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Trump Concedes Debate Boycott Cost Him an Iowa Win; Democrats Prepare for CNN Presidential Town Hall. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 03, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What kind of people do we have running for office?

[05:58:42] He was born in Canada!

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will continue to sing Donald's praises personally.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our approach is better than what Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton is offering.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I feel really great being back in New Hampshire after winning in Iowa.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The political revolution continues next Tuesday here in New Hampshire.

RUBIO: I'm running to unify this party and ensure that our next president is nothing like the one we have now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At what point did you feel that Iowa was going very differently than the polls had predicted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This place doesn't exist, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

(on camera): He's coming now.

(voice-over): We were escorted away from the airfield as soon as we were spotted.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And they're back.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And we're back. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, February 3, 6 a.m. in the east.

Up first, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio looking to build on their Iowa momentum in New Hampshire now. Rubio coming under attack by most of his GOP rivals, hoping to take the wind out of his sails. I sat down with Senator Rubio and talked about how he plans to fight off those attacks. We'll bring you that interview shortly.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: New Hampshire cannot come soon enough for Donald Trump. He admits the debate boycott likely cost him the win in Iowa. But he says he would do it all over again to help raise money for vets.

This as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders prepare to answer questions directly from voters in a presidential town hall tonight right here on CNN. We have complete coverage of the next phase of the election. CNN's Sara Murray live in Manchester -- Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, of course Ted Cruz wants to get a win here in New Hampshire to kick off a winning streak. But really, Donald Trump needs a strong showing here. He has said he wants a victory. And Marco Rubio had that surprise showing in Iowa.

But if he wants to make it, if he wants to coalesce that establishment support, he is going to need a strong showing here in New Hampshire, as well. So much at stake with just less than a week to go until the New Hampshire primaries.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: These are truly dishonest people.

MURRAY (voice-over): Less than a week from the New Hampshire primary, Donald Trump is blasting Iowa winner Ted Cruz.

TRUMP: "Ben Carson quit, and let me have your vote." What kind of crap is this?

MURRAY: Trump slamming the senator after his team falsely told Iowa caucus goers Ben Carson planned to quit the race.

CRUZ: I apologize to Ben for that. They should have forwarded that subsequent story. That was a mistake.

MURRAY: And continuing to warn voters about his Canadian birth.

TRUMP: He gets the nomination, they're going to sue his ass off.

CRUZ: I hardly think it is news that Donald Trump is insulting me.

MURRAY: Cruz riding high from the Hawkeye State win, now preparing for battle in New Hampshire. And even looking ahead to South Carolina, hoping for a boost from the southern evangelical vote.

CRUZ: We're going to continue to do what we did in Iowa here on the ground in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

MURRAY: While Trump, banking on his popularity in New Hampshire, hopes to avoid the same mistakes he made in Iowa. TRUMP: Had I known I was going to be liked as much as I am in Iowa,

and people did like me, you would understand that, I would have maybe spent a little bit more, and I would have been there a little bit more, and maybe I would have won it.

MURRAY: Both top-tier candidates perplexed over Marco Rubio's highly- publicized third-place showing in Iowa.

CRUZ: We've been joking that, in media world, bronze is the new gold.

TRUMP: The headline is, "Winner of the night, Marco Rubio. Trump, humiliated."

MURRAY: Rubio capitalizing on his momentum in this small New England state, asserting his electability.

RUBIO: You know who does not want to run against me? Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. They know that if I'm their nominee, they lose and we win. It's why they attack me more than any other Republican in this race. They don't want to run against me. But I can't wait to run against them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Meanwhile, the Democratic candidates also hitting the ground hard in the Granite State after Hillary Clinton eked out a razor-thin victory over Bernie Sanders in Iowa.

As we mentioned, the rivals now set to make their pitch directly to New Hampshire voters in our CNN presidential town hall. That is this evening. Senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns live in Manchester with the Democratic race for us.

