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New Day

Trump Doesn't Correct Man Who Calls Obama a Muslim; Republicans Hit Campaign Trail After CNN Debate; Federal Reserve Delays Interest Rate Hike. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired September 18, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: We'll talk money here with China's economy staggering, the Feds decided not to raise interest rates for now. What exactly does that mean for your family's economy? Christine Romans breaks it all down with us when NEW DAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Donald Trump back in the crosshairs this morning for not correcting a man at a town hall in New Hampshire who called President Obama Muslim. Trump's campaign claims that Mr. Trump did not hear the man when he made that comment. In the meantime, Republicans are back on the campaign trail after the big CNN debate. Eleven of them, including Trump will attend a forum in South Carolina today.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: One final attempt by Republicans to kill the Iran nuclear deal has failed. Senate Democrats blocking legislation to scuttle the agreement for a third time on Thursday. The GOP measure would have required Iran to recognize Israel and release Americans being held captive before sanctions could be lifted.

[06:35:08] This clears the way for the deal to be implemented next month.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: American Airlines resolving its computer issues that grounded flights out of Chicago's O'Hare airport on Thursday. It caused major delays at O'Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Miami International Airports. Officials say the computer problem affected mostly check ins at the airport, causing those delays and some cancellations.

PEREIRA: Very sweet moment here. Former President Jimmy Carter not letting his battle with cancer keep his spirits down. How about this for a kiss cam? He plants a big one on his beautiful wife Rosalynn during an Atlanta Braves baseball game. They appeared on the stadium's kiss cam and received a rousing round of applause from the crowd.

CAMEROTA: That was a long smacker there.

PEREIRA: You know, my better half threatened that if we ever get put on the kiss cam, he's going to lick the side of my face.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Oh, that --

CUOMO: That's about a good segue as you can get, watching Jimmy Carter and his wife.

Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers for a look at the weekend.

It's heating up in here, Chad. I don't know what you see on the big board.

(LAUGHTER)

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I love it. You know, you never know which I'm going to get with you. Like a box of chocolates. Hey, you know what? Your weekend is going to be half and half, pretty decent, kind of like the creamer, although I never really did figure out what the other half of half and half was.

It's going to be warm for the beginning and cool and nice for Sunday. Storms across parts of Ohio into Kansas City for today. The hot weather still around 87 for you New York City. D.C., Philadelphia, the whole air mass is about the same. Cooler air comes in. Couple showers come in on Saturday night into Sunday morning.

You go from 86 down to 76. And it's going to be beautiful. I tell you what, just so you know, Alisyn, spring starts on Wednesday in the southern hemisphere. We get to fall.

CAMEROTA: I was confused about the calendar that you were using, Chad, for a moment. But that explains it.

All right. Thank you for that heads up.

Meanwhile, the second Republican debate making history. Most pundits giving Carly Fiorina high marks for her performance. But what did you, the voter, think of what the candidates had to say? We have the memorable moments that may determine who wins the White House. That's ahead on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: All right. Right now, U.S. stock futures are down a day after the Federal Reserve announced it would delay raising interest rates. The Fed was expected to raise rates after a decade leaving them unchanged. What does it mean for our wallets?

Joining us now for today is CNN Money now is Rana Foroohar, CNN chief economic analyst, my goodness, I give you raise there, and "TIME's" assistant managing editor. And Christine Romans is here also, our chief business correspondent.

Christine, how are you feeling about all this?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I have a splitting headache.

(LAUGHTER) PEREIRA: I had to set her up for that.

Aside from the people madly watching all of this on Wall Street, at home, what does it mean for own my personal economy?

ROMANS: It means you can still go buy a house. Mortgage rates are going to stay low. It means you can refinance your mortgage if you need to. Please do, please do, please do.

It means, you know, all the things that are part of your life -- interest rates are going to stay very, very low. But they are eventually going to start to rise. And when they do, credit card rates will go up, car loans will go up, home loans will go up.

So, interest rates, higher interest rates are coming, they're not just coming right now, because Janet Yellen is concerned about the rest of the world. She's concerned that inflation is too low in the U.S.

