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Kentucky Elects Republican Governor; Interview with Donald Trump; Donald Trump and Ben Carson's Poll Numbers Analyzed; Mystery Deepens in Jetliner Crash. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 04, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, November 4th, 8:00 in the east. Republicans hope election night 2015 is a sign of more good things to come. Why. Well, they scored big wins in their statewide sweep in Kentucky including electing the second Republican governor in the last 44 years. And he wasn't just anybody. He is also a reflection of what is working right now on the national scale for the GOP as well. Also big moves in Virginia to tell you about.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I'll just move my lips while you speak.

CUOMO: I've never looked so good.

CAMEROTA: There were other notable ballad measures to talk about going the way of conservatives as well. Voters in Houston rejecting a gay rights measure and Ohio rejecting the legalization of marijuana. So what are the implications for the 2016 race? We have complete coverage. And we begin with John Berman who is tracking all of the interesting election results. John, what do you see?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An upset in Kentucky. A big win for Republicans and victories for the conservative movement across the board.

Let's start in Kentucky. The Republican candidate, Mark Bevin, he will be the next governor just the second time in more than 40 years that a Republican will occupy the governor's office there. He beat Democrat Jack Conway, the attorney general in there, perhaps an outsider/insider dynamic at play in that state.

Significantly now, let me show you the map of the south. It's all red. Republicans will occupy the governor's office in all those states. The only state where you have a Democratic governor now or in the future will be in Virginia. And Virginia, by the way, the Democrats just re-failed to take over the Senate there. A blow to the Democrats in that state as well.

In Mississippi, the Republican governor there, Phil Bryant, he was reelected fairly easily there, actually very easily there.

The ballot measures everyone is talking about today, Ohio, marijuana. A measure that would have legalized marijuana for medicinal and recreational use, it failed. This was quirky measure because it was also guaranteed a monopoly to several growers in that state, just a few of them, in fact. And one of them was former boy band member Nick Lachey. He would have controlled the pot monopoly. He lost last night. He tweeted "While I may not agree, the people of Ohio have spoken and that is the way it's supposed to work. Change takes time."

In Houston there was a referendum, a city council ordinance that banned discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation. That was repealed last night overwhelmingly, 61-39 percent. This became a battle over bathrooms. Opponents of this measure said that men would be able to go into the women's bathrooms and somehow be predators. Again, this just shows a victory for social conservatives around the country, none more so than in Kentucky. Matt Bevin, a Tea Party favorite wins there. He's a guy who's been against Obamacare for a long time in a state where there has been some success for Obamacare. Also a big supporter of Matt Bevin was Kim Davis and her battle to not issue same-sex marriage licenses. Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, a lot of big changes there. Thanks so much for that, John.

Meanwhile, if you like tight races you are probably loving the battle for the Republican presidential nomination. Donald Trump had a one point lead over Dr. Ben Carson in the latest post-debate Quinnipiac pole. And that is a statistical dead heat. Let's bring in Athena Jones live from Washington on these number this morning. Hey, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. This new poll with Trump and Carson neck and neck within the margin of error is just more evidence that this race is changing.

After months of Trump being solidly in the lead, when you compare numbers now to September, Trump's numbers are pretty much unchanged. But you can see that Carson and Cruz have gained six points each. And Marco Rubio has jumped five points to third place.

Meanwhile Jeb Bush is way down at four percent. He has lost six points since September. And there's more bad news in this poll for Bush. He has the first net un-favorability numbers of any candidate. And 58 percent view him unfavorably. And just 25 percent have a favorable view.

Another interesting point to highlight here is that while Trump and Carson are tied at the top, when the candidates are all matched up head to head against Hillary Clinton, Trump is the only one of the top three Republican candidates that loses to her. And there are more new numbers out this morning from the key early voting state of New Hampshire. The WBUR poll shows Trump and Carson are at the top. Meanwhile other candidates like Marco Rubio and Chris Christie are making some gains there. Trump of course is in New Hampshire today filing his paperwork to get on the ballot. I'm sure he'll be talking more about these poll numbers and leaves a lot for us to talk about as well. Back to you.

CUOMO: All right, Athena, thanks. Donald Trump's spot atop the polls not making him any softer on

his opponents, or maybe that's why he is on top of the polls. Trump unloaded on competitors and the media and the polls here on NEW DAY. Here is a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: When you talk about your opponents which you have been doing more and more recently. Ben Carson doesn't have the temperament to do it, he doesn't have the experience. Marco Rubio, you talk about his personal finances.

