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GOP Candidates Take To The Trail After Debate; American Justice Summit To Be Held After Policing Scandals; Investigators: Enrique Marquez Bought Rifles Used In Attack; Federal Reserve Raises Key Interest Rate. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 17, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:33] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump continues to soar in the polls but one issue he loves to bring up during interviews and rallies is how unfairly the media treats him.

Let's dig in further with Tina Brown. She is the CEO and founder of Tina Brown Live Media and the former editor-in-chief of "The Daily Beast." She'll also be making an exclusive announcement on NEW DAY about an upcoming summit that she's holding that is very timely.

Tina, great to have you. Let's start with Tuesday night's debate. I know you watched it with great interest. What jumped out at you?

TINA BROWN, FORMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "DAILY BEAST": I thought the undercard debate is where the action was. To me Lindsey Graham rocked. I want to get him on the main stage. He's wise. He's been to Iraq 36 times. He rocked on national security.

CAMEROTA: He does always bring a different perspective. Not only is he a great entertainer, he has a different position than many of them do.

BROWN: What he said about Muslims, he said leave faith alone. Go after radicals. Thanking Muslim Americans in uniform for their service. This is very smart.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Almost 60 percent agree with the idea of banning Muslims because they say what's smart is to address my fear. Muslims are trying to kill me. What he said in that debate may hurt him with his party.

[07:35:01]BROWN: A leader is supposed to lead and secondly educate. He says Donald Trump is a poster boy for ISIS because he's helping to radicalize the non-radical Muslims. If he's allowed to say it, it could penetrate and people could pay attention. I thought he rocked.

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump complains about the media all the time. So listen to what he says about journalism and journalists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have so many dishonest reporters. In fact, it's almost amazing to me because I consider myself to get the worst publicity and yet I've got this massive lead and it tells you two things. They're dishonest and the people are really smart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Is that the conclusion? Is that what it tells you?

BROWN: This guy, what a Pinocchio.

CUOMO: By Pinocchio you mean --

BROWN: Everything out of his mouth pretty much is an exaggeration or just a frank misstatement. It's hilarious when people who are absolute media hounds complain about the media nonstop. The guy dominates the airwaves. He's taken every piece of oxygen out of the room and it's not enough for him.

CUOMO: He wants to win. Nobody has paid for the sins more than I have when it comes to Donald Trump and his coverage. We hear the same thing from his followers all the time. He's telling it as it is. He's not playing the pc game that everybody else plays.

CAMEROTA: Speaking the truth.

CUOMO: They believe that he is unfairly judged. He gets a ton of attention but it's the kind of attention. The question is where do you think it goes for him?

BROWN: Here's the thing. I think some of the things he does say about pc aspect of life is absolutely right. I get it. I understand why people identify with that. Sometimes he does speak truth to what is happening and I like that about him.

Unfortunately, it's wrapped around in so much nonsense that it's very damaging. When you hear a candidate who is running for president who so clearly doesn't understand the question about what to do about a nuclear triad, he doesn't know how to answer so he answers in a way that doesn't make sense.

That's worrying. It isn't about penetrating pc when you get into the White House. We live in a very complex world where hot button comments can in fact get you into the most tremendous problem globally.

That's where I think he's dangerous. Of course, I understand why people actually enjoy when he penetrates and punctured pc verbiage, which there is an enormous amount.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about another hot button issue. A mistrial in the Freddie Gray trial this week and policing has been on the forefront of a national conversation as have all sorts of justice issues. I know that you're having the American Justice Summit. Tell us about that.

BROWN: We launched the American Justice Summit last year. It was a tremendous success because we were taking on many of these issues which of course have now developed tremendous traction in the last year. We're doing it again this year.

It will be bigger than before. Doing it in partnership with John Jay Justice Foundation and Eric Holder is coming and Bill Bratton, which will be incredibly interesting.

We also have the families of Sandra Bland, who died in police custody and we have the mother of the young man accused wrongly of stealing a backpack and put in solitary confinement and committed suicide because he could not deal with the aftereffects of his injustice. We've seen an unsettling year in both criminal justice and in policing.

CUOMO: It winds up having two different dynamics. One is this idea of justice not being fairly applied and the other side is that criticism and some would argue hypercriticism of policing exposed men and women who are protecting us to violence like never before as well.

BROWN: What it's going to be interesting to discuss at the American Justice Summit is going to be really what has happened to the militarization of the police and of civilians. The truth of the matter is at the end of the day guns, weapons, aren't the basis of all of this. They are so militarized.

The civilians, of course, young men in the streets, are armed with lethal firearms. Now we have this pitch battle happening which is dangerous for everybody.

Also these grotesque unfairness on both sides, it leads to unfair criticism of the police and also leads to a tremendous tragic deaths of both in custody and in violence that we see all over America.