Hi, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Michaela.

They're both reaching for some momentum this morning. Bernie Sanders claiming yet another fund-raising spike as he and Hillary Clinton prepare for that faceoff at the town hall here in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLINTON: I feel really great being back in New Hampshire after winning in Iowa and having a chance to come here.

JOHNS (voice-over): Riding high on the narrowest victory in Iowa caucus history, Hillary Clinton taking the showdown over votes to New Hampshire.

SANDERS: We fought Secretary Clinton through a virtual tie. And I don't even know yet. We have not even seen all the breakdowns of the election results.

JOHNS: Bernie Sanders feeling good about his odds in the Granite State, where he's been polling ahead for months. His double-digit lead fueling the campaign's confidence.

SANDERS: If we can win here in New Hampshire -- all right. Let me rephrase it. When we win here in New Hampshire...

JOHNS: While Clinton won the New Hampshire primary in 2008...

CLINTON: Thank you.

JOHNS: The state has often supported neighboring politicians, possibly giving Vermonter Sanders an edge.

After narrowly beating Hillary Clinton in Iowa, the self-proclaimed democratic socialist says he raised a staggering sum, $3 million, online in 24 hours, commanding a huge base of support among younger, newer voters.

Secretary Clinton vying for the chance to take back some of that support.

CLINTON: I'm going to have some work to do to reach out to young voters, and I intend to do that.

JOHNS: The stage is set for both candidates to make their final case before the New Hampshire primaries, facing tough questions from voters at tonight's CNN town hall in Derry.

CLINTON: I'm looking forward to every opportunity, because I know that people here have a choice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: OK.

[06:05:05] With -- without a clear winner here in Iowa, both candidates now are really being forced to just bear down in New Hampshire, trying to draw some contrasts with the New Hampshire primary just a week away -- Chris and Alisyn.

CUOMO: All right, Joe. Thank you very much.

Let's bring in our CNN political commentators, Matt Lewis, senior contributor for "The Daily Caller," and Errol Louis, political anchor for Time Warner Cable News.

We hard Joe saying there that it was hard to look at Iowa as a clear victory for either, right? Of course, the state party came out and said Hillary wins. She's got a few more delegates. But neck and neck by any real measure, Iowa is very different than New Hampshire, the state of play. Tell us how.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL ANCHOR: Well, New Hampshire is different in a lot of different ways. I mean, first, it's smaller. It's also a place where there are more unaffiliated voters than there are either Democrats or Republicans. So when they say "independent voters," they really mean it in a literal sense. And so those independent voters -- again, they're a plurality of the electorate there, they can wake up on primary day and say, "You know what? Maybe I feel like voting for Donald Trump. Maybe I feel like voting for Bernie Sanders."

It's unclear how all of this works, because all of the ads hit them at the same time. And so lots of different appeals are going to happen. That having been said, it's a state where Hillary Clinton has won. It's a state where Hillary Clinton has campaigned. It's a state that is going to skew to her strengths. It's got sort of older voters in some ways. On the other hand, she's 18 points behind. So Bernie Sanders has the home-field advantage.

I think what we're going to see is a Clinton effort to tie him down there, to make him fight for a home state. And while he's doing that, the Clinton campaign, which has superior resources and is already active in a lot of other states, can move on and start putting their ground operation in place in South Carolina, in Nevada and beyond.

CAMEROTA: I just want to stick with you, Errol, for a second. What does that mean, tie him down there? How does that look?

LOUIS: You don't want to have to work your home state. For example, it would be a shame if Bernie Sanders, to take an extreme example, had to do a lot of work in Vermont.

CAMEROTA: Sure.

LOUIS: I mean, you're supposed to be able to sort of go out and sort of build. I he has to spend a lot of time just trying to secure and hold onto his lead. And I think the polls, there are some internals already being reported, showing that the race is starting to tighten. If he's got to spend a lot of time in New Hampshire, then places where he has never run before, places where he's never appeared on the ballot -- in Nevada, in South Carolina, in the SEC, Super Tuesday states, he's going to -- he's going to be pressed. And I think the Clinton campaign is going to press him.