Jeb Bush, you talk about his energy. Here's what they say in response so you can respond. The Carson camp says this is genius, what Donald Trump is saying, because he's using his own weakness as what is Dr. Ben Carson's actual strength. You are the one with the temperament issue. Anyone you disagree with you call a loser, you say they stink. No matter how good a reporter they are you say they're a terrible reporter if you don't like what they say.

[08:05:20] DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He says the same thing, by the way.

CUOMO: Well he says it differently than you and he doesn't say the kinds of things that you would say, which you'll back up on, but it still hurts in the moment.

TRUMP: Ben will not be able to deal with China. He will not be able to deal with Iran. He will not be able to deal with any of the countries that are really abusing our country and they are abusing it.

CUOMO: What is the proof that you could?

TRUMP: Because that is not his thing. And frankly, when you talk about energy, he's got lower energy than Jeb Bush.

CUOMO: What does that mean low energy?

TRUMP: I don't know where Ben comes from. But if Ben got in, you would say, oh, my god, we have ourselves a problem, OK? I will tell you that right now.

CUOMO: Here is -- I'm not here to advocate for them.

TRUMP: My temperament is great. You can't have the bad temperament and build a great company.

CUOMO: But all you do is attack those who disagree with you. You can't do that on the world stage.

TRUMP: I have 90 days left. I want to win. I have 90 days left. And I'm a different guy than Jeb Bush who said Marco is terrific, he's my dear, dear friend. He's a wonderful person. And you know what I said, three months ago I said they hate each other. And I turned out to be right. They hate each other.

CUOMO: No, no, they both say they don't hate each other. They both say they are doing --

TRUMP: Excuse me, they hate each other. To be specific --

CUOMO: They both say they don't hate each other.

TRUMP: More than you will ever know how much they hate each other.

CUOMO: So you know better than they do, I guess.

TRUMP: Marco was extremely disloyal to Jeb Bush. And everybody said Marco will never run because without Jeb Marco would have never been where he is. And Marco, frankly, when he ran it was shocking to people, especially to the people of Florida that he ran, because of the loyalty factor.

CUOMO: Here is the case you need to make.

TRUMP: And, by the way, I think those people are right. He should have been more respectful to Jeb Bush.

CUOMO: I think he got a lot of points in the debate because he was so respectful. When there was this open attack, a naked attack by Bush about whether or not he goes and does the voting or not, how did Marco Rubio respond? With empathy. If --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: In terms of his attack and counterattack. There was no counterattack.

CUOMO: Marco Rubio didn't --

TRUMP: What Jeb should have done is he should have refuted what Marco had said because Jeb had the better argument but he was a bad messenger.

CUOMO: Maybe. That is your take.

TRUMP: That's not my take. That's everybody's take.

CUOMO: That's not everybody's take. We don't know everybody's take is. We only know what you say.

TRUMP: He had a counterattack. He attacked him, and that was fine. And his message was not as badly delivered as people said. But he attacked. The problem was Marco then went on talking about how wonderful it is that he didn't vote, which is wrong, and other things, and then Jeb just stood there and didn't say anything.

CUOMO: All right, here is the point. You cannot effectively think that you are going to win to be president by just attacking the opponents all the time. It has to be what you're going to do, what is positive, how you're going to do it.

TRUMP: I've said what I'm going to. I'm going to renegotiate our trade deals where we're losing billions and billions and even trillions of dollars.

CUOMO: I know. You have to do more. You have to say how you will do it.

TRUMP: Right now we're suckers for the rest of the world. I'm going to start immediately with renegotiating our trade deals. I'm going to build up the military. I'm going to take care of our vets. I'm going to get rid of Obamacare and replace it with --

CUOMO: That all sounds good, but the devil is in the details.

TRUMP: I've said this 100 times.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: We have so much to talk about. Here to help us break it down all things Trump and so much more, CNN political commentator and Jeb Bush supporter Ana Navarro and CNN political commentator, Democratic strategist, and senior adviser to a pro- Hillary Super PAC Paul Begala. Guys, great to have you all here. Paul, what jumps out at you from the Trumpapalooza?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: First, Chris, congratulations for bringing him out of his shell. Trump is a shy and retiring guy. Chris has remarkable talent to get him to open up.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: I feel like a mosquito in a nudist colony. Anywhere I land is fertile territory. I don't even know where to begin. But let me begin with his attacks on the media.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Be so very careful where you land Paul, really.

