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New Day

Taliban Attacks University in Afghanistan; Sarah Palin Endorses Donald Trump; Ted Cruz's Campaign Manager Discusses Iowa Race; Major Snowstorm Targets Mid-Atlantic, Northeast; Poll: Sanders Trouncing Clinton in New Hampshire. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 20, 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] NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He is behind this attack. He cites the Pakistani military operations against the Taliban in the tribal areas in northwest Pakistan where this university is, only 25 miles away from that school that was struck 20 months ago in Peshawar. He says that 332 of what he refers to as his colleagues or friends have been killed by the Pakistani military, have been hung, executed in what he says are over 20,000 military operations.

That is his obviously an illogical justification of what they did today. He names the four attackers. These men used grenades to get into the school. Security forces have problems with below visibility because of intense smog clinging to the university when they tried to suppress that attack. Thousands of students can potentially be on campus, 600 staff, so that death toll, while staggeringly awful to the loved ones of those who died is smaller than potentially could have been expected. But yet again the Taliban have said this wasn't them, have a breakaway faction openly claiming they are behind this attacking education institutions in Pakistan as this military operation to clamp down on militancy continues unabated. Back to you.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Nick, thank you so much for all of that. Joining us now is CNN counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd. So Phil, there are conflicting reports. Do you think this is the work of the Pakistani Taliban?

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I do. I think we've seen consistent operations by the Taliban up in this area. This is their heartland. As Nick mentioned, the Pakistani military has accelerated operations up in this area starting in about 2014. I see this as simply retaliatory, that is the Taliban saying if you are going to send Pakistani special forces and the army up into our turf you are going to pay a heavy price. And I think that story from the Taliban has been consistent for at least a year-and-a-half now.

CAMEROTA: I mean, certainly since 13 months ago we saw that hideous attack where 132 grade school children were killed. So now university students and workers killed. I mean, this is their MO, this is what they think will help recruit people, to kill children?

MUDD: Some of them think this. There are a couple of things you have to consider here, Alisyn. The first is there is a lot of factionalism in the Taliban both in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. That factionalism accelerated with the announcement, as you may recall, of the leader of the Taliban Mullah Omar. And there are leaders within the Taliban who think this is a mistake. I think you will see in the coming day or two reports from the Taliban disavowing this and other Taliban leaders saying this is inappropriate.

But there is a hardline core that says this is our turf. This is an area that wasn't even controlled by the British when they owned Pakistan back in the 19th century, early 20th century. The Pakistani government has never really controlled this territory. So as soon as the government moves in you have tribal leaders who say we are going to respond, and that response is what you say today with this act of violence.

CAMEROTA: So is the Pakistani army equipped to fight them adequately?

MUDD: I'd say sort of. If you are looking at large scale military operations to move into towns where there is a lot of civilian casualties, the Pakistan military can move in with brute force. If you're looking at the kind of operations, though, to take out leadership, that is point operations with good intelligence, moving in with stealth, I don't think the Pakistani military and intelligence services are capable of this.

That is why you are seeing operations that are so devastating not only by the Taliban but by the Pakistan military. The Pakistanis are engaged in brute force operations in villages and a lot of civilians are dying, which also feeds some of the support for the Taliban. It is not just people who are attracted by an organization that murders innocence. It is people saying hey to the government, you are moving in to our own turf and killing our own people. We have no option but to sign up with the Taliban.

CAMEROTA: We call upon you all the time for your expertise, and we mostly are usually talking about ISIS. Does this attack suggest that the U.S. counterterrorism officials should expand their focus to include the Taliban more?

MUDD: I would say no for the simple reason that if you look at the focus of the United States there are two things you have got to think about. Number one, direct threats to the United States. That is Al Qaeda, which is starting to move back into the Afghanistan has to concern the United States. That is the elements of ISIS that are attacking in places like Paris and supporting attacks in San Bernardino.

You've got to differentiate, and this is very difficult from a public and political perspective, from governments that are facing civil wars. The Afghan government and the Pakistani government, they are facing civil wars from the Taliban. The Taliban is not necessarily a direct threat to the United States. So when you are sitting in the Situation Room in the White House you have to make clear in these difficult times to differentiate between which groups are directly threatening cities in the west and which groups are threatening countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, and that is a huge difference in my world.

