank you, Richard, for all of that lively live show.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. Meanwhile on terra firma Prime Minister Cameron has returned to Downing Street after meeting with Queen Elizabeth II, part of a postelection formality in the U.K. That's where we find our Nic Robertson outside of the prime minister's office.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Michaela. Of course, we all want to know precisely what David Cameron said to the queen, but what goes on inside Buckingham Palace does tend to stay inside those walls. But we do know that he went there to tell the queen that he will be forming the next government here. He may have well have outlined some of his ideas for that government.

Of course, the queen when she has the state opening of parliament later on this month will essentially be announcing the policies of David Cameron and his party. But we will all get an insight into that in a matter of minutes from here. In a few minutes a podium will be moved out from inside the doors of Number 10. Indeed, they are just setting it up right there behind me right now. That's the podium being set up there, and once they have done a little audio check, David Cameron will be coming out. He'll be speaking. No doubt the people of this country will be listening intently to hear what he has to say. No one, no one expected him to be delivering this speak so early after the polls closed yesterday, just barely 15 hours ago, Chris.

CAMEROTA: All right, Nic, give us a little tap on the shoulder when that happens, and we will listen for the headlines. Thank you so much. We want to bring in now Senator John McCain, Arizona Republican,

of course, chairman of the Armed Services Committee. He is here in studio on NEW DAY. How are you, senator?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Alisyn, Chris, how are you?

CAMEROTA: So we're doing well. Were you surprised as everybody else seems to be by the --

MCCAIN: It's the second big election, the Israeli election and this one, where the pollsters have been wrong. I wish they have been wrong in my race.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Do you care? We're making a big deal that Cameron is in thee. Is this a big opportunity for the U.S.?

MCCAIN: I think we care both in the Israeli election and this election.

[08:05:01] I am obviously conservative, but I think that the Cameron government has a stable relationship, David Cameron and the president have a good relationship.

But I think this whole issue of the Scottish vote is also probably the least told story, and it's really --

CAMEROTA: What do we need to know about that?

MCCAIN: It was an overwhelming victory for the Scottish Nationalist Party which was totally unexpected, at least that's my understanding. There is a fractionalization of politics there as there is in Israel, as there is in a number of other countries, including the risk of it here over time. We certainly have different wings of both our major parties.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about what is going on domestically. On the very same day the FBI director came out and issued this chilling warning that there are already thousands of Americans here who he believes are following ISIS, at least online, the federal court says the NSA metadata collection system is illegal.

MCCAIN: Yes, there are other courts obviously that have determined the opposite. This would be a terrible blow. I hope we can get it reversed.

CAMEROTA: Why? If it were to go away, why?

MCCAIN: Because I think it's depriving us of one of our tools to try and fight back against this spread -- and I do agree with the head of the FBI. I am not saying there is a network here in the United States, don't get me wrong, but as long as young men who are unhappy, who are being recruited by this radical Islam have access to the Internet, and two people from Phoenix, Arizona, just tried to kill people in Texas, as you know. The threat is real. So obviously we have to balance personal privacy and privacy

rights, but there is clearly a need for this and Congress has acted on it, and we need to use whatever tools at our disposal. And at the same time we have to have increased court oversight and other capabilities of Congress to make sure they don't overstep their bounds. The Snowden thing complicated a lot of this.

CUOMO: I think there's a different urgency, though, now. The pendulum with Snowden sent it towards privacy, what are we doing, what are we doing, and you were arguing at that time not only is he a felon but there was an irresponsibility with the media that he gave it to and how they selectively put it out, not only compromising intelligence but also maybe miscasting the balance that should be struck.

One of the things in this recent decision you should like is the court said, hey, you can do this, but this is about debate and legislation, not about what you have now in Section 215 of the Patriot Act. So do you think you and Congress will be able to make a decision where you are better equipped to deal with the threat that we just saw in Texas?

MCCAIN: I hope so, but there are sharp divisions, as you know, within the Congress. And by the way, there is a Cyber Act that came out of the intelligence committee that we need to act on cyber security. Our chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff said we have an advantage over all of our potential adversaries except one, in cyber. And that should give us pause. And that's all part of this larger issue of a new kind of warfare and capability.

