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Chris Christie Talks Politics; Mike Huckabee Talks Politics; Voters Sound Off on Republican Debate. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 29, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Support law enforcement. If there's a bad police officer who does something wrong, they deserve to be prosecuted and they will be. But we are not going to leave law enforcement out there unprotected and unsupported, which is what Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and some of these liberal mayors across the country are doing.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And, governor, you know there's a term for police officers not wanting to perhaps patrol because they might be caught on cell phone doing something and people have been calling it "the Ferguson effect." Do you believe there's a "Ferguson effect" in addition to what you just mentioned?

CHRISTIE: No. What I think is, there's an effect by a president of the United States who encouraging lawlessness. And whether that's sanctuary cities, which need to end, or whether that's legalized marijuana in the state where I'm standing, or whether it's not supported police officers, this president supports lawlessness. That's what's causing this. It's the Obama/Clinton effect, not anything else.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about something else that some people consider lawless, or at least on the edge, and that is gambling and fantasy football and if those two meet. You got a big laugh line last night when you were asked about fantasy football. So let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me say this. We have a government -

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (INAUDIBLE) are we going to keep talking about getting government involved in fantasy football?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, (INAUDIBLE).

CHRISTIE: We have - wait a second. We have $19 trillion in debt. We have people out of work. We have ISIS and al Qaeda attacking us, and we're talking about fantasy football? Can we stop (ph)?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK, so, governor, people in the room seemed to like that, but Jeb Bush gave an answer to that, and he said that he does believe that fantasy football needs to be regulated. Why did you dodge that question?

CHRISTIE: I didn't - I didn't dodge the question. It's a stupid question. In the context of everything we're dealing with in this country, you think that the 40-year-old landscaper sitting out watching, who's struggling every day to make ends meet for his family and for the men and women he employs gives a darn about whether the federal government's going to regulate fantasy football? But let me not dodge it, OK? No, they shouldn't regulate fantasy football. It's a stupid idea. And that's the way it should have been answered last night by Jeb Bush.

But when we entertain these ridiculous questions from the media, we empower them.

And my point is, there's lots of important issues to talk about and only two hours to do it. Let's talk about the important issues, $19 trillion in debt, a crumbling entitlement program that's going to go belly up in seven to eight years, ISIS and al Qaeda plotting against the United States and Russia making our lives miserable in the Middle East. Let's talk about the important issues. And so you know what I was doing last night? I was just saying what the American people are really thinking. Are you kidding me? Fantasy football in a presidential debate? It's ridiculous.

And I'll tell you, it was just another example last night about how I'm at least going to stand up to these moderators in these debates. I'm not going to allow them to ask stupid questions and I'm not going to let them continue to have their bias show like it showed last night. The people in the audience saw it and I was just pointing it out.

CAMEROTA: Governor, one more thing that you did last night, you did - you made a prediction about the Democratic side of the race. And I'll just read it. I won't play it to take up time but I'll just read it. You made this prediction about Hillary Clinton. "She won't get within 10 miles of the White House. Take it to the bank." Now, the polls suggest that she might get within 10 miles of the White House at the moment in head to head national polls. Against the front runners, she's neck and neck.

CHRISTIE: You have to read the whole quote, and that's why you should have played the video.

CAMEROTA: Oh.

CHRISTIE: Because what I said was, if you put me on the stage against Hillary Clinton next September, I guarantee you she won't get within 10 miles of the White House. Because if you have someone who's mature and tested and ready, then Hillary Clinton will not win that election. If we don't put someone mature and tested and ready on that stage, then she'd have a chance. But if I'm the nominee, she's not going to have a chance, and that was the entire quote.

