Return to Transcripts main page
New Day
Trump's GOP Lead; November Jobs Report; Employees Speak Out About Mass Shooting. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired December 04, 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] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: One of the reasons that we're all so scared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
CUOMO: This conversation is an important one to have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
CUOMO: It needs to happen in many different ways and different forums. Thank you for having it with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for having me.
CUOMO: I'm sorry it's under these circumstances, but it's a conversation to have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for having me.
CUOMO: Appreciate it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CUOMO: Alisyn, to you.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris.
Of course we'll have much more on all of the developments from San Bernardino, California, shortly.
We also have some political news to go to. A brand new CNN/ORC poll has Donald Trump breaking through his previous ceiling with his biggest and widest lead in the race. We'll go through all of the numbers for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: A brand new poll out this morning shows Donald Trump with his highest numbers and biggest lead yet. In the CNN/ORC poll, Trump is at 36 percent. That is a full 20 points above his closest competitor, who is now Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Carson slips back to third place.
Let's bring in David Chalian, he's our CNN political director, and Matt Lewis, CNN contributor - sorry, "Daily Beast" contributor and conservative commentator. He also has a new book "Too Dumb to Fail: How the GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections."
[08:35:05] OK, gentlemen, let's - so this number is stunning. It is at 36 percent. Let's turn the clock back a month or two and look at how everyone's numbers have shifted around because it's interesting. So, back in October, here's what the numbers looked like. Donald Trump was still in the lead. He was at 27 percent. Back then his closest competitor was Ben Carson, who has now slipped to third place. Look at what's happened, though, to Ted Cruz's numbers. They've quadrupled. Look at Jeb Bush's numbers. They have fallen. Look at Rubio's numbers. They have gone up. But do you think, David, that the headline here is Trump's dominance?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, there's no doubt that the headline of this poll is Trump's dominance, Alisyn, I mean, because he's dominating across the board. It's not just the horse race. It's across every issue area. It's with almost every demographic group tested in the poll. That is clearly the headline out of this poll.
But you make some important observations there. Ted Cruz quadrupling his support nationally in basically a month's time is an important development in the race and it's not one to be missed. Just as important as you said is Jeb Bush falling down fast, precipitously so now, down to 3 percent in our poll. So the landscape that Donald Trump is dominating, what is happening underneath him is important because when we get to the actual voting, he's not on the ballot himself.
CAMEROTA: OK. So, Matt, you put a lot of stock in what you see in those numbers for Rubio and Cruz.
MATT LEWIS, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, "THE DAILY CALLER": Right. Absolutely. First, obviously the big story here is that Trump continues to dominate. But this is a national poll. And when we get to actual voting, it won't be a national election in the primaries. So the first thing that will happen is Iowa. Ted Cruz, who is rising in the polls at the right time, seems to appeal to the evangelical voters. He seems almost tailor made for Iowa.
What happens if Ted Cruz wins Iowa? And then we go to New Hampshire. And what happens if Chris Christie or Marco Rubio wins New Hampshire? Now Donald trump is zero for two. What happens to those national numbers? Do they hold or do they collapse? It's entirely possible that once the actual voting starts, Trump's support will disintegrate.
CAMEROTA: OK. Now let's talk about all of the hottest issues right now. Obviously with the violence in California, everyone is looking at terrorism. People are looking at who would be best to fight ISIS. People are looking at who could tackle immigration. All of these things come under the umbrella of who would make the best commander in chief.
So we have that poll. Let's look at that. People think, far and away, that Donald Trump would make the best commander in chief and those responsibilities, 37 percent. Second, Cruz, third, Carson, then Rubio and Bush. I mean what has he done, David, that has - that has struck people as commander-in-chief-like? CHALIAN: Well, he displays a strength at any cost. No matter what. No
matter what the policy specifics may be on something. No matter his - how he would propose to defeat ISIS. He does not allow getting sort of in the weeds on the policy to get in the way of projecting strength and people do perceive that as a strong commander in chief.
And take a look there at Ben Carson. I think that commander in chief question explains something that we're seeing about that Ben Carson slide, Alisyn, because he's underperforming on that than even his actual level of support. He's at 14 percent support in our poll. But when you ask about commander in chief, only 11 percent of Republicans see him that way. I think that helps explain why we see Carson on the slide.
