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Bernie Sanders Closes Gap with Hillary Clinton in Recent Iowa Polls; Terrorist Attack Targets Tourist Destination in Turkey; Donald Trump Discusses Possible Presidential Race against Hillary Clinton; Interview with Governor John Kasich; White House: No To-Do List to Congress in Final Address; Vice President Biden Remembers His Son Beau. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 12, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: -- handled the right way. We'll only know as we learn more about what's going on in each step of the investigation. There is an American involved. There is intrigue involved. You know that will get interest involved as well. Anne Bremner, we looking for to getting your perspective as we move forward.

ANNE BREMNER, FORMER COUNSEL AND SPOKESPERSON FOR AMANDA KNOX: Thank you.

CUOMO: All right, there is a lot of news this morning. Alisyn is in Iowa. She's about to talk to Hillary Clinton. That's where the presidential race is, so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: At least 10 people killed after a powerful explosion rocked a central square in Turkey.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This attack was the work of a suicide bomber with a Syria origin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the polls they are a statistical tie.

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The inevitable candidate for the Democratic nomination may not be so inevitable today.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I win and she wins, it's going to be the largest voter turnout in the history of the country.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He was basically a Democrat before he was a Republican.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a story out of New Hampshire, a big story. I believe I'll be the nominee.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think I've ever more optimistic about a year ahead than I am right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His final State of the Union address tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Instead of laundry list of priorities, President Obama will instead outline his vision for the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone. Welcome to your new day. Chris and Michaela are in New York this morning. I'm here in Iowa where later I will be sitting down with Hillary Clinton. Clinton is in a tighter battle than expected here with Bernie Sanders. And Sanders is ramping up rhetoric, claiming that Clinton's campaign is, quote, "in serious trouble." So I will talk to her about that.

In a minute, though, we'll hear from Republican presidential candidate John Kasich who is surging in New Hampshire, and we'll also bring you revealing exclusive interview with Vice President Joe Biden.

But first we want to go back to New York and Chris for some breaking news.

CUOMO: The number now at least nine killed after a powerful explosion rocked a square popular in Turkey, popular with tourists near the capital's famous blue mosque. The question now was this a terror attack? Was this the work of ISIS? We have senior international correspondent Arwa Damon Live in Istanbul. Arwa, what do we know now?

ARWA DAMON, FOX NEWS SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Chris, that attack just a few hundred meters behind where we are standing right now. As you were saying there, this is the very core of Istanbul's historic tourism district. If you are coming here this country, this is going to be one of the main places if not the top place on your list of areas you are going to be visiting.

What we do know at this stage, the explosion happened at 10:15. It was a suicide bomber, according to the country's president, an individual of Syrian origin born in 1988. At this stage, no direct ties being made to ISIS, no claim of responsibility, but a lot of suspicion they were potentially responsible for this.

According to the deputy prime minister, a significant number of those nine who were killed were in fact tourists. This is a devastating blow not just for those who have lost loved ones, who don't have to deal with the consequences of this violence and what that means to their lives, but also as it comes to Turkey that has been grappling with the terrorist threat and security concerns on numerous levels over the last months. Over the last seven months we have seen fairly significant attacks happening here, and in those instances the government blaming them on ISIS. And this is just another indication how vulnerable the country really is at this point in time.

CAMEROTA: OK, Arwa, please bring us all of the developments as you get them there on the scene.

Back to politics now, candidates on both sides of the aisle sharpening their attacks here in Iowa just 20 days before the caucuses. So let's begin our coverage of the Democratic side with CNN's senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar. Brianna, let's talk about what's going on here in Iowa. It is a tighter race than many had expected. Is Hillary Clinton's campaign nervous?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think so. I think it is evident in just how much she's stepped up her attacks against Bernie Sanders, who I should add, is pretty gleeful about the state of the race tightening here in Iowa. The Clinton campaign will say, look, we have said all along this was going to be a very tight race in Iowa, also New Hampshire. I will add I don't think they thought it was going to be quite this tight. But at the same time the Clinton campaign pretty confident they have the ground game they need, the volunteers, the organizers to get voters to the polls and get caucus goers out here this Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: In a head to head Clinton Clinton/Sanders matchup over two battleground states, the latest polls say it is either candidate's race.

[08:05:02] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Be our next president, help us keep families together and protect religious freedome.

