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CNN Poll: Clinton Opens Huge Lead in Nevada, S. Carolina; Mideast Tensions Cause Global Concerns; New Hampshire Voters Talk Democratic Candidates. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 12, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.

[06:30:03] What is your take? You can tweet us using #NewDayCNN or post your comment on Facebook.com/NewDay. Always eager to see what you think, especially leading up to this, the big CNN debate, the Democratic debate, the very first Democratic debate here on CNN, hosted by CNN and Facebook, 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. That is tomorrow night.

Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, John, thanks so much.

Meanwhile, Russia ramping up air strikes in Syria, propping up the regime of President Assad. This as the U.S. tries to tear it down. How badly damaged is the relationship between the two super powers? And has the U.S. lost respect for the Middle East? We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Hillary Clinton enjoying big leads in two key states on the eve of the first Democratic debate. A new CNN/ORC poll gives Clinton a 16-point margin over Bernie Sanders in Nevada. That lead widens to 22 points without Joe Biden in the race.

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, Clinton leads Biden by 25 points and Sanders by 31 points.

[06:35:00] Without Biden, Clinton's margin over Sanders is 50 points.

Tune in for the debate tomorrow night, 8:30 Eastern, live on CNN.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Memphis police reeling from the shooting death of another officer, this is the fourth in four years. Details are described as, quote, "very, very sketchy" but a relative of officer Terrence Aldridge told a local TV station that Aldridge was off duty, he was on his way to work when he was shot in his car. One suspect is in custody, Aldridge leaves behind a fiance who was four months pregnant.

PEREIRA: Backlash over new reports that say a rookie police officer was justified in shooting dead a 12-year-old boy. Tamir Rice was gunned down outside of Cleveland rec center last November. Outside experts investigating the case determined the patrolman who shot the boy exercised a, quote, "reasonable use of force" because Tamir was holding a pellet gun that looked look a real handgun. But an attorney for the Rice families says those experts are, quote, "pro-police".

CAMEROTA: Some frightening video out of Tampa Bay, Florida, this of a waterspout suddenly overtaking motorists crossing the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Let's take a look at what happens here, because there's a funnel cloud. You can see it right there, it tore through the area and it lifted a big truck off the ground. It knocked it to its side Sunday morning, perhaps you can see it again, because the truck sustained significant --

PEREIRA: Oh, my goodness.

CAMEROTA: Significant damage. But the driver we're happy to report was not harmed.

PEREIRA: What a terrifying thing to encounter.

CAMEROTA: I know. Can you imagine?

PEREIRA: Oh, my. To witness that.

CAMEROTA: I know. You know, you think those 18-wheelers are so big and sturdy.

PEREIRA: Not so much. Mother Nature is a much stronger force.

CAMEROTA: Right.

PEREIRA: President Obama claims Russia's military buildup in Syria is a sign of weakness. But Russian air strikes are not only propping up the Assad regime, they're also winning over hearts and minds in neighboring Middle East nations. Is the U.S. losing influence in the region? We'll look at that, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:56] CAMEROTA: Good to have you back with us here on NEW DAY.

This weekend's deadly bombing in Turkey, new clashes in Afghanistan, air strikes in Syria, all raising new questions about the stability of the Middle East.

I want to break down these multiple hot spots for us.

Michael Weiss is here. He's co-author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror," and, of course, a CNN contributor and senior editor at "The Daily Beast".

The president good to see you, by the way. Happy Monday.

The president on "60 Minutes" last night sort of saying it's going to take time to rout ISIS, but also pointing to the fact that he believes it's going to take effort from inside Syria and Iraq to do this. Do you agree with his assessment and his solutions?

MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I do. The problem is, all the efforts we poured into both those countries seem to be failing or at least not meeting the objectives the president set out a year ago and change ago.

So, let's take Syria. The Pentagon had a program called train and equip. The program is now defunct. We spent -- we didn't quite spend half a billion dollars doing this. I mean, it was only a fraction of that amount that was actually poured into it.

