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New Day

Lawmakers Examine Visa Waiver, Refugee Programs; Mark Zuckerberg Welcomes Daughter with Charity Pledge; Republican Voters on New National Poll. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 02, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:29:50] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: One of the leading voices in that fight is Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso.

Senator, thank you for joining us. We will discuss climate, but let's deal with this exigency of Syrian refugees and the budget.

Do you believe this is a shutdown looming?

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R), WYOMING: No. we're committed to keeping the government open and not shut down and not default on the debt. We're going to send a number of bills to the president. A transportation bill that funds transportation, roads, highways, for five years. Haven't done that since Bill Clinton was president. We're getting a lot done. Next week it's going to be reform of education and No Child Left Behind. We're going to keep the government open.

CUOMO: Thank you for pointing that out, Senator. I hope it comes to fruition. We just Mayorkas here from Homeland Security. He says stop scaring people. Syrian refugees are vetted more than just about anybody else who gets into this country. We can find out who they are and that they are safe and that they are people who are victims and we should remember what America is about. Your response?

BARRASSO: Well, we've had briefings. I've just gotten back from Afghanistan. ISIS has jumped the fence. They're setting up franchises around the world and they now have a presence in Afghanistan. The American people are right to be concerned about terrorism. I think ISIS is using a number of techniques. I worry about the no-fly list, people that come here who don't need visas from the 38 countries who are part of that.

And my worry is that what ISIS is also wanting to do is exploit the situation of the Syrian refugees. The reason that there are four million refugees, people who are fleeing Syria, they are being killed by Assad. Their friends, neighbors, relatives have been killed. They just want to stay alive. I worry, though, that ISIS is going to try to seed those with other terrorists trying to get to this country.

CUOMO: But you just said, coming from Afghanistan, there are lots of different ways that ISIS is trying to make the world a worse place. Why focus all of the criticism and pushback against the group that needs our welcome the most? These refugees who, as you just acknowledged, are running for their lives. BARRASSO: Whether you're talking about 10,000 to the United States,

25,000 to Canada, there's still 4 million refugees. The problem is, we need to prevent additional refugees. Prevent people from having to leave their country of Syria. We should have a no-fly zone there so there is an area of safety within Syria, so that the world community can come and bring aid to those people safely. No matter how many refugees one country or another takes, you're not going to be able to deal with 4 million refugees. We have to get to the root of the problem.

CUOMO: Right.

BARRASSO: What Republicans are proposing specifically with Syrian refugees is to push the pause button because it is very difficult, very difficult, to identify who exactly these people are each and every one of them and their intent.

CUOMO: Right. Except that you will hear from the same experts that it's much harder to find out who the people are outside of this refugee population. They are more confident and more comfortable with the Syrian refugees than they are many other groups who are coming into this country. Why punish the Syrian refugees? Why not say they can come in, we just have to be careful?

BARRASSO: We have to be careful with everyone coming to the United States. You take a look at what happened in Paris and the terrorist attacks there. Those folks had, for the most part, French passports. They would have been eligible unless they were on the no-fly list to fly to the United States. You have many people who have European passports who have been in to Syria, have been part of ISIS, been part of that fight, have now gone back to their original countries and I worry about them getting into the United States or all of them on the no-fly list. I think there's a serious threat to our country from those individuals as well.

CUOMO: I understand what you're saying. I'm just saying that that's nowhere in the bill that your brothers and sisters are putting through in the House right now that says Syrian refugees and the question is are they being unfairly targeted when they're the biggest victims of the situation. But we've discussed that issue.

To climate. We just had Exxon come out with a report that echoes what is 99 percent of the understanding around the world, which is that this place is getting hotter and it's getting hotter for bad reason, which is what mankind is doing to make it hotter. Are you ready to accept that proposal?

BARRASSO: I don't debate the science. I debate the solution that the president proposed, which is essentially unilateral disarmament on the part of the United States. The president wants to lower emissions in the United States by over 25 percent by the year 2025 and yet China emissions continue to go up through 2030. India's emissions are going to triple between now and 2030.

So what the president is proposing hurts the U.S. economy, transfers hard-earned taxpayer dollars to folks from around the world. The linchpin of this climate conference in Paris are dollars. It's American money, the president had included it in his budget, but his budget lost 98-1. I don't think the American public is ready to put billions of hard-earned dollars into a green climate slush fund.