[08:05:04] CAMEROTA: By the way, this attack today in Pakistan at the school happened during a ceremony that was honoring the founder of the school who was a pacifist. So I guess the message they are sending is there can be no peace. Peace doesn't work.

MUDD: I don't think we'll see peace here for some time. The Pakistani government's ability to project power in this area is modest. The Taliban is not going to back down. And as U.S. forces withdraw, that border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is going to become a backdoor for the Pakistani Taliban. In other words when the Pakistani military moves against the Taliban, the Taliban will move into the Afghanistan, so that backdoor creates a real inability for the Pakistani military to crush the Taliban. We're going to be watching this for a long time, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Phil Mudd, thanks so much for all of the expertise.

MUDD: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so the 2016 race now. Donald Trump winning the endorsement from former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. He's hoping her support will give her an edge with Tea Party voters in Iowa. So will Palin's support give Trump a boost, and a boost his White House hopes? CNN political reporter Sara Murray is live in Norwalk, Iowa, where in about an hour's time I guess Donald and Sarah appearing together in their first rally since that endorsement.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're right Michaela. That is absolutely what we are expecting here this morning. And there's no doubt that Sarah Palin knows how to tap into the grassroots of the GOP. But I think it is still an open question whether she can change voters' minds if they are divided between, say, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. One thing is for sure, in a race this tight you don't want to take any chances.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARAH PALIN, (R) FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Are you ready to stump for Trump?

MURRAY: Sarah Palin is back, center stage and throwing her support behind Donald Trump.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to give them hell.

MURRAY: Nearly decade after the conservative firebrand rallied raucous crowds as John McCain's 2008 running mate, Palin is taking on a new mission, shoring up Trump against some of his rivals most potent attacks. And Sarah barracuda came out swinging. PALIN: Are you ready for a commander in chief who will let our

warriors go their job and go kick ISIS' ass? No more pussy footing around.

MURRAY: Slamming GOP leaders.

PALIN: They've been wearing this political correctness kind of like a suicide vest.

MURRAY: And reassuring Iowa voters that Trump, a former Democrat, is a true conservative.

PALIN: Oh my goodness gracious, what the heck would the establishment know about conservatism?

MURRAY: Palin even casting the businessman has a populist who just happens to be a billionaire.

PALIN: Yes, our leader is a little bit different. He's a multi billionaire, not that there's anything wrong with that. But it's amazing. He is not elitist at all.

MURRAY: Yesterday Trump pressing pause on his primary battles.

TRUMP: I'm going to be non-confrontational today for a change.

MURRAY: To relish his celebrity endorsement.

TRUMP: This is a woman that from day one, I said if I ever do this I have to get her support.

MURRAY: As Cruz ended a tough day on the trail with a double whammy, losing Palin --

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Regardless of what Sarah decides to do in 2016 I will always remain a big, big fan of Sarah Palin.

MURRAY: -- and facing new attacks in Iowa as Governor Terry Branstad, a Republican heavyweight, said Cruz needs to be defeated.

GOV. TERRY BRANSTAD, (R) IOWA: He hasn't supported renewable fuels, and I believe it would be a big mistake for Iowa to support him.

MURRAY: It's a jab Cruz says was to be expected.

CRUZ: Look, it is no surprise that the establishment is in full panic mode.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now essentially at these events here in Iowa and later today in Tulsa, you are getting two celebrities for the price of one. So we'll see what that does to the crowds and the energy over the rest of the day today. Back to you, guys. CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Let us know, let us know. Sara Murphy,

thank you for reporting.

So what does Palin's endorsement mean? Is it going to a boost for the evangelicals and Tea Party supporters in Iowa? Let's get the perspective of a man with a lot of skin in the game, Bob Vander Plaats, the national co-chair of Senator Ted Cruz's presidential campaign. Bob, very good to have you on the show. You have had lots of ups recently. Now it looks like you are going to have to weather a couple of downs, or not. What is your take on what Palin means to this race?