She did say something, though, that really surprised me. She used the word "impressed". She is impressed by the U.S. job market and the U.S. economy but she's concerned about some of these other factors. So, they're going to wait a little bit longer, she said.

CUOMO: We've been hearing this for years.

ROMANS: Yes.

CUOMO: Through different secretaries we've been hearing it. Now the new X-factor on this is not just the global environment but what we've talked about here before, the transitory or intransitory nature of all oil prices. Many people thought this was a blip. It isn't. There are different reasons for that.

How big a deal is that to watch if you are interested in when the Fed rates would go up or not?

RANA FOROOHAR, TIME MAGAZINE: Well, it's interesting, because the dollar has been strong, oil's been weak. Those things tend to go in conjunction. Oil is weak for a lot of reasons. China is a big factor in the oil slowdown. And that's something that Yellen mentioned. The fact that emerging markets are so weak, when China slows down, it's the biggest energy consumer. Oil prices go down.

That also has an effect on inflation by the way. Inflation is very low right now, which is another reason that the Fed decided to keep rates low. It has a dual mandate, keep employment high but keep inflation low, too. Right now it's not low enough to raise rates. So, the oil story and the inflation story are combined.

CAMEROTA: So, Christine, what does this mean for the crazy stock market ride in our 401(k)s?

ROMANS: Well, it means that there's going to be volatility I think through the end of the year. I tell you, there's some clarity about when the Fed is going to raise rates. You got an October meeting and a December meeting. You know, half of Americans are exposed to the stock market, all Americans are exposed somehow to the rate situation, quite frankly.

I think for savers, I think that's going to be a really interesting part of the scenario. When the Fed starts to raise interest rates, I don't expect savers, when you put your money in the bank, that that's going to help you right away. Eventually, you're going to get -- you know, you're going to get more return on your certificates of deposit but not in the near term. I think the banks will take the edge in the very beginning.

FOROOHAR: Yes. It's interesting. Savers have been penalized by low interest rates. A lot of people have complained about that, that, you know, when you take on a lot of debt in this environment, it's actually great. You know, you have low interest payments, don't have to worry about it. But if you're a saver, not so much.

PEREIRA: Which gives me cause to think, is that going to be a problem for those among us who have heavy credit card debt? Is this sort of almost enabling us to do more harm to ourselves?

[06:45:01] FOROOHAR: That's the big worry is at some point, inflation rears its ugly head and then the Fed has to act very quickly, more quickly than it would maybe like to raise rates and then, suddenly, you have a debt bubble and you don't know where it is.

Also, corporate America has taken on a fair bit of debt in these last few years of low interest rates environment. We don't quite know where that's being held.

CUOMO: But that's two games. I think what Mick is pointing to is this idea of we have two different games going on here right now. It's how you run your household and deal with your kids and credit cards and then, what the government has been doing very aggressively to help not you directly, to help why these companies are taking so much debt, because of all the quantitative easing that's been going on, and all the assets they've been taken off the book, and the pressure to make it easy for companies.

FOROOHAR: I have to say, Chris, I actually agree with that. You know, I know Janet Yellen, somebody that cares a lot about Main Street as opposed to Wall Street. But there's this bizarre paradox that quantitative easing, that was supposed to help the average Joe make it easier to get a house, it really hasn't, because the banks haven't, you know, opened lending so much to those people, yet, it's made it incredibly easy for corporations to take on debt. The stock market has gone up. And that creates an imbalance, and I think at some point --

PEREIRA: Long term, what does that do?

(CROSSTALK)

FOROOHAR: Bigger correction.

ROMANS: How long can you have zero interest rates? I mean, in a way, when you kind of step back and look at it, you say, the Fed has no room to pull back because they're already at zero. And zero suggests there's a burning emergency in the American economy.

There is no burning emergency in the American economy. It's been recovering nicely for some time. You have 5.8 million job openings in America right now. The highest we've seen in the 15 years they've been tracking it.

FOROOHAR: Except no page inflation. That's the bizarre thing about this recovery. You've got a reasonably OK job market but you don't -- nobody is getting a raise.

PEREIRA: Well, Rana, Christine, thanks for looking at this with us, wading through it, trying to make sense.

CAMEROTA: Good luck with your Fed-ache.