CAMEROTA: You're right. You know what, let me play that for you because that wasn't there. So let me - let me play that for you just to make the point to our viewers of what the entire clip is. I believe we do have it. Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIE: I don't see a lot of weakness on this stage, quite frankly. Where I see the weakness, in those three people that are left on the Democratic stage. You know, I see a socialist, an isolationist and a pessimist. And for the - for the sake of me, I can't figure out which one is which. But - but I will - but I will tell you this, the socialist says they're going to pay for everything and give you everything for free, except they don't tell you they're going to raise your taxes to 90 percent to do it. The isolationist is the one who wants to continue to follow a foreign policy that has fewer democracies today than when Barack Obama came into office around the world. But I know who the pessimist is. It's Hillary Clinton. And you put me on that stage against her next September, she won't get within 10 miles of the White House. Take it to the bank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK. So now let's really do the math. She's polling at something like - in head-to-head matchups at 50 percent. In Iowa I think she has 62 percent. Here's her against the current front runner, Donald Trump. She gets 50. He gets 45 percent. Once again, before the debate, you were at something like 3 percent. So how can you say that with such confidence?

[08:35:00] CHRISTIE: Because I've been in tough battles before. I've been - I've been elected governor in one of the bluest states in America against an incumbent who out spent me three to one and I beat him. And then against a female state senator four years ago who had the support of the Democratic Party, and I beat her in a Democratic state where there's over 750,000 more Democrats than Republicans. And we haven't elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 43 years.

I know how to win these races. I know how to win them against tough liberal Democrats. I've done it twice in New Jersey. I have the experienced. I've been tested and I am ready. And you put me on that stage one-on-one with Hillary Clinton, you're going to be calling me Mr. President by next January of 2017.

CAMEROTA: Governor Chris Christie, we appreciate you coming on NEW DAY. Thanks so much for the time.

CHRISTIE: Always great to be on. Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Candidate Mike Huckabee pulling out all the stops last night. He managed to complement Donald Trump, slam the government and take a jab at Hillary Clinton. He is next on deck. Governor Huckabee will talk all about it when he joins us on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Last night's presidential debate was a chance for Republican candidates to take on the frontrunners, Trump and Carson, and they did.

Joining us now to talk about how he thought he did in the debate, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

[08:40:09] Governor, good to be with you.

There is a consensus that the race changed last night. Do you agree with that? And if so, why and who distinguished themselves?

GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the race is going to change a lot of times between now and the first votes being cast, which really won't be until February. So, you know, we've seen this race change. It's gone up. It's gone down. The front runners will change. This happens every four years and sometimes people act like, oh my gosh, the race has changed. Chris, it always happens like that. So, you know, we'll see where it goes. But the real question is, who's doing well February the 2nd when the Iowa caucus voters assemble.

CUOMO: Why were you wearing a Trump tie last night?

HUCKABEE: Honestly, it's one of my favorite ties. It just occurred to me, when I was asked what I thought was a ridiculous question about Donald Trump, because I wasn't there to talk about Donald Trump, I was there to talk about things like Social Security and Medicare and I wanted to talk about the fair tax, I wanted to talk about bringing (ph) cures (ph) and then giving me a question about Donald Trump and then suddenly it occurred to me, you know what, I'm wearing a Donald Trump tie. So what do I think about Donald Trump? I think he makes some pretty darn good ties.

CUOMO: You are telling me that you didn't intentionally wear the tie last night as something to bring up during the debate, it was just happenstance?

HUCKABEE: No, absolutely, because I'm - I didn't expect that I was going to get a Donald Trump question. I thought we were going to focus on the economy. That's what we were told. CNBC said this is going to be a serious discussion about the economic issues facing our country. I don't know how my opinion of Donald Trump has anything to do with the economy of America.

So, honestly, it is one of my favorite ties. It is my granddaughter Scarlet's favorite color, purple. I wore it because I thought, you know, she would love to see it. And who knew that I was going to get a question that I thought, well, OK, if we're going to talk about Donald Trump and you're going to make it that still, then let me make it even sillier. Let's just talk about the tie.

CUOMO: And purple is a nice blending of blue and red. It shows, you know, a desire to move forward together. Very good. Very good. All right, we'll leave the tie alone.