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: Ana, as you know, attacking the media in the Republican Party especially, it works. Republican primary voters hate the press because they hate facts. They hate truth. They believe that they should live in their own little bubble, and they have created one in their right wing media. So they love attacks on the press.

The second thing, which is not often discussed, is it works. It works with the press. Trump has the press so cowed you can almost hear them moo.

[08:10:00] When you attack the press, they're just a bunch of wimps. He does it because it works. And it was a brilliant tactic. You didn't give in, Chris. I was teasing.

CUOMO: Thanks. You're a little late on that Paul, by the way.

BEGALA: No, you stood up for our reporter who's covering Trump very well. You stood up for the press. Honestly, I hate to complement you because I don't like you. But I think you did a terrific job with him defending people who actually report the truth.

CUOMO: Two points. One, Sara Murray, as we all know, needs no defense. There are people online who are saying if Donald Trump feels that way about somebody it is right to have the opinion. I don't agree. Certain things are objective truths. If you go after a reporter because you don't like what they said about you that doesn't mean that the reporting was wrong. And CNN is a team, we protect our own, but there is no need for protection here because if you watch a reporter they speak for themselves.

The second thing is, some people want to talk policy. We had Governor Kasich on here. He's talked policy all day and he's shut down anything you'd say about the other candidates. That's not Trump's M.O., that's not what he does, Ana. That's what he does well. So the decision is to test him on his own game. And let's be honest, the big difference between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump isn't about the merits. It's about the tactics. And his are working right now and Jeb's are not. Fair criticism?

NAVARRO: I think it's about both. I think it's about the merits and I think it's about tactics. They are completely different personas. They are completely different careers. I think they are completely different vocations. The humility level, I cannot imagine Jeb Bush going on TV and spending half the interview criticizing a reporter. Frankly for a while there I thought maybe Sara Murray was running for GOP nomination and leading Donald Trump in the polls he was so unhinged about her.

I think it goes back to the temperament question. We have seen him do this now for months and months and months. It has worked for him for months and months and months. He has stayed on the top of the polls. So he thinks let me just do what has been working. The problem is he's become a one trick pony, and it is becoming really old. The shiny object is no long they are shiny. The veneer is coming off and I think it is really affecting his psyche.

CAMEROTA: Ana, hold on. I want to challenge you on one thing. What he does, quite effectively, is he plants these seeds of discontent about the other candidates. He says Marco Rubio has credit card debt. He says Ben Carson can't negotiate well. He says Jeb Bush is low energy. And you can't un-hear those things. It's like once he says them, I think he is effect --

CUOMO: It's like a mosquito at the nudist colony.

CAMEROTA: So what to do about that, Ana?

NAVARRO: I agree with you. He's very, very good about that. But I don't think it's having the same effect it did at the beginning. When he first started he was squarely focused on Jeb Bush and the low energy thing. And much to my chagrin I think it took a cost -- it had a cost on Jeb, and it's now led to a branding problem that Jeb is going to have to fight hard against to counter it.

But nowadays his attacks are so diluted. On one hand against Marco, he's still against Jeb, against Ben Carson, against Sara Murray. It is really kind of hard to keep up with the speed and variety of attacks spewing out of Donald Trump's mouth. And it is getting old. I don't think the attacks he's, for example, waging against Ben Carson are having the same effect as the ones that were laser focused on Jeb Bush four months ago.

CAMEROTA: Want to talk some polls?

CUOMO: Yes. The proof is in the polls, and he's still doing well. The state polls are even more flattering to Mr. Trump than these most recent national ones. And I think that speaks to him growing strength in regions as opposed to overall. But Paul, what is your take? I will argue all day it is not cynicism. Politics is often personal. That's what Trump has made the headline for the primary so far, and it's working. What do you see in these numbers?

BEGALA: Well, as Carson has risen Trump has not fallen. I find that remarkable. It is a testament to Mr. Trump's strength. And perhaps Ana is right that the veneer right now. I don't know. It's a pretty solid veneer right now. He is not falling, even though I would have said from the outside analyzing it that Trump and Carson fish out of the same pond. So as Carson does better Trump should do worse. He's not. Trump has shown remarkable resilience as Carson has really come to match him.

