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New Day

7.7 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks South Asia; Whale Watching Boat Sinks Off British Columbia; Trump Steps Up Attacks on Ben Carson; Biden Explains Decision Not to Run; Marco Rubio Opens Up on Campaign Trail. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired October 26, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. A powerful earthquake rocking south Asia. Our teams in Kabul, Islamabad and New Delhi feeling it. NEW DAY starts right now with that story.

[05:58:29] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's pick up right on that. We are following breaking news this morning. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake hitting northeastern Afghanistan, felt hundreds of miles away in Pakistan and India. So what we're going to do is we're going to show you what is going on right now and give you some historical context. That's the portion of the country. But remember, this is triangulating Pakistan, India, Afghanistan. When it's felt in multiple countries, it's usually a reflection of what they call the echo effect, meaning it is stronger. It is intense; it can be deadly.

More context. Alisyn, October 2005 what happened?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Right. Almost exactly 10 years ago, there was a 7.6 earthquake. Ten years ago. And that is when 75,000 people were killed in Pakistan. Today's is 7.7, so bigger than what we had ten years ago.

CUOMO: Right. In terms of magnitude. Of course, the big factor is going to be where this happened. That happened in the Kashmir. It was about earthquake plus all of the landslides, and all that wound up being very deadly. Again, three-quarters of 100,000 people taken out there.

We're going to be getting people on the phone. We do have people in Kabul. We do have people in the region. They're mobilizing now. Communications are obviously a little bit precarious, given what's going on.

But again, the headline is what you see on your screen, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake striking Afghanistan, but felt as far as in India and also in Pakistan.

Now we have a producer right now, Sophia Saifi, on the phone. She had to run for cover. The building she was in was beginning to shake.

Tell us, what do you know right now, and is it safe? SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER (via phone): It's still safe at the

moment. We can feel tremors at periodic intervals. So the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) are still shaking, the ground is still shaking. And outside my building, people are all milling outside, quite surreal, almost, as you have children who just half an hour ago were screaming and crying within their building. And now, they are sitting outside and playing with their parents beside them, kind of confused as to whether to go inside, get their belongings, take them out.

People have been trying to get mobile phone signals, holding them aloft and trying to see if they can find any connection whatsoever. Because coms in Pakistan, in this (UNINTELLIGIBLE), at least, are down.

At this time, word from Quetta, which is in the southwest of Pakistan, which borders Afghanistan, and there have been no casualties there. There's been no loss of life in the provinces along the borders of Afghanistan. But, there has been infrastructural damage.

So we're just getting information trickling in right now, while we're out here trying to make sense of it all.

CAMEROTA: Sophia, tell us exactly where you were when you started to feel the earthquake.

SAITI: I was in my kitchen. And everything started; it was very sudden. And I -- initially, it didn't make sense as to what was happening.

You must know this, that earthquakes are not completely uncommon in this part of the world. I mean, we've had earthquakes this whole year, on and off, like summers. But this seemed like it was something unusual when my microwave fell, and then I just ran, eight flights of stairs all the way down.

And it just goes to show, we had a terrible earthquake ten years ago, which was just 7.1 on the Richter scale within Pakistan. But evacuations procedures were still unsafe; people were stranded inside our building and the door which led us outside was still locked, and we were banging on the windows and trying to get out of there, while the earth shook beneath us.

CUOMO: All right. Obviously, we're happy that you are OK. Please continue to report as long as it is safe. The bigger concern is this being felt in so many different areas. There's so many fault lines. Injuries are going to be the big concern, not just structural damage.

So please, find out what you can. Stay safe. We'll get back to you.

Again, the tremors from this powerful quake could be felt hundreds of miles away in New Delhi, India; Pakistan. Our bureau chief, Ravi Agrawal felt the shocks there in New Delhi.

Ravi, what was it like for you? We were just hearing from another producer. A microwave started to shake. She was in her own home. No big reports of injured there, just structural damage. What do you know?

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN INDIA BUREAU CHIEF: Hi there.

Well, here in New Delhi, the shocks weren't as intense as they were in Pakistan, but we could fair -- we could feel a fair bit of shaking here in New Delhi. Our news bureau is about seven stories up, as well, so we were a bit worried. We could see the tables shaking a little bit; the TVs on the wall were shaking a little bit. So we knew that it was a pretty big earthquake.