But the reason it was defunct is of the two classes that we sent into Syria. The so-called New Syrian Forces, tasked exclusively with fighting ISIS. These are Arab revolutionaries who want to go after the Assad regime.

The second class gave 20 percent of its materiel to al Qaeda or sold it to them. I actually did a lot of reporting on this. And one of the reasons this happened is the brigade commander of that class was not trained by the United States. So, we sent our guys, our proxies into the hands of a guy that we sort of, kind of knew but not really. He went into the country, stole our stuff and gave it to terrorists.

The CIA program in Syria, however, has been doing fairly well. This is a covert program. We know it exists. We don't know the full parameters of it.

We're giving certain Syrian rebels anti-tank missiles. They're now using the missiles against Assad's forces, because those forces are making a concerted push in central Syria backed by Russian air power. These guys are actually blowing up a lot of Syrian tanks with this materiel.

So, the two separate programs, both with different remits. I think this kind of goes to the heart of the ambiguity and the schizophrenic nature of U.S. policy. Well, what is it? Is it to get rid of Assad or is it to fight ISIS, or is it to do both? There's really not an all of government effort to kind of figure out what we want and this is part of the problem.

CAMEROTA: I want to ask you about the breaking news over the weekend in Turkey. There were two horrible explosions at a peace rally. At least 95 people were killed. Who did that? Who was responsible?

WEISS: Well, so, right now, the best assessment is that it was probably is. They haven't claimed formal credit although a lot of their affiliated social media counts are celebrating this attack.

The problem with this is, well, apart from the atrocity itself, Turkish politics is on the brink here. You know, the Turkish government has been more interested in bombing PKK, that is to say the Kurdish workers party, and the insurgency that they've been at war with off and on for the better part of 40 years. The Kurds inside Turkey, those affiliated with the PKK, they have a new political party that's doing very well in the polls. There's an election November 1st. They stand to do exceedingly well, to the point where they might help topple the AKP government.

CAMEROTA: Is Turkey retaliating against them -- rather -- for this, rather than against ISIS?

WEISS: Turkish foreign policy sees everything through the politics of the Kurdish question. Inside Turkey, there's a large minority of Kurdish nationalists who if they had their druthers would declare around independent state. They've already got a state in northern Iraq.

PKK and Turkey have been undergoing this peace process for about three years. It was actually one of the marked successes of current Turkish foreign policy. All of that is now sort of rent asunder. And so, a lot of the HDP, that is the PKK aligned Turkish-Kurdish party, a lot of their deputies are coming out and saying we actually blame the government for this, not just because it might be an intelligence failure, but maybe the government blew these guys up to as a way to kind of disrupt the political process.

PEREIRA: Meanwhile, we look at Afghanistan where it's a mess. We'll have to have you back to talk about that another time.

WEISS: Sure.

PEREIRA: Michael Weiss, thank you so much. Really appreciate all your expertise.

[06:45:00] CAMEROTA: Good to see you.

WEISS: You too.

CAMEROTA: All right. Up next, back to politics. We have a group of Democratic voters in New Hampshire and they sound off about important issues, including Hillary Clinton's e-mails.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Elizabeth, are you concerned about her e-mails?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I am a little bit. I do feel the uneasiness. I think it needs time to be developed and to get more answers. I'm not sure if we will get answers about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Does the Hillary Clinton e-mail controversy matter to Democrats? In our next installment of "Real Voters, Real Choices" I talked to voters about that. We met them at the St. Anselm College. It's in New Hampshire Institute of Politics. I also asked who they will be watching tomorrow night at the debate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about Bernie Sanders. Because people support Hillary and they feel loyal to Hillary.

[06:50:01] But people feel passionately about Bernie Sanders. They feel the Bern.

Jeremiah, what do you like about Bernie Sanders?

JEREMIAH KING, BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER: Well, because Bernie is not accepting any money from super PACs or the billionaires, I know his entire campaign is influenced by us, the voters, to help him. And I don't feel that way with some other candidates that might be taking other money from other corporations.

CAMEROTA: Alejandro, you support Hillary. Do you feel she's in the pocket of big corporations?

