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Iran Releases Detained Americans; Interview with Secretary of State John Kerry; Clinton And Sanders Clash In Democratic Debate; Democrats Clash Over Health Care; Trump, Cruz Neck-And-Neck In Iowa. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 18, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the solitary confinement he was in for parts of his detention that really were the toughest for him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm grateful for everything that the president has done, everything the government has done to get Jason out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're at least having a vigorous debate about reigning in Wall Street.

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In terms of polling, guess what? We are running ahead of Secretary Clinton.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm the only candidate standing here tonight who has said, I will not raise taxes on the middle class.

SANDERS: We're not going to tear up the affordable care act. I helped write it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water is tainted with lead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm really trying to focus on holding the people who made this decision accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, January 18th, 8:00 in the east. Chris and Alisyn are off today. The John Berman and the Poppy Harlow are alongside me today. Thanks for being here, guys.

We're following two big stories. A group of Americans once held by Iran free this morning and being treated at a U.S. military hospital in Germany. Among the freed American, "Washington Post" journalist Jason Rezaian. We spoke to his brother last hour here on NEW DAY.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Meantime in neighboring Iraq an intense search is underway for three missing American contractors. It is believed they were abducted by a group of gunmen on Friday. We will speak live with Secretary of State John Kerry about the diplomatic efforts in both cases just ahead.

First, though I do want to begin with CNN's international correspondent Fred Pleitgen in Germany for us this morning on the condition of the Americans released from prison in Iran.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is being evaluated here right now, Poppy, in the military hospital here. And what's going on is they are going to be evaluated both physically as well as psychologically as well, because of course those long months of detention there in Iran is something that would take their toll. The Evin prison in Tehran is one that is notorious for very tough detention conditions.

However, the "Washington Post" managing editors have already managed to speak to Jason Rezaian. They asked how he's doing after having been evacuated there from Tehran. He said, quote, "I'm doing a hell of a lot better than I was 48 hours ago." He also he was in good spirits, but also said it was the solitary confinement that he was in for parts of his detention that really were the toughest for him.

Now, what's been going on over the past couple of hours is that they were flown out of Iran on a Swiss plane, taken to Geneva, then taken here to this medical facility where, as I've said, medical tests are going to happen. However, the other thing, and that's probably almost as important, they are going to be reunited with their loved ones, with their friends and family. Remember, there were also a lot of supporters in the U.S. who kept their cases in the public light. So now Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmati, and Saeed Abedini are meeting their family members, their friends here. Some of them are already here, so certainly some very emotional scenes here here, Poppy.

HARLOW: No question. Fred Pleitgen liver for us in Germany this morning, thank you so much.

To Iraq, where a search is underway, an intense search this hour for three missing American contractors. It is believed they were abducted by gunmen in Baghdad. Our CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is live with more in Beirut. All we know at this point, it looks like they went missing on Friday, is that correct?

NICK PATON WALSH, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is correct, middle of the afternoon on Friday. As is often the case, it's the first 48 hours normally of people disappearing that is the most crucial where often information is contradictory or certainly limited. We know little from U.S. officials. They don't want to spare much at this stage, keeping things as secret as possible. As they say, they work urgently with Iraqi officials to try and secure the release or at least freedom of the three individuals, two of whom are Iraqi Americans and one of which is a fully fledged American citizen.

Now, we know from Iraqi officials that they were in an area in the southeastern part of Baghdad in an apartment where they were taken out by unidentified armed men and driven away in a convoy. That's pretty all we know about from they're thought to have been, quote, "contractors." A wide scope of what they could have been doing in Baghdad under that job description.

But Iraqi security officials who clearly on the surface certainly want to be seen to do all they can to get these Americans back to safety, saying they're conducting an intensive search in the neighborhood of Dora. So I think there actually be little else known, suspicion perhaps pointing toward the Shia militia close to Iran. They have no comments on this at all at this stage, but it plays to the broader geopolitical issue with Iran with America close to moderates in Iran. Are we seeing hard liners trying to stir the pot here? No comfort for the relatives of those three Americans whose safety is now paramount in U.S. officials' minds. Back to you, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Nick, thanks so much.

Huge diplomatic events this weekend -- five American citizens detained in Iran released.