CAMEROTA: Hey, Matt, we have less than a minute, but I do want to get to another piece of the poll and that is, people - Republicans with college degrees and without college degrees, because this is also very interesting. With no college degree, 46 percent of those Republicans support Donald Trump. Everyone else, the scales are tipped in the other direction. College degrees favor Cruz, Carson, Rubio. Whether do you see, Matt?
LEWIS: Yes, stark contrast there. And I think some of this is perfectly logical and rational. Look, if you're a working class white Republican, which is a lot of - a lot of the base, you've seen your financial situation squeezed over the years. I mean you - maybe you blame globalization and free trade. Maybe you blame immigration. Maybe - whatever it is, there's something that you could potentially blame. The American dream that they had of graduating high school and getting a - raising a middle class family has evaporated. So it makes sense that they would be frustrated -
CAMEROTA: Yes.
LEWIS: And willing to sort of roll the dice with someone like Trump. I think though at the risk of sounding elitist, there's another side of it. I do suspect there's a correlation between Republicans who have a college degree and the ability to do critical thinking, to be skeptical of Donald Trump. And I suspect college graduates might be less susceptible to Donald Trump's demagoguery.
CAMEROTA: I'm scared for what's going to happen to you on Twitter, Matt Lewis -
[08:40:02] LEWIS: Bring it on.
CAMEROTA: But I - but I will be monitoring that.
David Chalian, thanks so much. Great to talk to you guys.
LEWIS: Thanks, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Let's get to Michaela.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Back to our top story. It is unbearable to imagine what it was like to live through the San
Bernardino shooting. Ahead we're going to hear from survivors. They describe the chaos, the fear when those shooters opened fire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEREIRA: Some breaking news and good news. Good news on the economy. The Labor Department releasing the November jobs report moments ago. Christine Romans has got it.
What do we know?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We know it's stronger than we thought last month and we know this month looks pretty darn good. Look at this. This is October. And 298,000 net new jobs. That was the best in a year. And then November follows up with another 211. That means this is strong jobs growth across a lot of different sectors. When we look at the unemployment rate, you guys, the unemployment rate now right here at that 5 percent. That's about a seven year low. It's been there for a couple of months. Five percent unemployment. That is, again, still indicative of an improving job market.
[08:45:04] Let me show you what it looks like for the year. On average this year, 210,000 net new jobs each month. That is a strong year. Last year it was a very strong year as well, 260,000. Will this be - wages will start to rise, right? Companies are hiring. They are fighting for workers in some sectors. Wages rising 2.3 percent. Again, something we like to see.
I want to show you the sectors because this is important. Healthcare has seen steady job growth. Those can be low-wage jobs. They can also be very high-paid jobs. Adulatory care managers, they can be physicians, surgeons, business information services. All kinds of office jobs, tech jobs, computer jobs. Those have been growing well. They tend to pay more. And retail up another 31,000.
As you can imagine, we're heading into the holiday season. What is the market doing? Stock futures are up slightly. But let me tell you this. It probably means the Fed will raise interest rates what it needs next week. So these numbers reinforcing what we're all thinking out there. The Fed will be raising interest rates. Anybody borrowing money for a house, for a car, or on credit cards, you are going to be paying a little more probably beginning of next year, guys.
CAMEROTA: OK. But in general, really great news.
ROMANS: Yep. It's good news.
CAMEROTA: Thanks so much, Christine, for brining that to us.
All right. Back to our top story. It is almost unimaginable to think of living through the rampage in San Bernardino. But next we'll hear from the people who did. They describe the fear and the chaos.
And since we all need more hope and inspiration, this Sunday we'll celebrate the top ten CNN Heroes of the Year in a very special tribute. Here is a look
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER (voice-over): Our heroes don't fly, they soar.
ANDRA DAY, MUSICIAN (singing): And I rise up, I rise like the day. I rise up...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see barriers. I see solutions.
DAY: I rise unafraid, I rise up...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Connecting with the communities along the way helps reestablish your faith in humanity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Love you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love you, too.
DAY: And we'll rise up...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't give up on yourself because you're still worthy.
ANNOUNCER: See the stars come out to celebrate the change makers.
KATHY GRIFFIN, ACTRESS & COMEDIAN: We all love to pay tribute, and this is the way we really can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) people who are living the work that they're doing every day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's going to be really, really inspiring.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN Heroes.
KELLY RIPA, TALK SHOW HOST: Please join me in honoring CNN Hero --
MAGGIE DOYNE, CNN HERO OF THE YEAR FOR 2015: There's no time to waste.
ANNOUNCER: The top ten CNN Heroes of 2015.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an honor to be recognized.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is an amazing honor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you!
