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Joe Biden Considering Presidential Run; CNN Republican Presidential Debate Main Stage Announced; Interview with Michael Dukakis; Poll: Trump Most Liked & Disliked in Iowa. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 11, 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] JOE BIDEN, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: -- you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy and my passion to do this. And I'd be lying if I said that I knew I was there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Now, he and his family are still agreeing the loss of his son Beau who died of cancer three months ago. He explained that some days are good and other days are tough, like when someone mentions his son who is a member of the National Guard who fought in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I went out to Denver and I landed at a military base, and I met a whole group of military families. And it was going great. And a guy in the back yells "Major Beau Biden, Bronze Star, sir, served with him in Iraq." And all of a sudden, I lost it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Now the vice president went onto say that nobody has a right to seek that offense unless they're willing to give it 110 percent. But politically speaking there are reasons to run as our new poll shows. For the first time Hillary Clinton is below 40 percent in national polling. Let's take a look at these numbers. Only 37 percent of Democrats now say she's their choice for president. That's down from 47 percent in August. Bernie Sanders is 10 points behind. Meanwhile the support for Joe Biden has climbed to 20 percent.

But perhaps most striking of all in these numbers, a steep decline in enthusiasm -- 43 percent of Democrats say they're enthusiastic about her candidacy. That is down from 60 percent when she jumped in in April. But Joe Biden there is at 37 percent and Bernie Sanders at 31 percent, so she still wins on the enthusiasm.

But when you look at head to head matchups with Hillary Clinton and Republicans, she's essentially tied. A double digit lead earlier this summer has evaporated. She's running even with Donald Trump and slight behind Jeb Bush. And it's a different story with Joe Biden. He runs 10 points stronger than Trump and eight higher than Bush. So this is why the decision is so difficult for Biden. His supporters believe there is an opening. He's run for president twice before and he knows how much it takes, how difficult this is. But he says quite matter of factually he's not sure he has the strength. So Michaela, we have to listen for the next three weeks as he decides in early October.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And I don't think anybody would fault him for that, Jeff. We really understand. I think there's a great deal of compassion for him, to be sure. Thank you for that.

Meanwhile, on the Republican side a new poll this morning shows that Donald Trump and Ben Carson surging in Iowa, bad news for one tie caucus favorite Scott Walker. And now we know the final debate stage is now set for next week's GOP showdown right here on CNN. Athena Jones has our story from Washington. Athena?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. Trump is still on top in this new Quinnipiac poll of Iowa Republicans. Take a look here. You see Trump there at 27 percent support. Ben Carson is in second place at 21 percent. That's a big jump for both of those candidates since the last poll in July.

And this poll is very bad news for Scott Walker. He was in the lead back in July at 18 percent. His lead has evaporated. He's fallen 15 points there in Iowa. But here's another important number from that same poll. Look at how many people say they would definitely not support Donald Trump, or Jeb Bush, for that matter. That number is 25 percent for Trump. Bush is right behind him there at 23 percent.

And take a look all the way at the bottom, that last name there, Ben Carson, he's only at three percent. Only three percent of folks polled say they definitely would not support him. So that is very good news for Ben Carson. And here's more good news for him when you look at the favorability numbers for the top two candidates there. You see that Carson leads Trump by nearly 20 points, 79 percent favorable for Carson versus 60 percent for Trump. Now, that Trump number is still pretty high, but when you look at his unfavorable numbers, those numbers are also much, much higher than Carson's, 35 percent of folks have an unfavorable view.

So this is the state of play as we head into CNN's Republican debate on Wednesday. Take a look at the top tier candidates who will be on the primetime stage in that debate and where they'll be on that stage based on their poll standings. You have in order Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich, and Chris Christie. Trump of course gets center stage because he is the frontrunner. And Fiorina is the new addition here. She has surged in the polls after her impressive performance in that first second tier debate on FOX last month. And as for our second tier debate, the so called "happy hour debate," that's going to be George Pataki, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, and Lindsey Graham, with Perry there holding down center stage.

