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GOP Congressman: Benghazi Panel Created to Target Clinton; Trump Turns Up the Attacks; President Obama to Make Afghanistan Forces Announcement; Israeli Police Encourage Civilians to Arm Themselves. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 15, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

REP. RICHARD HANNA (R), NEW YORK (via telephone): You know, I think there's also a lot of it that's important that -- that we needed to get to the bottom of this, but this has been the longest investigation, longer than Watergate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And the Clinton campaign really holding this up, saying in their words that this is further proof that the Benghazi committee, they say, has zero credibility with the goal being to sink Clinton's poll numbers.

Now, this comes just a few weeks after Representative McCarthy made similar comments. Here are his comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MAJORITY LEADER: Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee. A select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she's untrustable, but no one would have known any of that had happened had we...

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST, "HANNITY": I agree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: This sets the stage for what will very likely be a feistier and fierier appearance on Capitol Hill by Secretary Clinton. She will testify just one week from today -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Sunlen, thank you so much. Donald Trump, meanwhile, attracting a raucous crowd in Richmond, Virginia. That event riddled with fights and interruptions. The GOP frontrunner is slamming his Democratic rivals as he opens double-digits leads over Ben Carson in two key states in a new CNN/ORC poll.

Athena Jones joins us live from Washington with more for us -- Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

It was a raucous event last night. While Trump was targeting his rivals, protesters targeted him. We've seen demonstrations outside of his event almost from the very moment he launched his campaign.

Last week in Iowa, a climate change protester briefly interrupted his speech. But this latest protest went further.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Trump! We want Trump!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Trump! We want Trump!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Trump! We want Trump!

JONES (voice-over): What started out as the standard chanting and fanfare for Donald Trump...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dump Trump! Dump Trump!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dump Trump! Dump Trump!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dump Trump! Dump Trump!

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's OK.

JONES: ... quickly turned heated Wednesday night, with nearly 20 protesters shouting "Dump Trump."

TRUMP: That's why we have freedom of speech, folks, you know.

JONES: One protester getting into an altercation with a Trump supporter, while being escorted out before a crowd of nearly 5,000. The protesters against his "a wall will fix it" stance on illegal immigration, a stance he reiterated while lambasting the Democratic debate.

TRUMP: Hillary and Bernie Sanders, they just couldn't give things away fast enough, and they're giving them to illegal immigrants.

JONES: Trump suggesting Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are far too easy on undocumented immigrants.

TRUMP: They want health care for illegal immigrants. They want driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

JONES: The billionaire even calling Sanders a maniac and a communist.

TRUMP: I call him a socialist/communist, OK, because that's what he is.

JONES: This as new polls show Trump still out front, but with a possible challenge looming. He leads Ben Carson by double digits in South Carolina and Nevada in the new CNN/ORC poll.

But he and his chief rival are neck and neck in this FOX News poll, at least the third national poll in as many weeks to show Carson inching closer.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I kept falling asleep.

JONES: Carson on FOX News Wednesday night, making his own snide remarks about Tuesday's debate.

CARSON: When people come around and start talking about free college and free phones and free this and free that, it is not free. But unless you're not very bright, you will be able to see what's going on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: So Carson getting his digs in. Meanwhile, Jeb Bush plans to release his third-quarter fundraising numbers, his 2014 tax return and his health record today -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Thank you very much, Athena.

Joining us now is the executive vice president of the Trump organization and special counsel to Donald Trump himself, Michael Cohen -- Counsel.

MICHAEL COHEN, SPECIAL COUNSEL TO DONALD TRUMP: Chris, good to be here.

CUOMO: Good to have you here. So one quick thing. Ivanka comes on, very impressive. The calculation is, when do you put family out, when do you not? Do you want one of your kids defending what you say as part of a campaign? Where is Donald Trump's head on this?

COHEN: Well, Donald Trump is very protective of his children. It wasn't just Ivanka that was on television yesterday; so was Eric. And I think soon enough you'll see Don Junior. All three children are exceptional individuals, and they are right now at the helm of the company.

We're growing as a company. We have international deals all over. His popularity is not just in the United States, but it translates to overseas, as well.

So, as it comes to children, their job is right now to run the company, not to run the campaign. He has a campaign manager. He has a big staff that's -- many of which are volunteers, by the dozens, calling daily, asking how they can help to join the Trump train. And he, again, he's protective of his children.

CUOMO: So put them out, but be careful about how you put them out. Don't have them making the argument for Donald as much as just sticking to their role within the company?

COHEN: Yes, I think Mr. Trump is very good at making his own...

