Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Will Martin O'Malley Break Out Tonight?; All Eyes On Hillary Clinton Tonight. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 13, 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] HALEY MORRIS, NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY FOR MARTIN O'MALLE: Lok, he has a unique perspective to share. He's going to share it. He's someone who has always, you know, forged public opinion, he hasn't followed it.

Again, on issues like the death penalty, common sense gun safety reforms, marriage equality, these are all places where the governor has shown principle leadership and able to get results.

This is the first time that Democrats are really going to get to hear from all the candidates and they'll get to hear from Governor O'Malley about his track record.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And yet, Haley, his poll numbers are so lackluster even in his home state of Maryland. "The Washington Post" just did a poll yesterday. He comes in fourth in the poll behind Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, who's not even in the race. Look at Governor O'Malley. Why isn't he resonating more?

MORRIS: Well, look, I think a couple things. First, tonight is not a night for polls. Tonight is a night for ideas. And governor has the boldest and most progressive policy vision putting forward, all of which build off of what he was able to do in Maryland.

That's get results. He was able to raise the minimum wage. He was able to get the Dream Act passed, marriage equality passed. So what he's really going to do is he's going to take the conversations he's been having in Iowa and New Hampshire.

And he's going to put them out for the national audience to see, Democratic primary voters to see. And what we have seen through these individual conversations, which, again, aren't always reflected in the national polls.

We're going to be able to see how that translates, how that resonates and we're really excited about that opportunity tonight.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You're right. It's not a night for polls, but it is an opportunity. You use the same word and they don't give, you take in a debate.

The question is, how will Governor O'Malley break in to the, right now, prohibitive lead of Hillary Clinton and then Bernie Sanders? What can he tell people that makes him better than either of them? MORRIS: Of course, look. On that stage tonight, there's only one candidate with 15 years of executive experience getting things done. He acts on them, gets results. I think tonight it goes to show that the fighting is getting started.

We have a long time between now and the Iowa caucus. Tonight is really that first moment, that first fight. You're going to see that from Governor O'Malley tonight.

CUOMO: Is he going to be doing more interviews? We've been asking him to come on NEW DAY for months, Haley. We're lucky we got you. We can't get O'Malley on the show. Is he going to start doing more interviews, come on NEW DAY, get tested, and show that he's legit?

MORRIS: I think he's showing that he's legit every single day with the conversations he's having in Iowa and New Hampshire. There is nobody doing more retail politics. He's really the only Democratic candidate who is engaging in the time honored tradition of the primary voters and Iowa caucus goers --

CUOMO: Is that a yes he'll be on the show? Are you giving me a long yes he'll come on the show?

MORRIS: No. I'm saying come on the road with Governor O'Malley. He's doing the retail. He's doing the work. Let's do it.

CAMEROTA: She's saying you come to him.

CUOMO: He comes on the show. We'll go out on the road. How about that?

MORRIS: That's a deal.

CUOMO: All right.

CAMEROTA: There you go.

CUOMO: Deals made in Vegas.

CAMEROTA: It's all coming together here. Haley Morris, thanks so much. Obviously we'll be watching in great interest tonight.

MORRIS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

CUOMO: We'll see the governor tonight. There is no burying the expectations. This is an existential crisis for Jim Webb and Martin O'Malley. Yes, it's an introduction, but what do you do with it?

You only get one chance to make a first impression for millions of voters. That will be tonight, the Democratic debate, right here, CNN, 8:30 Eastern at the Wynn Hotel. Please do watch. Tomorrow morning I've just been informed that NEW DAY is being extended to 5:30 a.m.

MORRIS: You're welcome. CAMEROTA: Obviously there's a lot of analysis. Let's be honest, the chance that John Berman gets up on time while in Vegas given his, in quotes, "problem," very small. We'll pick up the slack.

CAMEROTA: Michaela, I know you'll be watching.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: I didn't know any were going public with that problem. That's fine. We'll love him through it.

CUOMO: It's terrible.

PEREIRA: Tonight is a big important night for so many, but probably for Hillary Clinton the most important date in her campaign to date. What's her best debate strategy? We'll take a look at that, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:39:04]

CUOMO: All eyes on Hillary Clinton tonight. The Democratic frontrunner as we have the big debate, the first time face-off. Clinton obviously the most experienced when it comes to these high- level debates. But what's her strategy going to be tonight? More importantly, what is success for her to discuss?

To discuss, Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan and senior adviser to the pro-Hillary group, quote, "Correct The Record," and Maria Cardona, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist. Good to have you both.

Hillary Clinton has a big lead. It is time to justify why you have such a big lead. The bar is high for her tonight. How does she get over it?

JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), FORMER GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: It's so great because tonight she can actually talk about the policies that she has been rolling out. We were talking about this, policy is hot.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Exactly.

GRANHOLD: Truly, the people who are watching tonight are going to want to know, what are you going to do for America? What are you going to do for me?

[07:40:06] She's got all of these substantive pieces especially that she has been obsessing about, how you can create jobs in America, in a global economy, how do you raise people's wages? Un-encumbered by the e-mail stuff, she'll be able to talk about that.

CAMEROTA: I mean, Maria, the challenge in a debate it's always policy and personality.

CARDONA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Style and substance.

CARDONA: That's exactly right.

CAMEROTA: So what is the plan for Hillary? We know she has the policy covered.

CARDONA: Right.

CAMEROTA: She can talk about that all day long. What about the other side?

CARDONA: What she needs to do is take everything that Governor Granholm's said, and connect it at a personal level with the American people. This is not a woman who wears her heart on her sleeve. She wears it in her policy proposals.

Why does she believe that college affordability is so important? She should talk about her mother. We had a big rollout over summer about how important and influential her mother was in sort of focusing Hillary on what was important from a policy perspective and as a politician.

She could say, look, I want to wake up every single day in the White House if I get that chance because I want to fight for middle-class families. I want to fight for all of those people out there who never had a chap for them, never had a fighter. I want to fight for all of the Dorothys out there.

CUOMO: Spin this for me because you two are doing very well here. Now we get deeper into the analysis. What is the problem? The problem is the negative poll numbers that she has. She has a high -- some are arguing, built-in negative, Governor.

You want to come on tonight, tell me your ideas. The question is, do I trust you? How does Hillary get over that bar of dealing with, not an elephant in the room? It's just in the room like anything else.

GRANHOLM: So what Maria has said is that she wears here policy on her sleeves. She can authentically say to people, this is why I will lose sleep at night. It's because I want to fight for you.

Her demonstrated resilience, the way she comes across tonight, the specifics of what she's going to say, I'm telling you, people will see her, I hope, people will see her and her honest feeling of wanting to fight for real people.

I hope that that allows her to break through. My guess is Anderson will probably ask her a question or two about the e-mail thing. That allows her to go right at the Benghazi stuff and --

CUOMO: You don't think Martin O'Malley or Jim Webb will bring it up?

GRANHOLM: They may. I don't know that O'Malley will because he'll be seen as doing the Republicans bidding.

CARDONA: Anderson might.

GRANHOLM: When he does, it gives her a chance to say all of that stuff that has been drummed up by a political sham committee that was set up for the purpose of taking me down using taxpayer dollars. She can really be outraged by that. That's another way for her to gain back the trust of people.

CARDONA: One other thing on the trustworthy numbers, the trustworthy numbers right now are kind of in a vacuum. In all honestly they don't mean anything. I had a voter say to me, this person was not necessarily a huge Hillary fan.

But he saw her as the person who was going to get up every day and fight for him. He said to me, I'm not voting for my spiritual guide. OK?

I am voting for somebody who's going to know how to guide the policy proposals from the White House and what that means to me and my family. And the other thing is, when and if she is the nominee, she will have somebody to compare it to on other side.

GRANHOLM: Yes.

CARDONA: The other side does not have favorable numbers either.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the other side. You use the term trumped up a moment ago. That is apt because yesterday before the debate, Hillary Clinton went in front of the Trump casino to a protest for union workers and she talked about the difference between herself and Donald Trump. Will she make those points tonight?

GRANHOLM: Of course, of course. They all should. But yes, their enemy, if you will, is the ideas that are presented by the other side, anti-women, anti-immigration, anti-climate science. You just name it, wealth, tax cuts for wealthy. There's such great meat for contrast. That is where you'll see percussiveness, but it's with those who are not on the stage.

CAMEROTA: That therein lies the issue, she might not engage her fellow Democrats and all of them may go after the Republicans. That's an interesting dynamic.

CARDONA: I think that's exactly right. Let's not forget she goes into this debate as the frontrunner, as such she goes into this debate with a target on her back.

CUOMO: How can she not? She was just secretary of the state, with an administration that's getting beat up over its foreign policy all over the place. She's now stepping away from the president more and more. She got caught a little bit with the trade plan.

[07:45:00] People started using that as a metaphor for her. She's starting to roll the dice a little bit in terms of calculated risk. That's going to come with exposure tonight.

GRANHOLM: She was honored to serve under Barack Obama, but let's be fair. When you work for somebody, you're going to advocate their policy, which is what the trade deal was. CUOMO: Is that all it is, though? When she said, if I were president, I would have never let them put a committee like Benghazi together.

CARDONA: That was personal.

CUOMO: Personal to the president, too.

