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New Day

Battle for Mosul is "Ahead of Schedule;" Social Media Election Stress; Latest Election Headlines. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 18, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:36] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Just 24 hours in, the Pentagon is already saying the battle for Mosul is, quote, "ahead of schedule." Iraqi forces and their allies using airstrikes and intense gun battles to make gains in Iraq's second largest city.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is on the front lines with Kurdish forces. He joins us near Mosul.

Nick, what's the situation?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, yes, hard to know really what the timetable was that the Pentagon were referring to, but there's certainly no lack of progress behind me here. The Kurdish Peshmerga forces claiming they've taken nine villages in just the last 24 hours or so.

We were with them, though, as we learned firsthand with them exactly what taking territory means here. It doesn't mean you necessarily got rid of all the ISIS resistance hiding in that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice-over): They've been waiting years to finally push through the lines and take on ISIS' brutality. And when the day came, it was still a dusty, slow grind. Peshmerga, into the desert, to flank a main road to Mosul. Distinctive American vehicles with western occupants in their convoy.

Airstrikes often hitting the places they were headed to first. Hops ISIS might not fight for the tiny settlements around Mosul, quickly dashed.

WALSH (on camera): This is the first village they - they move down the road towards Mosul and they're encountering pretty heavy resistance. Returning fire with what they have -

WALSH (voice-over): Which are often blunt and old. They want this over, fast. Suddenly, there's panic. They spot a car. A suicide car bomb racing towards them. It's ISIS. One, two rockets try to hit it. The third is lucky.

They push on towards the main prize, the road itself to Mosul, flanked by oil fires lit by ISIS and airstrikes piling in regardless. Shells still landing near the Peshmerga. A casualty taken away.

Down on the main objective, the road itself, ISIS sent two car bombs at them and attacked from both sides.

WALSH (on camera): The Iraqi military, too, at some point, will have to push down here towards Mosul. But this has been an effort with much international support, a lot of coalition planning, American airpower.

Shut the doors.

WALSH: (INAUDIBLE) move.

Is yours (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay in the car now.

WALSH (voice-over): ISIS still everywhere, even in the hills. They give chase to one man, an ISIS fighter. He shoots a Peshmerga. Humvees rescue him and they hunt on. An ISIS fighter popped up from a tunnel, shoots. He blows himself up. A tenacity and desire to die that will surely slow and bloody the fight ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Now, Turkey has thrown a cat among a pigeon, if you like, here by saying that its air force has been involved in some of the airstrikes we've been hearing here. We can't independently verify that here but they have a big political reason to make these claims. They're said they want to be part of this operation. Baghdad has said stay out. It's all really about Turkey trying to back the Sunni part of this country, and Baghdad seen as more offensive (ph) to the Shia. That's the big sectarian tension everyone's worried about and this operation drags on could flare up. But, still, Iraqi forces trying to push down the road behind me towards Mosul proper.

[08:35:16] Alisyn. Chris.

CUOMO: Nick, how is this comparing to the warfare you've seen in that country in the past in terms of the structure, in terms of the passion to win? What are you seeing?

WALSH: I think it's scatty (ph) at this stage. Always with these forces, they have a lot of moral, a lot of desire to do things. They don't always have the communications to move effectively in concert, particularly given the rival factions with differing agendas involved in this push against Mosul.

But, yesterday, certainly the Peshmerga were able to do what they wanted to do. There's a different feeling I think here. The (INAUDIBLE) against ISIS for the past two years have been marked by fear. People believing ISIS' propaganda, that they're always on the advance, that they're somehow undefeatable, omnipotent at times. That bubble has certainly burst and they're on their - not back foot but possibly last months here if Mosul is retaken quickly, unlikely that will happen, but when Mosul is taken, then certainly this will be the last chapter of ISIS in Iraq. All eyes on Raqqa, their so-called caliphate defacto capital across the border in Syria.

Chris.

CUOMO: All right, stay safe, my friend, to you and your team. I know that you're a pro and you've done this before, but it looks really scary to those of us here at home. Be well, and thank you.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Gosh, his video is just incredible, where you see one ISIS fighter pop out of a hole and then they all try to chase him and he blows himself up. I mean that captures what they are facing.

CUOMO: And, you know, and, ordinarily we edit out the things that interrupt, you know, when we're talking to camera in situations, even like those, but it was important that Nick left it in. You have to understand the reality of just how fragile security is on the ground and the commitment of people like Nick to bring you the news.

CAMEROTA: OK, back here at home, stress of a different kind. If you are stressed out about the 2016 election, you're not alone. A new study suggests that many people are suffering election stress disorder. A clinical psychologist is here next with advice.