KEILAR: Last night in Des Moines the virtually tied Democrats were pressed on hot button multicultural issues at Iowa's Brown and Black Forum.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you promise that you won't deport children?

KEILAR: Secretary Clinton taking a new stance against DHS raids, not ruling out the deportation of children.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I don't like are the mass round ups and the raids. And that should end.

KEILAR: The neck and neck candidates spent Monday facing off in the hawk eye state.

CLINTON: Think hard about the people who are presenting themselves to you, and particularly for those of us who are Democrats, their electability.

KEILAR: Sander unfazed by Clinton's jabs, pointing to recent Iowa and New Hampshire polls showing him outperforming Clinton against Trump and Cruz.

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are doing a lot better than Hillary Clinton does. So I think in terms of electability in the general election, I think Democrats might want to look at Bernie Sanders as the candidate.

KEILAR: And boasting Monday night that the Clinton camp is running scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you noticed lately she's been getting more aggressive with you?

SANDERS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is that?

SANDERS: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You tell me?

SANDERS: It could be that the inevitable candidate for the democratic nomination may not be so inevitable today.

KEILAR: Secretary Clinton admitting the 2016 election so far has been chock full of surprises.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you say categorically tonight that Senator Bernie Sanders cannot win the presidency?

(LAUGHTER)

CLINTON: I don't -- anybody can win. This is a -- who would have thought Donald Trump would be leading in national polls? For those of you who ever thought about running for president, take heart. I mean --

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And in the final days here before Iowa, Hillary Clinton trying to stand out on two issues, income inequality, which is more Bernie Sanders home turf, and on guns, which she is confident works much more to her ability. She's proposed a four percent surcharge on people earning $5 million or more, and is picking up, Michaela, a key endorsement from the Brady campaign to prevent gun violence.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Brianna, thank you for that.

Meanwhile Donald Trump is taking to late night television, targeting Hillary Clinton and looking for the chance to face her in November. Athena Jones is live in Washington with that part of the story for us. Athena?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. One of the things that Donald Trump seems to really enjoy and has shown that he's good at is needling people. Poking fun at candidates, candidates' spouses, other famous folks. Last night his target was Hillary Clinton. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If I win and she wins it is going to be the largest voter turnout in the history of the country, and that is a good thing, because people don't vote that much in this country. So that would be an amazing thing. I'm beating her easily and substantially and I'm winning against

Hillary one on one. So, you know, look, and I haven't even started on her yet, although last week I did a little bit of that.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now he may be right on the first point. A Trump-Clinton face- off would spark a lot of interest, maybe drive turnout, bring out a lot of new voters. On the other hand one recent poll shows Clinton ahead of Trump by eight points in Iowa in a hypothetical matchup and about even with him in New Hampshire. So it is not clear that he would beat her easily as he says.

And in other GOP news FOX has released the lineup for the main stage for their debate Thursday night. You can see there the seven candidates invited to participate in the primetime debate, not on that stage. Our Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina, they've been invited to the second tier debate with Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee, but you can see that x there over Rand Paul's face. He told our own Wolf Blitzer yesterday he won't attend that second tier debate, with FOX saying that FOX made a mistake in not including him in the first tier because he's a top tier candidate. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Athena, there you go. And something else interesting is going on in New Hampshire. Ohio governor John Kasich is now tied for second place with Marco Rubio. I spoke with Governor Kasich about his new momentum and the race.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Hi Governor Kasich, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. Great to see you.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK, so there is a new poll out that I'm sure will be music to your ears. It is a Monmouth Poll and it finds you tied in second place in New Hampshire. Donald Trump is first, and you are tied with Ted Cruz. So how do you explain your new momentum there?

KASICH: Well, you know, Alisyn we've been plugging away, and I've been telling the media that it was some point we were going to break out into the open. And I think it is kind of happening now. And I've done over 50 town hall meetings. We have a great campaign, the best of all the candidates, and I've argued all along the things I represent, which is experience, unity, job creation, national security experience -- these things at the end are going to matter.

[08:10:00] Now, I understand I'm in second and not in first but, you know, it is good to be in that position. And we'll see what happens. You know, it's the long way. It is another 27 days I think until that election. And I don't think we're going to really know who wins New Hampshire until election night. But if I win that, I'm going to predict to you -- I'm going to predict it here that if I do well, if I'm a story out of New Hampshire, a big story, I believe I'll be the nominee.