The last earthquakes that brought shakes that were as bad as that was the Nepal earthquake a few months ago. And that, as we all know, was a very serious one.

But what we know right now is this region has a history of earthquakes along the Himalayan range. And as we'll be learning in the coming hours and days now, the scope and scale of what may have happened in Afghanistan.

CAMEROTA: Ravi, can you give us perspective on how far away you are from what they believe the epicenter is?

AGRAWAL: So the epicenter is in the northern part of Afghanistan. To give you a sense of just the geography of what we're dealing with, Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan is some 200 kilometers away from that epicenter. And New Delhi far farther to the south and to the east, as well. It's much farther away from that. So it's unlikely that you'll hear of much damage in India. You'll probably hear some damage in Pakistan, which is sandwiched between India and Afghanistan.

CAMEROTA: Ravi, thank you for all that. Of course, we will check back in with you as we get more developments in this story.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. More breaking news, now this time in Canada. Five people are dead after a whale watching boat with 27 people aboard sank off of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The search going late into the night. At least 21 people on that boat rescued. One person still missing at this hour.

Boris Sanchez is here with the breaking details. Frigid, frigid waters there. I know there's concern about that.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very cold, as you can imagine, Michaela. The focus right now is on that one missing person as investigators try to piece together this puzzle of exactly what happened.

Looming over this investigation is the fact that witnesses say conditions weren't really that bad when the boat went down, leading many to question the conditions, the -- exactly what happened during this tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) [06:05:04] SANCHEZ (voice-over): Breaking overnight, a popular

whale-watching tour boat capsizing and sinking off the coast of Tofino, a small coastal town on Vancouver Island.

This morning, five passengers dead and one remains missing after the Leviathan II, a 65-foot tour boat run by Jamie's Whaling Station and Adventure Centers sank while carrying 27 people. Twenty-one rescued as the desperate search for survivors continued through night fall. More than a dozen treated have been treated at the local hospitals.

According to Canadian research officials, the vessel making a distress call late Sunday afternoon on what witnesses describe as a clear, sunny day.

MAYOR JOSIE OSBORNE, TOFINO, CANADA (via phone): It was a beautiful day here in Tofino, and there were -- there were some big swells out on the ocean. But we just don't know anything about what may have happened at the scene.

SANCHEZ: Search officials eventually locating the capsized boat eight nautical miles west of the tourist town. The cause of the accident not yet known.

Today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada deploying a team of investigators to the scene. According to the records from the TSB, the boating company that operated the whale-watching tour also had a fatal incident in 1998.

This as the mayor of Tofino commends residents for their outpouring of support. "Tofino's thoughts and prayers are with passengers, crew, emergency responders and their families. Thank you all for your messages of support."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Jamie's Whaling Station and Adventure Center, the company that operates this tour boat, also put out a statement, offering condolences to the families of those affected, saying their entire staff is heartbroken. Interestingly, they also say, quote, "We are cooperating with investigators to figure out exactly what happened."

You have to imagine their staff is getting grilled on who was on board running that ship.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh. So scary. Boris, thanks so much for the update.

Turning to politics now, Donald Trump on the attack. The brash billionaire holding a rally in New Hampshire this morning after taking aim at Ben Carson, who himself made some controversial comments this weekend, comparing abortion to slavery. We have team coverage beginning with CNN senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns. He's live in Atkinson, New Hampshire, for Trump's morning event.

Good morning, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

Donald Trump is getting a very early start here in Atkinson, New Hampshire. A crowd already gathering to see him this morning. He does have his work cut out for him, quite frankly, trailing Dr. Ben Carson in the state of Iowa.

Over the weekend, Trump started leveling attacks at Carson, as you just said. Listen to what he had to say about Carson on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Ben Carson is a very low-energy person. Actually, I think Ben Carson is lower energy than Jeb, if you want to know the truth. We need strong energy. And I am talking about Ben. I did talk about Jeb, because I thought Jeb was going to be the frontrunner. Obviously, he's no longer the frontrunner, and I probably won't talk about him so much anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Now, the interesting thing about this is that Ben Carson has said he will not return fire. But not the same from Senator Marco Rubio.

Trump was in the state of Florida over the weekend, and Rubio has started attacking Trump. We'll have more on that later. Still, polls do show that right now, Donald Trump is believed to be the best candidate for the White House by 7 of 10 Republican voters. More on that later in the program.

