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Candidates Begin Final Push to Iowa; Donald Trump Talks Final Spring to Iowa. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired January 04, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your NEW DAY.

[07:00:02] Up first, a new year and a new sense of urgency for the presidential candidates, with the very first real votes in the 2016 race to be cast in Iowa, in the caucuses, just 28 days from now. Where has the time gone? Followed by New Hampshire, the first primary state, which will be more of a political battleground than ever.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Very real now. The candidates themselves feeling this. Donald Trump began 2016 pretty much the way he ended it but stronger, more directly now. He has an ad out that he's going to -- we'll play for you. And he is going to give you his new line of attack in just moments.

We do have CNN's comprehensive coverage at play for you. We're going to start off with CNN's Athena Jones in New Hampshire.

Athena, what's going on there?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

Well, we're only a few weeks away, as you mentioned, from voters actually going to the polls to cast votes. Not just opinion polls, the actual polls. Here, this is a new phase that's heating up. The holidays are over. More voters are paying closer attention. And if the last few days and weeks are any indication, it's going to get even more heated as these candidates jockey for position.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice-over): Just four weeks from the first contest in the 2016 presidential election...

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we win Iowa, I think we're going to win everything after that.

JONES: ... GOP candidates scrambling to build momentum ahead of the high-stakes Iowa caucuses.

And this morning, the launch of Donald Trump's first campaign ad, touting his controversial platform.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why he's calling for a temporary shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until we can figure out what's going on. He'll quickly cut the head off ISIS and take their oil.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump, I don't believe is going to be the party's nominee. And if he is, he's going to get crushed by Hillary Clinton.

JONES: As Jeb Bush grapples with dwindling poll numbers. Trump leads the pack, accusing his biggest Iowa rival, Ted Cruz, of copying his immigration plan.

TRUMP: He said, "We will build a wall." The first time I've ever heard him say it. And I'm the one that came up with it.

JONES: Trump slamming Cruz on religion in the battle over evangelical voters.

TRUMP: Cuba, generally speaking, is a Catholic country. And you don't equate evangelicals with Cuba.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She's the best qualified person.

JONES: And as President Clinton readies to hit the campaign trail, Trump taking digs at Secretary Clinton, dredging up her husband's past. Tweeting Saturday, "I hope Bill Clinton starts talking about women's issues so that voters can see what a hypocrite he is and how Hillary abused those women." And Sunday night tweeting, "The worst thing Hillary could do is have her husband campaign for her. Just watch."

After appearing in this terror propaganda video, Trump pointing the finger back at his Democratic rival in front of a crowd in Biloxi.

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton created ISIS with Obama.

JONES: Shrugging off what critics say is his anti-Muslim rhetoric.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Now, this is not the time, of course, given the calendar, where you want to be making big adjustments to your campaign or your message. We know that a month is a long time in politics and anything can happen, and of course, we'll be watching very, very closely -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Athena, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Joining us this morning, Republican presidential candidate Mr. Donald J. Trump.

Mr. Trump, do you have us on the phone?

TRUMP (via phone): I do.

CUOMO: Happy new year to you, sir.

TRUMP: Well, thank you. I think we have plenty to talk about based on that introduction.

CUOMO: Beautiful. We have the ad out this morning. It is simple. It is direct. Some will argue it is divisive. In it, you say that there must be a temporary ban of Muslims because of Islamic extremism. And you say we must build a wall, and Mexico will pay for it. How do you get those things done?

TRUMP: Through competence, throughout knowing what to do, through knowing how to negotiate. Mexico is making an absolute fortune with this country. They are taking our money, like, left and right, because we have people that are incompetent running our country.

All countries are taking advantage of us. I mean, you can look at virtually every country that does business with us, and I will tell you, Chris, they take our money because we have people that don't know what they're doing, or they get someone with another agenda. I don't happen to believe that, but some of the deals are so bad, some of the deals are so stupid, that I would say they maybe have another agenda. You know, between their lobbyists and their special interests. Because unlike me, they all get money from big lobbyists and special interests. I don't -- I'm self-funding my campaign.

CUOMO: So...

TRUMP: And it's a disgrace what's going on, and it's a disgrace how our politicians are acting. And what they did last week with the budget was incredible. It went so fast. They went like a bullet. We're talking about bullets and guns today. That went like a bullet, the way they approved that budget.