CUOMO: Well, you've got a past and present factor at play also. One, Hillary against Barack Obama, who had tons of momentum coming out of Iowa, had what some saw as a surprise victory. She came up, won by, I think, two points.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: So she's a fighter. And her organization can adapt. So that's one thing you have to be aware of on Sanders's side.

The other is, you have almost 40 percent undecided there.

CAMEROTA: Right.

CUOMO: So who knows what's going to happen on the actual day. It would be a shocker if Clinton were even close to winning, but you never know.

Matt Lewis, on the other side, this "boy in the bubble" stuff that Governor Christie is talking about, is that anything that is popularized beyond his own mouth? MATT LEWIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm not even sure what that

reference is. Is that a "Seinfeld" reference or something? I'm not even sure what...

CUOMO: It's a great movie with John Travolta.

CAMEROTA: John Travolta.

CUOMO: It really hits you right here.

LEWIS: This goes back a couple years, all right.

Look, I think that Marco Rubio has a big target on his back, and for good reason. I mean, he is vying to become the -- the owner of the, quote unquote, "establishment lane" of the Republican Party. And, you know, coming out of a strong third-place finish in Iowa, he could wrap that up if he comes ahead.

He needs to come ahead of everybody else, like the John Kasichs, the Jeb Bushes, the Chris Christies. If Rubio does that, I think you'll begin to see a consolidation around him, and these other guys are going to have to get out. I think it's already a three-man race. But Rubio has to finish the job in New Hampshire.

CAMEROTA: Talk about the endorsement of Senator Tim Scott and why this is so significant and so coveted for Rubio. He got that.

LOUIS: Sure. Well, I mean, look, there's a new South that is out there. We started to see it with the election of Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, who's Indian-American. You've got Tim Scott, African-American senator. What he's saying is, by sort of pointing to Rubio, he's sort of saying, first of all, the establishment lane -- and this is a very conservative guy, is Tim Scott -- to say, "He's acceptable to me. He's an establishment politician. He's a colleague in the Senate.

"And for this new South, for this new image of the Republican South, the conservative South, if you want to call it, that includes people of color, he's the guy. I'm the guy; Nikki Haley is in our camp. Let's bring him in."

And it's a real boost sort of coming into a place where, otherwise he'd be fighting with everybody else. The conservative voters in South Carolina are going to very much gravitate toward Ted Cruz. So he's got a fight on his hands there. Donald Trump is leading in the polls by wide margins in South Carolina. He's got a fight on his hands there. So a very welcome boost for Marco Rubio.

CUOMO: He got a boost out of Iowa, but I wonder, are we setting him up for false expectations in New Hampshire? Matt, I mean, you're saying he has to come in third. He has to beat all these other people. I mean, if you're looking at the polls, that's not necessarily expected. This is a state where they are expecting an "other" to pop up. Right? You're expecting a Kasich, or Christie, or maybe a Bush to make a stronger play here. [06:10:12] You know, obviously, we're looking at the polls right now.

Rubio is pulling -- polling ahead of them. But there's an expectation that they've been putting the work in on the ground. Is it a surprise if he doesn't come in third?

LEWIS: Look, you know, this is the NFL. You have to rise to the occasion, and eventually, you have to start winning primaries. That's been the knock on Rubio all along. When does he actually win.

To Rubio's credit and to the credit of his staff, they've been very smart about managing expectations. That's why a third-place finish in Iowa counted as a win for Rubio.

But what they've been saying is a 3-2-1 strategy. Third place in Iowa, second place in New Hampshire, and then they go on to South Carolina and Nevada.

And so, look, these are the expectations that the Rubio team has, you know, perpetuated themselves. He needs to do well in New Hampshire. He doesn't have to win. But he has to be at the head of that, quote unquote, "establishment lane."