Back to you, Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. Our thanks to you, Joe. Meantime, Vice President Joe Biden opening up about why he decided to jump into the 2016 presidential race, telling CBS's "60 Minutes" simply, he knew he couldn't win. The vice president also addressed reports of his son Beau's dying wish for him to run.

Senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny is live in Washington for us with more -- Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

A new window into Vice President Joe Biden's thinking. He still believes he would be the best candidate, but he sheds new life on his decision, particularly what his son Beau told -- Beau told him before he died.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some people have

written that, you know, Beau, on his death bed, said, "Dad, you've got to run." And it was this sort of Hollywood moment that, you know. Nothing like that ever, ever happened.

Beau, all along thought that I should run and I could win. There was not what is sort of made out as kind of this Hollywoodesque thing that, at the last minute, Beau grabbed my hand and said, "Dad, you've got to run," like "Win one for the Gipper." Wasn't anything like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So with Biden on the sidelines, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders went head-to-head this weekend in Iowa. Sanders called himself a principled progressive, reminding Democrats he supported gay rights and other issues long before it was politically popular.

But Clinton urged Democrats to pick someone who can do more than fire up liberals but who can win. And she believes that is her -- Chris and Alisyn.

[06:10:07] CUOMO: All right, Jeff. Thank you very much.

Let's break all this down with senior politics editor at "The Daily Beast" Jackie Kucinich; and CNN political commentator and political anchor of New York One, Errol Louis.

Let's start with Joe Biden, because we were just with him there at "60 Minutes." Errol, when he said he couldn't win, it's not about him being the best in his mind, it's about the infrastructure, the practicalities that everybody was kind of playing down, in light of this drama between candidates. And it's also good that the truth about Beau Biden. Beau Biden always thought that his father should run for president, always thought that it was worth the struggle. So it's good he clarified those things. And now how do we close the book on Joe Biden?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it was actually very good of him. I think it was a service to the nation, frankly, to sort of dispel this notion that there was this Hollywood moment.

Now, I mean, if he had run, who knows what we would have heard? But the fact that he could just sort of say that's not how this happened, we were father and son. We were both in politics. We were both political professionals and we analyzed things differently. It wasn't just going to be about emotion. It was going to be very practical.

I think to close the book or to sort of speculate about the next phase, who does he and in what manner does he participate in the remainder of the presidential campaign? Is he going to support Hillary Clinton? Well, it's hard to imagine that he wouldn't. Will he, though, sort of try to correct her when she starts to diverge from the Obama/Biden legacy and the Obama/Biden policies that she disagrees with? It's going to be hard, I think, for Joe Biden to sort of hold his tongue. He's going to defend his work, just like anybody else in that administration will. And we'll see what kind of an impact that he has.

CAMEROTA: Jackie, Hillary did come up in the "60 Minutes" interview. I don't know if we have that, but I can read it if we don't. But he did talk about her, and he did talk about his relationship with her and how he feels about her running. So listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I like Hillary. Hillary and I get along together. The only reason to run is because I -- I still think I could do a better job than anybody else could do. That's the reason to run. I wouldn't run against Hillary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: There you go, Jackie.

So honest. You know, like, "I like Hillary, I'm better."

JACKIE KUCINICH, SENIOR POLITICS EDITOR, "DAILY BEAST": Right. Right. You know, he also disputed the fact that they don't have a good relationship and that he was talking about her when he talked about not viewing Republicans as enemies, which a lot of us thought was a dig to Hillary Clinton, who said, during the debate that -- listed Republicans as one of her, you know, best enemies or something.

So it really -- this was so classic Joe Biden. It was so refreshing. You really did -- you're right. It was so honest. He was just like, "I'm the best. That's why I wanted to run." But he also said he couldn't win, because he didn't have the infrastructure and didn't have the nuts and bolts.

CUOMO: All right. Let me stay with you for a second. Let's go to what should be called the inevitable. Ben Carson goes up in the polls; Donald Trump redefined counter puncher. Counter puncher used to mean you hit me, I hit you. Now it is if you do anything, I'm going to counter by punching. What do you think that is going to happen here now?

KUCINICH: You know, the interesting thing is Ben Carson's approach to this. He hasn't engaged Trump. He's really sort of just kind of moved on with his Ben Carson message. That really has served him well. It proved to neutralize Trump the last time he went after Ben Carson.