CAMEROTA: That is a bold prediction, Governor. But there is more good news for you. Fox Business Network just announced their line up for the next debate, which will be Thursday night. And you have made the main stage. That's got to feel good. Was that a surprise?

KASICH: Well, I sort of felt we were rising. And you know, you've got to remember, I'm like the engine that just keeps going. Remember, nobody thought I would get in. They didn't think I'd raise the money, they didn't think I'd be in the debate, and I think this is going to be my sixth debate and I'm beginning to believe that, contrary to what the media says, I really believe that real experience as a reformer, fighting the establishment, bringing about change, matters to people, particularly when people think they have been ripped off, that nobody listens to them, that the rich and the special interests call the tune. They never have with me and they never will.

CAMEROTA: But, Governor, it's not just the media that has labeled this the antiestablishment year. That's what the legion of Donald Trump fans are saying., that they want an outsider.

KASICH: Yes.

CAMEROTA: That's what Ted Cruz fans are saying, Carly Fiorina fans, that this is the year of the outsider. The media didn't come up with this: This is how voters feel.

KASICH: No, I understand. No, I'm just saying there is a lot of prognosticators out there and if I listened to the prognosticators I'd have been out of the race months ago, right? But what I'm suggesting to you is I think that, at the end, people want somebody who's going to land the plane.

And what can I tell you is, look, I was involved in changing the welfare system, balancing the federal budget, taking Ohio from a devastating situation to a growth of 385,000 jobs, giving everybody a chance to rise. And I can tell you that you don't get that done by bullying; you get it done with certain skills. You need to know how to bring people together. You have to have a strong agenda. And if we don't go that way -- and, look, whether I'm the nominee or whether I'm president or not, if you want this country fixed, you got to pick somebody who understands how to move that system. That's my message. I'm not changing it. And if it doesn't work, you know -- but I think it will.

CAMEROTA: OK, so you're predicting that if you win New Hampshire that then you will be the nominee. I also heard you make another prediction. You said basically that if -- you're putting all of your eggs in the New Hampshire basket. And you said that if I get smoked there, I'm going to cry and I'm going to go home.

(LAUGHTER)

KAISCH: Well, here's the way --

CAMEROTA: So basically you will say you are taking your parting gifts and go away after New Hampshire if you don't do well.

KASICH: No, here's what I'm saying, Alisyn. Look, you have to be realistic. I've got -- I'm on the ballot in over 30 states now. We have people on the ground in South Carolina. We have people on the ground in Nevada. I've got the best organization in Mississippi. We're coming on in Alabama.

What I'm saying to you is I don't want to string people along. I have to do well there, because I'm unknown. And what New Hampshire would do for me is give me the name recognition and people would begin to hear who I am. I believe we're going to do extremely well and be one of the stories coming out of that state. We'll see. I could be wrong. But I'm telling you if we come out of there strong, I believe we're going to have momentum that could take us all the way to the nomination.

CAMEROTA: Governor, last, let me ask you about your rivals. You know, Donald Trump has been questioning Ted Cruz's birthright citizenship, whether or not he is a natural born citizen and thereby eligible to run for president. Do you think Ted Cruz is a natural- born citizen of the U.S.?

KASICH: I'm sure that he is and I don't really care, Alisyn. We've got so many problems. We've got people whose wages have been frozen. You've got income inequality. You've got people who live in the shadows with mental illness or drug addiction who've been left behind. We've got to help our minority community to rise. And I don't want to spend my time talking about whether somebody's a president or, you know, qualified to be president or not. I got too many other things to talk about it. And so I'm really not interested. I've got too much I want to say positively to get America moving again to spend my time talking about, you know, where the heck Ted Cruz was born. I'm not interested.

CAMEROTA: OK, there you go. Governor John Kaisch, we appreciate you coming on NEW DAY and sharing your positions with us. Nice to see you.

KASICH: Always, always really great to be with you, Alisyn. I hope we can do it again. Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: OK, so later this morning I sit down with Hillary Clinton for a wide-ranging interview. And you can catch our full interview tonight on "Erin Burnett Out Front" at 7:00 eastern, and tomorrow of course right here on NEW DAY. Chris, it will be very interesting. It is an interesting time, 20 days out, to talk to Hillary Clinton.