CAMEROTA: Yes. Errol, let's talk about the Democratic town hall tonight, where now it will just be Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton fielding questions from the voters. How does the dynamic change?

LOUIS: Well, it changes not very much, frankly. I mean, Martin O'Malley, unless he does an endorsement sometime this afternoon. I don't know if -- what he was trying to carve out, which didn't amount to much in Iowa, is going to really influence this.

So now it's really head to head. And you've got -- you know, Hillary Clinton, I think, was very telling in her victory speech, where she says, "I am a progressive."

So she's going to try and fight with Bernie Sanders for some of his base. I don't know if that's the wisest strategy. I don't know how credible it is.

There was a yawning generation gap here that's really extraordinary, where all of the young people by very, very wide margins went to Bernie Sanders. I think that's going to probably be at work here, too. We'll see if Hillary Clinton can try to sort of eat into that. I think that's what she's going to try to do. I don't know if she has much choice. I mean, if she wants to sort of reverse with those devastating poll numbers, that advantage that Bernie Sanders has, she's going to have to go at his base. The young people would be the logical place to start.

CAMEROTA: All right. Errol, Matt, thanks so much.

CUOMO: Contrast is going to be criticism tonight. Look for Cooper to play a lot of policeman. Because now this whole not mentioning the other one is going to be gone. I think you're going to hear a lot of that tonight. And you can see for yourself the presidential town hall, Derry, New Hampshire, moderated by our man, Anderson Cooper. Be sure to watch at 9 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN -- Mick.

PEREIRA: All right. Powerful tornados tearing through Alabama, Mississippi, leaving a trail of devastation. This one twister you're seeing here in western Alabama one of at least six reported. The threat continues. Several homes and mobile homes were heavily damaged, as were the offices of the federal prison in Pickens County, Alabama, but there was no damage to inmate housing. No deaths, no major injuries reported.

CAMEROTA: A troubling turn in the outbreak of the Zika virus. The CDC confirming that a patient in Dallas contracted the virus through sexual transmission. It's the first known case of Zika being transmitted on U.S. soil. Federal health officials now urging the use of condoms to battle the virus. And the Red Cross is asking anyone who visits countries where Zika is active to wait 28 days before donating blood.

CUOMO: Wow.

All right. Take a look at this explosion. It rips a hole on the side of a plane shortly after takeoff in Somalia. Sources tell CNN a person went through that hole that was caused by the blast and fell to their death. The flight was 12,000 feet above the ground when the explosion happened. Two other people were injured. The pilot was somehow able to land safely. Our sources say initial tests came back positive for explosive residue. But the investigation is still ongoing to figure out what caused it.

PEREIRA: Powerful enough to blow a hole in it but not to bring the plane down.

CAMEROTA: That's amazing.

CUOMO: And rare.

PEREIRA: And rare, yes, absolutely.

CAMEROTA: I'm always comforted that the plane can still fly with a big hole in the side of it.

PEREIRA: Right.

CAMEROTA: All right. Meanwhile, back to politics. Marco Rubio riding high after his strong third-place finish in Iowa. I sat down with the presidential hopeful hours after he touched down in New Hampshire. And he did not mince words about his critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBIO: Sometimes people don't react well to adversity. And so they're some things they'll probably later on regret.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Who was the Florida senator talking about? That answer next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:18:23] CAMEROTA: Ted Cruz won Iowa. But most of the GOP rivals now focusing their attacks on Marco Rubio after his strong caucus finish. I sat down with Senator Rubio after he arrived in the Granite State to talk about his critics, his strategy, and his favorite music.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Senator, thanks so much...

RUBIO: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: ... for sitting down with us. Have you had any sleep?

RUBIO: A little bit. Just enough. Maybe three, four hours. I'm fine.

CAMEROTA: What -- at what point did you realize that something -- that Iowa was going very differently?

