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New Day

Ben Carson Under Fire Over Muslim Comments; New CNN Poll: Hillary Clinton Bouncing Back; Emmy Awards: A Night of Firsts, High Drama; Interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 21, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:01] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your NEW DAY. Calls this morning for Ben Carson to drop out of the presidential race after saying he believes a Muslim could not be President of the United States.

Donald Trump also having to explain his position on Muslims this weekend after not correcting that erroneous and offensive comment at his town hall on Thursday.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And now comes Carly Fiorina. Popping in the polls, maybe because she's not talking about Muslims. She did have a strong debate showing, as well, pumping her up to second place. New poll out this morning, shows Hillary Clinton rebounding on the Democratic side.

Let's get into what and why. Team coverage beginning with Athena Jones live in Washington -- Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Those comments from Carson and Trump about Muslims are drawing a lot of attention and angering a lot of people this morning. The question is whether this will hurt either of them in the polls. And this is coming as yet another outsider candidate, Carly Fiorina, is surging.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.

JONES (voice-over): This shocking statement by Dr. Ben Carson under a spotlight this morning in the Republican presidential race.

On NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday, Carson said a Muslim president should not be in the Oval Office and that a president's faith should matter to voters.

CARSON: If it's inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course, it should matter.

JONES: Later, when Donald Trump was asked about the possibility of a Muslim president, he said...

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via phone): Some people have said it already happened.

JONES: A reference to President Barack Obama. Trump later adding...

TRUMP: He said he was a Christian, and he said he is a Christian. You know, I'm willing to take him at his word for that.

JONES: But Carson is doubling down on his controversial comments. In an interview with Washington newspaper "The Hill," he said, quote, "Muslims feel that their religion is very much a part of your public life, and that is inconsistent with our principles and our Constitution."

Democrats were quick to pounce.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You judge candidates for president not on their religion, not on the color of their skin, but on their ideas on what they stand for.

JONES: This as the latest CNN/ORC poll shows Trump and Carson losing momentum with voters after the CNN debate. Trump still the frontrunner but his lead slipping as Carly Fiorina makes the biggest jump, rising 12 percentage points.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How many of you saw the debate on Wednesday night?

JONES: Over half of poll respondents who watched CNN's debate think Fiorina did the best job, Florida Senator Marco Rubio taking home second place, far better than his former mentor, Jeb Bush.

TRUMP: I think Carly had a good night, but I think you gave her a lot of very easy questions.

JONES: Trump now zeroing in on the post-debate star, attacking Fiorina's record as CEO once again Sunday, tweeting, "She did such a horrible jot at Lucent and H.P., she never got another CEO job offer." The GOP frontrunner writing, "There is no way that Carly Fiorina can become the Republican nominee."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: And when it comes to those comments about Muslims from Trump and Carson, a Muslim member of Congress is now weighing in, saying every American should be disturbed that the two candidates are engaging in and tolerating blatant acts of religious bigotry -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Athena, those comments are bound to get a lot of people fired up today. We will be watching. Thanks so much.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is bouncing back, the former secretary of state opening a commanding lead over Bernie Sanders in a brand-new CNN/ORC poll. And if Vice President Joe Biden decides not to run, that margin increases dramatically.

CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny joins us now -- Jeff. JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning,

Michaela.

You're right. Hillary Clinton's summertime slide appears to be stabilizing. Our new polls show she's gaining ground among Democrats, a sign she's putting at least some of those concerns and controversy around their candidacy to rest.

Let's take a look at some of these new numbers now. Clinton sits atop a Democratic field at 42 percent. That's up from 5 points earlier this month. She's followed by Bernie Sanders at 24 percent and Joe Biden at 22 percent.

But if you take Biden out of the equation, her support soars. She's at 57 percent in our new poll, while Sanders has 28 percent. She's climbing; Sanders is falling. Their margin now, 29 points from only 16 earlier this month.

This is why so many Democrats are keeping such a close eye on whether Joe Biden decides to jump in. If he does, the contrast is much, much more competitive.

While there's no concrete time line, one top Democrat supportive of Biden tells me this morning, we'll likely know within the next two weeks.