And I would expect he would do the same thing. He just kept on with his message. And really, as he said, not getting in the mud with Trump. But I did think it was really interesting that Trump started going after Ben Carson's religion.

And that's because evangelicals have started going over, in Iowa, to Ben Carson in drones. So maybe that's one of the ways we're going to see Trump hit him in the debate. We'll see. But you can't imagine he's going to relent if Ben Carson keeps beating him in the polls like this.

CAMEROTA: Errol, let's talk about that. Because what Trump did was say Seventh Day Adventists, I don't know. I don't know. Seventh Day Adventists, I just don't know.

CUOMO: He probably doesn't know. I mean, you have to research it.

CAMEROTA: Right. So in other words, is he -- is he casting aspersions on Ben Carson's religion, or is he like, "I don't know what to make of this"?

LOUIS: This is very reminiscent of what we heard four years ago with Mitt Romney. As a Mormon minister, actually, a practicing member of that faith, and there was a lot of discussion.

I read way more about it than I ever thought I would about some very fine, subtle distinctions between what was going on at the birth of that religion, the Seventh Day Adventists and so forth.

What we saw, though, I think with Mitt Romney was that, in the end, it doesn't really matter. Piety is piety to a certain extent. That evangelicals might sort of differ with where you end up. But that if you're living sort of a pious Christian lifestyle, you're in the club.

CUOMO: Proof is in the pudding. I mean, Iowa is the barometer of it. They're embracing Ben Carson. Obviously, they don't have a problem with the faith, no matter what questions, Donald Trump.

LOUIS: Exactly right. I mean, if they -- and Mitt Romney didn't win it, but he very nearly won Iowa back in 2012. And so, you know, I don't think -- I think this is a dry hole. I mean -- and if you're going to raise that kind of a question about the faith of Ben Carson, you've got to be in a much stronger position with the evangelical base than Trump currently is.

CAMEROTA: Errol, let me stick with you for a second and ask you about the other attacks that we heard from Trump this weekend on Ben Carson. You just heard a bit of it in the piece, in Joe John's piece. He's weak on immigration, he says about Ben Carson. He's a very low- energy person. He's lower than Jeb Bush. Does Carson need to respond to these?

[06:15:14] LOUIS: Well, I don't think he possibly could. I mean, because if what we mean by low energy is, you know, the sort of histrionics, the style on the stump and so forth, Ben Carson is going in a completely different direction, not just his personal carriage and personal presentation. But he's got this -- I can't say enough about this -- this Facebook strategy. He has socially networked his way into a position.

I mean, Donald Trump said in a way that was almost bewildered. It's like, gee, you know, Ben Carson doesn't even spend that much time in Iowa. Well, he doesn't physically, but he is there through Facebook. He's raising tons of money through Facebook. He's going to be sort of linked into the people who are going to probably go after the caucuses in a way that's just a completely different modality than what Trump is doing with traditional media and flying in on a helicopter and so forth. He can't lay a glove on him in that way.

CUOMO: And Jackie, in terms of -- that's a great metaphor, lay a glove on him. Button it up with this. Ben Carson, to those in the party, who are gravitating towards an outsider, projects strength. For all his demeanor issues and his peculiarities, that way. What is the risk for Donald Trump in going after someone who is perceived by his party and people he wants to vote for him as a nice guy?

KUCINICH: That's it. I mean, if Ben Carson doesn't go after him, Trump is just sort of raging against nothing.

I mean, remember when he went after Ben Carson and said he was an OK doctor?

CUOMO: Yes.

KUCINICH: Yes.

CUOMO: Said it to us.

KUCINICH: It just doesn't go anywhere, because it's absolutely absurd. An OK doctor, I mean, I guess you could say that. And, you know, Ben Carson made light of it during one of the debates. And so that could just make Trump look like a bully, and no one wants to look like that.

CAMEROTA: Jackie, Errol, thanks so much. Great to see you guys this morning.

Let's get over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Alisyn. Police are searching for the gunman who left a student wounded on the campus of North Carolina Central University overnight. That student is now in the hospital with non- life-threatening injuries. The campus-wide lockdown was lifted about 40 minutes last night. The search for the gunman continues.