Let's talk about economic policy. You said something about Social Security last night. Do we have it to play? All right, here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HUCKABEE: People paid their money. They expect to have it. And if - if this government doesn't pay it, then tell me what's different between the government and Bernie Madoff who sits in prison today for doing less than what the government has done to the people on Social Security and Medicare in this country?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: And as you know, you really have two problems with Social Security, right? You have, thank God people are living longer, being more productive, and you don't have as many workers replacing as we used to have, so the ratio is off in that pay to play kind of method. The second one is the borrowing that's gone on against the Social Security trust specifically. That started during the Reagan administration. So where do you lay blame right now?

HUCKABEE: I lay blame on Washington. They've stolen money out of the trust fund and it's been going on for decades. Just yesterday, Chris, just yesterday, they took another $150 billion out of Social Security so that they could, you know, put this debt ceiling together and that deal together and artificially inflate the budget for another couple of years. They took $700 billion out of Medicare, stole it right out of Medicare, to pay for Obamacare. And we wonder why these programs are going broke. Well, part of it is the funding mechanism.

And one of the reasons, Chris, that I strongly favor, getting rid of the current tax code and replacing it with the consumption tax, called a fair tax, which really benefits people at the bottom of the economy most. But what you also do is, you establish a stabilized funding stream for programs like Social Security and Medicaid - or Medicare because right now the only people paying into it are people who get wages for a living or the self-employed. And most of the wealth in this country right now is coming with dividends and capital gains. It is not coming by wage earners.

CUOMO: Do you have a plan for taxes that would wind up passing muster. The criticism of just doing a straight consumption tax is that you wouldn't have enough money to run the government.

HUCKABEE: Oh, you would have exactly the same amount of money. The fair tax doesn't raise or lower the income to the government. It's designed to replace it. But it doesn't penalize people's productivity. What it does do is bring about $21 trillion of off shore capital back to this country. I think that boosts the economy a little bit, Chris, if you had trillions of dollars that would come back to America that's being chased out of the country because people are protecting it from a very, very high tax rate, the highest corporate tax rate in the world.

But the beauty is that it really benefits workers because they get their whole paycheck, nothing taken out anymore. Most Americans have never seen their full paycheck. The government took it out. And now we find out they not only took it away from them, but they blew it. They spent it on something other than people who paid it in. And that's why we've got to have some serious changes in the way we deal and structure our economy. [08:45:03] CUOMO: I want to ask you something else. In your closing

remarks last night, you said, I don't want to have to walk my grandkids through the wreck of what used to be America. One of the things that really unites this country is its respect of law and those legal institutions, specifically the Supreme Court. I want to remind of something you said about the Supreme Court and see how you feel about it now. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUCKABEE: Well, but the Supreme Court can't make law. They interpreted law. But the Supreme Court can't make it. Only Congress can make law. And another thing I think we sometimes miss is the Supreme Court can be wrong. The Dred Scott decision of 1857 said that black people weren't fully human. I don't think anybody would like to go back and say hey, that's the law of the land. It's never been repealed, but it was soundly ignored.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: There's no question that the Supreme Court can be wrong. Everything that's human can be wrong. But you do know that the Supreme Court does make the supreme law of the land, its interpretation of the Constitution is definitive on what the Constitution means as it applies to law, right?

HUCKABEE: No, Chris. That's not right. Ninth grade civics tells you there's three branches of government. And each of the branches have their role. And the legislature, the Congress, makes law. The court interprets it and you go all the way back to the Marbury decision of 1802, the court didn't get to make law. They interpreted it.

CUOMO: Judicial review.

HUCKABEE: But it requires the agreement of the executive. Judicial review is established. But judicial review -- go back and read what Jefferson said. He said if you let the court make law and they become a legislative body, then you've turned the Constitution into a thing of wax. Jefferson called that judicial tyranny. And we have operated for the past 70 years under this false notion that the courts make law. That is unconstitutional.

CUOMO: It is not unconstitutional --

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE: It is a complete misread of the central separation of powers.