And I have no idea why and how they approved such a horrible budget. Obama got every single thing he wanted, including having lots of people come into this country that shouldn't be coming in.

[07:05:09] CUOMO: You mention bullets. The president is going to sign executive orders, he says. We're going to find out more details about them. They do seem to be aimed at closing the gun show loophole. And putting more money into existing gun law enforcement. What is wrong with that?

TRUMP: Well, pretty soon you won't be able to get guns. I mean, it's another step in the way of not getting guns.

And you know, the one thing that is just before we even get to that is the executive order concept. You know, it's supposed to be negotiated. You're supposed to cajole, get people in a room. You're supposed to deal with them. You have Republicans. You have Democrats. You have all these people. They get elected to do this stuff. And you're supposed to get together and pass a law.

He doesn't want to do that, because it's too much work. So he doesn't want to work too hard. He wants to go back and play golf.

CUOMO: What do you do when the other side doesn't want to negotiate.

TRUMP: What you do is... CUOMO: And you find something that you want to do that you think is right? Then what do you do?

TRUMP: He's been away for two weeks playing golf. OK? You know, he's not exactly trying very hard to get it done.

CUOMO: All presidents go on vacation. You know that, Mr. Trump.

TRUMP: He's now just using the executive orders. And he said, you know, "Look, I'll sign it. I'll be out of here by the time the courts rule on all this stuff."

Look at what happened at the border. He did an executive order a couple of years ago. And now the courts have -- actually, amazingly, the courts have been on our side, meaning the people's side. And they've...

CUOMO: Well, which side are you on? You've said in the past that there should be a quick period where people can figure out whether or not they need a gun. I think you commented 72 hours we should be able to tell. So you're for background checks, right?

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: ... on the book. Right now there's been tremendous laws put on the books already.

And you know, nobody ever talks about the mental health aspect. The people that actually pull the trigger of the guns. They don't talk about that, Chris. You know, all over the country, they're closing up mental-health hospitals for budget reasons. And people don't talk about that. They talk about the guns.

If people in Paris had guns, you know what? You wouldn't have had 130 people and many more to follow get killed. And if people in California had a couple of guns in that room, you wouldn't have had 16 people killed, people laying in the hospital critically wounded.

CUOMO: We don't know that. We don't know that. You would like to believe that if people have guns they'd be able to defend themselves and that there'd be less killing.

TRUMP: At least we'd have a shot. They have no shot.

CUOMO: No. Look, we understand.

TRUMP: The people of Paris and in California had zero shot.

CUOMO: We understand.

TRUMP: Five soldiers that were killed in a gun-free zone, who are outstanding soldiers, one of them was one of the most highly decorated soldiers. And they had no -- they were in a gun-free zone on a military base, and this wacko came in.

CUOMO: Right. TRUMP: And he had a gun.

CUOMO: I was there. I was at Ft. Hood. I was at Ft. Hood. We all understand the pain that goes into one of these situations and the frustration. But it gets complex, right? I mean, you said nobody talks about the mentally ill. We do a lot on this show.

TRUMP: You think we should have a gun-free zone on a military base, Chris?

CUOMO: Obviously, that's not my call. They did it for a reason. If you were to talk to the people involved...

TRUMP: What's the reason? You wonder, what is the reason?

CUOMO: They have operational security issues. They have maintenance of their firearms. They have protection of those on base. They have problems in the past. But that's somewhat of a side issue to something else you mentioned.

TRUMP: You know, whenever I see "gun-free zone," I see that's a flag for the wackos to come in and start shooting people. That's what I see.

CUOMO: We have plenty of guns in the country. Right? We have more guns than we do have people. So it's not like we're running at a shortage.

And when you talk about mental health, there's no question that the mentally ill don't get the healthcare parity that they should in this country. It's an interesting topic for you to bring up and advocate as a leader.

But when we talk about these shootings, these shootings that we cover the most are represented the least in terms of statistics. They're less than 1 percent of overall gun crime. I'm not saying they don't matter. We certainly cover them here at CNN as much or more than anybody else. But that's not the real problem.

You get into the problem of where guys get these guy guns and how. You've said in the past, there should be a period from where you evaluate whether someone has a record and should get a gun. Don't you think that that period should apply to all gun sales? That's what the executive order is...