[08:05:01] Nuclear Sanctions against Iran, lifted. The man in the middle of it all, Secretary of state John Kerry joins us on NEW DAY this morning. Mr. Secretary, we know how busy you've been so we appreciate you taking the time to be here.

Let me start at the end, Mr. Secretary, if I can. After 14 months of negotiations over these five prisoners, 14 months of ups and downs, after the Iranians on Saturday announced that they were being released, it all hit a snag. The plane was held up on the tarmac. What happened and how was it resolved?

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, it did hit a snag because word somehow had not been communicated with respect to the manifest on the plane that Jason Rezaian's wife would be coming with him. And so we had to locate her. And, frankly, Foreign Minister Zarif and others, the president, they immediately understood that the terms of the agreement included his wife and it needed to be done. So we went through a period of time while they were located and ultimately reunited with Jason, and now all is well that ends well.

BERMAN: You mentioned Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. You developed quite a relationship with him over the last couple of years. Do you consider him a friend?

KERRY: Well, we've worked very, very closely together, and what we have is what you call a professional relationship in which we listen to each other carefully. We have different points of view, obviously. He is a fierce defender of Iran and some of the things that Iran believes have been done to it unjustly. For instance, he points out that when Iran was at war with Iraq, the United States sided with Iraq, and when people were gassed by Saddam Hussein, the world said nothing. And these things sort of linger. They are part of the history of the relationship that one needs to work through.

But he and I always knew that what we needed to do was work to find the way to thread a needle, to protect interests. I had to protect the interests of the United States, the interests of our allies and friends of the region particularly. And he obviously was defending his. But in the end what we did was, I think, find the ground where we did

what was needed, which is find a way to allow Iran to have a peaceful nuclear program within the context of the non-proliferation treaty, but also to guarantee to us and to the rest of the world that it was going to be peaceful, that we would have the verification means of knowing that there was no covert path, there was no uranium path, there was no plutonium path, that the paths to a bomb were closed.

That was always difficult because certain people had great stakes in that program or great pride of creation and didn't want to see it rolled back. This was difficult. This was as complex, and I might add, yesterday or two days ago now, I guess it is, was as complex a day as I've been through because there were so many moving parts and so much needed for simultaneity to build confidence. But Foreign Minister Zarif acted professionally. When he gave his word, he kept his word, and I think that's important in terms of our relationship going forward?

BERMAN: You trust him?

KERRY: Well, you know, we don't build these relationships based on trust at the earliest stages. Remember what Ronald Reagan said, trust by verify. President Obama has said, don't trust but verify. So we approach these issues with a view toward building the trust over time. It doesn't happen in a, you know, one or two days or one or two years. But we can build trust if we see that this program, indeed, is adhered to thoroughly, and also, if Iran will begin to join with us to bring peace to Syria, deal with Yemen, reduce its activities in other countries. There are a number of things that we need to work out.

BERMAN: Mr. Secretary, you brought up the simultaneity of everything that happened this weekend, a really remarkable confluence of events, nuclear sanctions lifted, five prisoners released. The timing suggests that perhaps there was some linkage. Was there?

KERRY: No, there really wasn't. You know, the issue of the foreign military sales money, which held Iran's money -- this is Iran's money -- it's been held for 35 years, ever since 1979. In 1981, there was a meeting in Algeria, the Algiers Accord, which created a claims tribunal to resolve the claims between the United States and Iran.

[08:10:00] We had a lot of claims, and a lot of our claims have been settled over those years, almost all of them, as a matter of fact. I think all but about one. But Iran still had this claim outstanding, and it became clear that this was a moment where we might be able to solve what had been decades of negotiations with respect to that.

BERMAN: If the sanctions had not been lifted, do you think the prisoners would have been released?

KERRY: Yes. I think we had a separate track going on that. We were clear that, given the right equation, that was not tied to implementation day. It happened to come together at that moment. I think everybody saw that that would be propitious, but it was not directly linked.

BERMAN: There was another --

KERRY: I had hoped it would have happened a couple months ago actually, and then it hit a snag and we continued to negotiate.

BERMAN: So there was another potential snag to all of this that emerged last week. The Iranians captured 10 U.S. sailors. You said their release was a sign of the diplomatic success, this new relationship that three or four years ago they never would have been released as quickly as they were. Mr. Secretary, you served on a naval vessel. Not too different than the ones captured in the gulf there. What was your reaction when you saw the photo of those sailors on their knees with their hands behind their heads?

