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New CNN Poll Shows Clinton Bouncing Back; Carson: I Can Support A Muslim Who Denounces Sharia Law. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired September 22, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Pope Francis is preparing to cap off his historic trip to Cuba this morning with mass before visiting the U.S. for the first time. President Obama and the first lady will greet him as he touches down this afternoon. The pope will address a joint session of Congress later this week.

In the meantime, a new CNN/ORC polls shows 63 percent of Americans both Catholic and non-Catholic have a favorable opinion of the pontiff.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Ben Carson says if someone puts their religion before the constitution, they cannot be in public office. This isn't his criticism of Christian clerk, Kim Davis. He's talking about Muslims.

Speaking on Fox News Carson did take a step toward religious tolerance saying if a Muslim rejects Sharia and promises to put the constitution first, he might support them for office.

His poll numbers are dropping, but he's in better shape than former frontrunner, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who just dropped out making the GOP field a mere 15.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: A former peanut company executive is facing what it's believed to be toughest punishment of its kind in a food poisoning case. Stewart Parnell (ph) sentenced to 28 years in jail over a 2008 salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened more than 700 others. His brother and food broker, Michael received a 20-year sentence. The plant's quality assurance manager was sentenced to five years.

PEREIRA: You guys both know I have an issue with RATs, right?

CAMEROTA: Who doesn't?

PEREIRA: I have to tell you this story. New York City known for having the best pizza and apparently also this rat wanted a bite of the pie.

CUOMO: I'm surprised he's not on his behind legs.

PEREIRA: He's carrying a slice down the stairs of the subway. He takes off, goes into hiding. I get it. Pizza in New York is really quite tasty.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PEREIRA: I will go to various lengths to get a slice.

CUOMO: That rat went back by the way.

CAMEROTA: I hope so. You can't leave a slice like that on the stairs.

PEREIRA: It's too good.

CAMEROTA: Is there any better illustration of what New York is all about?

CUOMO: There are many better illustrations.

CAMEROTA: The rat race, a little slice of life --

PEREIRA: And the subway.

CAMEROTA: The dog eats dog nature.

CUOMO: I don't know how you fit dog in there.

CAMEROTA: I'm on a roll.

CUOMO: That was good stuff.

Shifting gears to politics. Hillary Clinton seems to be rebounding from a summer slump or is there still a tough road to hope? We have Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, a Democrat from Ohio, joining us this morning.

Congresswoman, thank you very much for joining us this morning on NEW DAY. You see the new poll numbers. Joe Biden, does Joe Biden represent positives about Joe Biden or perceived negatives about Hillary Clinton? What's your take?

REPRESENTATIVE JOYCE BEATTY (D), OHIO: Well, I think that it's all positive. Joe Biden is a wonderful vice president and certainly Hillary Clinton is a wonderful candidate for president. So I think as Democrats we're fortunate to have two good individuals.

I think it's more about his son's request to him. I think it's more about his history of wanting to be president versus it being about Hillary Clinton.

CUOMO: Senator Sanders, what do you think about him that when he comes into the race, he seems to be giving the celebration of passion by the left of the party and Hillary not so much, not the big crowds. How do you perceive that?

BEATTY: Well, I think it's going to take everyone and certainly Bernie, like Joe, we're all friends. We're very fortunate as Democrats, that we have candidates who could represent us well. We don't have a cast of characters. Bernie represents the far left issue mentioned. I think when you look at Hillary and you look at her experience, I think she brings a lot to the table. And certainly when you look at the poll numbers, they've been up and down.

Hillary is far out in the polls now. I think they're going to continue to increase as we get closer to the primary date. I think when you look at the number of women, African-American women, African- Americans and others who are supporting her, you will continue to see those numbers grow.

CUOMO: Well, you've already seen the numbers continue to slide somewhat, right? She's taken in some measures a hit with women. Her unfavorable has gone up. It's almost about 50/50 in some numbers. That's unusual. What do you account for it?