CAMEROTA: Also, more breaking news overnight. An off-duty New Orleans police officer shot in the neck and critically wounded while driving to his father's house in an unmarked car. Authorities identified the officer as 24-year-old Derek Frick. Police are searching for a tan-colored SUV with dark,-tinted windows. They say there were several people in the car when someone opened fire. Call 911 if you have any information.

CUOMO: The woman who plowed her car into a crowd at the Oklahoma State homecoming parade will appear in court today. The 25-year-old accused of drunk-driving is now facing second-degree murder charges. The crash did kill four people, including a 2-year-old boy. Forty- seven others were injured. Eleven of those victims were kids under 13.

CAMEROTA: All right. Well, he could be the candidate Democrats fear most. And Marco Rubio's campaign is just starting to gain a little traction. Up next, Rubio sits down with CNN for a wide-ranging exclusive about his campaign. And he reveals some interesting things you've never heard before.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:18] CAMEROTA: Three years ago, Marco Rubio was touted as the Republican Party's future. But is that still true with the rise of Trump? CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel spoke exclusively with Marco Rubio on the stump in South Carolina and joins us now. Great to have you here.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. It's great to be here. There's no question Marco Rubio is on the rise. The betters now say he's replaced Jeb Bush as the likely nominee.

So we've talked about everything from what he thinks about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to who he would like to play him on "Saturday Night Live." But, we started with the question of why he still isn't winning in the polls in his home state of Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't -- if you start paying attention to these polls in October, I mean, you'll go crazy. I've been up; I've been down.

GANGEL: But you're the sitting senator in Florida.

RUBIO: It's a very unusual year. And I think part of it is that people are really angry about the direction of our country.

GANGEL: So here's the good news from Marco Rubio. Democrats say you're the triple threat. That you're the young, new fresh face, that you're great in the debates, that you are Hispanic and you put Florida into play.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBIO: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GANGEL: So why is it taking you so long to get traction?

RUBIO: Fist of all, none of those things matter. That's just campaign talk. It's like politics today is covered almost like sports. And so you watch these teams. They have a really good game. They're the top team in the world. The next week, they have a bad game; it's a disaster. That's not the way campaigns work.

GANGEL (voice-over): The way the Rubio campaign works is not glamorous. Behind the scenes, he races from event to event, trying to raise money, trying to inch up in the polls and taking on Donald Trump. (on camera): At the Trump event, there were protesters on

immigration. And at the end, Trump said, "I'm going to win with Hispanics. I love the Hispanics." What do you think when you hear him say things like that?

RUBIO: That's Donald being Donald. I mean, that's what it is.

GANGEL: He is the frontrunner, though. Is he more in tune with the Republican Party on this issue than you are?

RUBIO: No. His rhetoric is a little louder, but you think about where he was six months ago. His position on immigration six months ago is nothing like what he is saying now. What he's saying now is -- borders on the absurd.

GANGEL: Jeb Bush says Donald Trump has dangerous views on national security. Are you comfortable with the idea of Donald Trump with his finger on the button?

RUBIO: Well, I wouldn't term it that way. I would say that, ultimately, the next president of the United States, on their first day of office, must understand the threats that face this country and must have shown good judgment about what to do about those issues.

GANGEL: Are you comfortable?

RUBIO: The truth is, as I said in the debates on CNN, I don't believe that up to this point in the campaign, he has clearly outlined a deep understanding of the issues before this country in a serious way. And obviously, he has time to change that.

[06:25:11] GANGEL: So right now, he's not ready to be commander in chief?

RUBIO: To this point in the campaign, he has not proven an understanding of these issues or the preparation necessary to be commander in chief of the most powerful military force in the world.

GANGEL: If he's the nominee, would you enthusiastically support him?

RUBIO: Well, I'm going to support the Republican nominee. And I'm comfortable that it's not going to be Donald Trump. And I'm increasingly confident it's going to be me. I feel good answering that question.

GANGEL: Marco Rubio criticism, over and over again, that you keep missing votes on the Senate floor. Forty-three percent of the votes. I know you say you're campaigning for president. But, Bernie Sanders, Rand Paul, they have missed fewer than ten votes. You're up at 59 or 60.

RUBIO: Well, everyone needs to run their own campaign. I can tell you that in the history of presidential politics, people have -- when they've been running for politics in the Senate, they've missed voted. And I'm not missing votes, because I'm on vacation. GANGEL: But this many votes?