CUOMO: Not easy to do, backing up...

COHEN: Well, that's true. And backing up what it is that he says.

[07:05:05] CUOMO: All right. So, the debate, he didn't like it. People liked it. They said the tone was different, that it seemed like policies were getting out there. It wasn't all personal attacks. How did the Trump see it?

COHEN: I don't know how Mr. Trump saw it. I think we read about it in his tweets, which were absolutely amazing.

A statistic came out the other day. Mr. Trump picked up 147,000-plus new Twitter followers during the Democratic debate. That's just an unheard of number.

CUOMO: What does that mean to you?

COHEN: Well, Hillary picked up 25,000. So I think what it means to me, is that the interest in Donald Trump, versus anybody else is six times that, right? I think a big portion of that 15 million viewership, which is about half of what the Republicans got, is really due to Mr. Trump.

CUOMO: You believe that people were watching the Democratic debate, because Donald Trump was tweeting about it?

COHEN: I do. And I think they were trying to compare it to see what...

CUOMO: What did you drink this morning?

COHEN: Coffee, actually in your green room.

CUOMO: I think that there are plenty of reasons they're watching. I think that the interest in the election is obviously sparked by Donald Trump. He's definitely changed it.

COHEN: Well, I found the debate to be very much like "House of Cards."

CUOMO: How so?

COHEN: I found it scripted. I didn't think there was anything genuine about anything that the candidates, whether it was Hillary or Bernie. I thought her appearance, her demeanor, I thought her laughter, how she shook Bernie Sanders' hand, I thought it was just all scripted.

From the moment that Anderson Cooper made his opening remark and his question, which he handled very, very well. He asked her about flip- flopping, and she went on to a whole different topic. And he said, "OK, that's a great answer. Except now tell me, please, what about the flip-flopping question?" She was totally prepared to answer the questions that she wanted to answer in the way that she wanted to.

CUOMO: How does that make her different than any other politician?

COHEN: As opposed to Donald Trump. He's authentic. He's genuine. He comes out, and he says what's on his mind. He's not scripted. He's scripted only by himself. Not by pollsters that tell her, "You need to say this in order to get past this. You need to do this in order to appease this group."

And that was really Anderson's question. Will you say whatever you want to say to whoever you need to say in order to get their vote? And I found the answer to be yes. I found the debate to be somewhat boring and scripted.

CUOMO: So afterwards, the polls come out; shows that she had a strong performance; Bernie had a strong performance. There are other polls now that have come out showing Trump with a bigger lead in certain polls, certainly in the states that matter. Nevada being one of them.

Also, you know, see, Carson continues to gain. How do you see that? Like, they couldn't be more different individuals. But might they be representing something similar to people? Because Trump, you could argue all day, not just -- you're biased, but I mean, you could argue it all day about why he's resonated. Carson is a harder case for a lot of people to make. And yet, he continues to grow. Why?

COHEN: He's anti-establishment. I just believe...

CUOMO: Simple as that?

COHEN: Simple as that. I think the American people, the silent majority and the middle class have had enough. You know, we've turned them kleptocrats. They're there to take from this country for themselves. They're not doing what they're -- what they're supposed to do. They're not representing the interests of the people. They're representing, as far as I'm concerned, their own interests.

Donald Trump can't be bought. He's not taking money from anybody. He's going to do what he knows he needs to do to make America great again.

CUOMO: What do you make of these numbers? Put these up, the definitely vote for numbers. And you know, look, Trump, when you're polarizing, you're going to have built-in negatives, as well. But the -- Carson, 46, 37 percent for Trump, GOP voters would definitely vote for.

In your mind, does this mean that Ben Carson could very likely be a better choice for the party than Donald Trump?

COHEN: I don't think so.

CUOMO: Why not?

COHEN: Because if you take a look at the other polls, you have things like who's No. 1 on immigration? Donald Trump. Who's No. 1 on the economy? These are the two most important issues right now confronting America. Who's also in national security, ISIS, defeating ISIS? Donald Trump.

CUOMO: But why is Carson eating into his numbers? Is he doing something better than Donald Trump?

COHEN: I don't think so. I think he's a different type of person. Donald Trump tells it the way it is, and he's not going to...

CUOMO: How about Dr. Carson he doesn't go after Dr. Carson?

COHEN: Donald Trump is a counterpuncher. Ben Carson has not gone after Donald Trump. Donald Trump will not go after Ben Carson.

CUOMO: Although he has said he does look forward at some point to having to go after him. What does that mean?

COHEN: That doesn't mean anything. It's...

