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Winners & Losers of CNN Republican Debate; Bleacher Report; GOP Voters Rate Candidates on the Issues. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 16, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:27] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: One of us told you that the race would be different today after the debate and the other one is Alisyn Camerota. And sure enough, this morning -

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: You were right.

CUOMO: Sure enough this morning, we see a new state of play in the GOP. You had rivalries pop up last night. You had big issues come to the fore. So what is it going to mean today, when we get the results in the polls and going forward?

Let's bring in our panel. CNN political commentator Ana Navarro. Ana, a Jeb Bush supporters, especially this morning.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yay!

CUOMO: Also a good friend of Marco Rubio. She's winning two ways.

CAMEROTA: This is the happiest I've seen you in a long time.

CUOMO: CNN political commentator and former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz, Amanda Carpenter is here. And CNN's senior political commentator and a former senior advisor to President Obama, David "the ax" Axelrod.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And I'm an acquaintance of Jeb Bush and I've shaken hands with Lindsey Graham.

CAMEROTA: That counts. That's great.

CUOMO: (INAUDIBLE) say that.

AXELROD: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Ana -

NAVARRO: Please do not say on good thing about Jeb Bush this entire morning, OK.

CUOMO: Jinx.

NAVARRO: We're riding on a roll. Don't ruin his reputation now.

CAMEROTA: Ana, we haven't seen you this happy in month. So, what did you think of Jeb's performance last night.

NAVARRO: I think it's the best performance he's had. I think he really needed it. He nailed it. He saw an opening. Everybody else on that stage did not have the guts to do the right thing, which was take on Donald Trump. And the one guy who stepped up and showed those guts was Jeb Bush. And he had the lane all to himself.

So it was - I thought it led to a great exchange. He got under Donald Trump's skin on a couple of occasions. He actually had some memorable lines. He created some moments. I think that Jeb has finally understood part of it is performance and he needs to embrace it. He did it. He did it well. He's now heading to New Hampshire. I hope he pulls up stakes from Iowa and moves to New Hampshire. And I think he's going to, you know, he's going to get people to give him a second look. He's now in a turnaround campaign and I think last night was an important part of that turnaround.

CUOMO: Now if you were one of those who didn't see the debate and believe this can't be true and that Ana has finally found an alcohol that will distort her memory of things, let us play you a big moment from last night that does involve Donald Trump and former Governor Jeb Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a tough business to run for president.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, yes. Oh, no, you're a tough guy, Jeb, I know.

BUSH: It is. And we need to have a leader that is -

TRUMP: Real tough.

BUSH: You're never going to be president of the United States by insulting you way to the presidency.

TRUMP: You're real tough, Jeb. Yes, well, let's see, I'm at 42 and you're at three, so, so far I'm doing better.

BUSH: Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter.

TRUMP: So far I'm doing better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Ax, when that happened last night, in the past, Jeb Bush has seemed either reluctant out of a sense of decency or just taken aback by Trump and he seems to lose those matches.

AXELROD: Yes.

CUOMO: Last night?

AXELROD: Well, this isn't his natural sport. And I thought he was - obviously there were moments that were very sharp. There were times when he withdrew when I thought he could go in for the kill. This is not what - it's - you know, the things that you get rewarded for in life you don't get rewarded for in politics, like civility. And he has civility. But, you know, when it comes to the performance arts of politics, you know, he had a good night by Jeb Bush standards. You know, it's like the dancing bear. You don't say, gee, the bear didn't dance very well. You said, my God, that bear can dance.

So he had a decent night. But the question is, does it translate into something? He's got very high negatives among Republicans and - in Iowa. He's trailing in New Hampshire. Chris Christie had a good night too. He's very much in the way. So Jeb Bush has his - his work cut out for him, but he showed a pulse last night and it gives him a little bit of hope.

CAMEROTA: Amanda, do you think it translates?

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, here's the thing, I don't think it's the best thing for Jeb Bush to define his good performance via Donald Trump. He's still stuck in the Trump trap. That said, it was really nice to see Jeb Bush's personality. He had a line - the best line I thought of the night, was joking that, you know, Donald Trump gets his foreign policy advice from the weekend shows, but we don't know if it's a Saturday or Sunday show. That was really fun.

CUOMO: That was funny.

CARPENTER: He was finally loose and comfortable. And so I think it was a great night for Jeb by his standards and it potentially complicates things for Rubio because they're so similar in foreign policy.