BEATTY: I think it's somewhat unusual if you believe in polls and if you only look at polls. We could look at her polling numbers if we go back eight years ago. I remember in my run for Congress, I brought the passion and I brought a lot to the table, but my polling numbers, if you believe strictly in polling numbers, I would not be sitting here as a member of the U.S. Congress.

So I don't put all my fate into polling numbers. I believe Hillary Clinton is doing a great job. I think you're going to continue to see her grow. I think you'll continue to see those numbers go up. We've seen her in the most recent weeks be able to increase those numbers with women.

[07:35:05] We've seen her attack the issues. I think that's what it's about. When you look at the issues, the real issue that Americans care about, the real issues that women and families care about, Hillary Clinton is right on target with it.

So let's think about the issues that people vote on. People don't vote on the polling issues.

CUOMO: Well, it depends. Usually the issues at the top of the polls, as you well know, Congresswoman, are these pocket book issues that we're talking about. It also seems that Hillary Clinton doing more interviews may be helping her.

She was in this cone of silence taking this popular tour with little groups. I don't know that that was working in her favor. Let me ask you something about the 2008 race. This intolerance of Muslims is now in the mainstream of the GOP field in terms of the level of discourse.

Ben Carson saying what he's saying, Donald Trump saying what he's saying. There has been push back from the right saying Hillary Clinton started this Obama's a Muslim stuff with her campaign circulating a picture in 2008. What do you think of that?

BEATTY: Well, I think if we look at her recent answer, that's what's most important.

CUOMO: Why? BEATTY: Clearly she defended the president because she's served with the president. She was his secretary of state. Certainly when you look at her remarks, she was one of the first to come out, unlike many of the Republican candidates. She came out whether it was trump, whether it was Ben Carson --

CUOMO: What about she was the first to raise the issue. Not her, her cam pane. You have to be responsible for your campaign. That's how it is.

BEATTY: I certainly agree you have to be responsible for your campaign. I think I'm more concerned about where she is now and what she's saying now. I don't think she started this issue also. I think if you look at the relationship that President Obama has with Hillary Clinton.

I think if you look at what she just said, and how she denounced all of the things that Ben Carson and Trump didn't do and what Ben Carson did say. I think when you mentioned polling earlier, when you look at the polling, most people believe that, one, he was born in Hawaii and, two, that he's a Christian.

They accept that he has said that. I certainly know that and believe that. And I think that's where we move forward. Too often we get caught up in the semantics of what one thinks someone said.

I can tell you, I know Hillary Clinton and I know emphatically what she said two days ago is true to what she believes now and what she believed then. They were in a political race.

I think often times, people as you know, just like with the polls, they put a spin on it. But let's look at what she's talking about when you talk about the economy in health care. When you talk about the number --

CUOMO: The issues that will make a difference. I hear you, Congresswoman.

BEATTY: And the issues when you look at our prison system and the things she's talking about, reforming, she's right on message with the American people.

CUOMO: The more talk about issues, the better for the voters, no question about that.

BEATTY: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Congressman Beatty, thank you very much for joining us. Welcome back to NEW DAY any time -- Mich.

PEREIRA: All right, Dr. Ben Carson, now the latest Republican candidate after Donald Trump to raise eyebrows over comments they made about Muslims. Are they going to apologize or will they pay a political price? We're going to discuss it, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:42:37]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If someone has a Muslim background and they're willing to reject those tenets and to accept the way of life that we have and clearly will swear to place our constitution above their religion, then, of course, they will be considered infidels and heretics, but at least, I would then be quite willing to support them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: That's Republican candidate, Ben Carson, clarifying earlier statements, now saying he would or could support a Muslim for president if that person swore to put the constitution before their religion and reject Sharia law.