Now, one person who's not an obstacle now is Jill Biden. To push back against some of the reports that she does not want her husband to run, her spokesman issued this statement, saying, "Of course Dr. Biden would be on board if her husband decides to run for president. But they haven't made that decision yet."

Now in an interview on Sunday, Hillary Clinton would not comment on his potential candidacy, saying the vice president deserves his space to make a decision. Of course, she is trying to strengthen her own standing for what would be such an interesting Democratic primary race.

[07:05:22] But in an appearance on "Face the Nation," she was asked to describe who the real Hillary Clinton is. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am a real person with all the pluses and minuses that go along with being that. And I've been in the public eye for so long that I think, you know, it's like the feature that you see in some magazine sometimes. Real people actually go shopping. You know?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: But all laughter aside, after a few reinventions along the way, her burden, of course, is to appear authentic to voters in a year where they are craving it more than ever -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Jeff, you've given us a lot of food for thought. Thanks so much. Let's talk about what's going on, on the campaign trail. We want to bring in former New York Congresswoman, Nan Hayworth. She's the New York co-chair of the super PAC Carly for America. Thanks so much for being here.

NAN HAYWORTH, NEW YORK CO-CHAIR, CARLY FOR AMERICA: Pleasure to be with you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the news of the day, and that is Ben Carson saying he does not believe that any Muslim can be president of the United States; nor does he believe that Islam is consistent with the U.S. Constitution. What does Ms. Fiorina say about this?

HAYWORTH: You know, Alisyn, Carly has not commented directly on that issue. But I will tell you certainly that, as someone who's strongly supporting Carly, I believe that the most important criterion we need to look at when we're considering a president is, is this person a proven leader? And that is exactly -- irrespective of faith. And that's why I'm supporting Carly.

CAMEROTA: Does Carly believe that a Muslim can be president?

HAYWORTH: I have not spoken with her directly on that. She hasn't commented on it. But again, certainly the issue of someone's faith is a deeply personal matter for most of us. And I think all of us who are supporting Carly Fiorina for president are looking at her salient characteristics.

CAMEROTA: But why hasn't she commented on it? I mean, this is something that does distinguish the various Republican candidates from each other. Will she be commenting on it today?

HAYWORTH: Well, she may indeed. And you know, that's something that is her prerogative. And I think, as she's said about some other issues, the American people have to be respected to decide certain aspects of these things.

But again, she is a proven leader who has certainly shown that she has a servant's heart, regardless of faith.

CAMEROTA: You've obviously run your own successful campaign...

HAYWORTH: Yes.

CAMEROTA: ... being elected to Congress. What do you think happens to Dr. Carson's campaign as a result of this?

HAYWORTH: Well, Dr. Carson is obviously someone who is a sincere servant of his patients. He has an important cause that he's seeking. But, you know, I'm really thinking much more about the presidential candidacy of Carly Fiorina, who is a remarkable leader in her own right.

CAMEROTA: I mean, do you think that this is a deal breaker for him?

HAYWORTH: I really -- I think it's going to be up to the voters in the Republican primary, especially, to determine that. I think they've got a remarkable candidate to look at in Carly.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the big bump that Carly Fiorina has gotten since the debate. I'll put up the numbers right now. She is the person who showed the most growth afterwards. In September, before the debate, she was at 3 percent. After the debate, she was at 15 percent. You see that other people, other than Marco Rubio's support, has gone down.

HAYWORTH: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Do you think that this is because she took on Donald Trump?

HAYWORTH: Well, I think it's because Carly Fiorina has much that is substantive to say. When you listen to her speak in any context, and look at her comments during the debate. She has an incredible fund of knowledge. She has an agile intellect. She speaks compellingly, with conviction and with compassion.

So I think the contrast between her comments and -- you know, I know Mr. Trump. I like Mr. Trump. I think he's obviously been an extraordinarily successful man in many ways. But his answers tended to be much more glib. They were not rich with facts and knowledge. And this is a job -- the presidency of the United States, is a job that requires a certain amount of expertise from day one. Carly Fiorina has that.

CAMEROTA: See, what's interesting about what she did at the debate, is that she took on Donald Trump in a way that other people who have tried have seen their numbers plummet. I mean, Lindsey Graham, Rick Perry, Jeb Bush, the list goes on. What did she do differently in terms of going at him that ended up being so successful?

