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Trump Hits New High in New National Polls; What Should Each Candidate Do and Avoid in the Debate Tonight? Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 15, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been a little over a month since that last Republican debate. But so much has changed since then.

[05:58:30] SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: What a nice problem to have if it came down to Cruz and Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump has had the impact of making Ted Cruz mainstream.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump breaks 40 percent in a national poll.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His biggest nationwide lead ever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will this tightening in Iowa inspire him to go after Ted Cruz.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The other candidates should be thankful. I'm giving them a chance to make total fools of themselves.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the two killers in San Bernardino was an American citizen.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: National security is the focus of this debate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are looking for strength. Trump is playing that role.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's tapped into the compassion of the American conservative.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Here we are. You're coming down the famous canals that are Venice-esque at the Venetian in Vegas. Good morning. Welcome to your new day. It is Tuesday, December 15, 6 a.m. in the East. Mick back in New York. Alisyn and I coming to you from inside. Here we are, Mick, inside the Venetian in Vegas. Two big headlines. We're just hours away from tonight's high

stakes Republican debate. We have significant developments. First, Camerota had to be pulled out of a casino this morning.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Penny slots, baby.

CUOMO: She has the hair of two people in her hands next to her. Also, big developments in the polls, comments about Muslims. Wait for it. Helping Donald Trump.

CAMEROTA: So there's two new national polls to talk about this morning. And they show Donald Trump hitting a new ceiling. He continually breaks through whatever ceiling he had, and he's done it again. He's now at 41 percent. That's a Monmouth University poll.

Senator Ted Cruz also showing some progress. He's now in second place in both of those polls. But he has plenty of grounded to make up to catch up to Donald Trump.

So let's kick off our comprehensive coverage with CNN's Athena Jones. She's live on the debate floor. How is it looking down there, Athena?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

Well, the stakes are high as the candidates prepare to take this stage tonight for the last GOP showdown of the year. This as those poll numbers for Trump show him reaching heights many political pundits thought he'd never reach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Light that mother on fire! (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

JONES: Outrage overnight during Donald Trump's rally in Las Vegas, tensions high just hours before tonight's final GOP debate of 2015.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of here now!

JONES: Multiple protesters...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE; (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

JONES: ... forcibly removed while trying to interrupt the frontrunner's speech.

TRUMP: Get them out.

JONES: Trump taking shots at his Republican competition.

TRUMP: The other candidates should be thankful, because I'm giving them a chance to make total fools of themselves.

JONES: And bashing the media. TRUMP: I've learned two things, more than anything else: how

smart the people are and how bad and dishonest the press is. Because it is really dishonest.

JONES: Trump's GOP rivals going after the billionaire businessman, who for the first time has topped 40 percent in a Monmouth University national poll of likely GOP voters. That's more than the next three competitors combined. And Trump towering 23 points above his closest rival in this new "Washington Post"/ABC poll.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I cannot imagine Donald Trump becoming president because he would never win. He would never win. Hillary Clinton would clean him.

JONES: This as Texas Senator Ted Cruz surges into second place in national polling and tops Trump in several polls in Iowa.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: God bless the great state of Iowa.

JONES: Which means all eyes will be on center stage to see if the two former allies will go after each other.

PALIN: They are both strong and very decisive and someone who would take the initiative. That is what we need today, and both those candidates fit that bill.

JONES: Tonight's debate is the first for the GOP contenders since the Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks and comes about a week after Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. The debate will keep national security at the forefront.

RUBIO: The vast majority of people that are trying to come are people that we just don't have information on. This is an issue that you have to be right 100 percent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Now, Marco Rubio will be another candidate to watch tonight. He's performed well in past debates, and his team is hoping for another strong night. Their attitude is why try to fix what's not broken?

As for Trump and Cruz, the question isn't so much whether Trump will try to hit Cruz but whether and how Cruz will hit back -- Alisyn, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Athena. Try to save us a good seat down there if you can. I know it's filling up already. Pre-debate coverage is all about -- you see the line that I wrote here?