So there we have the full lineup, and I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting excited about this debate. And I think it's going to be must see TV. [08:05:00] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, absolutely, it's

going to be great. So now that we know who made the cut, Athena, let's make sure people are marking their calendars for the big day here on CNN. You can tune in right here for the CNN Republican debate this Wednesday, September 16th, as we call it the "happy hour round" is at 6:00 p.m. eastern. At 8:00, the main event, 11 candidates will take the podium. Chris?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Next Wednesday? That's bridge night.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: All right, joining us now to weigh in on the race in 2016 a man who understands presidential politics very well, Michael Dukakis. He was the Democratic nominee for president in 1988 and of course the former governor of Massachusetts. Governor, it's good to have you with us this morning.

MICHAEL DUKAKIS, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's good to be with you.

CUOMO: So let's take a look at the recent snapshot of your party right now. We've got fresh number. Hillary is slipping. She had a big yawning lead over the Bernie Sanders. Not so much anymore. He's pulled statistically even or ahead with her in Iowa. He's got the growing lead in New Hampshire. And, most importantly, Joe Biden seems to represent a viable alternative, though he has shown no real indication of getting in the race. Your take, governor?

DUKAKIS: Well, first, full disclosure -- Kitty and I are with Hillary. We like her. We admire her. We've known her for a long time and think she'd be a great president.

But with all due respect to all doing these polling, these polls are virtually worthless at this stage of the game. Early polls mean nothing. I remember even in my race right after the Democratic convention I was supposed to be 17 points ahead of George H. W. Bush. I was never 17 points ahead of George H. W. Bush. This is a long race. It's involves a lot of work out there. The question of who's organized and what are they doing and how are they doing it, it's going to be a long time before we really know who the frontrunners are.

CUOMO: I understand. I grew up in the game and watching you and understanding the vagaries of polling. But they are a good snapshot of a moment in time. And the question this recent poll raises is, does your party need Joe Biden to get into this race to cover for what with Hillary is not catching fire with your own party and independents?

DUKAKIS: Well, let me say two things. First, there's a machine out there largely financed by big Republican bucks that has been trying to destroy Hillary Clinton for the last several months. And I think we all know that. And so far they seem to be doing a lot of damage. On the other hand, I have to tell you this stuff about her e-

mails is such nonsense. I don't know and I don't think you know of a single prominent person in Washington of either party who doesn't have a private e-mail and uses it all the time. Otherwise we'd never be able to get a hold of these folks. And the notion that there was something wrong with what she was doing is just foolishness. But people have been banging away at it, and it's done some damage.

CUOMO: She just apologized, governor. She said she shouldn't have had two. She shouldn't have had just exclusively personal e- mail. She should have used government e-mail. It wasn't the Republicans who put the server in her house. It was what Bill had set up and she carried forward with it. A lot of this --

DUKAKIS: Hey, Chris, you tell me of one person in Washington of any prominence who doesn't have a private e-mail which he or she uses all the time and a private cell phone as well. This is absurd.

CUOMO: Exclusively, though, governor.

DUKAKIS: How could you function in government? Say again.

CUOMO: Exclusively, though, governor, she only had that. She didn't use the government e-mail as most of the players down there do. They use the government one. They do their government business --

DUKAKIS: I don't agree with that. Chris, if I want to get a hold of a cabinet secretary, I don't use the official website. You'd never get through. You pick up the phone, you call somebody who knows the cabinet secretary and say give me his or her private e-mail, and you use it. This goes on all the time.

CUOMO: So you're OK --

DUKAKIS: It's preposterous.

CUOMO: The notion would be that the secretary of state shouldn't be conducting sensitive, classified business on a private server. It should be on a government server because it's government business and you need it for security, et cetera.

DUKAKIS: None of the things she did were classified at the time. None of the information --

CUOMO: That's a little bit in dispute, as you know from recent reporting, governor.

DUKAKIS: Well, there's some dispute. But let's be real here. People are using private e-mail and cell phones all the time down there. You couldn't function without it. And the notion that she's doing something that nobody else has done that's terribly wrong is just absolute baloney.