RUBIO: We felt that way moving in. I mean, obviously, over the last 10 days we were there working. We felt really good about people that were deciding late, deciding our way.

We were always very confident about our plan. And obviously, we had a historic turnout. I mean, the large number of people that voted. When you went to the caucus centers they were telling us they were putting out double the number of chairs they'd ever put out before. So that was impressed.

And I think it tells you how engaged and interested people are in this election. And I'm glad they are. This is the most important election in a generation.

CAMEROTA: But just peel back the curtain. Were you in a ballroom? What was happening as you were watching, sort of the returns come in?

RUBIO: Well, it didn't work that way. Actually, I went to four separate caucus sites and spoke. And so by the time I got to the hotel, the results had already pretty much already started coming in. And we could see -- we knew we were going to do really well in certain parts of the state. And we could see those numbers trending up. And if you look back now, we got more votes than the winners of the last three Iowa caucuses did. So it was a huge and massive turnout.

I really thank the people of Iowa. Our ground team there was fantastic and phenomenal. And it gave us great momentum coming here into New Hampshire.

CAMEROTA: So now here you are in New Hampshire. You wake up in a different state. There are different voters. When you look around here...

RUBIO: I went to sleep in a different state. We arrived at 1:30 in the morning. CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh.

RUBIO: Absolutely. But we spent a lot of time here already, as well. We have a great team here, too. And we just feel real good about it.

And I think that what's coming -- what people are going to start realizing is I give us the best chance. My candidacy gives us the best chance to nominate a real conservative who can unite the party, grow the party, take our message to people that haven't voted for us in the past, and ultimately, defeat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.

The Democrats know this. They admit that I am the one they don't want to run against. And that's why I think, ultimately, I'll be our nominee.

CAMEROTA: But given that there are different values here in New Hampshire than there are in Iowa, what do you do differently?

RUBIO: I don't really believe that that's true. I mean, the electorate has a little different background, because every state is diverse. But ultimately, what people are worried about in our party in particular is we have to nominate someone that can win. Someone that will take our principles, grow this party and win.

And that's what I give us the chance to do. Someone who, as president, will reverse the damage Barack Obama has done; put in place policies that allow the private sector to succeed; and keep America safe. And that's what I'll do when I'm president.

CAMEROTA: But as you know, New Hampshire doesn't have the evangelical vote that Iowa does. There are different values here. Do you -- do you change anything about what you said...

RUBIO: I's always said that the campaign we launched in April of last year and the message we launched will be the message that I have in November of this year. I don't -- I'm not running two separate campaigns or eight separate campaigns.

I believe that America's greatest days are within our reach, but not if we stay on the road we're on right now. I have clear policies, the most detailed policy of anybody running for president on either side. And that's going to be my message no matter where I am and no matter what stage in this process we are in.

CAMEROTA: Your rivals have been talking about you. Jeb Bush just called you a back bencher. Trump has called you "the kid," as you know. Chris Christie just called you the boy in the bubble. You and Cruz have exchanged some words. What's your response?

RUBIO: Well, I think when people attack you, usually, they don't attack someone who isn't doing well. Usually, you only get attacked in politics if you present a threat to someone.

Jeb's comment is interesting. He endorsed -- he wanted me to be the vice president. He openly told people I should be the vice president in 2012 when Romney was going through that process. The only thing that's changed between then and now is we happen to both be running for president.

I think Chris has had -- both Jeb and Chris have had a tough couple days. And obviously, sometimes people don't react well to adversity. And so they're saying some things they'll probably later on regret.

But that's not going to change my campaign. I'm not running to beat up on other Republicans. If there are policy differences, we'll discuss those. But ultimately, I'm running to unify this party and ensure that our next president is nothing like the one we have now.

CAMEROTA: As you know, immigration has become a big issue in this election. You and all of our rivals want to secure the border. If you become president, what do you do next?

