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New Day

Trump Calls Out Amazon CEO; Oil Tumbles; Bleacher Report; Muslim Americans React to Trump; Drew Barrymore on Her Book "Wildflower". Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 08, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:33:35] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Imagine this, a new target for Donald Trump, Amazon. Oh, tell us about it, Christine Romans, in the Money Center. What is going on with his accusations against Amazon?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I've got to tell you, you had veteran financial journalists really confounded yesterday. Trump accusing the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, of using "The Washington Post" as a tax shelter for Amazon. Trump tweeting this. "If Amazon ever had to pay fair taxes, its stock would crash and it would crumble like a paper bag. "The Washington Post" scam is saving it."

But Amazon doesn't own the newspaper. Bezos owns the newspaper. Tax experts say Trump campaigning on his business acumen, by the way, is just plain wrong. Bezos owns a lot of things, including a space exploration company. Bezos tweeted back with the #senddonaldtospace.

Oil prices are tumbling. Oil prices plunged nearly 6 percent yesterday. That's a seven year low. That's because OPEC did not reduce output despite a huge global supply glut of oil. Plus there's a slowdown in global demand, adding to that drag on prices. Gas, that means, folks, could soon fall below $2.00 a gallon nationwide for the first time since 2009. The average currently $2.03.

Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Christine, thanks so much for all of that.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

PEREIRA: Let's turn to sports now. The Cowboys and Redskins renewing their rivalry in Monday night football. Despite their records, both of them still in the playoff hunt. Andy Scholes has got our "Bleacher Report" for us.

Good morning, darling.

[08:35:01] ANDY SCHOLES, CNN'S "BLEACHER REPORT": And good morning, Michaela.

You know, the NFC East, it's just a bad division this year. No team has a winning record. And at this point it looks like 7-9 might actually win the division. But nonetheless, the finish to last night's game very exciting. Under a minute to go. Kirk Cousins going to find DeSean Jackson for the touchdown. Jackson getting a little redemption after fumbling the ball away on a punt return just minutes earlier. But the Cowboys, they get a good kick return and able to get Dan Bailey in position for a 54 yard field goal. He nailed it with just seconds left on the clock. Cowboys win 19-16, improve to 4-8, which is actually just one game out of first place in the NFC East.

All right, LeBron James going to be sporting Nike for life. King James eking a lifetime contract with Nike, which is believed to be the richest deal in the company's history. That means it's worth more than the 10 year, $300 million contract that Kevin Durant signed with Nike earlier this year. Now Nike has made more versions of LeBron's shoe than any other athlete other than Michael Jordan.

Alisyn, do you wear LeBrons when you go play basketball?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Obviously. I mean, who doesn't?

PEREIRA: Obvious.

CAMEROTA: LeBron James, he was great in "Trainwreck," wasn't he?

SCHOLES: You know what, I didn't see it, so I can't tell you.

CAMEROTA: I don't know he played basketball before that.

PEREIRA: Oh.

CAMEROTA: But he was - you should see it. He was actually great, great in it.

All right, Andy, thank you so much.

SCHOLES: I'll have to check it out. All right.

CAMEROTA: All right, Donald Trump sticking by his explosive comments about keeping Muslims out of the U.S. We have a panel of American Muslims here next. How are they feeling today? Stick around.

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[08:40:35] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): I have no doubt that we have no choice but to do exactly what I said until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on, because we have a problem in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was Donald Trump on NEW DAY this morning calling again for a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S. - the USA. How are Muslim Americans feeling about this, this morning? Let's ask some. Qasim Rashid is the spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. That's the oldest established Muslim sect in the U.S. And Zaheer Ali is an oral historian with the Brooklyn Historical Society here in New York.

Gentlemen, it is great to have both of you here with us this morning. Both of you are such American success stories that I just want to share with the audience a little bit about who you are. Qasim, let me start with you. You are a Muslim immigrant from Pakistan. You came here in the 1980s. You are a visiting fellow at Harvard University's Islamic Studies Program. Your brother is a U.S. Marine. You are the American dream. How do you feel, Qasim, when you wake up and you hear Donald Trump saying that Muslims, like your family, should be banned from coming to the U.S.?

QASIM RASHID, SPOKESMAN, AHMADIYYA MUSLIM COMMUNITY USA: Well, in one word, shocked. You know, I represent a Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as Muslims who believe in the Messiah Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadian. We have a strong, you know, persona that we are loyal to our countries of residence. We champion separation of mosque and state. And as a lawyer, I champion the United States Constitution. And so when I see Mr. Trump making these ridiculous remarks and these propaganda, dictator-style allegations against American Muslim, it reminds me that this is a man who has no idea what the U.S. Constitution actually says and therefore he's wholly incapable of serving as commander in chief.