BOB VANDER PLAATS, NATIONAL CO-CHAIR, TED CRUZ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I think the race is going to be a lot of fun right now. We're 12 days from the caucuses. Everything is coming into the play. The reaction we have received from our base was kind of like they are confused. They love Sarah Palin but they don't see it matching up, say, with Donald Trump. So I think they are still doing to be voting for Ted Cruz, because he's the consistent, he's the conservative, he's the one who has will to take on both sides of the aisle and deliver a conservative, principled message. So I think it's going to be a good day for Ted Cruz on February 1st.

[08:10:06] CUOMO: Why did she do this?

VANDER PLAATS: I don't know. You would have to ask Sarah Palin. People like Sarah Palin. As you heard Ted Cruz say he'll still be a big fan of Sarah Palin. But this race is not going to come down to Sarah Palin or Bob Vander Plaats. This race is going to come down to Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. And I think when they see Ted Cruz as they did in the last debate, he's the one who's demonstrated not just the right message but he has the experience with the right message. And he has a trust factor that you will deliver. That is why you are seeing the establishment in full panic mode. That is why you are seeing Donald Trump coming all in, because they know how important Iowa is right now, and it is coming down to Cruz and Trump.

CUOMO: Palin is not the establishment, though, by your definition, right? She was always seen as an outsider, somewhat of a rebel. So saying the establishment is getting nervous, that doesn't apply to her endorsement, does it?

VANDER PLAATS: No, that does not apply to her at all. As a matter of fact we've always seen her as the Tea Party conservative, which matches up in a line with Ted Cruz being a Tea Party conservative. The way Ted Cruz campaigned to be the U.S. Senate with the Tea Party, with principled conservatism, saying I'm going to take on both sides of the aisle, disrupt the political cartel, he's done that in the U.S. Senate.

When I talk about the establishment I'm talking about the Governor Terry Branstad coming all in yesterday saying with have to stop Ted Cruz. Everybody knows that Terry Branstad is a Republican, but he's a big government governor, and he likes the mandates. And he wants to stop Ted Cruz because Ted Cruz concerns the establishment. VANDER PLAATS: It is about the ethanol. It is about the

subsidies. We had the governor here on the show on NEW DAY, and he was anything but wanting to commit to a candidate. He loved the process. Let the voters go at it. Let the caucuses happen. It will be great. But ethanol is something that matters to the people of Iowa and the senator is on the wrong side, and he also intimated that the senator has been on both sides. Fair criticism?

VANDER PLAATS: No, no, not at all. As a matter of fact I think Ted Cruz is going to be great for ethanol because he's going to allow ethanol to get to the free marketplace. That's why Congressman Steve King and myself, we both support Ted Cruz. We both have farming in our background and in our families. What the real deal is Terry Branstad's son Eric Branstad is a hired gun to take out Ted Cruz. That is what he gets a paycheck for.

CUOMO: How so?

VANDER PLAATS: Because he's being paid by if ethanol lobby to go around in a bus following Ted Cruz's bus and saying take out Ted Cruz. And now he has his dad the governor saying now we have to stop Ted Cruz. Iowans will see through this. Iowans want a principled conservative just like America wants a principled conservative. They want someone whose got that experience, the courage of conviction who will go to D.C. and actually make a difference. That's why Ted Cruz is rising in the polls. That's why I think he's going to win Iowa and it's going to be game on for the nomination.

CUOMO: What do you think right now your estimate is going into the caucus, how strong is the ground game from you guys? We've heard the super PAC took big steps to have feet on the ground there in Iowa. They believe that's a big reason you had a turnabout. How is it looking right now? What is your prediction at this point?

VANDER PLAATS: Right now Ted Cruz has by far and away the best infrastructure, the best ground game in the state of Iowa, a ground game that has historically proven to produce results on caucus night. But you are also going up against uncharted territory, an unknown with Donald Trump with the big rallies. How many of those people come out to the caucus on February 1? So that is why this race is nip and tuck. Everybody is going all in. But I think let's let the ideas, let's let the candidates and the message win the day and let Iowans choose.

CUOMO: Now, you are in the game, and the temptation is always just to look forward, but it's all the pundits who aren't linked up to the race who look backwards, but indulge me for a second. Is there any part of you that says the senator should have been smacking Trump around from the beginning? You see what happened? We played nice with the guy, he came back to bite us and now he took one of our own in Sarah Palin. Any of that?