Do his comments reflect that there is still an anti-Muslim sentiment amongst Americans? Let's dig deeper with Dean Obeidallah. He is a Muslim-American. He is a "Daily Beast" contributor and he is conveniently the host of the "Dean Obeidallah Show." Good to see you, Dean.

You're the go-to guy given the conversation currently in the country. What did you make of that?

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: Ben Carson's new comment?

PEREIRA: The new sound from Ben Carson.

OBEIDALLAH: It would be interesting if he would ask the Republicans in the next presidential debate do they put their Christianity secondary to the constitution?

Mike Huckabee has said we can't amend the Bible. We can amend the Constitution to agree with the Bible. Kim Davis, the clerk in Kentucky not a Muslim, I didn't know that she's in the Muslim. She is not. She wanted to impose what I view is Christian Sharia Law.

What Sharia to me is taking your religious beliefs and turning it into law. I'm not, I'm a Muslim, I've written time and time again about separation church and state. Who do I get the push back from conservative Republicans, who say that's not in the constitution?

Well, you know what? Thomas Jefferson wants us to have separation of church and state, I believe in that. Keith Alison (ph) and Andre Carson (ph), two Muslim members of Congress believe in that. I want to hear what the Republicans say that they put the Constitution before Bible and I think America needs to hear that.

PEREIRA: What else do you want to hear from Ben Carson? What do you anticipate? Do you think he will apologize?

OBEIDALLAH: No.

PEREIRA: Do you want him to apologize?

OBEIDALLAH: No. I think the voters of the GOP have a choice. I think he should stay in the race. Do they want to support someone --

PEREIRA: Do you think he should stay in the race?

OBEIDALLAH: Of course, I want the Americans to tell us if they support someone with tolerance. I think that sends a message to the rest of the country. Same thing with, you know, Donald Trump (inaudible) if they support of that or not? I think it's an interesting time for the Republican Party.

PEREIRA: But it's interesting you say you want to see how people will react. We've seen Ben Carson's support essentially surge, more Facebook followers, he says, his donations have increased. There is -- he is tapping into a sentiment in the nation.

[07:45:06] OBEIDALLAH: He has. I'll tell you, it's been an amazing week for Muslims. We've gone from the 14-year-old to Carson saying I can't run for president. I could use a hug at this point.

PEREIRA: I feel like I might want to give you a hug. I'm going to give you a hug.

OBEIDALLAH: To be honest, polls show alarmingly in America only about 30 percent of Americans have a favorable view of Islam. That was four or five months ago. Ben Carson not the only person saying that. If he was the only one we can marginalize his voice like Paula Deen until he is invited to dance on "Dancing with the Stars."

PEREIRA: I do want to ask you what you think can be done that. While we're talking about the political race, we have heard several of the GOP candidates come out and say things.

We've heard Mitt Romney tweet. We saw Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side. I think we have her tweet here, "Can a Muslim be president of the United States of America? In a word, yes, now let's move on." Is this an opportunity for the Democrats, for Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and the like?

OBEIDALLAH: I think in that showing that they're embracing of all the different voices in the diversity of our nation, which is still a melting pot, which is some people don't like the immigrants coming to our country, a different faiths.

They want America to go back to a time when it was just (inaudible), the beauty of this country is more diverse. Muslims are a fabric of the part of this nation. Some people don't like that. I get it.

For the other Americans who are uncomfortable with Muslims, I understand what you're going through. If I didn't know a Muslim and only 25 percent of Americans know a Muslim, all you see is ISIS and al Qaeda, people ginning up the hate.

PEREIRA: How do we elevate the conversation? We were talking about it off camera. Instead of having -- talking heads on camera yelling at each other about the differences, how do we cast a different light on Muslim-Americans and their place in our country?

OBEIDALLAH: I think there's one real problem for us, we're about 1 percent of the country. I have said time and time again, I would like to be people's Muslim friend.

PEREIRA: You're ours.