ALEJANDRO URRUTIA, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: No, I don't think so. I looked very close to Sanders and I admire him very much. I respect him very much. But Hillary Clinton, what made me choose her is her experience. I believe she's very, very loyal to the voters, to the people, to the middle class and low-class people in the United States.

CAMEROTA: Julia, what do you like about her?

JULIA HOLUP, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: I agree with the experience component. That's a big issue for me. She also brings a subtleness and intellectual ability to look at an issue well-rounded and really make a sound decision in these uncertain times. I feel a lot of trust in that with her.

CAMEROTA: On the other side of the aisle we hear from Republicans that part of why the outsiders this year, the Donald Trumps, the Carly Fiorinas, the Ben Carsons are resonating so much is because Republicans angry.

Are Democrats as angry do you feel, Mary?

MARY RAUH, MARTIN O'MALLEY SUPPORTER: I don't think so, no. Certainly, women, however, have a lot to be angry about in terms of the Republican ticket. They would rather trust guns than women to make their own personal health decisions.

CAMEROTA: Show of hands, how many people are angry with politicians?

Why?

STEPHANIE SCHERR, BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER: They're not there to serve us. They're there to serve their own needs and their own egos. That's another reason why I'm for Bernie Sanders.

I feel that he's one of us. He walks to work. He rides coach. He talks to people. And I think that's part of the passion behind, you know, really feeling that for Bernie Sanders is that he's really trying to address the concerns of every American.

CAMEROTA: Mary, what do you like about Martin O'Malley? RAUH: He's the only one running who has 16 years of executive

experience as an elected person in Maryland. Sixty-four percent of the bills that he had passed were with Republican support. So, he's very good at understanding and making the legislative system work as a leader.

CAMEROTA: If Bernie Sanders is elected, if Republicans control Congress, how much of a difference can Bernie Sanders make?

KING: You know, you go to his rallies, as far as I'm seen the only person that says these are the things that I think we can do together but I alone, I can't do this. I need your help.

CAMEROTA: Elizabeth, you're on the fence. What are you waiting for?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I'm waiting for more solid plans to come from both Hillary and Bernie. But what I see from Hillary is a woman with so much experience who can get stuff done, who knows how to kind of like work the system and knows how it works and everything. When I look at Bernie, I see someone with great ideas who's really looking out for the youth and minorities that aren't as represented, I think, in our government.

CAMEROTA: Do you feel that enough questions have been answered about Benghazi?

HOLUP: You know, the issue still being in the media, when I think about voting for Hillary, specifically, I think in that moment, she did her best to make decisions about the security that was necessary. I think it's tough to tell -- to say now and criticize now.

URRUTIA: The problem is, everybody knew, even when she was secretary of state will be a potential candidate to the president of the United States. I think they begin to use it as a tool against her.

CAMEROTA: Mary, what do you think about the treatment that Hillary Clinton gets?

RAUH: I'm a little uneasy about Hillary, just because I think the baggage she carries, no matter whose fault it is, makes it very hard for her to be a viable presidential -- a successful, not viable, a successful presidential candidate. So, I'm concerned about the baggage very much.

SCHERR: I think that Hillary Clinton puts herself in a position sometimes to make people more uneasy. And if she just was assertive, she had her campaign platform and she stuck with it, I think there would be more confidence in her. There was a time within I felt much more positive about her than I do right now.

CAMEROTA: Elizabeth, are you concerned about her e-mails?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I am a little bit. I feel the uneasiness. I think it needs more time to be developed and get more answers.

[06:55:01] I'm not sure if we will get answers about it. I think it's a complicated situation.

CAMEROTA: Julia, do Benghazi or her e-mails concern you?

HOLUP: They don't. I was listening to everyone. I was just thinking about, it's interesting in the case of Hillary Clinton, because she's experienced and she worn so many different hats. It's almost as if it makes her job as a candidate so much harder. You could also argue that it makes her job as a leader so much easier.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: It's interesting thoughtful conversations. You've been having a series of this now.