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: The sophistication of prognostication.

CAMEROTA: Poetic. CUOMO: Vegas brings out my...

CAMEROTA: Poetry.

CUOMO: OK. So, it's all about what you know, and we have three aces for you. That's another...

CAMEROTA: Wow.

CUOMO: Here they are. We have CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston. CNN senior political analyst and editorial director at "The National Journal," Mr. Ron Brownstein; and senior contributor to "The Daily Caller" and conservative commentator, Mr. Matt Lewis.

It is good to have you.

MATT LEWIS, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: Full house.

CUOMO: See, see?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: She doesn't like that.

All right. So we had had this supposition coming into this, Maeve, that you know what? Donald Trump needs to shine bright on this stage. His numbers are good, but he's not jumping up. And then this poll comes out. Despite all the outrage around his comments, he gains. What's your take?

RESTON: I think that what the polls are showing us right now is just a lot of volatility in this race. I don't know that we should read too much into all of that.

But he certainly is going to have to, you know, have a big night tonight. Obviously, Ted Cruz, as well. But I think Donald Trump does have a test here tonight, which is whether he can actually be well- versed on foreign policy, give some specifics and actually hold his own up there, you know, against Cruz and Rubio.

CAMEROTA: Ron, you're nodding.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I have a slightly different take. I mean, I think that, first of all, the 40 percent, roughly, in Monmouth and ABC is higher than the NBC/"Wall Street Journal," which is a very well-respected public poll has him in the high 20s.

But having said that, I think there's no question in all these polls that the shift of the debate toward the nexus of terrorism and immigration has clearly benefited Trump in this Republican primary. And he is now in a dominant position among blue-collar Republicans, and he is competitive among the white-collar Republicans. And that is a very strong position to be in. [06:05:13] Ultimately, the question will be, I think it's still

the question, is as the race consolidates, can he build a broad enough coalition, I think.

But anyone who thought and, you know, I think maybe even, you know, certainly Republican leaders who thought that his support was going to go away. That's not the way -- if he's going to lose, that's not what's going to happen. He's not going to be -- he's not going to be submerged. He's going to have to be enveloped. Someone is going to have to build a bigger coalition, because what he's got, he's got.

CAMEROTA: How is that possible, to build a bigger coalition? He's so dominant. And every poll that comes out -- correct me if I'm wrong -- I think sometimes you've even expressed some skepticism that he was going to hold onto that lead and then his lead goes up.

LEWIS: I think we -- I think we've all been there, thinking something would happen and Trump would implode.

I think the real thing to look at is that Iowa. What's going to happen in Iowa. That's obviously the first test. And this debate tonight is important, because essentially things are going to slow down after tonight. You're going to go into the holiday season. People are not going to pay as much attention.

If Ted Cruz has a big night tonight, and I think the gods are smiling on Ted Cruz. I think the deck is stacked. The opportunity is there for Cruz to have a big night. I think Ted Cruz wins Iowa. Then that's what impacts Donald Trump's national numbers. It's not that he's going to implode. It's that what happens if he just doesn't win the caucuses or the primaries.

CUOMO: I take your point. And I take your point. And I have to take your point, because you're smarter than I am.

But Maeve, while it is tough pressure for Donald Trump to stand up and show that I can trade policy punches with everybody else, when it comes to foreign policy and terror, that's where emotion probably plays most into politics. And what stops him from getting on that stage tonight, looking -- after you give this great proposal, saying, "You know what the problem is? Maeve is -- she doesn't have the strength. I have the strength."

Those are the things that catapulted him. Look at the Muslims comment.

RESTON: Absolutely.

CUOMO: It's not that people are -- that's how they feel that way about Muslims, necessarily, but what they feel is fear. He tapped into that. That's foreign policy.

