Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

CNN Poll: Fiorina Surges, Rubio Rises After Debate; Ben Carson Under Fire Over Muslim Comments; Latino Artists Record "We're All Mexican" Song. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired September 21, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: 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. He's also met with Fidel's brother, Raul Castro, the current leader of Cuba.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Tragedy at a New Zealand zoo, a female curator killed Sunday morning by a Sumatran tiger. The Hamilton Zoo shut down until Thursday. Officials decide not to euthanize the tiger.

All they are saying right now is that the tiger never escaped his enclosure. The curator identified as Samantha Kudeweh worked at the zoo with her husband. She leaves behind a 9-year-old son and a 3- year-old daughter.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: A dramatic rescue to show you. An RV fully engulfed in flames in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. The vehicle rolling backwards down the street setting fire to cars and power lines.

A local Navy veteran, Christopher Chmielnicki rushed to the rescue of a woman who was still inside that vehicle, pulling her out of the burning RV. The hero and victim were treated for smoke inhalation. Both are now out of the hospital. There could have been such a loss of life there.

CAMEROTA: Incredible when you see this video.

PEREIRA: Ball of fire.

CUOMO: Good man.

CAMEROTA: What a hero.

CNN's first post-debate poll is out. Everyone has been waiting to see the numbers because Trump's lead has slipped, but Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio's have soared. Let's listen to Marco Rubio downplay his double digit bounce.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not sure the mid- September winners are where you want to be obviously. You want to do well. They're relevant because they're deciding who gets on the stage, but they're not going to decide this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, here to break down the shake-up in the GOP race and so much more are CNN political commentator, Tara Setmayer and CNN political commentator and host of "Ben Ferguson Show," Ben Ferguson. Great to have you here.

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Tara, what did Marco Rubio do right? Let's put up his numbers right now. Again, this is the first post-debate poll and we'll show you that Trump's lead slipped from 32 percent down to 24 percent. Fiorina has gone up from 3 percent to 15 percent. Marco Rubio is notable because he went from 3 percent to 11 percent.

SETMAYER: He had a strong showing. He had a command of the issues. He talked about foreign policy. He talked about things that I think most people want to see as far as the qualities and leadership skills of the next president of the United States. And he was above the fray.

You realized that Marco Rubio has really not gotten into the back and forth and mudslinging with Donald Trump. The same thing happened during the first debate. I wrote on CNN.com that Marco Rubio was the adult in the room after the first debate.

I think he -- that carried over to this debate as well, him and Carly Fiorina clearly show that they had command of the issues and specifics. I think this is something that more and more people are looking for at this point instead of platitudes, which is what Donald Trump continued to serve up.

He had exposure to 20 million people. They looked at that and said, OK, this is somebody who we think could potentially be president of the United States. He did well.

CUOMO: Carly Fiorina did well in the debate. She's also the first person we've seen go at Donald Trump and win.

SETMAYER: Handle him.

CUOMO: In the past, you've gone at Trump and lost. Let me ask you something, Rubio going up, Fiorina going up and also a byproduct of seeing Trump for the first time go down, Carson go down, do you think that we've seen the peak for those two men?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Possibly. I think when you look at what happened after Wednesday, substance actually mattered to a core in the GOP that is being polled here. They like substance.

If you even look at the way that Carly Fiorina went after Donald Trump, it was not in some reality TV spat that may be fun to watch. Look at her response on the question about her face and Donald Trump saying look at that face. She said, I think the women in this country understood exactly what he meant and she stopped talking. That is the way that you score points against Donald Trump. You don't score points when you get into the shouting match in many ways how we saw him and Jeb Bush do it during the debate.

That doesn't help you at all and I think with Rubio when people watch him, they said this is a guy that understands the issues. He was also talking a lot during that 30-plus minute span when Donald Trump didn't say anything at all, which is virtually unheard of. He did not have a command of the issues. I think people noticed that.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about what happened over weekend with Donald Trump and Ben Carson talking about Muslims. Dr. Carson said that he does not believe a Muslim can be president of the United States and Islam is inconsistent with the Constitution.

We had one of his spokespeople on NEW DAY who says that Dr. Carson is not going to apologize for those remarks because he believes them. So listen to Armstrong Williams on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: You don't need to clarify what you believe in. It is consistent. It is who you are. You believe in America. You love this country. You see what's happening in Europe. You see what is happening in the Middle East and in the world.

He believes in telling the truth. You may not like the truth but it is the truth. When you tell the truth, Alisyn, there's nothing to apologize for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:35:04] CAMEROTA: Tara, what do you think of that response? Is this the right position Dr. Carson is staking out?

SETMAYER: I think that Dr. Carson has very been consistent in sticking to his guns. If he believes what he believes, he believes it. At least he's honest about it and this is why we have elections in this country. People can look at that and say they agree with his position or they don't.

You know, I think that we're getting into something here. We're talking about 0.8 percent less than 1 percent of the population is Muslim in this country.

CAMEROTA: But millions of people.

SETMAYER: Yes, absolutely and I think that it's up to the American people to decide if one day we have a candidate who is Muslim whether they feel as though that person is best qualified to be president of the United States.