TRUMP: We have right now, Chris, we have rules and regulations on the books right now.

CUOMO: But not for these gun shows.

TRUMP: And frankly, you know, if you want to get to it.

What I do see is I do see step by step by step, and then all of a sudden, you have no Second Amendment. I do see that happening. You'll have steps, these little baby steps, and some of them aren't so baby. Now, in all fairness, I don't know what Obama is proposing, because

nobody's really said what he's proposing.

CUOMO: We have -- we have it out. Look, he's got to give us the details. But he's saying close the gun show loophole. And obviously, you know what that is. But just for the audience, is that when you go to one of these shows, there's a lot of private-to-private sellers, as opposed to someone who's a dealer. And they get to transfer arms in a way that you wouldn't be able to otherwise.

He's saying make it uniform. Many advocates say that. Same background check that applies when you go to the gun shop should apply when you go to the gun show. Do you have a problem with that?

TRUMP: Right. Well, I have to look at what he says. I really do. I have to see what he says. I want to see why he couldn't get this approved by Congress. Why can't he go in and get this approved?

[07:10:09] You know, you do have to ask that question, Chris. Why can't you, if something is so seemingly cut and dry as like -- as you'd like to say it is, why can't -- why can't the system work the way it was supposed to be, you know, the way it was supposed to be working, or the way it was designed? Why isn't he getting Republicans and Democrats together and doing something? Instead of always signing -- He keeps signing executive orders, because he doesn't meet with people. I don't know. He doesn't like people, I guess.

CUOMO: No, I don't think...

TRUMP: I'm not sure. Maybe they could come up with some kind of a plan. But don't you think he should do this with Congress and the -- I don't think he works very hard at it. OK? I don't think he -- I mean, I don't hear massive meetings taking place where they're all coming in, and they're discussing guns and they're discussing what to do. I don't hear that.

I mean, all I hear is he's going to sign an executive order, and the reason is, he can't get it approved.

CUOMO: There's no question that Congress...

TRUMP: Chris, if he's even tried, I don't know that he even tries. I don't know that he even...

CUOMO: I think there have been significant efforts made.

TRUMP: He keeps signing executive orders.

CUOMO: I think there have been significant efforts made. I think you can do a quick Google search and see that. There's just a lot of politics of opposition around this issue.

TRUMP: Well, maybe he doesn't know how to get a deal done. You know, maybe...

CUOMO: That's your opinion. TRUMP: Based on the deal he made with Iran, and now you look at what Iran is doing, certainly he can't make a deal very well. Because that's the worst deal I think I've ever seen made.

CUOMO: You have said that many times.

TRUMP: I should -- regardless of what is proposed, this is proposed through an executive order.

CUOMO: Right.

TRUMP: And it shouldn't be.

CUOMO: Well, one of the things that goes into this is the politics of opposition. Right? Politics has become a very ugly game. That takes to us our next issue.

TRUMP: It's always been an ugly game.

CUOMO: Well, right, but it's especially ugly right now.

TRUMP: ... an ugly game with Reagan and Tip O'Neill, but they got along, and they got a lot of things done.

CUOMO: And there is fair criticism on that basis about why doesn't get -- more get done down in D.C.? So that gets us to the election, what should the election be about? We have plenty of problems. You outline them well all time. You say you're going to make America great again.

As part of making us great again, getting back into the weeds with Bill Clinton and his sex life, that seems to be a big point of emphasis for you now. Why are you doing that?

TRUMP: Only because I was mentioned during the course of the debate nine times. None of the other candidates, Republican candidates mentioned at all. The last person that Hillary Clinton wants to run against, and I know this for a fact, because as you know, I know many people on the Clinton side. I know people on all sides.

CUOMO: Sure. They were at your wedding.

TRUMP: As a businessman, I got along with everybody. I did well. Nobody did it better than me. I got along with everybody.

And it was my obligation to my company, and my family, and myself to get along with Clinton and to get along with every person that I needed to get along with. And I got along great with everybody.

I know many of the people in the Clinton campaign. The last person they want to run against is Donald Trump, believe me.

CUOMO: But what does that have to do with you bringing Bill Clinton's sex life up?