What it means is there are no more voters left for the rest of the field. Poor Jeb is down at four. We're all excited that Marco Rubio has broken into double digits? Come on, the guy has been running for president since he was five. It's really just these two goliaths and then the whole rest of the field.

CAMEROTA: Ana, what do you see, because it is, what's happened with Jeb in the numbers is the most striking. So is Carson taking money from Jeb? Jeb Bush was at 10 percent in September. Now he's half that at four percent.

NAVARRO: I don't think he's taking money or poll numbers from Jeb.

[08:15:03] I think Jeb has got to reset, reboot, refocus, and I think he's got to rebrand. I think he's got to reconcile himself with the fact that running for president requires performing. I spoke to him last night.

And I think he's got it. I think he's understood that yes, you can be about policy. Yes you can be authentic. You don't have to sell out your authenticity. But you have to perform particularly when you are in a field of ten other people on that stage with gigantic egos and personas.

CUOMO: Ana, sometimes, is it just about the match up? You know, you look at Jeb on paper. You know him personally. You have one feeling about him and his pedigree and his professionalism.

But sometimes it's just a bad match up. I mean, you look at you and Begala. On paper, you're both confident. But when -- in this particular matchup, you're so much more appealing and telegenic. Your points are so much more crisp that on the basis of his straight line analysis, you make him look like my big toe. You know, on paper, he looks good.

NAVARRO: But his hair is so much better than mine. I just can't compete.

BEGALA: False.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: No defense. I got no defense.

CUOMO: I love Paul. Everybody knows it.

My point is this -- is it just a bad match up for Jeb that Trump, Carson, even Rubio and Cruz are making this a game that just doesn't play well to his strengths?

CAMEROTA: Let's let your big toe answer that. Go ahead, Paul.

CUOMO: Well, he's going to say, you know, I want --

BEGALA: No, no, I do want to hear from Ana.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: Sometimes there are people who are one way in private and don't project it publicly. When you are running for president, particularly in 2015, the era of Twitter, of Snapchat of blogs of 24/7 cable news, you have got to be able to project it through the screen. And I think that's been one of Jeb's biggest challenges.

The match up, you know, what can I tell you? It is like picking your parents. You don't have a choice. It is what it is. And you just have to work with the cards you are dealt.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Paul, you got ten seconds, do you want to tie it up?

BEGALA: The biggest thing in Jeb's debate. His biggest weakness, he's not angry enough. The Republican base is not just angry. They're furious. That's why they won such impressive victories yesterday and I congratulate them for them. But they have figured out how to tap into their voters' anger and Jeb has not.

CAMEROTA: Paul, Ana --

NAVARRO: His biggest is debating.

CAMEROTA: Great to talk to you. I believe you will pick this one.

NAVARRO: One word answer.

CAMEROTA: Wow. There you go.

CUOMO: Says his friend.

CAMEROTA: She says his friend. There you go. We'll talk to you guys again.

CUOMO: You defended him. He called you a cow early in the --

CAMEROTA: He did not. He said reporters for cowed like you.

CUOMO: He said moo and he was looking at you when he said it.

CAMEROTA: Don't try to throw Paul under the bus.

Michaela, help.

PEREIRA: I've just been enjoying (INAUDIBLE)

(LAUGHTER)

PEREIRA: We'll carry on with news here at 17 minutes after the hour.

The MetroJet that crashed in Egypt made a severe drop in ground speed area in the moments before taking its tragic plunge. The search area includes 15 square miles now, as investigators continue to search for answers. Thirty-three victims have been identified. The first body has been returned to a family in Russia for burial.

CUOMO: President Obama determined to take action on the Keystone pipeline before he leaves office despite the fact that the company wants a final decision delayed. TransCanada is asking the State Department to suspend its year-long evaluation of the pipeline. The White House calls that request, quote, "political". The president is expected to reject the pipeline proposal as soon as this month.

CAMEROTA: The wife of late comedian Robin Williams is speaking out for the first time since his death. Susan Williams says despite what most people think, depression and Williams' long time struggles with alcohol and drug addiction did not play a role in his suicide. She said it was his battle of Lewy body dementia which effects memory, movement and mood.