CUOMO: Now Ana is right, this part of the virtue for him was that it was unexpected. What was expected was that Ted Cruz was riding a wave. He had a moment. Now, you know the senator very well. Did we see him at his best last night? Do you think he made the most of the potential moment?

CARPENTER: For what he needed to do and have those complex fights with Marco Rubio and issues of immigration, surveillance and military intervention, long-term that was very good to get that discussion started. It was a little bit in the weeds for the general audience I think. But in terms of what we need to do to advance those issues for the Republican Party as a whole, because we must hash this out. This has been brewing for a long time. We need to get these discussions resolved. That was very, very good to hit those marks.

[08:35:11] CAMEROTA: Marco Rubio, what did you think?

NAVARRO: You know, I thought they were very evenly matched and I think we're going to see a lot more of that rivalry in the next months, in the next six weeks. I think you're going to see those two young bulls locking horns over and over again through media interviews in the next debates on the trail. And, you know, they've been telegraphing it now for a while and, frankly, I think - I think Chris Christie made a very good point there. You know, they sound like senators debating with each other on the well of a Senate. You know, look, you're weak on immigration. No, you're weak on national security. I think they both took their licks. I think they're both very good debaters, came prepared, knew those attacks were coming and were able to defend them.

AXELROD: This was, in fact, I think, the beginning of the next phase of the campaign. It outlined itself last night. Rubio attacking Cruz on national defense and being weak on national defense. Cruz attacking Rubio on immigration. I think you'll see those debates again and again in the next few weeks. Christie making the argument that he's the only guy who has hands on experience fighting terrorism. You'll see a lot of that in the next few weeks. Bush trying to insinuate his way into the race.

The guy we've not talked about, though, is the guy who's on the top of the polls. And Donald Trump, it's phenomenal because he operates by his own set of rules. He's not held to fact checks. He doesn't have to have any linear thoughts. And yet, you know, he seems to survive these debates. He doesn't excel in these debates.

CUOMO: Well, but tell us why. Tell us why. I mean he's the one guy on that stage who does something which is -

AXELROD: Well, you're going to tell them why.

CUOMO: No, but I'm saying, he connects with - what would you say (INAUDIBLE) -

AXELROD: You didn't want me to tell them why. You're going to tell them why.

CUOMO: Oh, no, you're here for the (INAUDIBLE).

AXELROD: I'm just a - a foil for your -

CUOMO: No. You're just another pretty face, Ax, that's your problem.

AXELROD: That's always - that's my life story, man.

CUOMO: You said muscular talk yesterday. You coined that phrase.

AXELROD: Yes.

CUOMO: He is very strong at that.

AXELROD: Yes.

CUOMO: It means something to voters. Why?

AXELROD: It does. Well, first of all, he benefited a lot from what happened in Paris and what happened in California because there's an element of fear out there now, but there's also a - particularly among non-college educated whites who have - who have taken a big hit in this economy. There's a lot of frustration with politics, a lot of frustration with government. And he articulates that frustration in the kind of terms that they use. And he's very, very good at it. So it really doesn't matter whether the - the facts line up or the arguments line up. He has moments - when he said last night, you know, we should - we wasted trillions of dollars we should have spent at home. I hear that all the time from people. And not just on the left, but on the right and everyday people. He has that ability and he's a great, as we've said it many times, a great entertainer. He said it on your air when he was talking about Jeb Bush. He said, poor Jeb's just not an entertainer.

NAVARRO: And he did come from -

AXELROD: And that's the way he thinks of himself.

NAVARRO: He did something tactically last night, which was very smart. He's not a good debater. I've never seen him have a great debate. It doesn't matter.

AXELROD: Right.

NAVARRO: He does well nonetheless. But last night he got given the bait to go after Ted Cruz, which he had been doing over the weekend, he had been doing the week earlier, and he realized he was treading on thin ice. His attacks on Ted Cruz didn't work earlier in the week. He backed off and all of a sudden played nice with both Ted - he played -

AXELROD: It's an interesting quality.

NAVARRO: He played nice with Ted Cruz and Ben Carson, who said, nicest man on this stage when, I mean, just a couple of weeks ago wasn't he saying that he had some sort of pathological disease or something?