CAMEROTA: It's always interesting to engage with the voters, particularly in New Hampshire, John, as you know. They really are plugged in. They really are watching. There was only one on that panel who was on the fence, who's still undecided.

I mean, this is more than a year out. So, she's waiting to watch the debates.

PEREIRA: We have polling that actually shows how undecided voters are right now. I think we can pull that up. I found this fascinating: 58 percent -- you would almost expect it, although you wouldn't know it from us, this is obviously in Nevada. But still we're many, many days out until the election. And 58 percent of the electorate, at least in Nevada are still saying -- still thinking about this.

BERMAN: Still deciding is different than undecided. This election is not until February. I don't have to mike a final decision right now.

When we polled people, we asked them, if the election were held today, who would you vote for? That's what the polls are telling us.

And the story here in Nevada, and also South Carolina, where we have these brand new polls out today, very different than what you were hearing in New Hampshire, Alisyn, people much more supportive of Hillary Clinton across the board on the issues. One of the reasons is Nevada and South Carolina look a lot different, a lot less white than New Hampshire where you were. And minority voters much more favorable to Hillary Clinton right now.

CAMEROTA: It was also interesting to hear from the woman in the front, on the left side of the panel, Mary, she loves Martin O'Malley. I mean, a real Martin O'Malley supporter. And she's very plugged and educated about it. She just sort of points out to all of us, you think this is going to be a battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

PEREIRA: Don't sleep.

CAMEROTA: However, there's a moment where people can have their Carly Fiorina moment as it's called where one of the others could emerge and serve to impress people who previously didn't know who that person was. PERERIA: There are possibilities where that could happen. A lot of

us are waiting to see how that will flush out tomorrow.

BERMAN: No, for a guy like Martin O'Malley, what happens in Vegas cannot stay in Vegas. He has to do something on that stage behind me tomorrow night that will propel him into the conversation going forward.

CAMEROTA: John, I can't wait to hear how many times you'll use that expression.

PEREIRA: He's living it.

CAMEROTA: It's turning into a drinking game. John, stand by because we have a lot of news to cover this morning. Let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Final countdown to the first Democratic debate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stage is just about set. Five podiums up on that stage.

MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This race is really just beginning.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When we stand together, there is nothing that can stop us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will Joe Biden run?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pressure on a resistant Ryan to run is growing and intense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have enormous confidence it's the right man at the right moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He knows he has to consider it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An explosive charge sure to resonate on the campaign trail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Victims' families are owed the truth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a bit of a bombshell. It's a reminder of what is actually at stake here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jason Rezaian has been convicted by an Iranian court.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The process has been shrouded in secrecy from the start. Even the verdict is not clear.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Good morning. And welcome back to NEW DAY. John Berman joins from us Las Vegas this morning where he has been up late.

Final preparations are under way for tomorrow night's high stakes Democratic debate hosted by CNN and Facebook. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders headlining, of course, the main event.

CAMEROTA: OK, check out this brand new poll just released this morning. This is a CNN/ORC poll. It shows the former secretary of state opening a wide lead in two different states. She's supporting a 16-point lead over Bernie Sanders in Nevada and without Joe Biden in that race, her lead widens to 22 points.

Also, look at the numbers in South Carolina, another pivotal state. Clinton leading Biden by 25 points and topping Sanders by 31 points there. Without Biden, Clinton's margin over Sanders soars to 50 points.

A lot to talk about this morning, John.

BERMAN: A lot to talk about. A lot to see here in Las Vegas, Alisyn and Michaela.

Every once in a while someone walks by here, it's a reminder that we can't show you everything that happens in Las Vegas at 4:00 a.m.

Inside the debate hall in the Wynn Las Vegas behind me, it could be an equally wild night tomorrow night, perhaps more appropriate, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, candidates that need to make a name for themselves, Hillary Clinton who needs to maintain her front-runner status. How will they go about it?

I want to go inside the debate hall. CNN's Jim Acosta is there.

We've been setting up all night, Jim, set the stage, literally for us.