With that said, I invite him, come to our mosque, see what we're all about, actually learn about Islam from American Muslims and you will see that terrorisms has nothing to do with Islam whatsoever.

CAMEROTA: Qasim, let me stick with you for one second because I do want you to educate us a little bit more. You are loyal to the country in which you reside. You put no law over the U.S. Constitution. Donald Trump suggests that Muslims put Sharia law over that. Are you - are you an anomaly or are you the majority of U.S. Muslims?

RASHID: Well - well, for - for the record, I don't think Donald Trump can even spell Sharia, let's just be fair about that, let alone know what it is. The prophet of Islam, Prophet Muhammad, taught that separation of mosque and state is part and parcel of Islam. He famously said that loyalty to your country of residence is part of your faith. So as an American Muslims, as an attorney, I see zero conflict between Islam and America. And, in fact, sharia, as the Prophet Muhammad taught, requires that it is a personal moral code. You can never apply it above the law of the land and you can certainly never enforce it on a non-Muslim.

CAMEROTA: OK. Zaheer -

ZAHEER ALI, HISTORIAN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: You are no slouch in the American dream department yourself. Let me read your history. You came here. Your family is from Trinidad.

ALI: Yes.

CAMEROTA: You moved when you were three years old. You are now getting your Ph.D. at Colombia University. What do you think when you hear that Donald Trump says that Muslims, like your family, should be banned from the U.S.? ALI: Well, you know, I grew up in the Maryland area, but I spent a lot

of time in New York as a teenager and I remember Donald Trump leading the charge against five innocent black and Latino men over the Central Park jogger case. And so this - he has a long history of race-baiting. You know, his - his attacks on Mexicans, his tweeting racist - inaccurate statistics about African-Americans and crime. So in a sense I'm not surprised. You know, if Qasim wants to invite Donald Trump to his mosque, I would invite Donald Trump to my American history classroom because he does not really know the real history of the United States.

CAMEROTA: And, Zaheer, what is it like to be a Muslim American man today in this climate?

ALI: Well, I think that as a man, we have it a little easier because it's easier to wear clothes in a certain way or facial hair in a certain way and maybe pass as just an average citizen. But I think that the burden has been especially on women, Muslim women, who choose to cover their hair or wear other kinds of clothes that mark them and they have been subject to bullying, to attacks and, you know, that concerns me greatly.

[08:45:11] CAMEROTA: I don't have to tell both of you Donald Trump is leading in the poll. His supporters believe that he speaks their language. Let me play for you a few of his supporters and what their reaction was to what he said about this Muslim ban. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUREN MARTEL, TRUMP SUPPORTER: That is a very prudent idea. And I think that he's done due diligence when he makes that statement. We have to protect our American citizens first. And the vetting process in the whole program lacks integrity.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He's just saying no Muslim should be allowed to enter the country right now. Do you agree? Yes or no? It's that simple.

HUDSON JOHNSON, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Qasim, look. People are scared, obviously, after what happened in San Bernardino. So what do you want his supporters to understand?

RASHID: I want Trump's supporters to understand that there is no conflict between being a Muslim and being an American. This is a fundamental principle. American Muslims have defended America in every war since the United States was founded. American Muslims represented 15 to 30 percent of the population of those enslaved from Africa and made into American Muslims here.

The lack of Muslim leadership is also an issue here. And I want to be very clear about this, that the fear of Muslims isn't just something that we can pin on politicians. I think Muslim leadership needs to step up and do a more effective job of dialoguing and engaging. And this is why I'm so adamant. Come to our mosque. We have 75 chapters around the country. We held prayer vigils after the horrific terrorist attack in California. We are not going to resolve our issues by cutting ourselves off from one another.

If we do something or even advocate something like stopping Muslim immigration, we are giving free propaganda to terrorist organizations like ISIS by letting them convince other youth prone to radicalization that America hates you.

Speaking to those Muslim youth who might consider ISIS as a viable option, let me assure you, as an American Muslim, as an immigrant, America does not hate you. America wants peace. American Muslims want peace. Americans want peace. Do not let the rhetoric of a deranged politician make you decide to do something terrible. Look at what American Muslims are achieving in America. That should be your example.

CAMEROTA: Qasim, Zaheer, thank you very much for being here and for your perspective on all of this. We will speak to you again. Thanks so much for being here.

RASHID: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: What a great conversation, Alisyn. Unity not division, right?

All right. Here is a treat. We have seen her literally blossom since her days in E.T. Thirty years late Drew Barrymore has a new book. It has several surprising personal and professional tales about that journey she has taken and she joins us next here in studio.