TRUMP: Well, it's very simple. They, during the course of the debate and many other times, she was talking about -- she used the word "sexist." I'm sexist. And she was using very sort of derogatory terms. I said, "How the hell can she do that when she's got one of the great women abusers of all time sitting at her house, waiting for her to come home for dinner?"

CUOMO: Why do you call him one of the great women abusers of all time, when in the past you've said that the impeachment process against him didn't make sense. You said Monica Lewinsky didn't make sense.

TRUMP: Chris, as a businessman I got along with everybody, so it was always important to defend people when I was -- it was important for me to get along with the Clintons.

CUOMO: But it sounds to people...

TRUMP: ... whether she was a senator, secretary of state.

CUOMO: Right. But it sounds like your morality shifts based on your motivation.

TRUMP: No, no. As a -- as one of the magazines recently said, Trump was a world and, indeed, is a world -- well, I guess I'm not know, because I'm supposed to be a politician now. So a bad name. Being a politician is a little bit of a bad name to me, frankly. But I guess that's what I am.

But when I was a businessman, they said I was a great businessman, a world-class businessman. I got along with Clinton. I got along with everybody. I got along with Harry Reid. I got along with everybody.

CUOMO: Right. But I'm saying, you know, leadership -- leadership is about consistency. You said it in your book, "The Art of the Deal." Your most recent book, too, you talk about the consistency needed in leadership.

One minute you said -- or not one minute. Years ago you said Monica Lewinsky, they shouldn't have chased after it like this. Bill Clinton's sex life shouldn't be an issue. Now you're saying it's, like, one of the main issues. How is a voter supposed to see you for that?

TRUMP: I tried to help them a little bit, because they were -- they -- it was important for me as secretary of state, as a senator, to have all these people on my side. I needed votes for things. I got many things done. I needed votes. And I would have these people on my side.

So I wasn't going to get involved in the Monica Lewinsky thing. And I wouldn't get involved in it now.

CUOMO: You're bringing it up.

TRUMP: I don't really care about Monica Lewinsky, other than I think that, you know, Hillary was an enabler; and a lot of things happened that were, you know, obviously very seedy. I mean, he was impeached, for heaven's sake. He was impeached over this.

[07:20:00] CUOMO: But that was a political process. Right? The Senate wound up not going along with it. He wound up being one of the most popular presidents in history.

TRUMP: He was impeached. He paid a massive fine on one of the cases, like a massive fine. He was -- I think his law degree was even taken away; he wasn't able to practice law. So obviously, it was a big thing.

But I would always stick up, when -- as a businessman, I would always stick up for various people, whether they were friends or not. Because in many cases, I needed them; I needed their votes to get things done.

CUOMO: so what you're saying is that back then, when you needed them, you were OK with what Bill Clinton was doing. But now that you want to take votes from his wife, you're not OK with what he was doing.

TRUMP: No. You have to understand, they called me sexist. And all of a sudden...

CUOMO: Yes, they called you that because of what you said about women. Not because of...

TRUMP: She comes out and starts going -- and the reason that happen, Chris, it was very simple. The reason that happened is because I'm doing very well in the polls. In some polls I'm beating her, and I think I'm going to beat her easily if I get the nomination. I'll beat her easily.

CUOMO: I have to understand, but you have to remember. The reason it happened is because of what you said during the first debate about women and how you went at it with Megyn Kelly. And then what you said about Carly Fiorina.

TRUMP: What did I do with Megyn Kelly? I didn't do -- she asked me a totally inappropriate first question, and I fought her. If a male asked me that same question, I would have hit her just -- I would have hit him just as hard. I mean, what Megyn Kelly did, is she asked me a totally nonsense question, and I fought her.

CUOMO: I'm just saying that's where it came from. Hillary Clinton didn't bring it out of nowhere. You got a lot of criticism for that.

TRUMP: By the way, I said nothing wrong to Megyn Kelly. I fought her. I fought her properly. And if it was a male, I would have fought him the same way.

CUOMO: I am well aware of your fighting techniques, Mr. Trump. It makes you a very challenging interview. Thank you for discussing the issues of the day. I appreciate it, and a good New Year to you, sir.

TRUMP: You, too, Chris. Thank you very much.

CUOMO: All right. You take care. CAMEROTA: OK. A lot to talk about there, already, as always.

CUOMO: You didn't hit me this time.