CUOMO: All right, well, let's leave that there for now because we have like 17 different agencies investigating it, so we'll see what's there and what isn't. Let's get a little perspective from what you learned in 1988 with

your race against George W. Bush. That race going to the Republicans represents three consecutive victories for Republicans. That violates a rule in politics. The party is not supposed to get three straight wins. That's what the Democrats are asking for right now. In all fairness, shouldn't your party lose this race?

[08:10:10] DUKAKIS: Look, there's nothing inevitable in politics and there are no rules in politics. Look, I should have won that race and I blew it.

CUOMO: How did you blow it?

DUKAKIS: Why? Because, well, for two reasons. First, I made a decision, turned out to be the dumbest thing I ever did, that I would not respond to the Bush attack campaign. And it was a mistake. You just can't do that. As a matter of fact, quick anecdote -- I remember early in the campaign your dad said to me, hey, ignore those attacks. They're not going to go anywhere.

We were campaigning in Queens four days before the election. He turned to me and said that's the worst advice I ever gave you. But it wasn't his fault. I wasn't his fault. I made that decision, turned out to be wrong. Secondly, I'm a guy that always won elections with very intense grassroots organizing. And I spent too much time early in that campaign talking to people that I thought knew more than I did about running for presidency, all of whom kind of pooh-poohed the notion that a precinct based, grassroots campaign would work in a presidential race. Maybe for city council, but not for the presidency. It took Barack Obama not once but twice to prove to us that precinct based, grassroots organizing works in presidential campaigns. And, look, you make your mistakes and you pay for them.

CUOMO: Wow, Governor Dukakis, your legacy is strong. And while I don't remember pop take credit for giving you bad advice, although he wasn't that politically savvy. People give him too much credit for being politically savvy. He was just a fighter. He did talk about you on top of that tank a lot. But Governor Dukakis, thank you very much for being with us. Appreciate your perspective. And as the race moves along, please come back, OK?

DUKAKIS: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: Thank you, Governor. Michaela?

PEREIRA: All right, turning to some very concerning news, drivers are on edge in Phoenix over fears that a serial shooter or shooters are on the loose. Some commuters in at least two schools, we're told, are now avoiding freeways all together after police confirm that 11 highway shootings have happened in less than two weeks. CNN's Sara Sidner has been on patrol with Phoenix police. She joins us now live. Are they getting any closer to solving this?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, at this point they're not. and we talked to the head of the department of public safety and I said, look, how long might this take? He said, look, this could take a very long time. These are difficult cases.

But they are putting a lot of resources towards this. And as you know, yesterday was the 11th case where someone was hit by a bullet or projectile. And they're talking about this a bit too because there were several more incidents reported yesterday, two of which, a source has told me who has knowledge of the investigation, are likely the work of a copycat. That does not make drivers feel any safer, of course, because now they know there is not only one, but there is definitely more than one person who may be shooting at cars here.

We should also talk about the fact that there are folks that are avoiding Interstate 10. They're worried about this and they know that this has been quite random, but they have decided to take service streets as well. And you mentioned some of the school districts have out of complete precaution for the safety of the kids decided to go around I-10 if they can. But this is a really highly traveled road, and police are asking for the public's help. We met up with a group of folks called Bolt Force who are giving that kind of help. But some folks are not sure if this is the kind of help they want.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"BOLT," BOLT FORCE FOUNDER: People have used that term in the past. I don't like that term because we don't go above the law. We're not out here slamming people to the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: And that was Bolt. He founded Bolt Force. They come out here on a night tonight basis, about 17 people, scouring this area. But they say they always contact police first to let them know they're out here.

CAMEROTA: That is a good idea because it is just scary stuff what's going on there. Sara, thanks so much for filling us in.

Meanwhile, there's been a Senate victory for President Obama. Democrats successfully blocking debate on that Republican resolution to reject the nuclear deal with Iran. A procedural vote fell two short of the 60 needed to break a Democratic filibuster. The move ensures that the Iran deal will go into effect without a showdown between Congress and the White House.

PEREIRA: This is something. A U.K. weatherman is the toast of Twitter for correctly pronouncing the name of a town in Wales that's twisting tongues around the globe. We can't pronounce it. But listen to Liam Dutton.

CUOMO: Is he Welsh?