[08:15:03] CUOMO: It's very good to finally have her on the show. We all look forward to that, my friend.

All right. So, as Alisyn has been telling us all morning, the 2016 candidates are pounding the pavement. President Obama, however, is nearing the finish line, right? This will be his last State of the Union Address, and he's promising a

nontraditional one. He says he's going to try to ease the anger among voters. Wow. What an achievement that would be all and of itself.

CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski live with a preview. Boy, that is a tall order.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It is. I mean, this being the president's last State of the Union Address and this being the one time in the year he has this huge audience. You know, you would expect that, of course, he and the White House want to make this one memorable. Not that the others weren't, but this one more than usual.

And that's why you have been hearing words out there like "nontraditional", although now some are saying they wouldn't necessarily use that word describing this. It is after all going to be a speech. Sorry, it's not going to be a musical performance or interpretive dance or anything you might have hoped for, but we have seen the White House use some unusual methods already. They have enlisted entities like Amazon, Google, Genius, YouTube and Snapchat, and they tweeted out this preview. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want us to be when we walk out this door say we couldn't think of anything else that we didn't try to do, that we didn't shy away from a challenge because it was hard, that we weren't timid or got tired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: Not sure what to make of that organ music. But we do know that this speech will not be longer but shorter than usual. And the president doesn't want to use pages and pages to go over his past accomplishments. He says he wants to look well into the future and focus on as he put it the big things affecting Americans.

And the tone, the White House said -- expect this to be extremely optimistic, upbeat, passionate, that he wants to urge Americans not to let cynicism affect the way they approach problems. Remember, this is the kind of contrast that the White House likes to establish between the president and how they view the Republican presidential candidates -- Chris.

CUOMO: Well, you can see some strategy at play here. You know, he's in that final year, called the lame duck year, what can he really get done anyway given the track record of intransigence down there? And sometimes if you say it enough, people believe it. It's worked with negativity, maybe it will work with positivity as well. Let's hope it does.

Michelle Kosinski, thank you.

President Obama's final State of the Union Address is tonight, 9:00 Eastern. Coverage with the best political team in the business here at CNN begins at 7:00 Eastern.

Mick?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Up next, Vice President Joe Biden's candid and surprising revelation to learn about the offer from President Obama -- he offered to the vice president as a son near the end of his life. That exclusive interview just moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:17] CUOMO: In the current political climate, it is at least refreshing to hear from Vice President Joe Biden because there is never any question about the distance from what he says and what he actually means and certainly that is true when it comes to the son of his death, Beau.

CNN's chief political analyst Gloria Borger got a really great opportunity to speak exclusively with the vice president about what he's gone through personally and what he sees politically. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: How are you?

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm good. Look, I miss him everyday for God sake. I mean, this was -- he was my soul. Hunter is my heart. He was my soul and my daughter is my comfort.

I mean, it's interesting, you know, you have more than one child. They all -- you love them all equally but they all have a slightly different relationship and Beau was, Beau was my soul. Beau is my conscience. Beau was my -- Beau is like, he was like the little boy who when he was six years old he was 30 years old. You know?

I mean, and Hunter is my heart where there's passion and my daughter -- but, so, its, you know, I think about him all the time but I try to focus on what we have.

And by the way, his -- my two grandchildren, his two children are beautiful and smart and you would expect a grand pop to say that but, you know, I see them all the time and so everybody is -- everybody's life is incredible. Halle is like my daughter.

I mean, so, you know, we're just focusing on, you know, but Beau's anyway. We're -- I'm talking to much about Beau, I apologize.

BORGER: No, no, that's all right.

Let me ask you about your next big thing.

BIDEN: Yes.

BORGER: Which is the moon shot for cancer as you call it.

What did you learn as the parent of a cancer patient about how realistic and achievable this moon shot really is?

BIDEN: I learned two things. First of all, when you have a son or daughter, husband, wife, someone you adore, you become as educated as you can as quickly as you can, particularly when you know it's a serious form, et cetera. So, I learned a lot about if -- for lack of the better phrase, the mechanics of cancer and the delivery system, and there are so many, so many changes that just on the cause.

But then it was I got into it more deeply after Beau passed, I realized a lot of this is siloed. I have now met with over 200 oncologists and cancer research centers and philanthropists involved, and what everyone acknowledges privately and what I hope I can do, they think I may be convener. I may be able to bring them all together.