AXELROD: No, no, it is interesting about Trump. He goes after people who go after him. But he doesn't initiate. I thought strategically, if you were advising him, you would have said, hey, this guy's in your way. He can win the Iowa caucuses.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

AXELROD: He's your lane, to some degree. He said something in private that he should of - and you can challenge him and say, you're a politics, man.

CAMEROTA: Right.

AXELROD: You say one thing one place, one thing somewhere else.

CAMEROTA: Right, he does the unpredictable.

AXELROD: He didn't do it.

CAMEROTA: He did the opposite.

Panel, thank you. Great to have all of you here with us. We appreciate all of your insight.

So we now know what the pundits think, but, of course, it is the voters and what they think who ultimately decide what's going to happen in 2016. So we're going to bring back our voter panel next. They're going to weigh in on the big issues from last night and what they took away from it.

CUOMO: Thank you, pretty boy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:21] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go with the five things to know for your NEW DAY.

At number one, the Republican race entering a new phase with the year's final debate in the books. That event full of heated exchanges. Probably most notably between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. Also some key moments between Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

A deal has been reached on a $1.1 trillion spending plan to overt a government shutdown. The deal funds the government through September. The vote is set for the end of the week.

Over 600,000 Los Angeles county students will be back in class this morning, a day after an e-mail threat prompted the superintendent to shut down all of those schools. That threat turned out to be a hoax.

Deliberations just resuming for jurors deciding the fate of Officer William Porter. He's charged in the death of Freddie Gray. The jury telling the judge Tuesday it was deadlocked, but the judge said keep deliberating.

And the Federal Reserve expected to raise its key interest rate for the first time in almost 10 years. The hike suggests the Fed is feeling good about the economy. Stock futures, meanwhile, are up for all three major indices this morning.

And you know for more on the five things, you can always visit newdaycnn.com.

All right, to sports now. An emotional Pete Rose opening up to the media just after a day he was denied reinstatement by Major League Baseball. Coy Wire following it for us with this morning's "Bleacher Report."

He's been trying since the '90s to get reinstated.

COY WIRE, BLEACHER REPORT: That's right, Michaela. Good morning to you.

And you can see and feel some of the disappointment from baseball legend Pete Rose yesterday over MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred's decision to uphold Rose's lifetime ban from baseball. And it's clear that Rose hasn't given up hope.

[08:45:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE ROSE, FORMER MAJOR LEAGUER: I want baseball and Pete Rose to be friends. That's all I want. So I can say I'm not an outsider looking in. I got grand kids. They want their grandpa to be associated with baseball. That is all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Now Rose says that while he still gambles recreationally, he says he's not out of control.

Sacramento Kings star Rajon Rondo is clearing the air saying, quote, "From the bottom of my heart, I and truly sorry for what I said to Bill," end quote. Bill Kennedy is the official at whom Rondo hurled homophobic slurs just before being ejected from a game. Kennedy reveled he's gay after Rondo's tirade. Rondo had been scrutinized after many felt his initial response was essentially a nonapology.

Quick and fast, Alisyn. Back to you in Vegas.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much, Coy. Great to see you.

Well national security and protecting America, those were big topics last night here at the debate. So how do voters feel the candidates handled those questions? Do voters feel safer this morning? We'll ask our panel. That is next.

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[08:50:24] CAMEROTA: Last night's GOP debate focusing on national security and terrorism. So who do Republican voters think will best keep America safe? We bring back our real voters panel about their real choices.

Let's bring in our voter panel. They are Derek Uehara, Jesus Marquez, and Brenda Flank. They are all Nevada registered Republicans. Great to have you guys with us again this morning.

Derek, I will start with you. You were, and I believe still are, a Donald Trump supporter. What did he say last night that made you feel that he knows how to handle national security best?

DEREK UEHARA, TRUMP SUPPORTER: You know, I think Trump just - he states his positions clearly. He has conviction about it and you get the sense that he's not doing anything for political expediency. Many of the other candidates respond to him. They respond to him coming out on his stance about national security. We need leadership. He's leading. Everyone else is responding to him. Nothing's changed. I don't think anyone won the debate per se. He is leading, everyone is still responding to him.