CUOMO: Is that sending a message that America is not going to go first in doing the right thing, it's going to keep doing the wrong thing because others are doing it, too?

[08:35:00] BARRASSO: Well the emissions in the United States are down dramatically over the last dozen years, whereas emissions in China and India have continued to go up and up and up. So I think that what we need to do is say, hey, China, hey, India, why do you continue to increase your emissions? I think other countries are eager to accept U.S. dollars and eager to see U.S. weaken itself at a time when they will take the money and become stronger helping their economy and hurting ours.

CUOMO: I guess the question will become, why can't you do both? Do the best you can at home and get others to do it as well. But we're going to have to see what the next round of policy proposals are on that.

Senator Barrasso, thank you very much for your perspective on NEW DAY, sir.

BARRASSO: Thanks so much for having me.

CUOMO: Absolutely. Mick?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right A couple announcements from Facebook's founder. One of a very personal nature and one, well, going to benefit the world. You'll want to hear this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:40:00] PEREIRA: All right. Big news at Yahoo! this morning. Time for CNN Money now. Chief business correspondent Christine Romans in the money center. Yahoo! looking for a new buyer?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, guys. Yahoo! could be putting its core business up for sale. CEO Marissa Mayer has struggled to reverse the company's decline and now reports the board will meet to discuss whether to sell its internet business, its stake in Alibaba, or both. Yahoo! shares are soaring before the bell.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is celebrating the birth of his daughter, Maxima Chan Zuckerberg, but pledging to give away 99 percent of his Facebook shares over his lifetime. Those shares currently valued at $45 billion. They will go to charities that focus on curing diseases, personalized learning, and community building.

Back to you guys.

CUOMO: All right, Christine. Thank you very much. So he has conquered the victory lane, but that's hardly the biggest achievement for one race car driver who refuses to let his small stature get in his way.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta has this "Turning Point."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rico Abreu was born with achondroplasia. It's a bone disorder that's the most common type of dwarfism. But that hasn't quelled the race car driver's competitive streak.

RICO ABREU, RACE CAR DRIVER: I don't think my stature has affected my driving style or what I do on and off the racetrack. In anything I've ever done, I've wanted to win.

GUPTA: And win he does. Abreu won nearly a quarter of his races in 2014 and grabbed his first ever NASCAR victory in July.

ABREU: Got the lead with numerous laps to go and then lost the lead again and got the lead back with about ten laps to go and ended up winning the race.

Crossing the checkered flag when you win, there's not much more of a feeling than that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the celebration getting ready to get under way as Rico crawls out of the car.

GUPTA: At just 4'4", Abreu has his cars adapted to fit his height and wants to inspire others with dwarfism to find a way to do what they love as well.

ABREU: A lot of people come up to me and say how inspiring I am. I really feel that you can push yourself to do what you love.

GUPTA: After all, on the racetrack, it's not about how tall you are.

ABREU: Everyone's the same size when they race. It's just about having the biggest heart.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That's a great story. All right. Well, a new national poll finds Donald Trump still dominating. His numbers rising despite countless controversies. Next up, we have our voter panel to get their take.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:46:36] CAMEROTA: A new national poll out this morning finds Donald Trump the undeniable GOP frontrunner. He garners 27 percent of the vote in this Quinnipiac poll. This despite controversial comments that would likely have sunk other candidates.

What is it about Trump that keeps him on top? Let's bring in three Republican voters to get their take. Pauley (ph) Di Bartolo, he's a Donald Trump supporter. Mary Brauner, she's an undecided voter at the moment. And Joseph Pinion, a Jeb Bush supporter.

Great to have all of you here with us.

PAUL DI BARTOLO, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Thank you, Alisyn. Good to be here.

CAMEROTA: Pauley, you're feeling pretty good this morning about your support of Donald Trump.

DI BARTOLO: Absolutely. He's the man. He's going to do it.

CAMEROTA: So despite the controversial comments, I mean, why -- what is it about Donald Trump that so appeals to voters?

DI BARTOLO: Well, he thinks like we think. He talks like we talk. Everybody can relate to him, no matter what level you're at. You can really relate to him. He relates to everybody. He's speaking to everybody out there, you know? Let's face it, he really loves America and he wants to make America great again. And - and that's it.