CAMEROTA: I kicked you. No, there was a lot to talk about. We will break down what you just heard with Donald Trump. Does it hold up? CNN's John King joins us live with his thoughts, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:58] CAMEROTA: Welcome back, everyone. Moments ago Chris spoke with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. He gave us a lot to dissect. So let's do that now with CNN chief national correspondent John King.

Good morning, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Happy New Year.

CAMEROTA: Happy New Year to you, as well. What did you just hear in Chris's interview with Trump?

KING: I heard a politician. And he says he doesn't like the name, but he has become Donald Trump, as we have watched him these past six months, a better and a better politician who knows how to speak to the voters he knows he needs in the very consequential -- let's start with this premise -- next 60 days are about as consequential a period of time in American politics as I can remember.

The Republican Party is going to decide whether Mr. Trump is going to stay their frontrunner. The Democrats will decide their race, as well.

But what did he say? Let's just start with the gun issue, when Chris was trying to press him. What does he say?

No. 1, he says these executive actions is the wrong way to do it. A president is supposed to work with Congress. That motivates the Republican base that thinks this president uses his pen and just wants to do everything by executive fiat. The Republican base doesn't like that.

No. 2, he says a step by step -- in his view, a step-by-step case to obliterate the Second Amendment. Again, gun owners in the country think this. Obama's never actually proposed big sweeping gun legislation. But Republicans and gun rights advocates thinks that that's what the president wants to do, eventually take away your guns. So that plays to the Republican base.

And then essentially says the president is lazy; he just wants to golf. That plays to the Republican base. Donald Trump knows who his voters are, and in every answer he targets them.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the next issue. And that is that Chris brought up with him that Donald Trump has been going after Bill Clinton. In fact, just with Chris's interview, he says Bill Clinton was, quote, "one of the great women abusers of all times."

Now, the point is, is that Donald Trump has supported publicly the Clintons in the past. He's invited them to his wedding. He has said that the Monica Lewinsky affair was silly, that Republicans should never have gone after Bill Clinton. He said that he can relate to Bill Clinton in terms of extramarital issues.

And now he has a different tune, and he's going after Bill Clinton. So this -- when Chris...

CUOMO: Well, it's better than that. He says he doesn't have a different tune. He says that this isn't about how he feels about morality. It was about what he needed at the time. He says he needed the Clintons at the time. He said he had a duty to his family and his business. So he didn't go after anybody. But now, he's saying what he -- I guess he's going to say he really feels. But it seems opportunistic. What's your take?

CAMEROTA: And we have that moment. Well, hold on. First, John, let's just play that in case people missed it.

CUOMO: Are you censoring me?

CAMEROTA: Let's play that moment from Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (via phone): As a businessman, I got along with everybody. So it was always important to defend people when I was -- it was important for me to get along with the Clintons, whether she was a senator or secretary of state.

CUOMO: But it sounds to people -- right. It sounds like your morality shifts based on your motivation, to people.

TRUMP: No, no. As one of the magazines recently said, Trump was a world and is -- well, I guess I'm not now, because I'm supposed to be a politician.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK. Do -- will voters understand that shifting morality?

KING: It's an interesting question, not just on the issue of Bill Clinton but on the issue of Donald Trump once said that he thought we should have a single-payer healthcare system. He did give money to Harry Reed and Nancy Pelosi in 2006, the year Democrats took back control of Congress. That was a big defeat.

Yet, Republicans give him a pass on his Democratic past, if you will, so far. And that has frustrated all the other candidates.

Remember, Chris Christie got in trouble -- some Republicans still get in his face -- because he hugged President Obama after Superstorm Sandy when the president came up and helped the people of New York and New Jersey when -- after the storm. Some Republicans are still mad at Chris Christie for that.

And yet Donald Trump can be somebody who once said Hillary Clinton was a great negotiator, who once said he thought she'd make a good president. Who has given Democrats money over the years, and who did say the impeachment, in his mind, was silly; why didn't they impeach George W. Bush for going into Iraq?

And Republicans give him a pass on that because they're so dissatisfied with their other choices. They're so mad not just at President Obama and Hillary Clinton, but they're mad at their own establishment. And so Trump has created this new space in the Republican party.

That's why the next 60 days are so important, to see if the Republican Party is going to say, essentially, we want a total makeover; we're going to go in this different route.