CUOMO: It means something. It came out of his mouth.

COHEN: It doesn't, because Donald Trump is, as far as I'm concerned, going to be the Republican nominee. He's leading every single poll for the last four months straight. I don't know if that's ever been done in history before.

CUOMO: And yet people keep checking it. Even the -- you know, even reporters who have to respect, are always saying, "Still in the lead. No sign yet of when he's getting out." Very atypical rhetoric.

COHEN: How about if we just call it dishonest reporting?

CUOMO: How about the skepticism has got to be real.

COHEN: How about even yesterday in Virginia...

[07:10:10] CUOMO: We've never elected anybody like Donald Trump.

COHEN: That's for sure. But how about, even yesterday in Virginia, he made it a point to turn around and to say, "Look at the number of people that are here. It's a packed house."

But yet, still some of the reporters said, "Well, it's an almost packed house." They just want to try to marginalize the guy. I don't understand why.

He is the only one on both sides that's ever created a job. He's the only one that really understands how to deal with a budget. He's also the only one that's going to say it the way it is, that's not in the pocket of big -- big, you know, lobbyists and big companies. He's going to do what's good for the middle class.

CUOMO: Never run for office before, though, is a legitimate concern. He doesn't know how that process works. He's never shown that he could work within the process.

COHEN: Donald Trump is an insanely smart guy. He'll figure that process out.

CUOMO: It's not an I.Q. test, though. You know -- you know what politics are.

COHEN: He knows how to -- he's been dealing with people his entire life. Whether American politicians or foreign politicians. He will figure out how to work through Washington better than anybody.

He'll also figure out how to reach to the other side of the aisle which is something that right now our current politicians...

CUOMO: That is -- that is certainly a struggle, although he has not been a uniter to this point. Let's be honest.

COHEN: He is a uniter.

CUOMO: But he has not been in this race. For instance, Bernie Sanders has not gone after Donald Trump, true or false? True.

COHEN: No, that's not true.

CUOMO: Come on.

COHEN: That's not true.

CUOMO: He has not made Donald Trump an issue. He doesn't want to do personal things. He wants to talk about policy.

COHEN: That's not true. I can't agree with you on that one.

CUOMO: Now, he's going after Bernie Sanders?

COHEN: Why, because he put out a video about Black Lives Matter?

CUOMO: He called him a communist.

COHEN: He's not a communist. He'll call himself -- he's a democratic socialist.

CUOMO: You're disagreeing with Donald Trump. He's going to come after you on Twitter now. Are you ready for that?

COHEN: Oh, boy. I'm going to have to take away his phone.

CUOMO: Believe me, I know how it feels. It's going to give you a long day.

The question is, he's going after Bernie Sanders now. Does that mean he sees Sanders as having not done well in the debate?

COHEN: I don't think he thinks Sanders did well in the debate. I think he found the debate to be, as I did, boring and not interesting. Again, as I said, it was very scripted to me. It just seemed -- it seemed like a "House of Cards" episode.

CUOMO: So you're saying you feel 100 percent now that Donald Trump is going to be the Republican nominee?

COHEN: I think Donald Trump is going to be the next president of this country, and actually that's what I hope.

CUOMO: One step at a time. You believe these numbers are no fluke? He's here to stay? COHEN: How's it a fluke?

CUOMO: I don't know.

COHEN: A couple months, over hundreds and hundreds of polls, the guy is leading. So you pick one poll out that talks about Ben Carson at his heels. That was, I think, a FOX poll with 1 percent. Really? How about the other 60 and 70 that are showing not just double-digit leads but how about over Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush who in his mind was the -- he was the next nominee.

CUOMO: Right.

COHEN: By 30 points. What about -- what about those statistics?

CUOMO: The polls are telling the story. But you know, you picked the source. FOX News. You know, you better be careful. Maybe they're out to get him.

Michael Cohen, thank you very much.

COHEN: Thank you.

CUOMO: Always good to have you here on NEW DAY. Look forward to having you again. Thank you.

All right, Alisyn, over to you.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. We do have some breaking news to report. There's a new delay in the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. President Obama set to make a major announcement this morning concerning troop levels in the face of renewed threats in Afghanistan.

So let's get right to CNN's Joe Johns. He's live at the White House with all of the breaking details. What have you learned, Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, this is an admission that there continues to be a problem in Afghanistan, a terror threat problem. And the White House is going for the status quo, as it were, to try to deal with that.