RUBIO: After securing the border? Well, first, not just secure the border. People have to have confidence that you've done it. I do not believe, having worked on this issue now for a long time, including just personally having come from the background I come from, that the American people are going to support anything on immigration until first they believe that illegal immigration is truly under control. That means finishing the wall, and fence, new Border Patrol agents, an entry/exit tracking system, and e-verify. Only after that's in place and that's working can we go to the American people and see what they are willing to support.

I think they'll be willing to support something very reasonable. I don't think the American people expect us to round up and deport 12 million people. If you're a criminal, you won't be able to stay, no matter what. They should be deported now, criminals.

If you're not, we've outlined an idea, you know? I don't know if the American people will support it. But the idea of allowing people that have been here a long time to pass a background check, pay a fine, start paying taxes. They get a work permit. And that's all they'll have for at least a decade.

But we'll see what the American people are willing to support. I'm not going to ram it down anyone's throat. And I can tell you how we're not going to do it: through unconstitutional executive orders the way this president has done it now.

CAMEROTA: Last, we know you're a big music fan. On the trail, what are you listening to?

RUBIO: Well, you know, I mean, people know this now. The last couple years I've gotten really interested in electronic dance music. So Vicci (ph) or Calvin Harris. I just like it because the lyrics are clean, so I can listen to it in front of my kids and not worry about it.

I used to be a much bigger hip-hop fan, but the lyrics have gotten harder and harder to listen to when you have a 10-year-old in the car.

CAMEROTA: It's important. I know that "Straight Outta Compton," you had said that one time...

RUBIO: I want to see the movie. I haven't seen the movie.

CAMEROTA: So were they robbed of an Oscar nomination?

RUBIO: I haven't seen the movie, so I can't tell you. But I think what was really amazing was Ice Cube's son looks just like him. And, you know, they're reuniting now, so they're going to do -- and I guess Eazy-E, because he passed away, Eminem is going to play his role in a NWA reunification, I guess -- reunion. So I'm interested to see how that plays out.

CAMEROTA: Senator, thanks so much for taking your time. Great to talk to you.

RUBIO: Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: You just talked Eazy-E with a political presidential candidate.

CAMEROTA: He speaks fluent hip-hop.

PEREIRA: I'm just saying.

CAMEROTA: He loves that. That's his music. EDM.

CUOMO: He needs to do more of that going forward. Because it's something that he can really own as saying, "This is who I am." That's going to be his challenge.

PEREIRA: It's more -- it's more organic for him, it seems.

CAMEROTA: Totally authentic. That's his lane.

[06:25:10] CUOMO: He's got -- he's going to be -- it's going to be an interesting time for him to see how he deals with all guns pointed at him as a freshman senator. It's going to be interesting to see how he deals with it.

CAMEROTA: Well, I can just tell you, he was energized. Despite the lack of sleep, he stopped at every booth along the way. People wanted to press the flesh and talk to him.

PEREIRA: That's where his youth comes in, because we know the older you get, the less amount of...

CAMEROTA: Yes. The hours, right.

PEREIRA: ... sleep (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I guess.

CAMEROTA: It was impressive in terms of the energy.

PEREIRA: All right. Great conversation. Thanks so much for that.

Up next, a CNN exclusive. Is the U.S. building a secret airfield in northern Syria to ramp up the war on ISIS? The Pentagon's not commenting. CNN has discovered it in a tiny farming village near the Iraq border. We're the only network taking you there. We'll do that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: The United States is looking for ways to step up the military campaign against ISIS. Recently-published satellite imagery shows a small airstrip is being lengthened in Kurdish-controlled territory in northern Syria. The Pentagon only say, quote, "U.S. forces are in Syria, are consistently looking for ways to increase efficiency."

Our Clarissa Ward is the first journalist to visit that airfield amid a deepening relationship between the U.S. and its Kurdish allies, and joins us now from Erbil, Iraq.