HAYWORTH: Well, I think it was clear that Carly Fiorina feels very confident and comfortable in her own skin. She does not shrink from a challenge. she certainly has tremendous courage. And she has the knowledge and the expertise and the intellect to back up that stance.

[07:10:06] CAMEROTA: Before the debate, it was reported that this summer she had $1 million in fundraising in her war chest. Since the debate, has that number gone up?

HAYWORTH: Certainly by all accounts, yes. And I can tell you anecdotally, I'm certainly seeing a lot of people who want to get on board and support Carly Fiorina.

CAMEROTA: Let me read to you a couple of Donald Trump's tweets from yesterday about her. He says, "There is no way that Carly Fiorina can become the Republican nominee or win against the Dems. Boxer killed her for the Senate in California."

Here's another tweet. He was busy tweeting last night. "Carly Fiorina did such a horrible job at Lucent and H.P., virtually destroying both companies, that she never got another CEO job offer."

How should she respond to these? HAYWORTH: Well, I mean, that's -- you know, Donald Trump is living in

a fact-free zone when he tweets that kind of thing about Carly Fiorina.

She has spoken eloquently about her record at H.P., which she is proud to own. She doubled the size of the company; doubled the revenues; quadrupled their cash flow; tripled their rate of innovation. Did she challenge the status quo? Absolutely. Did she ruffle some feathers? Yes. Did she challenge entrenched bureaucracies? Yes.

And was her bold conviction proven, in the fullest of time, to be just where H.P. needs to be? As one of her major detractors, Tom Perkins, talked about, in a full-page ad in "The New York Times," now he's a big supporter. Yes.

And that will be the case for President Fiorina, too. She's going to challenge the status quo in Washington. She's going to make bold stance for the American people, make the distinctions that have to be made. And she will be proven right.

CAMEROTA: Congresswoman Nan Hayworth -- former Congresswoman Nan Hayworth, thanks so much for coming into NEW DAY. Great to see you.

HAYWORTH: A pleasure.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Another story for you this morning.

An Alabama man is facing three counts of attempted murder at a shooting in a church in Selma on Sunday. Twenty-six-year-old James Minter allegedly opened fire inside the Oasis Tabernacle Church. His girlfriend, their infant daughter, and a pastor were shot. The mother is in critical condition. Police say Minter and his girlfriend were fighting over visitation, and there was some ongoing domestic violence situation.

CAMEROTA: One of Kim Davis's deputy clerks filing a motion against her. Brian Mason claims Davis altered Kentucky marriage license forms and may had made them invalid. He says the new forms do not mention the county's name or any reference to a clerk or deputy clerk.

Davis, who refused to issue licenses to same-sex couples, said she'd let deputy clerks issue those licenses as long as her name was not on them. Davis's attorney says she did not violate the judge's order.

PEREIRA: It was a night to celebrate television's best in show. The 67th Emmy Awards certainly did not disappoint. In fact, it was a night of firsts in Hollywood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Viola Davis. "How to Get Away with Murder."

PEREIRA (voice-over): Viola Davis making history last night... VIOLA DAVIS, ACTRESS: The only thing that separates women of color

from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.

PEREIRA: ... becoming the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a drama series, grabbing an Emmy for her performance in "How to Get Away with Murder."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the first Emmy win and 16th nomination for Jon Hamm.

PEREIRA: Another first, Jon Hamm, finally scooping up an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama for his iconic role as the tortured Don Draper on "Mad Men" after seven previous losses.

JON HAMM, ACTOR: There has been a terrible mistake, clearly.

PEREIRA: HBO dominating with a whopping 43 victories. Their fantasy series, "Game of Thrones," being crowned Best Drama, the show's first win, beating out "Mad Men" and shattering an academy record, defeating "The West Wing" by winning more Emmys in a single year than any other series.

HBO's "Veep" also grabbing Best Comedy and "Olive Kitteridge" leading the Limited Series category.

TRACY MORGAN, COMEDIAN: I missed you guys so much.