RESTON: Right. But to Ron's point, I think he already has those people. I think if Donald Trump is looking at winning and the gauntlet ahead, and winning in Iowa, then he's got to expand a little bit out to the people who aren't sure about his foreign policy chops. And, you know, I don't think it's all smooth sailing for him from here.

BROWNSTEIN: I don't think he has to win Iowa. Iowa is not his place. Iowa takes -- 60 percent of the voters in the Iowan caucus...

CUOMO: He is winning Iowa by the poll.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, but I think "The Des Moines Register," which is the gold standard, you know, he's not winning Iowa. But he's not winning Iowa for a specific reason, which is that evangelical Christians, who are the dominant voting bloc, are consolidating around Ted Cruz. That was the way Mike Huckabee won 2008. That was the way Rick Santorum won it in 2011, because they could not expand enough beyond that beachhead.

In many ways, Cruz faces a big test, too. He can win Iowa, sure. And if he wins Iowa, he'll probably win in Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana. If he wants to be the nominee, he has to go beyond that and show that he can have a broader conservative coalition than Huckabee...

LEWIS: It wouldn't be so much on "I'm a winner."

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

LEWIS: And if he doesn't win in Iowa, or New Hampshire...

BROWNSTEIN: Well, that's a big "or." Because he is in a much better position in New Hampshire, where the other part of what we're going to see tonight is that center right part of the party is just really hopelessly fragmented at this point between Rubio, Christie, Kasich and Bush. And that remains the case. Even if Trump loses Iowa, he would still be the favorite in New Hampshire.

LEWIS: Step up and own that turf.

RESTON: There's a huge vacuum there.

And then we could see, you know, a big night, maybe, for Chris Christie, who's hanging on, made it on the main stage. Obviously, is going to be very well-versed in talking about issues surrounding 9/11 and terrorism. So there's often...

CUOMO: Give him a little more juice than that. He's not hanging on. He's actually moving up. That's how he got back on the big stage.

BROWNSTEIN: And to Matt's point about Rubio, needing to step up, so many in the media assume that Rubio will eventually become the candidate of that lane, that bracket, but it's not happening. He doesn't even seem to want to seem to walk through that door.

LEWIS: He was so...

BROWNSTEIN: He's moving more to the right.

LEWIS: Rubio was so chastened by the immigration reform fallout and the backlash he got from conservatives, that I think he's a little bit afraid to expand out. And to take this wide-open space you were talking about that somebody else, maybe Chris Christie could occupy.

CAMEROTA: These are interesting polls that are out. The Monmouth University, and then the one at midnight that came out from ABC, because they're the first ones taken since the controversial Muslim comments made by Donald Trump.

And let me just show you a piece of this. It asked your opinion of Donald Trump's Muslim comments. Fifty-nine percent of those respondents in the GOP support them.

CUOMO: The number we had, it was 40 something. So this is much, much higher.

CAMEROTA: Fifty-nine percent, according to ABC. Now, in terms of Democrats, 82 percent oppose them.

RESTON: Right.

CAMEROTA: But that doesn't matter in the primary. Doesn't matter.

CUOMO: Forty-eight percent are independents.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

RESTON: It doesn't, although for all of these candidates, they do need to make the electability argument. And that will be so important to a lot of voters who change their minds, particularly in states like New Hampshire, the final weekend. Can these guys actually make it in the general election?

You know, those numbers just are -- say so much about what you are talking about, about the fear that Trump has tapped into and others. And it will just be fascinating to see the way they play off of each other.

[06:10:09] CUOMO: What I don't get is the rap on Trump about not being able to broaden the base enough, not being able to get people who are away from that extreme. Why can't you say the same thing about Hillary Clinton? When you look at her numbers...

RESTON: You can.

CUOMO: ... she's huge with Democrats the same way she is with Republicans.

RESTON: Right.

CUOMO: Go to Republicans, she's anathema.