VANDER PLAATS: Not at all. As a matter of fact we like Donald Trump. Donald Trump has been a good friend. We really do like him a lot. CUOMO: How can you like a guy who says that you are not an

American and probably not eligible to run for president? That is tough to like.

VANDER PLAATS: We disagree with him on some policy issues. So I don't think Senator Cruz should just go be attacking Donald Trump. I think Senator Cruz should stay on message and about the policies and the conservatism that going to work for this country. And you can draw distinctions then with Donald Trump. I don't think you just go on the attack of Donald Trump to attack Donald Trump. At the end of the day Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are going to be on the same team. Sarah Palin and myself are going to be on the same team. We're going to be all in to defeat Hillary Clinton.

CUOMO: Good luck to you going forward. We'll see you out there in Iowa.

VANDER PLAATS: All right, God bless you, Chris.

CUOMO: You as well.

We also want you know, there is no question that the Iowa caucus is going to matter.

[08:15:01] It's going to matter because of the momentum in the race. But more importantly, it's going to matter for Iowans. One week before the Iowa caucuses happen, we have Bernie Sanders, we have Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley. All are going to go face to face with the people who matter the most, the voters in Iowa. They will hear from real people who have real problems and want to hear what will be done for them.

It's going to happen in Des Moines. I'm going to moderate. It is the final pitch for all of the candidates before the first votes are cast -- a unique opportunity for Iowans, not pundits to ask questions of the three Democrats and push for answers. That's next Monday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern live only on CNN.

Mick?

PEREIRA: All right. Just into CNN: President Obama now plans to meet with Detroit's mayor about the city's school closures. More than 80 percent are closed again today as teachers in Detroit plan another day of sickouts over poor working conditions and school funding.

In the meantime other troubles plaguing Michigan. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder apologizing to the people of Flint, for the city's contaminated water supply. He's laying out a course of action to try and deal with the toxic water, and asking state lawmakers for $28 million to make it happen.

CAMEROTA: After five days, the Coast Guard suspending the search for 12 Marines missing since their two helicopters crashed off the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The difficult decision made after round the clock searches involving the Navy, the National Guard and Hawaiian emergency officials. Debris was spotted and all four of the chopper's life rafts were recovered all empty. No bodies or survivors found.

CUOMO: All right. Time to get the shovels ready, especially if you live in the Northeast. The first winter storm of the season making a beeline for the East Coast.

Who's to blame? That's easy. Meteorologist Chad Everett Myers, he makes the weather. Just look at his space, he likes it cold.

What do you see, frosty?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I see a big low pressure system guys. A storm that just battered New York City and it could do it again this time. It's in the Rocky Mountain States right now. It gets into Oklahoma and Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and even Tennessee will get snow. We'll get snow into D.C., New York City and Philadelphia.

Here is how it shapes up. By Thursday it is in the south. And this is where we hate storms in the winter as they turn to the north and turn into these Northeasters or northeast flow.

The low by Saturday is off the East Coast, spreading a lot of wind and snow back into the Northeast, into the mid-Atlantic. D.C., Philadelphia, New York, get the idea.

There is the low, though. If the low travels, and this is still three days away before it's really here. If the low travels to the East and does not turn then there is no snow in Boston at all. Done. Not too much in New York either.

If the storm decides not to do that and turns to the north like that, that's when these really big city, New York, Philadelphia get even more involved in the event. So, here is how it shapes up.

Here is how we work this. This is a very large storm. We're talking probably the size of 17 or 18 states across the Northeast. There goes the low.

If it goes to the North and the Northeast, that is when we truly see a major snow event, blizzard, 15 inch, 20 for New York City. That is still not the forecast right now but that is the forecast for D.C. That is the forecast for a lot of big areas there in the mid-Atlantic, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Dover, all the way into the Philadelphia. We'll watch to see where that track goes. As the major difference one way or the other and it is going to make major differences in the forecast for millions --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Look at my face.

CAMEROTA: Zoom in.