The White House had hoped to draw down to about 1,000 folks by the time the president leaves office. But it appears that's not going to happen. What the White House is saying -- today, we do expect to see the president sometime today, talking about this -- is that by the end of 2016, they will keep the 9,800 military personnel in Afghanistan that they've had there, drawing down only to about half of that in 2017.

The White House, as I said, had hoped to have about 1,000 people there by the time the president leaves office. So what are those people who are going to stay in the country going to be doing?

Well, among those things includes rooting out the Taliban and al Qaeda, as well as training and equipping the friendly forces in Afghanistan on the ground. The other issue, of course, is emergencies, as we saw in the northern

city of Kunduz. A problem if the Taliban, for example, tries to take over the city. There will be more people there to help Afghan forces.

As I said, we do expect to hear from President Obama sometime today, talking about this. It is a big reversal for this administration but clear they're not quite ready to claim victory in Afghanistan yet.

Back to you, Michaela.

PEREIRA: It will be tough news for a lot of families hoping to see their loved ones soon. All right, Joe, thank you.

[07:15:07] Israeli police now encouraging civilians to carry guns. This as heightened security fails to stop the rash of random stabbing attacks in Jerusalem's Old City. In the latest incident, Israeli police shot and killed a man dressed in combat fatigues who allegedly lunged at them with a knife. Erin McLaughlin is live in Jerusalem with the latest for us -- Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Michaela.

Well, there's panic and fear in Jerusalem. It is very much a city on edge. An example of the anxiety to this morning on board a train to Haifa, a false alarm. A group of Israeli soldiers thought they saw someone who looked suspicious. One of the soldiers fired his gun. The train was searched. Nothing was found.

It gives you a sense of how people are feeling, this after yesterday's bloodshed: two separate attacks, one outside the Damascus gate of the Old City. The other outside at a central bus stop in Jerusalem. In both attacks, Palestinian suspects shot dead by Israeli forces. At least three Israeli civilians were wounded.

And this is in the face of incredible security measures. More police out on the streets, Israeli soldiers joining police patrols in Israeli cities. And Israeli citizens say they're carrying their guns. I want you -- I want to take a listen to what the spokesperson for the police had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICKY ROSENFELD, ISRAELI POLICE SPOKESMAN: The more Israelis that are walking around with pistols, that is important that the members of the public can also respond and react. Though it is effective, every Israeli walking around with a pistol has gone through three years of IDF training, and therefore, there's no problem whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, Palestinians also saying they're scared, bracing for what could happen next.

CAMEROTA: All right. We will be talking with former ambassador Dennis Ross about what the solutions might be there. Meanwhile, this morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin is blasting

the Obama administration for not working with him in Syria, calling the move, quote, "not constructive." This as U.S. and Russian officials are working with each other on air safety. That deal trying to come together since warplanes for both countries are coming too close to each other in the sky.

CUOMO: The Toronto Blue Jays advancing to the American League championship series. What a game. The Rangers took the lead in the seventh. This throwback from the Jays catcher hits the batter's bat. That means it's now in play. Allows a run to score. Three Texas errors allowed to run or get into it and tie it up.

Then Jose Batista belted a three-run shot. I mean, it really was amazing. Toronto fans reacted by throwing stuff on the field. A couple of bench clears are in there, too. Everything you want in a baseball game. You've got violence. You've got great plays.

CAMEROTA: His priorities are being reordered.

CUOMO: It's entertainment, baby. It's entertainment. I'll tell you, I'm just fresh from Vegas.

What a great game.

PEREIRA: Both of you had a little bit of Vegas.

CUOMO: They're playing -- they're playing the Royals. You know, what a throwback to this.

PEREIRA: I know. I know.

CUOMO: Last time, the Royals, you know, now are playing Toronto. This really shows things are changing there for the dynastic principals.

PEREIRA: The Jays are my grandmother's team.

CAMEROTA: I love the royals.

PEREIRA: I love it, I love it.

All right. Back to our news of the situation in Jerusalem, the rash of violence there has Israeli citizens on edge. We heard just a minute ago about them arming themselves. What exactly is the solution? What does it mean for the U.S. if the violence doesn't stop?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:22:03] CAMEROTA: Tensions in Israel and the Palestinian territories escalating this morning after a number of stabbings and attempted stabbings of Israelis. Israeli police now telling civilians to arm themselves.

Ambassador Dennis Ross joins us. He's a former special assistant to President Obama who advised on Mideast peace processes a few times. He's also the author of "Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.-Israeli Relationship from Truman to Obama."

Mr. Ambassador, thanks so much for being in studio. Can you just tell us how we've gotten to this point? How have we gotten to this escalation of violence in Israel right now?