BROWNSTEIN: The difference is the Democrats have won the popular vote in five out of the past six presidential elections, because the demography of the country is moving in their direction. And the Republicans are the ones who have to change the equation. That poll is the Republican dilemma in a nutshell. Over 60

percent of Republican primary voters in 2012 were over 50. Over 90 percent are white. In that electorate, things like the Muslim ban resonates pretty powerfully. There's a whole big country out there that eventually they're going to have to talk to, where ideas like that of mass deportation are much less popular.

LEWIS: Rubio -- Rubio would win if he could make the electability argument. The problem, though, is that most Republican voters polls that I've seen, they would prefer to have somebody who represents their hard-core conservative values than somebody who could beat Hillary Clinton.

CAMEROTA: Guys, stick around. You're going to be with us throughout the morning.

Next, we're going to look at each of the other candidates, too.

CUOMO: And the question is which one will keep American safe? That's going to be the focus of tonight's debate when Wolf Blitzer is up there, putting the questions to the potentials.

The coverage starts at 6 p.m. Eastern. That's going to be the undercard debate. And we have the main debate at 8:30. And again, we're going to have the captain there tonight, Wolf Blitzer, leading the show. We're going to be live tomorrow morning from here at the Venetian Las Vegas. As Alisyn calls it, "SAME DAY."

CAMEROTA: We'll try to get some sleep.

But meanwhile, there's a lot on the line when the 13 Republican hopefuls take the stage. So we are here at the Venetian, as Chris said. And we'll talk about which candidate, what each one of them needs to do and to avoid doing tonight. We'll break it all down with our political panel. That's next.

CUOMO: You'll have to avoid another fist fight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:16:07] CAMEROTA: In a matter of hours, the nine leading Republican candidates will face off in prime time for the final debate of the year. So let's look at what each candidate needs to do tonight and needs to avoid tonight.

Let's bring back in our panel for the dos and don'ts of the debate, CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston is with us; CNN senior political analyst and editorial director at "The National Journal"; Ron Brownstein and senior contributor to "The Daily Caller" and conservative commentator, Matt Lewis. Great to have you all.

All right. Let's tick through whatever we need to do, starting with Donald Trump. We say that tonight he must show foreign policy substance, Matt. And he can't appear out of his depths. What do you think of that analysis? LEWIS: That's right. There's a threshold that he has to meet.

And I think he -- he can do that by showing toughness. Toughness equates to foreign policy strength. I think he can meet that threshold he has to.

BROWNSTEIN: The biggest crack in his armor, I think, if there is one, is that many Republican voters, particularly upscale Republican voters, question whether he has the temperament to be president. Particularly managing foreign policy. I think he's got to show that he can be under control, as well as strong.

CAMEROTA: That's interesting, because there on the graphic it said he can't be dragged into arguments. But Donald Trump's always dragged into arguments. That doesn't hurt him.

RESTON: He's more subdued in debates...

CUOMO: Yes.

RESTON: ... sometimes. Right?

CUOMO: Yes. Out on the stump, he really hits hard and then, I mean, remember, in a couple of those debates, he kind of faded into the background. And so I think he needs to be careful of that, too, particularly when they get into some of these foreign policy issues that he's not as well-versed in?

CUOMO: Although don't underestimate the value of emotion in talking about foreign policy, you know. I think that there's a lot more leeway for him there than what's straight economics.

RESTON: Right.

CUOMO: So we'll see now.

The key matchup has to be made, Maeve, Ted Cruz, because with Trump, he's the presumptive leader. And you have to capture the momentum when you have it. We saw what happened with Fiorina. She went up there, maybe arguable basis for her pop in the polls, factually. But she got it. She didn't seize it. She goes back down.

RESTON: Right.

CUOMO: What does Ted Cruz have to do tonight? Must fend off national security criticism. Because right, he's got a big record of rhetoric out there; can't get dragged into arguments. I would qualify that. Name calling, nasty spats, I would say.

RESTON: Right, right, if he sticks to, you know, getting in -- if he gets in arguments with Trump, sticking to policy specifics, not getting dragged into a mud fight. He -- you know, he continues to kind of try to play nice with Donald Trump. That seems to actually be working for him.