PEREIRA: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today we had a big contrast in temperature across the U.K. Just 12 degrees over coastal parts of eastern England with cloudy skies. But in the sunshine in northwest wales RAF Mona in Anglesey, which is just down the road from the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch the temperature got to 21 Celsius at 70 Fahrenheit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:15:00] PEREIRA: Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. Apparently this town had a much shorter name. But back in the 19th century some local guy said I want to take this town an attraction, gave it this bananas long Welsh name. I have the rough translation but you want me to tell you?

CAMEROTA: Yes, please?

CUOMO: You want to bet I know it?

PEREIRA: OK, go ahead.

CUOMO: Loosely translated -- and I did not look it up.

PEREIRA: Yes, you did.

CUOMO: No. I've been there.

PEREIRA: Go.

CUOMO: It says, it's like the town that's by the St. Mary's Church that's over the bridge, that's by the river, it's something like that.

PEREIRA: I kind of hate him.

CUOMO: I was there.

CAMEROTA: Right?

What is it?

CUOMO: I can pronounce it.

PEREIRA: St. Mary's Church in the hollow of White Hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of Saint Tysilio of red cave.

I kind of hate right now. I kind of hate you right now.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

PEREIRA: That's amazing. What are the chances you have been there?

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: I've been there. I've been there. They made the description of the town into a sentence. I had to look all day for someone who could say it.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: That is great. Thank you for that.

CUOMO: He was impressive. It feels good.

CAMEROTA: Republicans in Iowa say Donald Trump is their favorite candidate right now. They also say he's their least favorite candidate. Our experts make sense of how a polarizing candidate can have it both ways.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: According to a just released Quinnipiac Poll, Donald Trump is both the most liked and most disliked Republican candidate in Iowa.

[08:20:02] Let me show some things. The real estate mogul currently polling -- by that I mean, poll, Michaela -- polling at 27 percent in the Iowa with Carson six points behind at 21 percent. Trump also leads the field as the candidate voters say they would definitely not vote for.

Here to break down all of these figures and all of the other 2016 is Paul Begala and S.E. Cupp.

Hi, guys.

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hi.

CAMEROTA: How are you?

CUPP: Good.

CAMEROTA: OK. I think we have our ducks in a row.

S.E., what's up with that? He's the most disliked and the most supported. Explain.

CUOMO: What's up with that? A statement on "SNL", I love it.

CUPP: I think that means that, you know, voters, registered Republicans in Iowa who are pretty politically aware are divided on whether they like Donald Trump. I think he's got a lot of support, obviously within the grassroots and I think a lot of people who also rightly can read the tea leaves and understand he probably isn't very electable in a general election.

So, you know, he's certainly getting a lot of attention right now and I think some people see that as a good thing and other people say that as OK, if he keeps talking like this, we're not going to have a Republican in the White House.

CUOMO: Senor Paul, let's put the matchup between Hillary Clinton, your preferred candidate and the big names on the GOP side. Hillary Clinton, Ben Carson, 51-46. She's losing. Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, straight up 48s. Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, she's down by the statistical margin.

How do you explain?

BEGALA: Well, we're going to have a race. It's a race. I mean, I -- Hillary Clinton should get out of the race, she goes back to Chappaqua and play with the grand baby.

It is meaning, that's not Governor Dukakis -- we're almost 500 days from the election. First of all, we don't have a national election. We have a bunch of state elections.

And it's fine. We're going to have a contest. We're going to have a race. We've got to put these horses on the track and let them run.

As a Hillary supporter, much more important to look at these early primary and caucus state polls where she is trailing Bernie Sanders.

The Democrats want a contest. The interesting thing is Hillary's favorables are still very high in those early primary states even though Bernie Sanders is doing better, in fact leading in those two states. What does that tell me? My party wants a fight, but they want it kept between the ditches.

Right now, Hillary is not attacking Bernie. Bernie is not attacking Hillary. They're campaigning on ideas.

Meanwhile, on the Republican side -- I love it, by the way, but it's nothing but insults. I couldn't be happier actually with the way both sides are going. Yes, I'd rather Hillary be ahead by 50 points. But that was never going to last.