PEREIRA: Surprising everyone, Tracy Morgan, marking his return by presenting Best Drama, his first time back on stage since that serious car accident last year that left him in a coma for eight days.

MORGAN: Thanks to my amazing doctors, and the support of my family, my beautiful new wife, I'm here.

PEREIRA: Morgan's fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum, Andy Samberg, rounding out another night of firsts, hosting the show for the first time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Back to those firsts. We were talking about "Mad Men" in the piece. It was interesting that it was the first acting award that show has gotten. It's dominated the award shows for so long but never an acting award.

CAMEROTA: He was at risk of becoming the Susan Lucci of this year's Emmys.

PEREIRA: I thought you were going to say the Lenny Kravitz. Because I was worried his pants were going to split as he jumped up on stage. That could have been bad.

CAMEROTA: Or good.

PEREIRA: I've got nothing to say. His whole face just went red. CUOMO: If I say it, it's like hours of crap from these two. But you say it, and it's like, OK, all right.

A new CNN poll, very good news for Hillary Clinton. It shows her with a big lead over Bernie Sanders, especially if the Biden factor is removed. So we're going to talk to a Democratic senator about the state of the race. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: This morning we have new poll information for you on the Democrat side. Hillary Clinton get something good news. Why? Take a look.

Former secretary of state bouncing back would be a fair depiction of it. Strong numbers in this poll. Why is she moving this way? Is it all about whether or not Biden is in the race?

Joining us now is senator from Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar. She's author of a new book, "The Senator Next Door." She's actually sitting next to Alisyn.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D), MINNESOTA: Pretty good. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I like that. Life imitating art.

KLOBUCHAR: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: Fantastic.

Let's talk about Hillary Clinton's new numbers, and I want to put up a poll that shows without Biden in the race what her numbers look like, because these are quite telling.

She now is at 57 percent. Bernie Sanders is at 28 percent. Well, this is with Biden in the race on the left-hand side, and without is on the right-hand side. But without, look at this. I mean, it shows her lead is really commanding. To what do you attribute this?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, I think Secretary Clinton has always said this is a long-term campaign. She's in it for the long term. You're starting to see that in the numbers.

[07:20:03] The other thing about this is that she's been really aggressive, I would say, going after Trump and some of the other candidates when they say things that are racist, when they say things against women. In the last few weeks, she has been willing to take that on and take it on strongly.

CAMEROTA: Is it that aggressiveness that you think has shown that bump or is it her charm offensive, of going on the late-night shows and being, you know, sillier and...?

KLOBUCHAR: That's the second thing I was going to say, Alisyn. I think it's a combination of the fact that she's been out there showing herself accessible, telling her story. People see that. But she's also been seizing the moment, not being quite as cautious,

seizing that moment when things come up in the news that people care about.

CUOMO: You knew the 2008 race well. One of the points of pushback from the Carson and Trump camps this morning is why are you going after, especially Donald Trump, not Carson, why are you going after Trump about birther stuff? What about Hillary Clinton? She was on that bus in 2008. Is that fair?

KLOBUCHAR: I think Hillary Clinton's record on race and on immigration...

CUOMO: With respect to Obama and his potential citizenship. You remember that period in the campaign.

KLOBUCHAR: Well, I think it's been pretty clear that Secretary Clinton has an excellent relationship with President Obama.

I think the bigger issue here is you have Ben Carson basically saying a Muslim should never be president. And I'd like him to say that to my staff member who's Muslim, who set it up so I could be here today, or to a guy in my Minnesota office who's been there with me for eight years, Siad Ali (ph). He's Somali. He's fantastic. Wouldn't stop working during the shutdown. He just got elected to the school board in our town.

This is -- these are -- these are people that believe in the American dream, and they're all over our country. And while we don't have a realistic possibility of having a Muslim president right now -- we haven't had a Jewish president; we haven't had a woman president -- you don't squelch people's dreams in this country. That's why the Constitution says that faith is not a test.

CAMEROTA: I mean, you are -- you represent Minnesota. Minnesota has a large Muslim population.

So what do you think should happen to Dr. Carson now? Does he need to apologize? Does he need to sit down with Muslims? I mean, what are you calling for?

CUOMO: Or does he need to just keep saying it to help your party's chances?