You were saying this morning that that, you know, may appeal to women if he kind of takes the high road with Trump. And it will be really fascinating to see the way that he plays that, particularly because he will be the guy who's the target here with everyone coming after him.

BROWNSTEIN: The key interaction for Cruz is probably not going to be Trump. It's going to be Rubio. Because Cruz has conceded a lot to the libertarian strain in the Republican Party when that seemed a lot more powerful on intervention abroad and surveillance at home. Now that that tide is receding, he's standing out there somewhere, exposed in kind of Rand Paul territory. And Marco Rubio kind of inheriting the Bush/McCain mantle is probably going to be the one that's going to be the one that's going to take him to account on it.

LEWIS: Rubio has to capitalize on that and talk about the bulk collection of metadata that Cruz opposed. And maybe that's a chink in his armor; make Cruz look liberal on national security.

CUOMO: Well, and also, the past is predictive. He killed it in the debate when he was talking about foreign policy the last time. I mean, it really gave him a step up.

CAMEROTA: Let's look at Ben Carson. Because people haven't been talking about him as much this week with all of the surging of Trump. So it says here he must demonstrate a command of issues. OK. And not appear overwhelmed on foreign policy. That is his Achilles heel, Maeve.

RESTON: Yes, I mean, the whole debacle with mispronouncing "Hamas," and you know, he's had these series of stumbles on foreign policy, particularly as, you know, the news has been eclipsed by the terrorist attacks in Paris and in San Bernardino. He's just seemed sort of lost in this race.

Of course, there's also the questions about his personal background, and he really has to do something tonight to try to regain momentum. I don't -- that slide is just continual.

BROWNSTEIN: I think when you -- when you look at that trajectory, like the toothpaste out of the tube, it's going to be hard for him to restore a sense that people respect him, they like his story, especially Christian conservatives. But whether he is suited to be president, I think it's going to be very hard to undo that judgment.

[06:20:14] CUOMO: The presumption is that Cruz just took a big block of his support. And the question is, can he get him back tonight? He's going to have to do affirmative things. He can't just be passive like he has been.

RESTON: It's all about confidence in him, too. And that's just not there anymore for a lot of voters.

CUOMO: All right. How about Jeb?

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about Jeb Bush. What, Matt, does Jeb need to do?

LEWIS: I think Jeb Bush just has to have a moment. He just has to be relevant. That alone would be a huge...

CUOMO: He has to be Jeb with the exclamation mark. Jeb!

LEWIS: People are forgetting about Jeb Bush. He's almost an afterthought. Look, if he can just have a moment, if he is -- if tomorrow morning we're showing some B-roll that has Jeb Bush fighting somebody, that would be a win.

CUOMO: But that's also -- he's got to balance that, Ron, with who he is, what he believes he offers, which is the steady hand, presidential.

BROWNSTEIN: Exactly. He's got to kind of deliver on that moment that people thought was coming after Paris and San Bernardino. People say, all right. We need someone with more experience. Maybe more temperamentally kind of judicious temperament. You know, it hasn't worked out that way. And he, I think, needs to find a way to make temperament and experience more relevant in this choice than it has been so far.

CAMEROTA: OK. Chris Christie, he stood out in the undercard debate, so much so that he did gain momentum. What does he need to do tonight, Maeve?

RESTON: Well, I mean, he has to show that he really can be up there with the big contenders at this point, that his momentum in New Hampshire isn't just because he's camped out there and done 100 town halls.

But I think he will really have sort of strong, emotional moments tonight talking about terror. He's very good with connecting with audiences in those moments. And if he can demonstrate that, you know, he could be a big story in the debate.

LEWIS: He may be the most underrated person on the stage.

RESTON: Absolutely.

LEWIS: With the potential for a breakout.

CAMEROTA: OK. Very quickly, let's go through John Kasich. What are you looking for from John Kasich?