CAMEROTA: OK. Let's talk about Hillary Clinton's appearance on "Ellen" yesterday. It was interesting. This is part of her rollout of doing more media appearances, being more sort of fun and spontaneous. She even talked about Kanye West who wants to run for president.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I heard him make the announcement.

ELLEN DEGENERES, TV HOST: Right.

CLINTON: And he said he wanted to run in 2020.

DEGENERES: Yes.

CLINTON: I would only ask him if I'm running for reelection to wait.

DEGENERES: OK.

CLINTON: OK?

DEGENERES: OK.

CLINTON: But otherwise --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: -- a lot of people want to run for president these days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: A lot of people want to run for president these days -- truer words never spoken, S.E. But do you think -- I mean, does -- do appearances like this resonate with voters?

CUPP: Yes, if they're authentic. It sort of deflates the authenticity when the "New York Times" reports the weekend before that you plan to be more authentic on the campaign trail. Had that been just sort of a spontaneous appearance without this back story that Hillary needs to show more heart and more humor, if we didn't know this was sort of orchestrated and manufactured, it would be a lovely moment.

She's actually capable of sounding like a normal person. It seems like she goes out of her way not to sometimes.

CUOMO: Well, look, I tell you what the error maybe is that her campaign talks too much. She doesn't talk enough in terms of the media. They talk too much because we all know on this screen right now that if you think politicians go out there and wing it on any regular basis, you're kidding yourself.

Let me ask you something, Paul. Trump on Greta saying he says certain things as an entertainer. I want you to hear it. Do we have that?

Good, because my Greta impersonation is not good. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Many of those comments are made as an entertainer because I did "The Apprentice." It was one of the top shows on television. I decided not to do it again because I wanted to run for president. But some comments are made as an entertainer. And as everybody said, as an entertainer, it's a much different ball game.

(END VDIEO CLIP)

CUPP: No, no, no, no, no.

CAMEROTA: Go ahead, S.E.

CUOMO: Please? That's a good start.

CUPP: No, no. You can't -- look, you're running for president. Everything you say right now is as a candidate for president. It's not like you didn't know that "Rolling Stone" was in the room when you made comments about Carly Fiorina's face.

[08:25:01] No, you don't get a pass. You don't get to be the straight talking candidate whose raison d'etre for being here is as a straight talker. And then say, I mean what I say unless you disagree with it, and then I don't and it's a totally different thing and I said it as an entertainer.

We're going to take you at your word, Mr. Trump, because that's what makes you different, you say.

CAMEROTA: But, Paul, I mean --

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Go ahead.

BEGALA: I'm sorry, Alisyn. Go ahead.

CAMEROTA: Well, listen, isn't his point he's starring in a reality show called the presidential race?

BEGALA: That's kind of how he's having it both ways and wouldn't we all have it both ways if we could? So, I don't believe him at all.

I think Jeb Bush, free advice for the former governor of Florida, as he plummets in the polls -- you think Hillary is in trouble at 37. Jeb is at like six, or eight, or whatever he's at. He's pathetic. He looks so weak.

Yesterday he came out and said oh, you can't insult your way to the White House. Really? Really? Tell Thomas Jefferson that. He called John Adams a hermaphrodite. He's way worse than Trump.

And by the way, John Adams in turned said, if Mr. Jefferson is elected, our wives and daughters will be sold into frustration. Those were the days, man. I mean, this country was built on insults.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

BEGALA: Donald Trump ought to keep insulting, as long as it's his fellow Republican and not my gal Hillary or Bernie or one of my Democrats.

CAMEROTA: There you go. You sound nostalgic. That's great.

CUOMO: As Begala cups his mouth and blows on the fire on the GOP side.

CAMEROTA: There you go.

CUPP: Yes, right.

CAMEROTA: S.E., Paul, thank you. Have a great weekend.

CUPP: Thanks.

CUOMO: Mick?

PEREIRA: The history of insults with Paul Begala. It's a new reality show coming up.

All right, 8:26 is the time.

She is one of the most prominent women to accuse Bill Cosby of drugging her. Does Beverly Johnson regrets speaking out now? What's the message she has for the entertainer? We're going to speak with her, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)