DENNIS ROSS, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Look, I think we've had a level of violence that is being triggered largely by social media. All sorts of rumors are spreading very quickly. All sorts of videos are, in fact, going viral very quickly.

We do have one story line, one narrative that is emerging on the Palestinian side that the Israelis are planning to divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque. And you know, this is on the Haram al-Sharif (ph). And for the Palestinians, this is something that creates a kind of electric reaction. It's untrue.

CAMEROTA: That was wrong. So this is an erroneous rumor that this has sparked some of the violence?

ROSS: Absolutely. It's one of the things that has sparked. And one of the way you respond to that is you've got to get the truth out there that that's simply not the truth.

CAMEROTA: I mean, it's so tough in this day of viral videos and the Internet, to figure out where the truth is?

ROSS: Well, it is. And also what's happening right now is not like what we've seen before. The first Intifada, the second Intifada. Those were both organized in many ways. They've been planned. It was infrastructure that was developed, that was driven by organizations.

And people who are carrying out attacks were, in fact, members of organizations, either Fatah. The Tanzaian (ph) attack was more Hamas or Islamic Jihad. That's not true now.

Now you have individuals that are largely between the ages of 15 and 25. Mostly, they're in the Jerusalem area right now but not exclusively. So the question is, whether or not you can find a way to get the truth out there to counteract these viral images, on the one hand. And on the other, is there a way to begin to calm tensions away from where we are.

CAMEROTA: You know, there's been a number of standings and attempted stabbings. And so now the Israeli government and the police force are suggesting or even encouraging civilians to carry firearms.

We just had Mark Regev on NEW DAY this morning. He's the Israeli government spokesperson. Let me play you what he said about that.

ROSS: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REGEV: In Israel, we have tough gun ownership rules. And only people with licenses can have a firearm. And so if you pass those tests and you legally have a firearm, the police are suggesting that you carry that firearm because of the security situation. That's not for every member of the public. That's for people who have those licenses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Is that the right answer, to have highly trained people carrying guns?

ROSS: Well, I am not sure there's any one answer. I think there does have to be -- people have to feel secure. If they don't feel secure, you're going to get a backlash. You're going to get an overreaction; and the thing truly spirals completely out of control.

On the other hand, it's very important that there be a cost for these kinds of attacks. There's also, I think, got to be a sense that there's a possibility that everything isn't just stuck between Israelis and Palestinians. I mean, part of what we're dealing with is an air of frustration. And you combine that with what is a calculated set of incitement. Because there is incitement going on in the social media.

Some of it comes from the Hamas Islamic websites. Some is coming from the Palestinian Authority. It condemns none of the attacks that continues to say the Israelis are planning to change the status quo on the Haram with the Temple Mount.

So you know, you got to counter the incitement and you've got to try to be responsible in terms of how you deal with the violence. And people, if they're feeling afraid for their daily lives, they're going to react.

CAMEROTA: So, let's talk about the possible solutions. You know all too well how complicated it is to broker any sort of Mideast peace. Secretary Kerry is offering to go there. Let me play for you what he has said about traveling there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Over the weekend I was in touch with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas, and we're working on trying to calm things down. And I will go there soon at some point appropriately and try to work to reengage and see if we can't move that away from this precipice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Look, your new book is all about how complicated it is in the history of trying to engage. Can Secretary Kerry quell the violence?

ROSS: I think it will be difficult. I think it's worth trying. I don't think what we can afford to do is create a situation where we these kind of binary choices where we're going to solve the whole conflict or we do nothing. When you create that kind of equation, you end up doing nothing and you create a violence. And you see what happens in the middle East when there's a vacuum. When there's a vacuum, basically, it's filled by the worst forces, whether it's here or in Syria.

CAMEROTA: So should Secretary Kerry go?

ROSS: I think he should go but with a kind of plan in mind. And I would focus I would do it in Amman. I would do it with, like, King Abdullah of Jordan present. I would do it also with the express purpose of focusing on two things: one, counteracting these false claims, particularly as it relates to the Temple Mount, the Haram.

You have the prime minister of Israel saying we will not do anything to change the status quo. Getting Abu Mazen to publicly say there isn't going -- anything going on there. And backed by an Arab leader would be the starting point. Then you start to think about can you create some kind of coordinated unilateral movement, where each side takes steps to defuse things to try to improve the situation.

CAMEROTA: Former Ambassador Dennis Ross, thanks so much for being here on NEW DAY. Great to talk to you.

Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. More politics. Did a second Republican congressman just say the Benghazi select committee was out to get Hillary Clinton? Judge for yourself, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)