CUOMO: That's what Texas shows. When you said, hey, it's not like their part of a network. You would be better off if they were an identified group you are dealing with. The threat is the FBI gave a warning to the authorities in Texas just a couple hours before this happened. They were following one of the guys, they tried to make a case against one of the guys. But because they weren't able to monitor the social activity the way they might have otherwise, we almost had a catastrophe there.

MCCAIN: And, of course, the ability or the capability of information spread continues to evolve all the time. Ten years ago we wouldn't have been talking about some of the normal channels of communications and recruitment and motivation that is now being exploited by radical Islam. We live in very difficult and interesting times, and I can tell you, frankly, that members of Congress have got to keep up with this. Old guys like me, I get briefed all the time because of these new and radical changes. Every time we turn around, there is a new way of communicating, which means ISIS has a new way of recruiting. These are very interesting times we're in.

CAMEROTA: So troubling. Let's talk about the GOP field. Every week --

MCCAIN: All 50 of them.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about those 50. More people jump in every week. You obviously have travelled that road they are on. What do you think of the field?

MCCAIN: I think the field is very large, and I'm not sure how quickly it's going to be reduced because the super PAC thing where people can get large amounts of money. What drives people out of political campaigns? When they run out of money, which means they run out of votes, and vice versa.

[08:10:00] Lindsey Graham, I believe, is my dearest friend, and he understands national security better than anybody. We are seeing national security foreign policy thanks to the beheadings and threats worsening, and it's now probably a larger issue in this primary than any time since 1980.

CAMEROTA: And you don't think the others are talking about it?

MCCAIN: I think they are talking about it and I think a lot of them are qualified and are good people. We have a range of good leaders.

CUOMO: Do you see a president in the field right now?

MCCAIN: Lindsey Graham. But I think that campaigns will evolve that. New Hampshire matters, you know. In New Hampshire it doesn't matter how much money you have got. In New Hampshire, there is a joke, when Udall ran for president, he said, a guy in Concord, New Hampshire, said to the guy, what do you think about Udall for president, and he said, I don't know, I only met him twice. They expect in New Hampshire to be in their living room. And so that is really an important election. Iowa is somewhat important, don't get me wrong. But New Hampshire will be the launching pad for one or two or three of these candidates in my view.

CAMEROTA: Senator, we want to talk about a new project that you are lunching about government spending, and I must say I was tickled to see the logo. As a former "America's Most Wanted" reporter for five year I noticed there was a similarity between your new logo. What is "America's Most Wasted"?

CUOMO: This is the most drunk members of Congress, and how did you get this information?

(LAUGHTER)

MCCAIN: We have some surveillance. Tom Coburn, one of the great senators in the Senate, started this of identifying waste and really almost criminal behavior when you look at it. And we have now sort of picked up now, and we're focusing most of it, will be focusing most of it on defense, because as chairman of the armed services committee, I have access.

CAMEROTA: There's a lot of waste?

MCCAIN: Let me just give you an example. Our new aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, was supposed to cost $10 billion, and it now cost $12.4 billion.

CUOMO: And why? What happens in the process?

MCCAIN: Because there is no process. Because there is nobody -- everybody is responsible, therefore nobody is responsible.

CUOMO: You are not spending your own money so you are not as frugal as you should be.

MCCAIN: And as strong a defense hawk as I'm proud to be called, I can't go back to my taxpayers in Arizona and say I will sit still for a $2.4 billion cost overrun. The F-35 is now 15 years old, the first trillion-dollar weapon system in history, and we have to fix that to regain the confidence or keep the confidence of the American people, and what we are doing what is necessary for defense and not just throwing away billions of dollars.

CAMEROTA: Well, Senator John McCain, we are happy you are taking that up mantle. Thank you so much for coming to NEW DAY.

MCCAIN: Thank you, great to be with you. And congratulations on your success. That means I watch you all the time.

CAMEROTA: We count that as success.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: That was the bar, and now we have to set new goals.

MCCAIN: Thanks again. Great to see you.