RUBIO: Actually, this is lower than what other people have missed. And here's the other point I would make. I'm running for president so that the votes they take in the Senate are actually meaningful again. A lot of these votes won't miss anything. They're not going to pass, and even if they did, the president would veto it.

GANGEL: The other -- the other day, though, you got up on the Senate floor, and you said federal workers who don't show up should be fired.

RUBIO: That's not what I said.

GANGEL: What did you say?

RUBIO: Federal workers that aren't doing their jobs, that are not performing at their jobs, should be able to be fired.

GANGEL: OK.

RUBIO: Should be held accountable for not performing.

GANGEL: So someone might say you're not showing up. You're not doing your job by voting.

RUBIO: Not true.

GANGEL: You don't think you're in...

RUBIO: Voting is not the only part of the Senate job. I mean, the most important thing a senator does is constituent service. We're still involved in looking out for Florida issues...

GANGEL: Votes aren't important?

RUBIO: No, of course, they're important.

GANGEL: Intelligence committee hearings?

RUBIO: We do all the intelligence briefings. I was just there this Tuesday. I got fully briefed and caught up on everything that's happening in the world. I'm fully aware. We have a staffer that's assigned to intelligence. We get constant briefings.

GANGEL: Hillary Clinton has had a pretty good two weeks. She had "Saturday Night Live." She did well in the debates. She went through 11 hours of the hearings. If it is a face-off, Marco Rubio/Hillary Clinton, how formidable is she?

RUBIO: Well, she'll be the Democratic nominee, someone who comes from a political dynasty. And that, in and of itself, is going to bring fundraising capabilities.

People may think she had a good week. I think this is the week that it was proven that she lied about Benghazi. GANGEL: Talk to me about age. You're 44. She's turning 68. Is

age in the campaign your advantage or her advantage?

RUBIO: I don't think the biological age of candidates is the issue. I think it's the age of your ideas.

GANGEL: Are her ideas too old?

RUBIO: Absolutely. Not just her ideas but the ideas of the political left are completely outdated.

GANGEL (voice-over): Age may not matter, but if they do match up, the differences will be interesting. Rubio and his wife, Jeanette, have four young children, and he will stress being the son of immigrants. A bartender and a maid.

That said, like Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Rubio is open to also having his moment on "Saturday Night Live."

(on camera): Donald Trump is going to host "Saturday Night Live."

RUBIO: Yes.

GANGEL: Have you been invited? Do you want to do it?

RUBIO: I don't think I've been invited. I don't know. We'll see if it makes sense. I'm curious to see if they're ever going to play me on "Saturday Night Live." I just want to make sure it's the right person.

GANGEL: Who do you want to play you?

RUBIO: I don't know. I have no idea. Somebody said Mario Lopez the other day. I hope they bring him on as a guest or something. I don't know. I have not thought about that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: He clearly has thought about that.

PEREIRA: Mario Lopez at the front of mind.

CAMEROTA: It's true.

GANGEL: Go for it.

CAMEROTA: He said Trump borders on the absurd. Is that the farthest --furthest he's gone so far in criticizing Trump?

GANGEL: You know what? You've heard him say that he's sensitive and insecure. He said, "I don't want to be a part of the Trump freak show."

You know, Rubio is interesting. Because the other guys who have gone after Trump get slapped down. Rubio seems to go in, punch and walk away.

CUOMO: Well, he was getting Gangeled in that interview. He does not want to go after Donald Trump. It is -- it is a counterproductive thing. Trump is very good at that. It's not what Rubio is known for. He's not good for good -- known for taking punches and giving punches.

And -- but you were questioning him and moving him down, and you were testing how far he'd go in terms of how it delineates. He winds up saying, counter -- commander in chief, he's got real questions about Trump.

GANGEL: Correct. Correct. And I think that it will now be interesting to see Trump come after him.

CAMEROTA: If he takes the bait.

GANGEL: Yes.

PEREIRA: But do you get a sense that he's testing out this presidential candidate Marco Rubio 2.0? He feels a little differently than what we've been seeing in the last few months.

GANGEL: Look, if you look at the polls, he's up there, guys. He's No. 3. So -- but Jeb Bush is the establishment favorite. So the question now is, can Rubio raise the money, and can he go to the next level...