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[08:51:20] PEREIRA: Award-winning actress and producer Drew Barrymore is a major Hollywood power player. We followed her journey - she's shaking her head - We've followed her journey since childhood when she began her acting career. A new book, though, reveals a side of her journey we haven't seen; one of motherhood and striving for health and happiness. The author of "Wildflower" herself joins us now. Drew Barrymore, what a delight to see you.

DREW BARRYMORE, AUTHOR, "WILDFLOWER": A delight to be here. And I love the way you said that. Like -- things we didn't know or a different side of her.

PEREIRA: Imagine that. We don't know everything about you, Drew.

BARRYMORE: I know. I didn't know everything about myself, honestly. I thought this was incredibly informative to me writing it. It was a really positive journey. The book is very optimistic.

PEREIRA: A non-memoir. BARRYMORE: Yes, a non-memoir, exactly. I was like memoir sounds heavy

-- And overly revealing. I think in this day and age especially, everyone is putting it all out there --

PEREIRA: Not much left to the imagination, is there?

BARRYMORE: Which is okay, you know, but I think this was informative of if A goes to B, how did A get to B? What is the connective tissue? How do things happen in one's life that really changes them, or that was funnier than they thought, or more emotional than they realized?

PEREIRA: Well to that point, I'm sure that people have been asking you, pushing you even, to write a book again. You wrote one many years ago when you were 14. This is a very different kind of book.

BARRYMORE: It really is.

PEREIRA: Was it that? Or did you feel like, no, I have something to say, I'm not sure what it is, but I want to explore this. How did the book come about?

BARRYMORE: The book came about of my own doing. It was something I simply couldn't stop myself from doing. And I actually gave to it an editor, seven chapters, and I knew that I wanted to write it unchronologically -- Because we don't remember things in perfect order.

PEREIRA: We sure do not. Nope.

BARRYMORE: It is such a gum ball machine in our head and such a shuffled card deck. And I think it's all the more beautiful for it. So I said I want this to be light. I want it to be surprisingly emotional because I'm crying as I'm writing some of these stories. I'm laughing as I'm writing some of them.

PEREIRA: Well I'm going to speak to one of the things because you write quite openly about your troubled relationship with your mom, which I think - with your parents -- I think it's something that reaches a lot of us and probably resonates with so many of us.

You were emancipated at 14 from your mother. You wrote this really touching message in your book. I want to read it. "I want to only say thank you to her, because I love my life and it takes every step to get to where you are and if you are happy, then God bless the hard times it took to get you there." Wow.

BARRYMORE: Yeah. I think I made a lot of peace with her writing this book, actually. Something about turning 40, having two kids, and being at this new precipice that isn't full of baggage, you know. You choose to lighten the load. And another thing I talk about in the book is the power of choice. You know, my partner, Nancy Juvonen, had on her fridge this magnet, "Happiness is a choice," and I always marveled at the word 'happiness.' But as a woman, now, 20-something years later, I marvel at the word 'choice' because that is the discipline.

PEREIRA: We're in the driver seat right now, right? But that takes a lot of responsibility.

BARRYMORE: It really takes -- If you work yourself out, you know, in your body, you've got to work yourself out in your mind, much more importantly.

PEREIRA: In the brain, too. And the heart, as well, I would argue. Mom of two.

BARRYMORE: Yes.

PEREIRA: And I know that obviously - You make -- The way you grew up probably shaped the way you mother. And also today's world shapes the way you mother.

[08:54:59] BARRYMORE: Absolutely. Oh, it's interesting raising two daughters in the world of such modern technology. It's interesting and challenging. But it is where we are at, so you can't fight it. But I think it is probably bringing on, you know, unstudied theories and evolutions of, like, how we parent in this day and age. So that brings on new challenges. But just parenting in general is such a -- you want to get it so right. And you beat yourself up, really, just trying to get it so right.

PEREIRA: But I know from my own parents that you start to realize, too, that they were just trying to get it right when they were doing it with us, right? And that is something.

Listen, I could talk to you all day. In fact if CNN could just maybe finish the rest of their programming, we'll take over the next three hours or so.

BARRYMORE: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

PEREIRA: it's been a delight, Drew. Congratulations on the book.

BARRYMORE: Thank you.

PEREIRA: It's available, it's called "Wildflower." It is available in bookstores right now.

BARRYMORE: Optimistic for the holidays.

PEREIRA: Absolutely. There it is.

All right. We're ending our show here. Time for "NEWSROOM" with Pamela Brown. It will happen right after a short break. Have a great day.

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