KLOBUCHAR: There you go. Now, that is a little bit cynical, Chris. I think -- of course, I think he should apologize and explain the Constitution is clear. And that anyone in this country, a little girl or a little boy, can dream of being president.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the letter, the open letter that you've co-signed, asking about the migrant crisis and how the U.S. should handle it. What do you think that needs to happen with all of the migrant crisis?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, I got into this many months ago before it exploded. Senator Durbin and I sent this letter. Because we'd been to the camps. We'd seen the conditions. We've seen the fact that these refugees were going to start leaving.

So it's really a combination of things. One is the long term. I'm glad that we are talking to Russia now to try to see if there's some way to transition out of Siad [SIC] -- out of Assad that would be the best answer to that.

The second thing would be, of course, to make sure immediately the humanitarian aid is there. There have been a problem with funding some of the aid lately. Our country has been generous.

And the third is set -- leading by example. Not taking the lead. That's obviously Europe. And they have to work things out. More countries in the Mideast can, as well. But it is really showing the world that we are willing to take in some of these refugees.

CAMEROTA: What number are you prescribing?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, we had suggested in our letter 65,000, which is a common number used, because it is the half of the refugees suggested by the U.N. Commission on Refugees.

CAMEROTA: Why not do all?

KLOBUCHAR: Our country has tended to do about half. Some people are throwing out the number 100,000. But right now the administration has upped their game, talking about 15,000 and that number. This is going to be a slow process, but we're not even up to 65 yet.

CUOMO: What's the book about, "Senator Next Door"?

KLOBUCHAR: The book is about, actually, this kind of stuff. It's about finding policy solutions, working across the aisle. I actually have a section called "Republicans I Have Loved to Work With." And making this case that people should treat each other well and find some joy in politics.

CUOMO: So why don't they?

KLOBUCHAR: So I tell a lot of funny stories.

CUOMO: You're down there. What's going on?

KLOBUCHAR: Part of it is that they do, and we just don't usually talk about it on TV. We do get some things done. I make that case.

The second piece of it is that people get polarized. They get attention for doing some of the things we've seen in the last few weeks on the Republican side. They go in the opposite corners of the boxing ring, throw punches and get on TV.

And so what I argue for is we need to have different incentives and that the voters and the citizens of this country have to ask for something better.

CAMEROTA: Look, that sounds great. And you call it the anti-Trump book. But clearly, Trump is striking a chord. I mean, how do you -- if people just want everybody to have a big "Kumbaya" circle, then how do you explain his popularity?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, people have come and gone forever in American politics. They have their moments. And his has gone on for a while. And I predict it will go on for a while more.

But I guess he didn't sit next to the husband of the doctor from North Dakota I sat on -- next to the plane the other day who's an independent, votes Republican sometimes, so mad about his comments about vaccines that he can't stand it. A lot of doctors in this country.

So I think you see over time, people listen. High interest in these debates, and people start to think, "You know, I agree with this. I don't agree with that." And that's how the American system works.

CAMEROTA: Senator Klobuchar, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

KLOBUCHAR: All right.

CAMEROTA: Great to talk to you.

KLOBUCHAR: It was great to be on. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Michaela.

PEREIRA: I'm going to write about a -- a book about the anchor next door. How about that?

CAMEROTA: That would be perfect.

PEREIRA: Don't you think so? All right.

Still ahead here, the first CNN post-debate poll taking the pulse of Republican voters. Outsiders still in: Carly Fiorina rocketing to No. 2 behind Donald Trump. We'll discuss it all with our panel as they weigh in, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:29:37] PEREIRA: A rebound in the polls for Hillary Clinton this morning. She leads the Democratic race with 42 percent support. It's there in your new CNN poll. That number climbs to 57 percent if Vice President Joe Biden doesn't run.

Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Carly Fiorina jumping to second place. A 12-point bump for her following that strong debate performance. Also there's now a push to get Ben Carson to pull out of the race after saying a Muslim should not be president.

CAMEROTA: Pope Francis heading to the United States tomorrow. Today he continues his work in Cuba, holding an early morning mass, then flying to Santiago to meet with bishops. On Sunday the pontiff met with former leader Fidel Castro for a private conversation.