CUOMO: If the Supreme Court looks at a specific case and says on this case and the relevant issue, the Constitution says x and therefore this is what is the law and this is what is not, that's it. And you do not need operative legislation to make that law, by which to say Kentucky does not need a state law to reflect that men and men or women and women can now marry and get the same rights. That is my point. HUCKABEE: Chris, you would have hated Jefferson and Jackson and

Madison and Lincoln --

CUOMO: Not about the opinion of it. I'm saying the way the system works.

HUCKABEE: -- because all of them disagree with you. Everyone disagrees with you.

CUOMO: That's your opinion. What I'm saying is -

HUCKABEE: No. That's not true, Chris.

CUOMO: -- you don't need a Kentucky state law to effectuate the Supreme Court. That's what I'm asking.

HUCKABEE: But Chris, I'm telling you there are three branches of government.

CUOMO: Right.

HUCKABEE: There are equal branches. One doesn't have superiority over the other two. And if you let five unelected lawyers, to use the words of John Roberts, if you let them make law then they now rule 320 Americans. These are unelected people. You have got to get back to the fundamentals. We have allowed the Supreme Court to pretend that they are a legislative body but they most certainly are not. They are the Supreme Court. They have the ultimate decision to interpret a law. But if the executive and legislative branches refuse to follow it and they ignore it, or they decide it is not true and they don't put it into the operation, then it is not going to be operational.

When the Supreme Court made decisions in my state of Arkansas and they decided on a school funding case, they could say that we what we did was unconstitutional, and frankly they did. In that case, Chris, they were right. But we didn't just start sending out checks the next day to school districts. Do you know can why? Because we didn't have the legislative authority to do it. So we had a session. The legislature passed a funding formula. I signed it and then I ordered the Department of Education to send checks.

CUOMO: I understand.

HUCKABEE: You don't just do that because somebody wrote an opinion.

CUOMO: I understand your point. We have to go right now, Governor. But I appreciate you clarifying. I understand your point. I'm just saying there is no operative legislation needed for same-sex marriage once the court decided it was covered under the Constitution. That was it. But I look forward to continuing these conversations with you going forward. We'll always talk policy here on NEW DAY. Thanks for being with us.

HUCKABEE: I would love to.

CUOMO: Alisyn? HUCKABEE: You bet.

CAMEROTA: Well, a lot of analysis of last night's debate, as you've heard, but at the end of the day it is all up to you, of course, the voters. So next we're talking to Republican voters.

[08:49:12] What did they take away from last night?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: You can campaign or just resign and let someone else take the job. There are a lot of people living paycheck to paycheck in Florida as well. They're looking for a senator that will fight for them each and every day.

MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The only reason why you are doing it now is because we're running for the same position and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going help you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right. That was one of last night's most talked about moments, at least by the pundits. So what do voters think this morning?

Here with us is Paul DiBartolo. He's a Donald Trump and Ben Carson supporter. Interesting way to hedge your bets. John Burnett, an undecided Republican voter, and former candidate for New York City Comptroller, Maricelly Velez-Delgado. She's former assistant to Governor George Pataki for Hispanic affairs who is also an undecided Republican voter.

Great to have all of you with us. Maricelly, you're undecided. You voted for George Pataki. Why don't you support him?

MARICELLY VELEZ-DELGADO, UNDECIDED REPUBLICAN VOTER: Well, you know, there are so many great candidates and I feel as a voter last night we were kind of all over the place. I would have liked a little bit more sincerity on some of the questions. Senator Ted Cruz didn't even answer the question on the debt ceiling. I wanted more substance and more information about how small business owners will thrive in the new American century.

CAMEROTA: Interesting. So you blame the candidates, not the moderators. You know, the moderators are getting some heat for their questions, but you wanted the candidates to answer more thoroughly.

VELEZ-DELGADO: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: OK. John, what did you take away from it last night? Who do you think won?