LEWIS: Is John Kasich still in the debate? I hate to sound like a broken record. I just think he has to have a moment.

As Ron was saying, there is a big yawning chasm right now in this sort of moderate mainstream conservative turf that nobody is occupying. I think Marco Rubio is most likely to seize that. But John Kasich is the governor of Ohio, a big state with, I think, winner-take-all delegates. He can stay alive to get to Ohio.

BROWNSTEIN: Real quick, I agree with that. I mean, that is the big opening, you know, out of Bush, Kasich, Christie, Rubio, someone has to occupy that space. Rubio seems the most likely, but he does seem to want to walk through that door. Even tonight, he is probably going to go at Ted Cruz from the right, rather than positioning himself in a way that would make him more acceptable to voters kind of feeling that Bush, Christie and Kasich aren't going to get there.

CUOMO: Do you think that this space, center right, may be the biggest long call at this point, Maeve? That is something that can develop and change over time more than other dynamics.

RESTON: Absolutely. I think that's why there's so much volatility in this race. Because there are so many voters in that sector of the GOP electorate that have not made up their minds. So there really is an opportunity for someone to come in here and to seize that.

BROWNSTEIN: And possibly with three candidates. Because Trump's piece is distinct, not going to way. Cruz has the evangelical side. Trump has the disaffect side. And there's that third spot that has not yet been filled.

CAMEROTA: We've got to go, but sorry we didn't get to Carly Fiorina, because she always does well in these debates. I'm sure she will again tonight, as well as Rand Paul also. We'll see how he does.

Guys, thanks so much for the analysis. Coverage of tonight's CNN Republican debate starts at 6 p.m. Eastern. That's for the first debate, and then followed by the main debate at 8:30.

CUOMO: So nice we do it twice.

Donald Trump has never had more support than he does right now in the latest national polls. What is behind his commanding lead? We are getting answers, ahead on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:03] PEREIRA: Good to have you back with us here on NEW DAY. We'll have more of our coverage on tonight's CNN GOP debate in a moment. But first let's look at your other headlines.

President Obama is insisting the U.S.-led military commission is hitting ISIS harder than ever. The president, under fire for his ISIS strategy, is meeting with his national security team. He actually met with them on Monday. He claims ISIS has lost 40 percent of the territory it once held in Iraq after nearly 9,000 coalition airstrikes. He pledged to wipe out the group's leaders, warning them they cannot hide.

A Maryland man has been arrested for allegedly receiving nearly $9,000 from people connected to ISIS in order to finance a terrorist attack in the U.S. The FBI says 30-year-old Mohamed Elshinawy claims he was only scamming money from ISIS. He was not planning an attack. However, the feds simply don't buy his story. They say they discovered he pledged allegiance to ISIS on social media back in February.

Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl will face a court-martial over desertion charges. You'll recall the 29-year-old walked away from his base in Afghanistan in 2009, ended up as a Taliban captive for five years. He was handed back to the U.S. in a controversial swap for five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Bergdahl could face life in prison if he is convicted.

Bill Cosby countersuing seven of his accusers who hit him with a defamation lawsuit. Cosby claims he did not sexually assault them, calling their accusations, quote, "malicious, false and defamatory." Cosby says his reputation was severely hurt, costing him several business deals. More than 40 women have accused the comedian of sexually assaulting them over four decades.

All right, 29 minutes past the hour. Those are your headlines here in New York where everything is just fine. How are things in Vegas, you two? You look pretty good.

CAMEROTA: Things are great here. It's early, but things are great. Don't you think?

PEREIRA: Or is it late?

CAMEROTA: Everyone is awake. When we leave for work, you know, usually in the cover of darkness, here it's -- it's like happy hour.

PEREIRA: It's just lighting up.

CUOMO: Not so happy for Camerota. I had to bail her out this morning.

PEREIRA: I knew that was going to happen.

CUOMO: Four hundred and fifty bucks. I put you in for half. Appreciate it.