CUOMO: Can't wait to break out the custom made ear muffs that he has. You got the Canadian upset about the weather.

PEREIRA: I'm mad at you.

CUOMO: You know it is going to be bad. And you know what? Making the colors, these pleasant tones of purple and stuff, we're not falling for it Chad --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: You with your whole hands on the world thing you got there.

MYERS: I'm in the South. And that is going to be the color of your lips if you don't stop it, OK?

PEREIRA: In all seriousness, this is going wreak havoc on any travel plans this weekend, to be sure, right? That is another big takeaway from this.

MYERS: Yes. Mick, earlier, you and I were talking. The winds will be 50 miles per hour on Saturday. If you are planning of getting on an airplane from Boston or New York or Philadelphia or D.C., that plane may not be there because they don't want to be stuck in a snow storm.

PEREIRA: No, they don't.

MYERS: So, you're going to have to watch.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Me too. Road trip.

PEREIRA: Not with you. Nope.

CUOMO: That hurts.

PEREIRA: All right. New Hampshire, clearly feeling the Bern. Incredible poll numbers. Favorability for Bernie Sanders in his face- off against Hillary Clinton. Should Clinton's campaign be worried? Her press secretary is going to be on with us on NEW DAY. We'll get their response.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:22:58] CAMEROTA: Senator Bernie Sanders making stunning gains in New Hampshire. A new CNN/WMUR poll shows Sanders with a commanding lead over Hillary Clinton, ahead of her by 27 percentage points in the Granite State. That's up from 10 points in December, up 10 points I should say.

The Vermont senator also has a favorability rating of 91 percent to Clinton's 65. Clinton's campaign press secretary Brian Fallon joins us now to talk about this and so much more.

Brian, great to have you here in studio with us.

BRIAN FALLON, HILLARY FOR AMERICAN PRESS SECRETARY: Thank you for having me.

CAMEROTA: Before we get to the polls and what's going on with the campaign trail, let's talk about the Republican side for a second. What do you think of the Sarah Palin's endorsement of Donald Trump? How do you think that changes the Trump campaign?

FALLON: Well, I'm not a pundit of what's going on in the Republican side.

CAMEROTA: But you're watching it.

FALLON: I think it's fair to say that it's a boon for Donald Trump's prospects in the Iowa caucuses. But I think that in turn is very problematic for the Republican Party. The more likely Donald Trump becomes the nominee, the more harrowing I think it is in terms of their general election prospects and I think that actually explains something going on on our side.

CAMEROTA: Which is what?

FALLON: Which is that you use Republicans sort of openly rooting for Bernie Sanders as these polls show a tightening in our race, on the Democratic our side. Quite strangely, the RNC's top spokesman over the weekend was openly touting Bernie Sanders and helping him parrots some of his attacks against Hillary Clinton. I think that they are worried about what's going on in their primary and they think that the best chance to offset the potential bad outcome of having Donald Trump as their nominee is to try to help Bernie Sanders get nominated on our side.

CAMEROTA: OK. Let's talk about some things you might be worried about. This new development in the Secretary Clinton e-mail story. The inspector general for the intelligence agency has come out and said they have found e-mails that are classified at the higher designation than top secret, more top secret.

This is a problem. How are you -- what is your response to what they have found?

FALLON: Actually, this is fundamentally the same issue that's within going on since the summer. What's going on is we have an interagency dispute about what's classified and what is not. The State Department has attested that these e-mails that were on Hillary Clinton's system were not classified at the time they were sent or received.

[08:25:04] The inspector general for the intelligence community had a different opinion back in August, that's what led to the review that the Justice Department is conducting, and then his finding that led to that federal review came under challenge a couple of months ago.

So this letter is a reaffirmation on his part about what he contends is classified information. But, interestingly, there was a important report last night that suggested that what's at issue here is just a forwarding of a "New York Times" article on a drone program that's being conducted in Pakistan. I think most Americans if they saw the actual e-mails would agree that it is a fabrication to suggest that the forwarding of a news article should be treated as a mishandling of classified information.

CAMEROTA: So, that is the content you say this is. You believe this is just an article, that the inspector general has found an article that was forwarded. There is nothing more there to it than just a "New York Times" article.