CUOMO: Are you comfortable putting it to -- SETMAYER: I think we're blowing this way out of proportion.

FERGUSON: I agree.

CUOMO: Fine. I'll come to you right now, Ben.

FERGUSON: OK.

CUOMO: So this isn't about a simple popularity contest on an issue, tax, don't tax, wall, no wall. That's not what it is.

FERGUSON: Yes.

CUOMO: This is about who you are and how you identify as a people in the culture. This is a man who wants to be president of the United States saying all Muslims should not be considered to be president of the United States. You're saying, yes, that's OK?

FERGUSON: No. There's a trust issue here. I'll put it this way. If there's a hard core conservative that was a Muslim running against Hillary Clinton, I'd be supporting the hard-core conservative running against Hillary Clinton. That may have been a better way for him to put it.

But I also think this goes into a bigger issue. There is a trust issue with the Muslim community and a lack of I think bluntness about what has happened within this country, within some mosques, whether it be in Minneapolis, Texas, shootings or attacks that have happened at Fort Hood, there does not seem to be a good policing.

There is a trust issue here. We also note the FBI says that they are investigating different people in all 50 states. When Ben Carson says I would be concerned or worried or it does not align with my values to put someone who believes in the Muslim faith in the White House.

I really don't think that is so shocking to most voters because there are a lot of Americans that have a trust issue with terrorism. And the lack of policing in many communities of extremism, and we see them connected to mosques in this country, literally every time they do a Boston bombing or wherever it may be.

SETMAYER: That's right. A Muslim candidate would have every opportunity to explain their belief system, their faith, and how it is consistent with the United State Constitution and our belief system in this country. That's why we have elections. So I don't know why we're having a big issue over this.

CUOMO: Because if you said I don't trust an Italian to be president, you know, a lot of them are in the mob.

SETMAYER: Come on, Chris, the mafia compared to Muslim?

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: It's an entire class of people. That's all. SETMAYER: I don't think he did that. For him, governing the country, he didn't say anything about religion or throwing Muslims out or they shouldn't have equal opportunity. He didn't say any of that.

CAMEROTA: Sort of.

SETMAYER: He didn't feel comfortable. That's his prerogative to say if he feels like that.

CUOMO: He's certainly OK to say it. He has the right to say it. Nobody is arguing that.

FERGUSON: The 50 percent of Americans would say that they would not put an Evangelical conservative Christian in the White House, but we don't attack them when they say that. There are people that would never --

CUOMO: Nobody said it. Find me a presidential candidate who said it.

FERGUSON: Voters have said they don't trust people like George Bush, for example, because his religion was too big of a deal. It was OK to say that.

SETMAYER: And John F. Kennedy, the same thing with Catholicism but 50 percent of people over the summer said they are still comfortable with the Muslim running in the presidency so I guess it's not that big of a deal.

CAMEROTA: We have a lot more to talk about. Tara, Ben, thanks so much for coming on.

FERGUSON: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: Michaela.

PEREIRA: We have a special conversation coming up, a group of prominent Latinos are uniting to come out against Donald Trump's anti- immigrant rhetoric. They are doing it with music and this man, the one, the only Emilio Estefan is heading the effort and he is going to join us to talk all about it. Doesn't he look handsome?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:43:07]

(VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Look at that, a coalition of prominent Latinos in the entertainment industry are banding together to combat anti-Mexican comments made by Donald Trump and others. They produced a new song that you just heard, it debuted on NEW DAY. It's called "We All Are Mexican."

Joining us to discuss, Emilio Estefan, the producer, songwriter, and CEO of Estefan Enterprises, who got the whole effort together, calling in a bunch of friends. EMILIO ESTEFAN, MUSIC PRODUCER/SONG WRITER: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: You said that this was something you just felt you had to do and you felt it had to be done musically. Why is that?

ESTEFAN: This is a way to celebrate and recognize America. We live in the best country in the world. I think we have no way to influence anybody, but we need to select a president who brings love, reunited, bring everybody together. I don't see that. I see a lot of hate, a lot of things bringing people apart.

CAMEROTA: The song is called "We're All Mexican." Kathy Griffin is not Mexican. What's your message?

ESTEFAN: No hate. I think Latinos bring a lot to the states. They bring a lot of hope. A lot of people have been recognized. Military people even go to work without being an American citizen.

CUOMO: So how do you separate the two? What are the two? The one is we're talking about the illegal entries and the class of people that are getting across illegal, that are sneaking in, that's there's a higher percentage of those people being criminal, doing bad things in this country. And that's only the criticism. What about when people say that?

ESTEFAN: That's a problem. We know we have a problem for many, many years. This comes maybe 20 years they are letting people come into the state and they didn't fix that problem. We need to fix that. I don't think you can pull 11 million people out and separate families. We have to stop that.

[07:45:06] We all know we have to stop immigration illegally. At the same time, I think a lot of people that come to this country, when you see Marco Rubio or Senator Cruz could be just in the debate, two Cuban immigrants. A lot of immigrants come and bring a lot to the states. We love the American dream and this country.