FOROOHAR: I'm suggesting a martini as a cure.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: It is the weekend.

CUOMO: Somewhere it is. Not here right now. But soon enough.

All right. So, you hear all the pundits coming out of the debate about who won, who didn't and why. What about voters? What about you? That's why the debate was had at the first place. Let's see who got an advantage and who took disadvantage. We have a look from the real people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:18] CUOMO: All right. The Republican candidates are back on the trail hustings after the big CNN Republican debate. Now, out of the gate, political watchers say Carly Fiorina really got the most momentum out of the situation. And that Donald Trump may see his first slide in the polls after that performance.

But what do voters think?

Let's break it down with John Avlon, CNN political analyst, editor in chief at "The Daily Beast", and Margaret Hoover, CNN political commentator, Republican consultant and Sirius XM host.

Good to see you both.

JOHN AVLON, THE DAILY BEAST: You, too.

CUOMO: Let us talk about that which is spinning the convo (ph) fresh from the debate is what happened with Donald Trump. Most recently, he was asked the question, how did he behave during it? What else should he have done? Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from White Plains. Amen. OK?

We have a problem in this country. It's called Muslims. We know our current president is one.

You know he is not even American.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Birth certificate, man.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That's my question. When can we get rid of them?

TRUMP: We're going to be looking at different things. And, you know, a lot of people are saying that and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there. We're going to be looking at that and plenty of other things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Yes, OK, let's talk about that. Let's take his first thing which is, let's give him the benefit of the doubt, OK? Which is we really need this first question. Was that the appropriate response to what was crazy talk?

AVLON: No, the appropriate response to a crazy talk question like that was what John McCain did in 2008, where he corrected the speaker prominently and said, "No, ma'am, no, ma'am, he's not Muslim. He's Christian. He's a good American, we just happen to disagree." That's the way you play that. That John McCain play.

Trump did the opposite. He just pandered to the audience. For a guy who allegedly telling the truth and confronting people, he had an opportunity to tell the truth and confront a crazy talk and he did not do it. And that is a serious negative mark on his campaign.

CUOMO: Or was he tired and just wanted the guy to finish what he was saying and dismiss it with the answer he gave?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, you're going to be tired a lot when you're president, too. What you say matters. Donald Trump, it's almost like he's running for class president to everything. Yes, I'm going to listen to everything and then I'm going to kind of figure it out as I go.

It's not like he's actually coming to the table with moral authority and real bearings when it comes to his policy positions or how he thinks about his world view.

CUOMO: Now, one of the reasons he doesn't deserve the full benefit of the doubt on this is that he did a lot to tinder the fire. In 2011, he started with the Obama's a Muslim, what's on his birth certificate, why can't we see it? You're saying that factors into the analysis of what he did.

AVLON: It absolutely factors into it. I do not buy the DNC spin that he's saying, oh, well, look into getting rid of Muslim, I don't buy that. The issue is he saw crackpot talk and he actually chose not to confront it and denounce it.

CUOMO: And the campaign comment was he didn't hear any of that first part about it. This isn't about him going after Obama as a Muslim. It's about Obama going after Christians.

AVLON: Yes, look, A, he acknowledged the question so he did hear it. The fact the campaign went out a played the Christian v. Muslim card, adding Obama to that factor, that says they totally do not get it.

CUOMO: All right. So, let's go through informative moments of the debate and see how voters reacted to it. Now, note, Marco Rubio, not on here, should be. Had a strong --

AVLON: Great debate.

CUOMO: Confirmed for a lot of people that he knows foreign policy, presented himself as a fresh face. He's not here but let's look at who was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who ran up mountains of debt as well as losses using other people's money and you were forced to file for bankruptcy, not once, not twice --

TRUMP: I never filed for bankruptcy.

FIORINA: -- four times. A record four times. Why should we trust you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:55:00] CUOMO: All right. That's how they felt about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was surprised by her knowledge off the facts, especially the size of the military. Her heart comes off as genuine. I think this is one place where you can buy toughness and softness of a woman in one package. I was really impressed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Truth to power, going at Donald Trump, people thought Carly Fiorina would be impressive. People thought she'd bring up what he said about her face. They did not expect her to go at him the way she did and be as successful as she was.