KERRY: I was very angry. I was very, very frustrated and angry that that was released. I raised it immediately with the Iranians. It was not put out by the ministry of foreign affairs or the government directly. It was put out, I think, through the military over there and the IRJC, who had been opposed to what we are doing. They're opposed to -- but I'm not excusing it. There's no excuse for it. Our sailors, regrettably, inadvertently went into Iranian waters.

The challenge is that three or four years ago, you mention, we wouldn't have known who to call. We would have probably had to call the Swiss, or maybe we would have called the British. There would have been no direct communication. It could have grown into a major kind of hostage confrontation the way it had previously. And there were people, by the way, in Iran now who certainly would have argued to hold on to them longer.

But it was because we built a relationship, because we are working at this nuclear effort, because we are trying to turn a corner, as President Rouhani said, and Iran has joined into the Syria talks. And Iran agreed to a formula for a ceasefire, for unity government, for constitutional reform, and an election in Syria. That could not have happened were we not building on this path with respect to the nuclear program.

BERMAN: Did you send a message that said, if you don't release the sailors, then all bets are off with the implementation of the nuclear deal?

KERRY: I'm not going to discuss what I said or didn't say, but suffice it to say I made it crystal clear how serious this was. It was imperative to get it resolved. I think they believed that and knew that instinctively. And within a matter of hours, we had an agreement that this was going to be resolved.

BERMAN: Mr. Secretary of state John Kerry, again, you've been very busy over the last few days. Thanks so much for taking the time to be with us. Appreciate it, sir.

KERRY: Thanks a lot.

BERMAN: Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, well, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton clashing last night in their fourth debate, their last before the Iowa caucuses. Those gloves came off early with the candidates battling over Obamacare, Wall Street and gun control. We'll get the highlights and lowlights, all of it from CNN's Phil Mattingly. How are you, Phil?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Michaela. Last night serving as a bit of a closing argument two weeks before voters turn to caucus in Iowa, a little bit longer before they vote in New Hampshire. One thing is clear, if you thought this race was not only going to tighten up but also get more intense, you were right.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: The gloves --

SANDERS: I think secretary Clinton knows what she says is very disingenuous.

MATTINGLY: -- are off.

CLINTON: I'm not sure whether we're talking about the plan you just introduced tonight, or we're talking about the plan you introduced nine times in the Congress.

MATTINGLY: Just weeks before the first votes are cast, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders putting an exclamation point on a week of sharp sparring on Sunday night.

CLINTON: The authority with its regulators --

SANDERS: I'll give you an example at how corrupt --

MATTINGLY: Clinton at one point in the campaign unwilling to even mention Sanders name, now targeting the Vermont senator's record on guns and how he'll pay for his health care plan.

CLINTON: I have made it clear based on senator Sanders own record that he has voted with the NRA, with the gun lobby, numerous times.

MATTINGLY: Sanders moving to blunt both criticisms.

SANDERS: What her campaign was saying, Bernie Sanders, who has fought for universal health care for my entire life, he wants to end Medicare, end Medicaid, end the Children's Health Insurance Program. That is nonsense.

[08:15:03] MATTINGLY (voice-over): Shifting on guns a day before the debate.

SANDERS: I said I would relook at it. We are going to relook at it and I will support stronger provisions.

MATTINGLY: And releasing his single payer health care plan just hours before taking the stage. Clinton criticizing Sanders for the taxes required to pay for the proposal, and its shift away from President Obama's signature achievement. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are things we can do to improve it, but to tear it up and start over again, pushing our country back into that kind of a contentious debate, I think, is the wrong direction.

SANDERS: We're not going to tear up the Affordable Care Act. I helped write it. But we are going to move to on top of that -- for all system.

Little more taxes, do away with health insurance premiums. It's a pretty good deal.

MATTINGLY: Sanders going on offense against Clinton's corporate ties.

SANDERS: You received over $600,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs in one year.

MATTINGLY: Clinton defending not just her stance on Wall Street reform, but President Obama's, as well.