ANNOUNCER: Join Anderson Cooper for "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," Sunday, December 6th at 8:00.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:51:16] CUOMO: It's really important to remember what people did and did not live through here in San Bernardino. Imagine just being at work, hearing strange noises, maybe it is construction, we're told, and then it isn't. You hear it is a mass shooting. Maybe it is a drill. They have them. Then you learn it is not a drill. There is an active shooter and they may be coming exactly where you are. That is what people were forced to live through and they told us their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: What was going on before all this happened?
AILEEN TORRES, WITNESS TO SHOOTING: It was just a normal day at work. I mean obviously, there was something going on because we -- in front of the library there was a lot of cars. We knew an event was going on. We knew it didn't belong to us, so we just go into our offices and do work as usual.
VERONICA NAVARRO, WITNESS TO SHOOTING: Um, at about 10:30, 11:00, when I was upstairs typing away, I heard this loud, loud, loud noise. So I got up to look. And umm -- I couldn't see anything, so I looked normal. So then I hear my coworkers running. There is a shooter! There is a mass shooter in the next-door building! And so then I just got up and then I made my way with my coworker and others into this conference room. And there was --
CUOMO: Did you know -- how did you know what to do?
TORRES: We didn't. It was just chaos, you know. There was just rumors that it was the active shooter training. It was just chaotic. We really didn't know what to do.
NAVARRO: Everybody was -- People were crying. And I just felt like I couldn't sit there because I wasn't sure what was going to happen. I needed to know if the shooter was still in the building. I needed to know for myself. So I broke away with the crowd with two other gentlemen and we ran to a farther office and that is when we were able to see SWAT getting there. And then we could see, umm, the bodies being pulled. And we counted 12.
TORRES: It was very scary, you know, we were in the conference room barricading and just not knowing -- not knowing, is he in the building? Is he even here? Where is he? That was scary. We still didn't know by the time we were escorted out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: Try to relax, everyone, try to relax. I'll take a bullet before you do, that's for (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: You were there in the moment when somebody was shooting it. How did that happen that this officer wound up coming in? Take me through that.
TORRES: We were in the conference room and then - we -- people tried to open the doors and some people were telling us, telling others, don't open the door, or who is it and then a voice came over the loud speaker and then we heard that -- for everyone to come out. Next thing you know, the SWAT Team came in and told us everybody put your hands up and get in a single file line.
What you don't see in the video is the officer saying, talking to his colleague asking, show me your face. If you don't show me your face, I'm not going to clear my hostages. And at that point we realized that -- I realized that I was a hostage and that scared us because we didn't - we -- my thought was he's in the building. He's not even -- he's not gone. Otherwise we would have just ran outside. But he's escorting us out and that was scary.
CUOMO: And that officer, to make you feel comfortable to come outside, he wound up saying on that videotape, I'll take a bullet before you do.
TORRES: Yes.
CUOMO: What did that mean to hear that then and to think about it now?
TORRES: You don't realize how much you rely on law enforcement until you are in that situation.
[08:54:50] NAVARRO: They acted very quickly. It was very fast. They were moving the bodies, they were trying to figure out what was going on. They didn't know if the shooters were still there. I'm sure they heard that there was a car driving off or an SUV, but at that moment they still were very apprehensive and they moved quickly and were getting the bodies out that needed the help or just kind of making to get into the area.
CUOMO: How do you make sense of what happened at work?
TORRES: I still can't. It's still kind of scary. We're not eager to go back to work, you know. To know that some of our friends are gone and to know that that massacre happened in the next building. It is not -- you don't feel safe.
CUOMO: What do you think about why it happened?
NAVARRO: Why it happened? I don't know about that. There are so many different, you know, allegations.
CUOMO: Do you care?
NAVARRO: Umm, do I care? I care about the consequences of it all and how it's affected me personally and my family at work. And I care that, you know, that people are no longer with their loved ones. And I care for the survivors. I care for the family members. I care for my coworkers and I care extra more for my family today because I realize how lucky I am. I think it's important that the world knows that the little city in San Bernardino will keep going strong and we have a good company and we'll all pull together because we are a good working family.
TORRES: Yes. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: So frightening and yet, for these people, they are the lucky ones. Remember those 14 family who lost something that can never be replaced. Those who were murdered on the day of the rampage here in San Bernardino.
Now we're going to continue our coverage here with Carol Costello right after this quick break. And remember those who were lost. We'll be showing you pictures of them throughout the day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