What do you think?

HOOVER: If you were a political junky, you knew that Carly Fiorina was going to do well. If not, this is the second time you've seen her or maybe the first, because you didn't watch the happy hour debate last night. You're really impressed. She does have an incredible command of the facts. She does have very quick wit and incredible command of the sound bite on the television.

CUOMO: Fearlessness also.

HOOVER: Absolutely.

So, this is Carly Fiorina and this is the first time people are seeing her. No wonder they're impressed. There's a lot to be impressed by.

AVLON: Look, and she can lay a glove on Trump. He didn't have a strong come back. She's very disciplined. She practiced all those sound bites. There was an issue about warmth and relatability and the cost of the plans she put forward. So, there maybe some credibility questions as further scrutiny comes in. But she had a great debate and so should rise in the polls.

CUOMO: She was leaving set with us, I guess it was yesterday, I'm lost a little track of time. I said, I got to tell you, a lot of people didn't expect you to go at Donald the way you did and have the success that you did. She said, well, maybe Mr. Trump has met his match. She said it with no irony. She walked off the stage the same way she shook his hand that night. She's like see you later, Mr. Trump.

AVLON: Yes.

CUOMO: All right. This was a good moment. They seem frozen, though.

AVLON: They do.

CUOMO: Give it to me. Give it to me. Don't censor it. All right. We're not going to get it.

HOOVER: Here's what happened with Jeb.

CUOMO: This is them talking, I'll tell you one thing about my brother, he kept us safe.

AVLON: That's right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like him, I really do but three bushes, I'm not sure. I think he's probably a little more liberal than George and his father.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOOVER: So, here's what's happening. Voters are just getting to see Jeb in the first time. The reason he led in the polls is because of his name. Everybody knows his name because of his father, because of his brother. They haven't had a chance to see how he's different from them. They got a glimpse of that last time.

That's what's going to happen as this process continues. I think the legacy piece will recede as something that hinders his progress as people get to know who Jeb is as an individual. AVLON: Look, ironically, he may be more conservative on social

issues. But I actually thought Jeb Bush had a good debate. He warmed up over the night. He didn't come out swinging. He still is on the defense.

There's a weird happen --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: He had a chance to go with early on. Walker jumped in both times and had his best moments of the debate.

AVLON: Walker was an invisible man. He did not have a good debate. Jeb warmed up and I think had a strong debate.

CUOMO: And more people support what you're saying and what I'm saying as usual.

John Avlon, Margaret Hoover, it's good to have you. There's a lot of news this morning. Let's get to it right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a problem in this country --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything can happen when you have a town hall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's called Muslim. We know our current president is one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does Mr. Trump believe, does he believe the president is a Muslim?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you have a moment like that, character and judgments are revealed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I brought the clock to impress my teacher and I got arrested for it later that day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The device apparently was a homemade experiment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I felt like I was a terrorist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The important role that he played in re-opening U.S./Cuban relations.

PEREIRA: Pope Francis delivering a simple message to the Cuban people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After Cuba, he heads to the United States.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your NEW DAY.

Donald Trump under fire, a day after CNN's Republican debate, Trump declining to correct a man at a town hall event when asked when the U.S. can get rid of Muslims and called President Obama a Muslim.

CUOMO: Much of the Republican field is back on the hustings today, as is Hillary Clinton.

So, what about the Democratic front-runner? What did she think about the debate, did she see avenues of opportunity for her? This looming government shutdown, is it worth it?

Let's begin our coverage with CNN senior Washington correspondent. We have a whole host of them this morning. But let's start with Joe Johns.

Joe, what do you have for us?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Chris, since he got in the campaign, he's often been accused of going to far with rhetoric. Now Donald Trump is taking heat for what he didn't say after failing to challenge a comment from a member of the audience in New Hampshire about President Obama's religion and nationality. Democrats are going after them this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: A lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there.

JOHNS (voice-over): A new controversy for Donald Trump this morning, just a day after CNN's GOP debate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a problem in his country. It's called Muslims. We know our current president is one. You know, he's not even an American.

JOHNS: The Republican frontrunner back in the headlines after his vague and evasive response to this anti-Muslim supporter at a town hall in New Hampshire.