CAMEROTA: Joseph, you are a Jeb Bush supporter.

JOSEPH PINION, JEB BUSH SUPPORTER: Yes.

CAMEROTA: The numbers for Jeb Bush are not strong this morning. He's at the back of the pack. He's at 5 percent. What's your feeling about what's happening with him?

PINION: You know, I think obviously the numbers are not necessarily what you would like at this particular point in time. But I think, as most people realize, this is an atypical election cycle. This is really going to be an election that goes potentially into June, July. We could be looking at a situation we were looking at (inaudible) convention. So really right now, as a New York voter, I mean, I'm excited for the fact that for the first time in my lifetime, my actual vote in a primary is actually going to mean something.

CAMEROTA: It's going to - It's going to (inaudible) -- Right. Mary, you're undecided still today. So which way are you leaning?

MARY BRAUNER, UNDECIDED REPUBLICAN VOTER: I've bounced a little bit to all of the candidates. I have to be honest, they all have something to say. I read almost all of their books. Very single last one of them.

CAMEROTA: Wow. You are a well-researched voter.

BRAUNER: I need to know what they are behind the written statements, speeches.

CAMEROTA: Who speaks to you? Anyone?

BRAUNER: Rubio speaks to me, but he goes back and forth. Jeb Bush speaks to me, but he goes back and forth. I have to say, nothing that Donald Trump has said is wrong. CAMEROTA: Meaning what?

BRAUNER: He spoke about 9/11. Yes, there were people celebrating.

CAMEROTA: Hold on a second, Mary. We've vetted this six ways to Sunday. We have gone back to the original police chiefs who were there. There were not thousands and thousands of people.

BRAUNER: Not thousands.

CAMEROTA: In fact, not even hundreds, not even dozens. There were - I mean -- Let me read to you, just to put your mind at ease, the original chief of Paterson, New Jersey, this is where it allegedly happened. Here is what he said two days afterwards, this is on September 13th, 2013. He said, "There have been no protests, no rioting, no celebrating. There was obviously some crackpot who wanted to get this information out there." We talked to him yesterday. He stands by that. It was an urban myth.

BRAUNER: I have a friend that lived right across the Staten Island from the National Liquidator. She said there were about 25 people on top celebrating. She saw it herself.

[08:50:01] CAMEROTA: See, everybody has a friend of a friend with this.

BRAUNER: Right.

CAMEROTA: But I guess what your point is, is that despite the fact that Donald Trump said thousands and thousands, you're willing to give him a pass on that?

DI BARTOLO: Absolutely.

BRAUNER: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Why?

BRAUNER: Because I was a paramedic at that time. I saw this firsthand.

CAMEROTA: What did you see?

BRAUNER: I saw some, not thousands, some quite happy.

CAMEROTA: Okay. So Pauley, why are you willing to give him a pass? That's inaccurate.

DI BARTOLO: I'm willing to give him a pass because, let's face it, we know there's a lot of people out there -- I built a couple websites, a couple Facebook pages, one, "Truckers for Trump" and one, "Donald Trump President 2016," "Make America Great Again." I have many, many, many - okay -- accounts on the site that talk about firsthand accounts of people celebrating. There's no doubt about that. We all know that people were celebrating.

CAMEROTA: No, we don't. No, we don't.

DI BARTOLO: Yes, we do.

CAMEROTA: We have vetted. Those journalists have gone back to the site, they've talked to all the people, they're talked to the attorney general, they're talked to the police chief. Joseph, let me show you another number that's interesting. It asks people whether or not Donald Trump is honest and trustworthy. Here are the numbers as they stand today. Honest and trustworthy, yes, 35 percent, no, 59 percent. In fact, the numbers are going in the - Oh, this is with Hillary Clinton. So the two frontrunners, okay, on the Democratic side and the Republican side are not honest or trustworthy. What does that tell you?

PINION: I think truth matters. Facts matter. This is the most important job, to be leader of the free world, to be our commander in chief here in America. And what's important is that I don't care what friends of friends see. I don't care what people are trying to indicate. At the end of the day, you know, discomfort is not an excuse for intolerance.

So here in America it's important that we understand that, yes, it's okay to be fearful when you have things going on there. But you cannot feed into the fear or use the rhetoric of divisiveness. You cannot use the language of hate. You cannot, you know -- My grandfather always told me that, you know, you don't always have to drink from the bottle to know there's snake oil in there. You just have to look at the person who is actually delivering the message and listen to the words coming out of their mouth.