BORGER: Let me ask you as we head into the State of the Union. Is there a moment you're going to remember with the president?

BIDEN: Well, yes, there is one. He may be embarrassed. My -- we were having lunch and it was pretty clear Beau was having trouble with his speech and he still had three months to go, four months to go as attorney general. And my son, Beau Biden, was the most fastidious, honorable, straight guy and I knew if my son thought he was losing his cognitive capability, he wouldn't stand as attorney general. He would resign.

Thank God he took all these tests. There was no cognitive impact but his speech, made it, it was affecting his speech center.

And, so I was having lunch with the president and he was the only guy other than my family I confided all along in everything that was going on with Beau, because I felt a responsibility to do that, so that he knew where I was and my thinking.

[08:25:11] And I said, you know, my concern is, I said if Beau resigns, he has no -- there's no -- nothing to fall back on, his salary. And that I said I worked it out I said but Jill and I will sell the house to be in good shape.

But he get up and said, "Don't sell the house. Promise me you won't sell the house." And he's going to be mad at me for saying this. He said "I'll give you the money. Whatever you need, I'll give you the money. Don't, Joe, promise me, promise me."

I said, "I don't think we're going to have to anyway." He said, "Promise me."

And then I'll never forget the eulogy he delivered for Beau.

BORGER: Right.

BIDEN: And when Beau had his stroke, when he had a stroke and they thought it turned out it was the beginning of the glioblastoma and he came running down the hallway, and he said, "Joe, Joe, is he OK?"

His love of family, and my family, and my love of his family -- you know, his two grand daughter his two children and my granddaughters are best friends. His number two daughter, my number three granddaughter, they vacation together, they play in teams together, they sleep at each other's homes all the time. It's really -- its personal. It's family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Wow. Gloria Borger joins us.

Gloria, look, I know Joe Biden likes to open up but this was unusual. Good for you. Let me ask you something. This relationship as it stands now, how has it evolved over time if at all?

BORGER: Well, it really has evolved. There were times during this administration when I think Obama could have kind of wrung Joe Biden's neck, right? I mean, when he got out in front of him on the gay marriage issue. Certainly on policy, they disagreed on the surge in Iraq, you know, all kind -- in Afghanistan policy, they disagreed over the years.

And they however have a close personal bond which I think we all watched or got a glimpse of after Beau Biden got sick, because as the vice president just said, I do think he confided in the president to a great degree. I do think he confided in him when he was thinking about running for the presidency. And, you know, we all think of no drama Obama, not being the most emotional guy in the world.

And again, these people are polar opposites as you know, Chris, and I think what you see is a closeness that's developed over last seven years that is very real. And I think that story and the humanity of that story and the closeness of it really kind of says it all, don't you?

CUOMO: And, you know, it shows a side of the president that maybe you could argue even he doesn't want to show that often for whenever reason. But it's not the first time I've heard someone say that the president really reached out to them as a friend in a way that took them back.

What do you expect we're going to see from the veep out on the trail? Do you think he's going to come out for anybody in particular? Do so soon? And then do so, how ardently?

BORGER: Well, look, he's not going quietly into that good night, as we say. He has his moon shot for cancer, which is really important to him, Chris, obviously. I do think you are going to see him out there campaigning for the Democratic candidate, no matter who it is. He created a bit of a stir to me yesterday with his comments about Bernie Sanders having fought for income inequality for a long time and Hillary Clinton being newer to the game. Although he did take pains to say, look, she's got great ideas on it.

I do think he's going to be out there. I don't think he's going to endorse anybody early. Why should he? He's going let the process play out. He also made it clear he could support Bernie Sanders position the way he is on guns. So, I think Joe Biden will be out there campaigning for whoever the Democratic nominee is. And I don't think he's going to be quiet. I think that would be kind of impossible for Joe Biden, don't you think?

CUOMO: As he always says, "That's not why I'm alive to be quiet."

BORGER: Exactly, exactly.

CUOMO: Gloria, really well down. Thank you very much for that.

BORGER: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: Mick?

PEREIRA: To another big story, the take down of notorious drug lord El Chapo. Did meeting Sean Penn do in the drug lord? You will hear what Mexican investigators are saying, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)