CLINTON: But he's criticized President Obama for taking donations from Wall Street and President Obama has led our country out of the great recession. President Obama's work to push through the Dodd Frank bill and then to sign it was one of the most important regulatory schemes we've had since the 1930s. I'm going to defend Dodd Frank and I'm going to defend President Obama.

MATTINGLY: Sanders turning a question on Bill Clinton's personal life into one of his best moments of the night.

SANDERS: We've been through this, yes, his behavior was deplorable. Have I ever once said a word about that issue? No, I have not. I'm going to debate Secretary Clinton and Governor O'Malley on the issues facing the American people, not Bill Clinton's personal life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Last night marking a moment of urgency for both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. For Sanders trying to prove that not only can he put together a coalition of people who like his candidacy, but also that might vote for him.

For Hillary Clinton, obviously trying to address those poll numbers in Iowa. They have evaporated over the last couple weeks. One thing for sure, this is just getting started.

The ads in Iowa and New Hampshire are going to flood the airwaves over the next couple weeks -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Phil, sure to be an interesting time these next few weeks. Thanks so much.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Breaking news to tell you about. Sad news out of Ohio. The small town of Danville in shock after a police officer has been killed in the line of duty. Authorities say the suspected killer, Herschel Jones III is in custody. He's accused of gunning down Officer Thomas Catrell, and speeding off in the slain officer's cruiser. Before the shooting, police say the suspect's ex-girlfriend warned them that Jones was armed and looking to kill a police officer.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Spacex almost did it. The private space company tried to land an unmanned rocket on a platform in the Pacific. It almost worked until, you know, timber. It toppled over and exploded.

The rocket had successfully put a weather satellite into low orbit. The company has been trying to bring back its rocket safely, landing them on the platforms in the ocean so they can be reused.

PEREIRA: The 9-year-old Jacob Tremblay stole the show at the Critics Choice Awards Sunday. He delivered the cutest acceptance speech ever after winning the best young actor prize for his role in "Room."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB TREMBLAY, ACTOR: This is super cool. This is the best day of my life. I first want to say thank you to all the critics who voted for me. It must be a super hard vote because of all the other great actors in this category. I know where to put this. Right on the shelf beside my millennium falcon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: He made a point that thank everyone he worked with on team "Room" to make the movie come true. Gratitude is important. What we didn't mention is that he says, I don't have any trophies at home. I'm not a sports guy, is why.

He's really excited to have this. There's a lot of people that are frustrated that he didn't get nominated for an Oscar or a Globe. He's up for a Sag Award, though.

BERMAN: Maybe they'll revise it. Nominate him for an Oscar and nominate "Star Wars." They'll fix two gross injustices all at once.

HARLOW: I think this is the beginning of a beautiful career. Adorable young guy.

BERMAN: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton not pulling any punches before their final debate before the Iowa caucuses. Who scored the most points and will that change the situation? Will that change the polls in any meaningful way? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:23:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: What her campaign was saying, Bernie Sanders, who has fought for universal health care for my entire life, he wants to end Medicare, end Medicaid, end the children's health insurance program. That is nonsense.

CLINTON: To tear it up and start over again, pushing our country back into that kind of a contentious debate, I think, is the wrong direction.

SANDERS: No one is tearing this up. We're going to go forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, and that was a heated back and forth about health care in their final debate before the Iowa caucuses. Democrats there, you can see in some ways, at least on the issues there, not exactly playing nice.

Joining us now to talk about this, CNN political commentator, senior adviser for the pro-Clinton super PAC, Paul Begala, and CNN political commentator, and a Jeb Bush supporter, Ana Navarro.

PEREIRA: These two play nice.

BERMAN: They do. Paul, I want to start with you right there. That exchange on health care was fascinating. Both on the health care issue and also on the larger argument that Hillary Clinton was making in this debate. Pragmatism over purity. Is that an attractive sell to Iowa voters?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That is the contest in every political movement, actually, is between the pragmatists and the idealists. In a perfect world, you know, you have a Martin Luther King, who was both a practical leader of a movement and an idealist.

You usually have to sort these things. They were playing nice. They were talking about issues. Talking about how to get health care to more people in America. That's a far cry from the Republican debate, where neither practical nor idealistic.

They seem to be hateful. Like, I hate your mother. Ted Cruz attached Donald Trump's mother because she was born in Scotland. Give me a break. It's a different debate on my side of the aisle.