GRANHOLM: On the trade difference with the administration, she voted against CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, she voted against fast track. She's not been a rubber stamp on free trade.

She wants to vote for a good deal that well will create jobs in America, not give away the store. There are provisions in this particular agreement that are good, but there are provisions that will help to -- to be an aider and a better to the offshoring of jobs. She's not going to stand by that.

CAMEROTA: Very quickly.

CARDONA: Let's be fair. When she stood up for it, she always had caveats. That was 2-1/2 years ago. The deal wasn't done. Tonight she'll have an opportunity to explain.

CAMEROTA: Maria, Jennifer Granholm, thanks for being here. Be sure to tune in tonight for the first Democratic debate. It is 8:30 Eastern right here on CNN.

Let's go back to New York and Michaela with a look at some other headlines now.

PEREIRA: All right, Alisyn, thank you.

We are learning more about what happened in doomed Malaysian Airlines Flight 17's fatal moments. Just released report by the Dutch Safety Board says a Russian surface-to-air missile brought down MH-17 in July of 2014 over Ukraine killing all 298 people on board.

The board did not place blame, but it does reject Russia's claim that Ukrainian troops fired the missile. Victims' families were told their loved ones died quickly.

Six Baltimore police officers on trial for the arrest and death of Freddie Gray all are expected in court for a pretrial motion hearing. Lawyers for five of the officers will be trying to convince the judge to suppress statements their clients made to investigators claiming they were illegally obtained. The chief medical officer will also be called to testify about the findings from Freddie Gray's autopsy.

"Playboy," the iconic men's magazine announcing it will stop publishing fully nude pictures of women as part of a redesign beginning in March. "The New York Times" sayscompany executives, including "Playboy" founder and editor-in-chief, Hugh Hefner, acknowledged the explosion of explicit content online that made the magazine's nudes in a phrase, passe. We'll find out if folks really buy it for articles. Late-night host taking direct aim at the Clintons, not just Hillary, they're taking shots at Bill, too. A look at that, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:51:04]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The biggest beer merger in history in today's CNN Money. I'm Christine Romans. Anheuser-Busch InBev buying SABMiller for $104 billion. If regulators approve that deal, BudMiller would be a super brewery with about half of the world's top 40 beers. Mergers and acquisitions on track by the way for a record year. Yesterday, Dell brought EMC for $67 billion.

Tonight's debate, expect to hear from Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on kitchen table issues, income inequality, taxes, and making college for affordable, a cornerstone in both candidates domestic agenda.

Clinton wants two years of free community college. Sanders wants four years of free public four-year university. Taxes on Wall Street and the wealthy to pay for it. More NEW DAY after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Going into tonight's Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton, is the target of late night comics, who would a running mate be? What would Bill Clinton be called if she's elected? Here's what you missed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get this. If Hillary Clinton actually became president she probably wouldn't have Bill be her first gentlemen. Yes, it's rumored that her daughter, Chelsea, or a top aide could be named first lady.

They still have to come up with a title for Bill. Here are options, for example, first ladies man -- if that doesn't work well. You could also go with commander in briefs. And finally this is always speaker of the dog house, all good choices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In an interview released yesterday, Hillary Clinton said she would not rule out anybody as a running mate. Said one listener, I'm back baby. I'm back, back in the game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: I enjoyed it. What was your favorite, guys?

CAMEROTA: I like the picture that they are using of Bill Clinton where he looks so self-satisfied in the smile in all of the pictures.

CUOMO: I'll go with that.

CAMEROTA: Excellent. CUOMO: All right. So that is the funny stuff, but we have the really serious stuff as well. The race for the Democratic nomination is going to change after tonight. There is no question about that. The question is how? We have the factors for each of the candidates and their latest plans for tonight. Watch it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:58:35]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Gearing up for tonight's CNN debate is the Democrats taking the stage.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And if you are going to run for president, then you should represent all the people of the United States.

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And let's not try to demonize people who may have disagreements with us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Each of these candidates may have to define themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am un-bought and I am un-bossed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel strongly about where we're going as a country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not about the words. It is about the action.

CLINTON: I will fight as hard I can to earn every vote.

SANDERS: Join the political revolution, let's transform America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, October 13th, 8:00 in the east. Mich is in New York. Alisyn and I, Vegas baby, site of tonight's high stakes Democratic debate.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders squaring off for the first time. This will be the first time for voters to weigh these two face-to- face, right next to each other, could be a big moment. The question is for whom?

CAMEROTA: One big x factor for Democrats will be Joe Biden. The vice president still deciding whether to enter the race even as one top senator says she now believes he will jump in.

CUOMO: If she were a betting woman.

CAMEROTA: So appropriate for today. Let's begin our CNN debate coverage today with senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. He is inside the debate hall.