There's also the interesting fact that so many of the gun deaths that we're seeing are also suicides, which is a whole other question.

[07:40:05]I think that in our discussion of gun violence, we're going to talk about different ways we have to address gun violence because it isn't a mono issue. There are many aspects to this thing. Why are so many Americans committing suicide?

CUOMO: There are ways to stop it.

CAMEROTA: Great to hear about the conversations that come out of there. Tina Brown, thanks so much.

BROWN: Good to talk to you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: There wasn't a ton of unity in the debate on Tuesday in Vegas. How are the Democrats responding to their attacks? We'll have it next.

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CAMEROTA: We are following some breaking news for you. CNN has learned that the former friend and neighbor of the male San Bernardino terrorist will be charged. Law enforcement officials tell CNN that the charges against Enrique Marquez will partly concern those two military-style rifles he bought that were used in the terror attack.

Let's bring in Congressman Adam Schiff. He is a Democrat from California and the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY this morning.

REPRESENTATIVE ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: Good to be with you.

[07:45:03]CAMEROTA: Let's talk about that breaking news. Our reporter, Evan Perez, said that he will be charged today, this neighbor and friend who supplied the weapons. Many people said why did it take so long after the attacks?

SCHIFF: Well, I can only say and this is based on being a former prosecutor more than sitting on the intelligence committee, that if you have a cooperating suspect, even one you may plan on arresting, you want to gain as much information as you can particularly in a case like this where there may be elements of the public that could still be at risk.

Obviously, the priority for FBI is finding out, are there any other co-conspirators out there? The director has said that this wasn't part of a larger cell, but nonetheless, there's important information that can be gleaned about this plot and any prior plot.

They wanted to keep the suspect talking. In light of what has become public and without confirming the accuracy, if he is telling investigators that he purchased these weapons because he felt that if Farook did it would draw attention or he couldn't pass the background check.

He's a straw purchaser but I would be surprised if that were the sole issues he has to contend with legally. It sounds like there's a lot more risk in terms of his exposure.

CAMEROTA: Congressman, as a former prosecutor, explain this, because it does sound from investigators as though this guy could be a gold mine. He told them about the pipe bombs and how they did it and what they were capable of and he supplied the weapons. What happens then? Does he get charged and does he go to prison or is he seen as a key witness?

SCHIFF: I think he very well may be charged and the prosecutors would look at a range of charges and a negotiation about whether he would be willing to plead and will to continue cooperating.

I have to imagine if he checked himself into a mental institution of some type, his lawyers likely to make a defense based on his mental state or his mental capacity so that's something that prosecutors may have to deal with.

Again, I'm speaking as a former prosecutor here and not on the basis of anything we've been briefed on. I can see that being the likely course of at least his legal case. CAMEROTA: As you know on Tuesday night at the CNN debate all sorts of national security and terrorism issues came up. Basically many of the Republicans blame President Obama and even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for not keeping the country safe and better protecting Americans. Let me play for you what Ted Cruz said about some of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Obama and Hillary Clinton are proposing bringing tens of thousands of Syrian refugees to this country when the head of the FBI has told Congress they cannot vet those refugees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Congressman, where do you fall on that issue of whether or not it is safe to bring refugees or whether or not our vetting system is just wildly flawed?

SCHIFF: I think it is safe to bring refugees to this country. We've been doing it since 9/11 and have brought hundreds of thousands of refugees here and done so very safely. Ironically for all of the attacks on the refugees, these people who are fleeing ISIS, that has been one of the most rigorously vetted programs that we have.

If you're going to pick one way to get into the country and you pick the refugee program, you picked the most difficult way to get here. We are now cracking down and toughening up. It's a peculiar population to pick on but a very vulnerable population that doesn't have many advocates.

I do think you saw a few things during the Republican debate. You had three categories of GOP candidates there. Some who were clearly out of their element and really don't belong in a discussion on national security and didn't know much about what they were talking about

Another category that was filled with reckless bluster about carpet bombing and barring all Muslims from coming in the country and killing family members of ISIS and another category wants to adopt the strategy of the president, but call it something different, but those are categories that we heard during that debate.

CAMEROTA: Congressman Adam Schiff, thank you for joining us with your perspective on this on NEW DAY. Thank you. Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: We have big economic news. The fed is hiking its key interest rate for the first time in almost a decade so why now and why this isn't necessarily bad news? We'll explain coming up.

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[07:53:51]

PEREIRA: All right, CNN Money now, U.S. stocks and the dollars are up as the fed raised its key interest rate for the first time in nearly a decade. It is a move that will not only affect investors on Wall Street, but also folks looking to buy a home, maybe save for retirement.

Rana Foroohar is here. She is CNN's global economic analyst and assistant managing editor of "Time" magazine. I was thinking about this. There are some millennial sitting here watching "NEW DAY" -- good morning.