CUOMO: New details emerging in that tragic MetroJet crash. The plane apparently slowed radically before plunging from the sky. Why might that happen? We have an expert on for their take, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:23:17] CAMEROTA: New clues into the crash of that MetroJet plane over Egypt. Let's dig deeper into what they are with Alan Diehl, he's our former accident investigator for the NTSB, FAA and the Air Force. He's also the author of "Air Safety Investigators: Using Science to Save Lives One Crash At A Time".

Mr., Diehl, thanks so much for being here.

We have a couple of different avenues of evidence to pursue with you this morning.

First the new audio evidence we understand from reports they heard something on tapes. A sound that was unexpected and non- standard coming from the cockpit. What does that mean to you?

ALAN DIEHL, FORMER ACCIDENT INVESTIGATOR, NTSB, FAA, AIR FORCE: Well, there could be several things. It could be a crack occurring in the pressurization. And of course whenever you hear that if you are at high altitudes as a pilot -- as you know I'm an aviation psychologist. You can sometimes get what's called a startled response on the part of the crew.

Now, I'm speculating here. I don't know if that's what caused the sudden climb or not, but whenever you get an unexpected shock, if you will, sometimes you act in a visceral way. So, that's what might have happened.

CAMEROTA: OK. That's interesting, Mr. Diehl. So, when you talk about the startled response, in other words, if pilots were startled by something they might do something that would sort of overcorrect. And let's look at what happened then, because there was this unexplainable ascent.

As you described, the flight reached 33,000 and it suddenly began losing altitude after that. But you see this climb, this rapid climb. Our own David Soucie, our aviation expert, said that it was 8,000 feet a minute.

[08:25:00] So, how else can you explain that?

DIEHL: Well, there could be some structural inducement, if you will. Remember this is a fly by wire aircraft. And there could have been some electrical anomaly introduced to cause that. But I agree with David, 8,000 feet a minute is very unusual at that those altitudes, Alisyn.

They call that coffin corner because if you go too fast and get up against the sound barrier you can do structural damage to the aircraft.

And if you go too slow, you enter the area of the aerodynamic stall. So, you handle jets very gingerly at those altitudes and 8,000 feet a minute is a very, very unusual rate of climb at that altitude, especially being loaded that heavily. They had a full passenger load, almost full fuel.

So that is an interesting development.

CAMEROTA: It sure is.

DIEHL: The plunge afterwards can be explained particularly if the tail did separate. David explained that you would expect the nose to pitch down because of the loss of horizontal stabilizer. So, we also are going to have to look at these repairs. Excuse me, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: I just want to read one thing coming out of the news outlets. Some of the new clues the were getting are from journalists, not necessarily yet officials. But this is a news outlet in St. Petersburg. It is very well respected.

And here's what they write today, "Forensic experts working on identification of bodies divide traumas into two types. Burns and traumas received as a result of falling. By the passengers in the front to the plane, meaning, to the tail section. Another type of signs of explosion trauma they've seen, with metal pieces in bodies at passengers. Forensic experts say it's too early to make conclusions of the nature of the injuries but they are working on all possible scenarios including explosion.

What do those details tell you?

DIEHL: Well, of course they would allude to the possibility of a missile of bomb, if there are in fact metal fragments in the bodies that would be very interesting. And clearly bombs and missiles provide certain types of shrapnel wounds examiners would be able to identify quickly. But these are unconfirmed unofficial discussions right now. So we probably want to wait a while on that, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: So, Mr. Diehl, are you comfortable saying which way you are leaning today?

DIEHL: Well, from doing 40 years of these kind of investigations, you never want to close off any area. You let the science and the evidence lead you. But right now it is looking to me like it is some kind of mechanical.

And that repair is very curious, because of course we know that happened in 2001 when the aircraft was fairly new. There was a tail strike at Cairo when they landed. It was repaired.

As David Soucie explained, whenever you repair these aircraft, you introduce new types of failure modes and you are very dependent on the maintenance people to detect any kind of subsequent failure. Now, if these mechanics back in Russia haven't been paid for a couple of months, you worry about that.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

DIEHL: They may be distracted. So, yes, that can happen, Alisyn. That will be up to the Russians.

CAMEROTA: OK. Well, it's all -- I mean, you have laid it out so perfectly for us and so many troubling scenarios.

Alan Diehl, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. Great to get your expertise .

Let's get over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. Back to politics: Jeb Bush down but not out. He's getting advice from quite a familiar face. A name he rarely uses on the campaign trail. Stick around for an interview you certainly don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)