OBEIDALLAH: I'm happy to be. If you don't have a Muslim friend you have no counter narrative to what you're seeing out there. We need a judgment-free, non-defensive conversation answering questions people have about Muslims. The same way John Kennedy gave a famous speech in 1960 addressing the exact same allegations.

Catholicism was not compatible with the constitution, the exact same thing. Ben Carson is not original. He's copying what we heard in 1960s.

PEREIRA: Isn't it interesting that we find ourselves back here having this conversation again.

OBEIDALLAH: And the pope is here, which is very interesting.

PEREIRA: So it makes you wonder where we'll be 30, 40 years ago.

OBEIDALLAH: We'll look back on comments of Ben Carson and look back in embarrassment and shame that some people accepted those views, just like we look back at anti-Semitism, Catholicism, any of the homophobia. So we are going to move forward.

PEREIRA: It does and you know, it hurts too on the way. We know that. Thanks for being a part of it and being part of the conversation. You can get in on the conversation with us, get a jump on Twitter, use #newdaycnn or Facebook, facebook.com/newday -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela, 40 years ago today, Sara Jane Moore fired a bullet at then President Gerald Ford trying to assassinate him. Thankfully, she missed. Moore is speaking out about that day and what she wants now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:52:22]

CUOMO: Papa Francisco is coming. He's going to arrive in Washington D.C. this afternoon. There is no question he's captured the attention of many here and around the world.

We'll feed your need in the special report "The People's Pope." We are going to take you where Jorge Bergoglio was born. Friends he still talks to and how he became the pope and the leader who is captivating the manager imaginations of many around the world. Have a sample.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (voice-over): His parents expected him to become a doctor, but young Bergoglio saw another path to healing. One he confided to his friend.

OSCAR CRESPO, LIFELING FRIEND (through translator): He said I'm going tell you something that I haven't told anyone else. I've decided to dedicate myself to the priesthood.

CUOMO: His mother stumbled onto the secret while she was cleaning.

JOSE BERGOGLIO, NEPHEW (through translator): She found box in Latin, philosophy, the Bible. Then she grabbed my arm and he said Jorge, how do you expect to get into medical school? This is not medicine. He replied, yes mom. This is medicine for the soul. He was 18 years old and came up with that answer.

AUSTEN IVEREIGH, AUTHOR, "THE GREAT REFORMER: FRANCIS AND THE MAKING OF A RADICAL POPE": She argued against it. No way, you're too young and things got quite bad in the Bergoglio household, it got quite tense for some months apparently. But Jorge went off to seminary at the age of 20.

CUOMO: First his parents then a second obstacle to his calling, his health.

IVEREIGH: He had the terrible pneumonia, cysts on his lung, which were then removed in an operation, which resulted in horrific pain. And he did nearly die. He was kept alive with oxygen tanks and so on.

CUOMO: Though that surgery would become a major issue many years later. Then the young Bergoglio recovered and soon made a big decision to switch to a Jesuit seminary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Just one of the little moves that he made in his life. What's interesting about this doc is that it will help you understand the consistency of the humility and the traits that we see in this pope now. It's not new.

It will be on tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, special report, called "The People's Pope." And yes I will be live tweeting so bring the questions and everything else that passes muster on Twitter.

PEREIRA: Beautiful to see him as a young man. Thanks so much for that, Chris. We look forward to it.

More from presidential hopeful, Dr. Ben Carson, what he's saying now about the controversial comments that he wouldn't support a Muslim president, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:59:18]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you mean to say radical Islamists?

CARSON: That was implied in the comment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has a right.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think religion should be criteria for being president.

SCOTT WALKER, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will suspend my campaign immediately.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are out there yearning for leadership.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I earned my way onto the big stage. I started this race and nobody knew who I was.

BERMAN: In just a few hours, Pope Francis makes his first historic trip to the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's he's doing is expressing a sense of mercy, a sense of compassion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He resists the idea that he can't have contact with people who are coming to see him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does things in a very real way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, September 22nd, 8:00 in the East.