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALSYT: Good morning.

PEREIRA: They have not seen this in in their financial lifetime. Why did this take so long?

FOROOHAR: The economy's been weak almost a decade now. We're coming out of the biggest financial crisis in 2008 since the great depression. So this has been a really unprecedented period and there is an entire generation of kids out there.

I'm dating myself here, but we all came of age when credit card debt rates for high and it cost you a lot to get out of debt. So when interest rates have been at zero for as long as they have, I think that there is going to be some really interesting behavior shifts that might happen now as they start to creep up.

[07:55:01]PEREIRA: It's interesting because the adjustment was minuscule, right, a quarter of a percentage point. Why so small?

FOROOHAR: Because we're waiting to see what's going to happen? Janet Yellen, the chair of the Federal Reserve, made the point that, look, we haven't done this in a long time. The last time we hiked rates was in 2006. The iPhone wasn't even invented then. There was a world and rates were higher.

PEREIRA: Does that mean we could see other slight adjustments going forward? Would you predict that or --

FOROOHAR: Yes, I think that this year you are going to see mortgage rates, auto loans, you know, interest rates on credit cards start to hike up a little bit. But I don't want to panic anybody. This isn't going to be fast and actually that is one of the reasons that the markets are taking this so well.

PEREIRA: Wall Street generally how to do they react?

FOROOHAR: Well, it's kind of amazingly. There's been a rally not only in U.S. stocks but global. Europe is up and emerging markets are up. That is unusual. Usually when rates go up stocks go down because borrowing costs are expected to rise.

But I think what's happening is this hike has sort of put a floor under the financial crisis. It is saying OK, we're moving on. We are beyond that point. The economy really is getting stronger.

PEREIRA: So how does that then affect 2016 plans for folks that are thinking we need to buy a house? It is time for us to do that. Does it make sense? Do they need to rethink that plan or adjust how they do it and same with a big purchase like a car or something? FOROOHAR: Yes, well, it is still a good time to get a mortgage, still a good time to get a loan. Rates are still historically very low and they probably won't go up by more than a percentage point in the next year, year and a half.

But it is time to start thinking where do I have debt? Where can I pay down debt? Particularly on things like credit cards. Anything you can pay down now, you should. In a couple of years you may looking at significantly higher borrowing costs.

PEREIRA: Those are ways we can get ahead and be smart.

FOROOHAR: Absolutely, and one thing, if you haven't already remortgaged and gotten yourself a low rate this is your sort of last chance before the door starts to shut on that.

PEREIRA: We know the fed also on Wednesday announced that its economic outlook, they are feeling positive. They feel that growth could be better than previously expected. They also expect the unemployment rate to go down. Are you sharing the fed's optimism?

FOROOHAR: I think the recovery in the U.S. is stable, but the thing about the economy is that it's very bifurcated. There are two Americas here. There are a lot of people doing a lot better that have gotten out of debt and used this opportunity to get balance sheets in order.

But there are a lot still struggling particularly younger people. People of color have higher than average unemployment rates. That hasn't changed and I think that is one reason why the fed is being so careful about the pace of rate hikes.

PEREIRA: You mean they are paying attention to the little guy.

FOROOHAR: They are. Janet Yellen is all about the little guy. This is somebody who grew up thinking about the stuff. She is a labor economist. She cares about working people and I think she's taking that very much into effect.

PEREIRA: And the crowds cheered. Rana, thanks for walking through all of that with us. A very happy holiday to you.

FOROOHAR: And to you.

PEREIRA: We are following a lot of news. Let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm terrified. Are we going to have five more mistrials?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The judge declared a mistrial after the jury said they were deadlocked on all charges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We asked the public to remain calm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we believe in justice, we must have respect for the outcome of the judicial process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone on that stage talks tough.

TRUMP: Bush is a person that's just not been able to carry it forward.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump doesn't talk about anything serious. He doesn't have any ideas about how to keep America safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're seeing interest in this film unlike any interest in any other movie made.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest premiere of all time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want as many surprises as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you are tearing up. Am I right?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Thursday, December 17th, 8:00 in the east. Republicans wasting no time getting out on the hasting after Vegas. Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio following up on their attacks after squaring off during the debate in Vegas.

CAMEROTA: And Donald Trump taking sites on Jeb Bush. We also heard something surprising from the frontrunner. CNN's Sara Murray is live in Washington with more. Tell us what we've heard.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: That's right, Alisyn. There was almost a tone of humility coming from Donald Trump in this late night interview. He's talking more like a frontrunner saying he wants to see the Republican Party united.

But of course, he could not embrace that all way. He could not stop himself from taking a couple swipes at his Republican rivals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY (voice-over): A change in tone for Donald Trump. On Jimmy Kimmel overnight, a bit of self-reflection. I would like to see --