CUOMO: Well, that's going to be a function of drilling down. You know, one of the reasons in this interview -- I could have asked him about Oregon. I could have asked him about his presence in this propaganda video for ISIS. But I didn't, because I think that it's time to drill down a little bit now, because of what John is saying and, you know, everybody has been saying. He's identified very well, Donald Trump, what pushes the buttons of Republican-based voters.

But now it's going to be, well, why are you pushing those buttons and what do those buttons mean to you, and what will really come from these discussions that you're throwing out there as headlines?

I think this Bill Clinton one matters a little bit more than even John is teeing up, because you felt one way about single payer; now you feel another way. You felt one way about taxes. Now you feel -- people change over time.

Morality does not change. You are who you is. You are what you do. And this is a core belief. And the idea that something wasn't wrong, because the guy's a friend of yours but now is wrong, because you want to beat his wife in the election, I think that's a little bit of a tougher sell than even Trump is teeing up.

KING: The question is do the other candidates take him on on that, though? Look, Mr. -- going after the Clintons does not hurt you in a Republican primary. Going after Bill Clinton's morality does not hurt you when you're about to -- we're 28 days away from the people of Iowa voting, where evangelicals tend to make up the biggest slice of the electorate in the Republican...

CUOMO: You defended him once. But you defended him once. That's the point.

KING: Right. Will the -- but will the other Republican candidates take him on? Because when they have in the past, Mr. Trump, I'm not saying this as a criticism, he's very effective. He's essentially the human chainsaw in this race. If you take him on, he takes you out.

CAMEROTA: I mean, yes. And also, does this whole topic still matter to voters? That will be tested in Iowa. I mean, this is what Donald Trump himself said in his book in 2000 about Bill Clinton's past. Let me just read it, because I think it's telling.

It says, "If the Clinton affair proves anything, it is that the American people don't care about the private lives and personal of the political leaders, so long as they are doing their job." He's making a different gambit today.

KING: He is making a different gambit today, and he's trying to show Republican voters that he is tough, that he will scrap. That if he gets a chance to run against Hillary Clinton, you know, he will fight. Because a lot of Republicans think that we're going to nominate another John McCain; we're going to nominate another Mitt Romney. And again, this is what these conservative activists think. And that they're going to lose because they won't be tough, because they compromise too much. Because they won't take a bat, essentially, into the fight.

And so that's the choice Republicans make. Do they want another establishment candidate? Do they want a Ted Cruz, who says, "I'm the Christmas gift you've been waiting for, a conservative who will not blink, a conservative who will not compromise"?

Or do they want a Donald Trump, who's not really an ideological candidate. It's not like you can give a long list of things where Donald Trump has, as you just noted reading that passage, for 20 or 30 years been on the side of the Republican base. He's the fighter. And he says, "I'm the leader. And I'm the tough guy. And I'll make things better." That's the choice that the Republicans face.

This is going to be a fascinating stretch between Iowa in 28 days and 57 days from now. Don't discount this March 1 SEC primary. When we go south, when red America votes. Red America is going to have a much bigger choice in the Republican nominee than it has had in cycles past, which is why you see that first Trump ad talking about banning Muslims, building the wall. He knows what he's talking about.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Things are getting interesting, John King.

KING: They certainly are.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for your take on this.

CUOMO: We are certainly in a different phase. And that's why we're drilling down a little bit deeper with Mr. Trump today. We're going to do that with all the candidates who choose to accept our invitation to come on NEW DAY. Because really, people are going to start putting their voting hats on now.

So what did you think of the interview? What do you think matters? Use the hashtag #NewDayCNN if you go on Twitter. And you can also go on Facebook, as well, Facebook.com/NewDay.

CAMEROTA: Also, one special programming note to tell you about. Thursday night at 8 p.m., President Obama will join Anderson Cooper for an exclusive live town-hall event on guns in America. The president will discuss the executive action on guns that he's expected to announce this week. And he'll also take questions from a live studio audience. A town hall on guns in America with President Obama, moderated by Anderson Cooper this Thursday night, 8 p.m., only on CNN -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. There's new tension in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia severing diplomatic ties with Iran, and now more countries are following suit. Does all of this undermine the chances for peace in the region, and how will it impact the U.S.? We're going to take a look at all of that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)