FALLON: Well, the inspector general has been deliberately vague in his allegations. He's suggested there is classified material but then has refused to which e-mails he's talking about. But then it was another government official told "Politico" that may be all it is.

CAMEROTA: You know, our pundits have been on and they say regardless of the content was, regardless of what the designation was at the time, it speaks to judgment. And it speaks to Secretary Clinton's judgment and that she shouldn't have done it, she shouldn't have forwarded these things, or dealt with them on her private server.

Let me show some polls that may play into this -- the latest polls, which of the candidates are most honest among likely New Hampshire Democratic voters. Sorry, least honest. Clarify that.

Hillary Clinton 55 percent, gets the least honest candidate. Versus his rivals of Martin O'Malley 5 percent, Bernie Sanders, 2 percent. Do you think the e-mail saga is playing into these numbers?

FALLON: No, I think the Republicans are continuing to try to Trump it up and resurface these allegations for the purpose of hurting her campaign.

CAMEROTA: But the inspector general isn't a Republican.

FALLON: Actually, I think this was a very coordinated leak yesterday.

CAMEROTA: Why do you think he's a (INAUDIBLE) of the Republicans in Congress? I've heard you say that. What's your evidence?

FALLON: Because two months ago, there was a political report that directly challenged the finding of this inspector general. And I don't think he liked that very much. So think he put two Republican senators up to sending him a letter so he would have an excuse to resurface the same allegations he made back in the summer that had been discredited.

CAMEROTA: All right. So, you don't think that all of this talk about emails and the questions about her judgment are affecting those numbers? And how do you explain --

FALLON: I think the numbers are a testimony to the fact that he has been through the ringer in terms of Republicans targeting her.

We have not just been attacked by our other Democrats that are running against us in the primary. We have 15-some-odd Republicans whose job they think to make themselves seem palatable to Republican voters is to go after Hillary Clinton the harshest. And so, that has not been true of Senator Sanders. Quite frankly, he's gone through the last several months of the campaign without any scrutiny being applied -- I think that is starting to change now based on tightening of the polls and as they happens, you actually see some of the details of his healthcare plan being questioned. "The Washington Post" today has a very nice editorial.

And we're proud of the support from Planned Parenthood a couple of weeks. Just yesterday, we got endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign.

And quite strangely, Senator Sanders has reacted to those two endorsements by criticizing those two groups, the Human Rights Campaign that has been out there leading the fight for marriage equality, he called part of the establishment that he's trying to lead a revolution against. It was strange.

CAMEROTA: Iowa is less than two weeks away. Bernie Sanders seems to have momentum there. His numbers are surging not to the degree we're seeing in New Hampshire but certainly in Iowa. What is your plan? What's the plan for the next 12 days to make sure that your candidate wins?

FALLON: I think that the argument that we are taking to the voters in Iowa and New Hampshire is quite simple, that there is no one better positioned to lead the fight against the Republicans not just in the general election in November but when it comes to governing in terms of getting things done.

And if you look at what happened just last week, a completely non political issue of this water crisis in Flint. And you had a lot of other candidates putting out statements calling for resignations. Hillary Clinton actually deployed staff to the state to figure out what practical steps can we take to try to make a difference for people there.

CAMEROTA: And what did she find out?

FALLON: She actually got results. The governor there had -- after several weeks worth of scrutiny had rejected full federal assistance from the Obama administration. And as a result of Hillary Clinton leading the call to pressure for him to let full resources of the CDC, HHS and FEMA come in, two hours after she made a very high profile appearance challenging him publicly, he relented. The Flint mayor just yesterday endorsed Hillary Clinton saying she's the only one that is speaking to the issues that are affecting the folks in our community.

That's an example I think of her ability to get things done and be a fighter. Bernie Sanders has a lot of slogans, a lot of empty solutions, that I think are coming under challenge now that he's had to put the details out.

CAMEROTA: Brian Fallon, great to have you here in studio. Thanks so much.

FALLON: Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. We're still covering the Oscars and the controversy there, because it keeps going on. Nominations consistently too white? That is the charge. Is there a bigger problem? That is the question.

And what will Chris Rock do about it all? Answers ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)