CAMEROTA: I think that you're hitting on something. There is a difference between feelings and fact. The feelings are what Donald Trump does so well. People feel the way he feels, to your point.

DI BARTOLO: Right. They do.

CAMEROTA: He speaks to the feelings. But Mary, I mean, given that, why aren't you a Trump supporter?

BRAUNER: I am not a Trump supporter because of his character.

CAMEROTA: What does that mean?

BRAUNER: His character is angry. I feel that he's a school yard bully. Follow me and those others that aren't strong enough to stand up and fight for the American way are going to stand behind this angry big bully because he's going to get rid of everything that people do not want in their own backyard.

CAMEROTA: So you don't like the tone? Pauley, she's not the first person to say that.

DI BARTOLO: Hey, listen, I love the tone, okay? Tone is what we need right now. We need somebody who's very strong, we need a real leader. Somebody who truly, unlike the current administration, which as far as I'm concerned is a disaster, okay? And, you know -- Listen, I actually support all of the candidates. I like all of the candidates. Okay?

CAMEROTA: All of the Republican candidates --

DI BARTOLO: Yes. Listen, all of the candidates will do a much better job than Hillary could ever do. She's a disaster, okay, and she'll be a disaster if she gets the opportunity to be our next president. Which she will not. Trump or any of the other candidates would easily beat her. Let me tell you --

CAMEROTA: We've got two seconds. Go.

DI BARTOLO: He is a true leader. He knows how to bring this country back financially. That's what we need right now. We also need somebody who our allies are will respect and our enemies will respect even more. That's what Donald Trump is. There's no one else up there right now, like I said, I like a lot of them, but there's no one up there right now that is as passionate as he is and will really get the job done all the way around. I don't care if he's a little bit of a bully.

CAMEROTA: That was more than two seconds, but I like how you put a final point on it. And we like all of your passion.

DI BARTOLO: He's in. He's done.

CAMEROTA: Pauley, Mary, Joseph, great to see you. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on all of this.

DI BARTOLO: Thank you so much (inaudible) Alisyn. It was awesome.

CAMEROTA: What's your take? Tweet us using #newdayCNN or post your comments on Facebook.com/newday. We'd love to read them.

Chris.

CUOMO: How many times do I tell you not to upset the big guys that way?

We have "The Good Stuff" coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:58:08] PEREIRA: All right. Donald Trump apparently the gift that keeps on giving for late night comics. Jake Tapper, our cousin Jake, even made the cut for an interview that he did with one of Trump's advisors. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIMMY FALLON, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: In a recent interview Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka, said that there are times when she disagrees with her father. But then there are more times when she likes the idea of inheriting a billion dollars.

(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER) MICHAEL COHEN, DONALD TRUMP ADVISOR: Mr. Trump's memory is fantastic. I've never come across a situation where Mr. Trump has said something that's not accurate.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: There are -- Seriously?

COHEN: Yes, seriously.

(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER & APPLAUSE)

LARRY WILMORE, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: See -- Jake Tapper can't even hold it. He's like, seriously? Oh, my god, that is the most amazing lie I've ever heard since that same guy said Trump wasn't making fun of the disabled reporter earlier. I think Trump just found his running mate.

(AUDIENCE LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Jake's face was priceless.

PEREIRA: Jake's face was hysterical. He usually is very kind of pulled together. Like he just - you know -- great face. Great guy.

CUOMO: One thing Jake doesn't get credit for enough, he is funny, funny. And I think that's just the reaction that it was in the moment.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: He is a funny guy.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: (inaudible) Funny bones.

CAMEROTA: That was great. I also liked Jimmy Fallon's argument that - they like the possible inheritance.

PEREIRA: Kind of hard to argue with that.

CUOMO: Tough spot for his kids. I got to be honest. They're all doing great things, though, so that's good.

PEREIRA: That's not easy to do, as you well know.

CUOMO: True, true. And there was no billion dollars at the end of that rainbow, I'll tell you that now

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: On that note, thanks so much for watching. Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

PEREIRA: Morning, Carol. CAMEROTA: Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and thank you so much. Have a great day. "NEWSROOM" starts now.