PEREIRA: Don't talk about my mama is the first rule of thumb. Ana, I feel like you've watched this and saw it differently?

[08:25:07]ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, if this is playing nice, I think it is stretching the definition of the word "nice." One of the things I was struck with, basically, two people on that stage.

Yes, Martin O'Malley, bless his heart, was there, too, and every 15 minutes, he'd be thrown a bone. Poor man. But, you know, the shouting match, the level, just the -- I can't believe their voices lasted an hour and a half.

Those two were shouting past each other, at each other, over each other the entire debate. Yes, there were a lot of issues debated, and I think both of them were speaking straight to their bases, frankly, and to the groups already with them.

I'm not sure they switched any votes last night. I was struck by all the talk about Goldman Sachs. I fell asleep halfway through the debate and all of a sudden, I woke up because Bernie Sanders was screaming about Goldman Sachs. I thought Ted Cruz was on the stage.

BERMAN: You'd think Goldman Sachs was running in the election for all the times it's being brought up. The Republicans, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are fighting about Goldman Sachs, who was born in Canada, fighting about who has New York values.

Where are we this Monday, two weeks before caucus day? I know Donald Trump is going to speak at Liberty University to an Evangelical crowd there. Who needs to do what in the next two weeks?

NAVARRO: Where are we? We are in the thick of it. We are in the hunt. We are -- the finish line is visible from where they're running right now, and we are in the midst of a tight race in Iowa. It could change, the debate could change the narrative.

We have one more debate to go before Iowa on the 28th. I think you're going to see these guys completely take the gloves off and go at each other. You're going to see it all over the place.

You're going to see Chris Christie hitting Marco Rubio. Marco Rubio hitting Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump going at each other. It'll be hard for Republicans to keep track of the friendly fire and cross fire that'll happen. Buckle up. Tighten your seat belt because this ride is about to get bumpy.

PEREIRA: It's about to get something, that's for sure, Paul. What are you anticipating? We have the next GOP debate next Thursday. What are you anticipating?

BEGALA: I do think Ana is right. It's going to be nastier and in a different way. Again, I have, of course, a wide strike zone. I love negative campaigning. There was little real negativity on the democratic side last night. The Republican side, you'll see more and more.

NAVARRO: It's the Texas values.

BEGALA: That's right. But when Republicans are arguing, it's not about how to provide more health care to more Americans, it is about who is going to be more extreme. For example, if a woman is a victim of rape, who will put her in prison if she decides not to carry her rapist's baby?

This is the kind of debate you are going to see on the Republican side especially going into Iowa where Christian Evangelical voters are so critical. I think they are going to go crazy on these socials.

Who can beat up on gay Americans even more? That kind of really divisive rhetoric will bubble up in the last days for Republicans.

BERMAN: You know, it's interesting because you're talking about something --

NAVARRO: I actually think we've seen very little of that. I think we've seen little of the issue in the debate. It's different to have a race between two people, which is what the Democratic side is, and a debate between 10 people, 12 people, 13 people, which is what the Republican side has been.

There's been more personal attacks, personality driven. You have Chris Christie telling folks, voting for a first term rookie senator is insanity. You have Donald Trump, who I think has hit upon something on this citizenship issue, and the New York values thing, he's milking to the death.

I don't think the issues that you mentioned, Paul, are the ones that are being highlighted on debates or on the trail. It's all about friendly fire.

BERMAN: Paul, Ana said the Democratic race is a two person race. The Republican race --

BEGALA: Everything she said was interesting.

BERMAN: You're right, you really do love going negative, any chance you get there, Paul Begala. Is it though still a multi-candidate race, Paul, on the Republican side or is it Donald Trump and Ted Cruz right now really facing off? Does anyone else now have a realistic shot, or better than 50 percent shot of breaking into the top tier?

BEGALA: In Iowa, no. But the tier is not just two people. I do think there is a third and probably a fourth ticket out of Iowa, especially in the establishment lane. New Hampshire is completely different place, and completely different voters there.

Republicans who are a little more establishment oriented may do much better in New Hampshire, which is the Marco Rubio hope. It's the Chris Christie hope. It's the John Kasich hope even dare I say, Jeb Bush.