CUOMO: Let's tee up a moment. Let's tee up a moment, Jesus, because another person that you had said stood out to you was Dr. Ben Carson and this was a big test for him last night about whether he has it when it comes to what it takes to fight a war. He gave a very interesting answer about what makes him feel that he knows how to do the job, even when it involves the killing of innocence like women and children. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Interestingly enough, you should see the eyes of some those children when I say to them, we're going to have to open your head up and take out this tumor. They're not happy about it, believe me. And they don't like me very much at that point. But later on they love me. Sometimes you -- I sound like him.

(LAUGHTER)

You know, later on, you know, they really realize what's going on. By the same token, you have to be able to look at the big picture and understand that it's actually merciful if you go ahead and finish the job rather than death by a thousand pricks.

HUGH HEWITT, DEBATE MODERATOR: So you are okay with the deaths of thousands of innocent children and civilian. It's like -

(AUDIENCE BOOING)

CARSON: You got it!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: All right. Let's leave the reaction for a different moment. Did that work for you, what you heard from Dr. Ben Carson?

JESUS MARQUEZ, REGISTERED REPUBLICAN: Well actually no. He seemed a little lost there at times, you know. He was trying to be calm answering the question and at the same time being a little funny there. But I think he was lost.

But going back to what Derek said, that everybody is responding to Trump, well, of course, they're responding to Trump when he comes out and saying that we have to kill the families of terrorists. Yes, we have to kill terrorists, not their families. And also not letting all Muslims come into the country, instead we have to take -- be careful who's coming into our country, but just to say that all Muslims are not welcome into our country is not nice.

CAMEROTA: Brenda, you've recently shifted your allegiance. You were a Dr. Ben Carson supporter, he was your No. 1 choice. Now you feel better about Trump. What did you hear last night? Did you feel safer after hearing all of the candidates talk about their plans?

BRENDA FLANK, REGISTERED REPUBLICAN: I think what it boils down to, the bottom line is, we have people that have not gotten the job done. We need people that can make things happen. Donald Trump, he has shown that he has the leadership, the experience to get things done. Now, you guys live in New York. Remember the ice skate rink back in the '80s.

CUOMO: Wollman Rink.

FLANK: That's it. That rink was over budget six years in the making. Donald Trump went to the mayor and said we need to get this done.

CAMEROTA: So he's a dealmaker -

FLANK: And he got it done. CAMEROTA: On everything, in your mind/

FLANK: He can make things happen. He can get things done. Our country for decades have been dealing with this immigration issue and we're still talking about it. All of the things that are happening in this country, nothing can get done.

MARQUEZ: I don't think Donald Trump can be a dealmaker in this situation. In national security right now, we need a leader, not somebody who can talk about making deals like this. For example, Jeb Bush talking about a no-fly zone, talking about making alliances with Muslims, Muslim countries that are our friends, and with the rhetoric that Donald Trump is using, that's elevating that part of the world.

[08:55:02] CAMEROTA: Hold on, let me get Derek in.

UEHARA: You know, I think the issue with Trump is he takes a stand and he's out there. You may not agree with everything he says, and I think many of us have difference of opinion in terms of what exactly to do, but he's taken a stand and that's leadership. Throughout this entire campaign process, everyone is responding to what he says. Why isn't anyone else --

MARQUEZ: But what are his ideas?

FLANK: He's getting things done.

UEHARA: We have to be strong, we have to protect America first. Nothing else matters when we're under attack.

MARQUEZ: He hasn't been able to tell us what exactly what are his ideas. How is he going to achieve what he says he's going to do?

CAMEROTA: I mean, you're looking for specifics, in other words, more than just bomb the heck out of ISIS.

MARQUEZ: Exactly. Yes.

CUOMO: Who says -

FLANK: Well at some point -

CUOMO: Who says something different? Who says we don't have to be strong? Who says we don't have to fight ISIS?

MARQUEZ: Nobody.

CUOMO: Donald Trump says it, maybe he just says it better than other people.

FLANK: He is saying it, but there are a lot of people out there that have been in positions where they can actually make a difference and they haven't. so people are listening to a new voice and that's what's important. It's a new voice.

CAMEROTA: Brenda, Jesus, Derek, great to have you guys with us this morning. Thanks so much for being on our panel.

FLANK: Thank you.

CUOMO: Best for the holidays.

MARQUEZ: thank you.

UEHARA: Thank you.

FLANK: Yes. Merry Christmas.

CAMEROTA: You, too.

FLANK: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: CNN's post-debate coverage continues on "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello right after this very short break. We'll see you tomorrow.

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