JOHN BURNETT, UNDECIDED REPUBLICAN VOTER: Well, I think the loser in it is definitely the moderators. I think the winner, in my opinion, Rubio walked away talking to the broad-based demographic. When he said that he had to explain to his wife why a lady named Sally Mae is taking $1,000 every month from his paycheck, I think that resonated with a lot of young voters.

CAMEROTA: You liked that moment. OK Paul, so you support Trump and Carson.

PAUL DIBARTOLO, DONALD TRUMP & BEN CARSON SUPPORTER: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: They were not in the limelight last night. What did you think of their performance?

DIBARTOLO: No, I think - I was very happy with their performance. I think what they were trying to do is kind of just lay back, for lack of a better word, just chill out. Just make sure that they didn't --

CAMEROTA: Mess it up?

DIBARTOLO: Mess it up. Basically. They are so far ahead in the polls that I just feel like they didn't really need to be outspoken last night. They didn't need to make a mark like a lot of the other candidates. They needed to try to, you know, basically make a mark.

CAMEROTA: Maricelly, some people felt that this was a make or break moment for Jeb Bush. How do you think he did?

VELEZ-DELGADO: Absolutely. And as a former governor he has a great track record. And I could clearly see last night that there was some contention between him and Rubio.

CAMEROTA: They were friends, we've heard. And one was sort of -- Jeb was sort of a mentor to Marco. But you felt tension last night.

VELEZ-DELGADO: There was definitely tension. You could see it. And I like that Rubio bounced back. And he said you know what? I didn't know there was a line to run. He's a young guy. But I think he's capable. He's ready, willing and able. He has a vision for this new American century.

[08:55:03] And you know, the Sun Sentinel endorsed him and now they want to kick him out. Obviously he's running for president. He's not going to be in Florida a lot of the times. He's going to be traveling, he's going to be fundraising and he's going to try to do the best he can in this race.

CAMEROTA: So you liked his response to missing votes?

VELEZ-DELGADO: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: John, what did you think about Jeb Bush's performance?

BURNETT: I think Jeb -- This is the third debate and I don't think Jeb showed up yet. So I think going forward, I think it is going to hinder his fundraising perhaps. I don't think he -- he didn't answer the question. Why are you answering a question being proud of your fantasy football picks when you should have just deflected it and went to your record and your tax plan?

CAMEROTA: Oh, so you thought that he shouldn't have I think that it should be regulated. He should have just dismissed with that question.

BURNETT: He should have said look, we need to be - He should have pivoted and talked about his record, went into what his plan is for America. He talks about getting to 4 percent growth but I don't think he's actually given enough details on how he needs to get there.

CAMEROTA: Paul, we only have a few seconds left. Anybody drops out after last night? How do you think the field changes?

DIBARTOLO: Actually last night I don't think the field changed at all. I think everybody kind of held their own and I don't think there was any movement at all, to be honest with you.

CAMEROTA: OK. There you go.

DIBARTOLO: At this point.

CAMEROTA: It's great to get the pulse of real voters. Maricelly, John, Paul, thanks so much for coming on. Great to talk to you guys. We'll talk to you again in the race.

VELEZ-DELGADO: Thank you for having us and engaging the voters.

CAMEROTA: Our pleasure. Thanks so much for watching.

"NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello picks up right after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

John Boehner about to say goodbye. After a quarter of a century in the House of Representatives and a combined five years as the leader of that body, House speaker John Boehner of Ohio was calling to order his final session and preparing to hand over the gavel to his replacement.

The vote to elect Paul Ryan as speaker will take place this hour, but not before Boehner bids a final farewell to his colleagues and to Washington. We'll bring you all the key moments this morning.

But for now, we begin with last night's third Republican presidential debate. And those Republican rivals, they came out swinging unleashing a wave of attacks against each other. Senator Marco Rubio shines while Jeb Bush falls flat. One of the biggest showdowns of the night? When Bush slammed Rubio's voting record. Rubio scoring major points after fending off that attack.

But the GOP's biggest target may have been the media. Republicans wasting no time returning to that age old tactic of bashing the lamestream media during the debate.