PEREIRA: Another man who shares the message of unity, love and peace is Pope Francis, who is on his way to America. And we understand that your wife will get to sing for him. How is she feeling about that?

ESTEFAN: She feels great. Second time she sing for a pope. He's done so many great things. Like him, he brings a lot of great things. He changed the Catholic Church. I think we're looking for that. I hope people select a great president that brings people together, the African-Americans, the Latino, the American people and correct immigration.

We definitely need to stop immigration illegal to come to this country. I don't think building a wall will work. There's technology that will help. They'll go underground to come to the states.

CUOMO: As a Cubano-Americano, watching the pope in Cuba, watching his aggressiveness at getting Cuba to be more accepted, yes, John Paul II started it saying the world has to be open to Cuba, Cuba has to be open to the world, but you know it's a very mixed reaction especially down where you live that some people say you should just isolate the Castros until they are gone and then we'll deal with Cuba. How do you feel about the pope taking it differently?

ESTEFAN: You'll have generations of people with different opinions. Him coming to Cuba will bring hope. People need that in Cuba. In my opinion, my generation, I think with dictator in Cuba, nothing will change. At least he brings hope. I think bringing hope and bringing eye new future will be fantastic.

PEREIRA: OK, I need to talk to you about something that's happening here in New York City, a Broadway debut of "On Your Feet."

ESTEFAN: You're invited.

PEREIRA: I'm so excited. Your story, your and Gloria's story "On Your Feet" will open in November in New York City. That has got to be such a pleasure for you. You wrote the music for it.

ESTEFAN: It's all Miami Sound Machine. This is about the American dream. This is about a love story, about probably they realized what happened to us 30 years ago, there was a lot of rejection. They came with music. They said you have to change your last name and sound. We didn't do that. That represents the best thing you can do for the American dream, great dancing, great music. Hope you can make it.

PEREIRA: I think a NEW DAY outing. We'll have to take a nap.

CAMEROTA: Field trip, we are doing that.

ESTEFAN: A big fan of you guys.

CAMEROTA: We're a big fan of yours, sir. Great talking to you.

ESTEFAN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: All right, meanwhile, back to the news of the day, Volkswagen's CEO apologizing to customers. Why and how it's affecting the automakers stock. We have business headlines for you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:52:15]

PEREIRA: Here we go. It's time for CNN Money now. Chief business correspondent, Christine Romans, is in the money center. What are stocks doing right now for us?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Stock futures barely moving so far. The market is still suffering from a splitting fedache. The Dow is tumbling 290 points on Friday, bad day. The fed leaves rates at zero and still markets are unhappy. It's because the focus is now squarely on the fed's concern about global growth.

One stock plunging today to tell you about, Volkswagen, the company's CEO apologizing to customers for broken trust, he says. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, says Volkswagen cheated on its emissions tests for almost 500,000 cars on U.S. roads, how, by programming some diesel cars to turn on their emission controls only when they were being tested.

Volkswagen CEO stopped short of admitting guilt but promised to investigate. The EPA is pushing for some recalls of some Jettas and some Audies, stay tuned.

CUOMO: We will. The NFC East leading Cowboys perfect record in the standings, but it's not all good in the hood. Coy Wire has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report." We have a quarterback with a bad wing, my brother.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: My gosh, Chris. Good morning. Last week, Dallas lost star receiver, Dez Bryant, out about six weeks with a broken foot. Now, looks like star quarterback, Tony Romo, is out eight to ten weeks with a broken collarbone.

Here's the video, third quarter, Romo gets planted, driven to the turf. Romo knew right away it was a broken collarbone. It was the same one he broke in week seven of 2010 when he missed the rest of the season.

Romo gets tested today to find out if he is going to need surgery. Good news for the cowboys beat the Eagles, 2-0, but that injury could make for a long season in Dallas.

The Packers hosting the Seahawks in a rematch of last season's NFC championship title game, which caused Greenbay a trip to the Super Bowl. A bit of redemption on his mind, Aaron Rodgers shined, opening drive, scrambles left, touchdown to James Jones.

Seattle took the lead in the fourth quarter, but Rodgers to Rodgers, Aaron to Richard, would seal the deal, 27-17 over Seattle. Packers move to 2-0. The Seahawks now 0-2. Alisyn, back to you.

CAMEROTA: All right, Coy, thanks so much for all of that.

Ben Carson is facing calls this morning to get out of the presidential race because of comments he made about Muslims. He says he's speaking his own truth. We have the latest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:59:19]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have extremist Muslims that are in a class by themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You judge candidates not on their religion, not on the color of their skin.

CAMEROTA: Carly Fiorina, catapulting to second place after the CNN debate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You wanted her to talk in every conversation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 45-minute meeting with Fidel Castro that was described as informal and friendly.

CUOMO: We're hearing the pope is coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's someone saying, we have to reform ourselves first.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There has been a terrible mistake clearly.

VIOLA DAVIS: The only thing that separates women of color is opportunity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Emmy goes to --

(END VIDEOTAPE)