PEREIRA: All right, a look at some other news now. Breaking overnight, a Pakistani military helicopter carrying foreign diplomats and their families crashing into a school in Northern Pakistan. The Norwegian and Philippine ambassadors to Pakistan were killed as well as the spouses of the Indonesian and Malaysian ambassadors and two of the pilots. The Dutch and Polish ambassadors were also among those injured. The Taliban claims it shot down the chopper, but the Pakistani military officials say it was a technical that caused that crash.

CAMEROTA: And we do have more breaking news to tell you about. A Dallas-Ft. Worth news crew surveying storm damage from the air spotted what looks like a weather related train derailment. A number of confirmed tornadoes moved through the area Thursday night. Home and property damage as well as some injuries reported. Flooding and power outages were also reported in the area. We will keep an eye on this for you.

CUOMO: Tom Brady breaking his silence on deflate-gate, sort of. Brady told interviewer Jim Gray that he is still digesting the 250- page Wells report, and he is taking the criticism in stride.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Has this, however, detracted from your joy of winning the Super Bowl?

TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK: Absolutely not.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?

BRADY: Because we earned and achieved everything we got this year as a team, and I am very proud of that, and our fans should be, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: You have to see what happens to the smile on the face when the league comes down with what action it takes.

CAMEROTA: We should what action that is as well.

Meanwhile, back to the national elections in the U.K. David Cameron pulling off a shocker of a victory. But how does his big win impact the U.S.? We will ask Fareed Zakaria.

CUOMO: And presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, she is dogged by questions about donations. You have heard them. You are probably asking, is the proof there once and for all?

[08:15:02] We're going to test this situation with two people who say they know the answers, and the answers are opposite of each other.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: David Cameron and his Conservative Party shocking the U.K. with his big win in the national election. So, who benefits, who loses and how does it impact the relationship with the U.S.?

Here to talk about the big picture is CNN's Fareed Zakaria, host of "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS".

Great to see you, Fareed.

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": Pleasure.

CAMEROTA: Were you surprised by his decisive win?

ZAKARIA: I was a little surprise, just because the polling seemed to be off, which tends to happen sometimes in this kind of parliamentary elections. Remember, the unusual thing here is you had five parties that seemed to be viable, and so you had the Scottish Nationalist Party, you had the U.K. independence party, this anti- Europe party, that was the part that was surprising.

But really, we shouldn't have been surprised because the big story here is very simple. Britain's economy has been improving. Britain has been growing faster than the rest of Europe. And when the economy improves, generally, the incumbents are returning to power.

CAMEROTA: Was he known for spearheading lots of spending cuts? Is that what he is credited with, for turning around the economy?

ZAKARIA: That's a very complicated question.

So, he did do some austerity, but what they did is they stopped at some point and the economy recovered.

[08:20:01] They would argue that by doing the austerity, they gave confidence to the markets, which then allowed businesses to invest, and that's what cost their economists like Paul Krugman of "The New York Times" who says the cuts were the wrong thing to do. They stopped them, and that's why -- be that as it may, they have presided over a growing British economy, confidence that you can see in the pound which has risen in value, London remains a very vibrant capital.

So, people have -- why do people -- mostly people vote on the basis of how many am I doing? Ronald Reagan's famous question, am I doing better than I was four years ago?

In Britain, the answer was yes, and as a result, Cameron did well, and essentially, every other party other than the Scottish Nationalists, all of the other ones did badly.

CAMEROTA: Right, how am I doing on election day?

ZAKARIA: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: I mean, that's really the calculus in that. So, what does this mean for U.K.-U.K. relations?

ZAKARIA: There are two things that we usually look at when we look at Britain in the United States. The first is, what does it mean in the terms of the cyclical nature of left-right politics. There's -- you know, a very similar political cultures. And so, if you notice, Margaret Thatcher gets elected and Ronald Reagan gets elected, there was a wave of conservatism in the '80s. Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, there was new Labour and the new Democrats.

So, what does it tell us? I think what it tells us is, again, if the economy is doing well, the incumbents will do well. So, if I were Hillary Clinton, I will be noticing that Obama's poll numbers are going up, the American economy is doing well, this is not the time to distance yourself from Barack Obama, and by the way, that is the lesson she's drawn -- notice her speech on immigration where she promised to continue the policies of the Obama administration. Very different from nine months ago when she was explaining to the public her differences with Obama on Syria and things like that.

CAMEROTA: That's interesting, that it could be a harbinger for what happens here.

ZAKARIA: It sometimes is. In terms of the second piece is U.S.-U.K. foreign policy.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

ZAKARIA: They're frankly, it's just a story of continuity. David Cameron has been a good and strong ally of the United States, he and Obama have a good relationship. But the most interesting thing about this election in Britain was I think it may be the election, at least from the time I have been watching British elections, which is a long time -- foreign policy was discussed almost not at all.

Britain has almost resigned as a world power. This was an election in which nobody wanted to talk about Afghanistan or Iraq, even ISIS, nothing.

CAMEROTA: Well, that's not good for the U.S.-U.K. relations?

ZAKARIA: It's not good for the U.S. because we've always relied on the U.K. as a strong partner with many of the same values, and, that's worrying. Look, it may just be we go through these ourselves, and this is a turn inward, in Britain, the Iraq war was deeply unpopular and there is a turn away from that.

Most importantly, we have to look at what it means for Britain's role in Europe, because the U.S. has always relied on Britain for being the voice of the free market and free trade and deregulation in Europe.

CAMEROTA: Is that still true?

ZAKARIA: Cameron has promised a referendum on Britain's role in Europe because the public is very skeptical about Europe. It's again the part of this turn inward. It's always been true in Britain.

CAMEROTA: You mean we don't know what their relationship with the E.U. will be going forward?

ZAKARIA: We don't know, because they're going to do a big national referendum, and depending how it goes, Britain may actually pull out of Europe.

CAMEROTA: In 2017.

ZAKARIA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Fareed, thanks. So great to get all of your insight as well.

ZAKARIA: Pleasure.

CAMEROTA: Be sure to watch "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS", Sundays 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

Let's go over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So, you heard about Sophia Vergara's situation. That certainly adds the sizzle to this story. But the battle over frozen embryos matters on a much higher level. Are embryos just things? When does life begin? The answer to that could change the law as we know it. Stay with us and you'll hear how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERERIA: All right. Here we go with the five things to know today.

Number one, conservatives securing a surprising majority in parliament elections in the United Kingdom. Prime Minister David Cameron committing this morning to holding a referendum on whether to remain part of the European Union.

Thousands of Americans in touch with ISIS. That's the warning from the director of the FBI. James Comey says ISIS is gaining influence here in America. He's now overseeing hundreds of investigations into potential homegrown terrorists.

Privacy advocates cheering a federal appeals court ruling that found the NSA's bulk collection of Americans phone records is illegal. The three-judge panel ruling the surveillance program exceeded the scope of the Patriot Act.

Events are taking place around the world today, marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Secretary of State John Kerry joined a ceremony in Paris laying a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, I call him John Brady, really? Says he's still digesting the report that implicates him in Deflategate. He says the controversy did not tarnish the team's Super Bowl victory.

For more on those five things to know, be sure to visit NewdayCNN.com for the latest -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That's OK. I call him Greg Brady.

PEREIRA: I get that.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: All right. Meanwhile, now for a selfless doctor to tell you about. He is meeting and treating the homeless, where they are. Here is Dr. Jim Withers story in the latest edition of CNN Heroes. And remember, if you know someone who's doing something extraordinary, go to CNNHeroes.com.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. JIM WITHERS, CNN HERO: Street medicine is bringing medical care right to the homeless right where they are, under the bridges and along the riverbanks and abandon buildings.

Safety net, anybody home?

I have been walking the streets of Pittsburgh for 23 years to treat the homeless. When I started, I was really shocked how ill people were on the street. It was like going to a third word country. There were runaway kids, 85-year-olds, pregnant women, and they all had their own story.

What hurts the most?

Once you get to know the folks out there, I knew that I had to keep going.

Are you doing OK medically?