CUOMO: I knew it. Is that why I'm losing hair?

CAMEROTA: That is it. Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:41] CAMEROTA: Twenty-one days until election day and many of you say it can't end soon enough. If you feel like you're suffering from election stress disorder, you're not alone. The American Psychological Association finds that 52 percent of adults say the 2016 presidential race is a very or somewhat significant source of stress for them.

So let's discuss this with clinical psychologist Dr. Heather Silvestri.

Dr. Silvestri, thanks so much for being here.

DR. HEATHER SILVESTRI, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: How often are you hearing your patients or your fellow therapists say, oh, this election is stressing me out?

SILVESTRI: Far too often.

CAMEROTA: What are the symptoms of election stress disorder? And I know this isn't a real disorder. I get it. However, there is a - a name and people have coined a term for this because so many people seem to be experiencing anxiety. So what are these symptoms?

SILVESTRI: Right. I mean at this point I would say, rather than a full blown diagnosis, which we have to be circumspect about, study over time, distil criteria. It's more of what I would say I'm seeing as a phenomenon. There's a real uptick in anxiety and negative affect overall.

CAMEROTA: What are people saying to you when they come into your office?

SILVESTRI: You know it's - it's I think coming out in all kinds of forms and explicitly people are coming in right off the back, before they even sit down, talking about the latest news cycle. And sometimes their phone is pinging during session and they're checking it and reacting to the, you know, the latest news.

CAMEROTA: I hear it everywhere also. People are, for the first time, coming up to me and sort of grabbing me by the shoulders and saying, are you OK? How are you doing? Because people assume that because Chris and I talk about it every day, that I must be suffering some sort of stress. But I was interested to hear that the symptoms of this, that people say that they're experiencing more insomnia, they're experiencing more panic attacks.

SILVESTRI: Yes.

CAMEROTA: What's behind that?

SILVESTRI: Well, I think that what you're seeing is, writ large, an uptick in anxiety and stress. Anything that's - someone is predisposed to is being exacerbated. So someone who might have generalized anxiety is maybe their threshold for anxiety is changed and as a result they are experiencing in, you know, and they're experiencing more pronounced symptoms more readily.

CAMEROTA: I see. And so what are people afraid of, that their candidate is going to lose or is it something bigger than that?

SILVESTRI: It's catastrophe. I man I spend a lot of my day trying to help people de-catastrophize. Whether it's, you know, their exam that they have in calculus, or their marriage falling apart. And so what we're seeing I think writ large is this idea of catastrophe and people are appropriately having, I think a lot of anxiety about that.

CAMEROTA: So how do you help people de-catastrophize what is going on right now? What do you say to them?

SILVESTRI: Excellent question. You know, I think, really, it's about coming back to your own internal psychological state because what's happening is people are reacting and they are rendered pretty passive. You know, the worst thing about a catastrophe is to be hog tied to it. So I recommend that people take a break, a media break, shut everything down, meditate, you know, do some breathing and relaxation. And what that does is que people to listen to their own international emotional state. And the key there is it gives people (INAUDIBLE). Now I can do something about how I'm feeling. I can take a break, I can call a friend, I can meditate, I can take a walk and to start there, instead of being in this cycle of just reacting to what's going on externally.

[08:45:16] CAMEROTA: Look, far be it from us to ever tell people to take a break from CNN. However, people are watching it 24 hours - they're watching cable news, they're reading their, you know, iPhones 24/7 and that is a lot of stimuli for them. So you're saying that even if you can get away for a little while and take a walk in nature or a relaxation tape, it will help immensely?

SILVESTRI: Whatever you can do to re-channel your energy to your own internal self that then you can do something about. And then you can go back to the news cycle.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, Dr. Silvestri.

SILVESTRI: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Great to get your advice and to have you here with us. We'll all try that. Thanks so much.

SILVESTRI: Thank you so much.

CAMEROTA: Let's get to Chris.

CUOMO: De-catastrophize.

CAMEROTA: Work on it.

CUOMO: I like that. I can't even pronounce it. I'm going to Google it and then I'm going to do it.

All right, so there are two big stories dominating the headlines this morning, right, Donald Trump saying the election is rigged without any basis in fact, and Hillary Clinton's e-mail controversy where there is a new basis in fact of a negotiation that took place between the State Department and the FBI. How will they play out tomorrow in the last big showdown? We're going to de-catastrophize with "The Bottom Line" when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:02] CUOMO: It is time for "The Bottom Line" from CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston.

So, the e-mail story that just had its latest chapter with this negotiation between the State Department and the FBI, allegations of quid pro quo, how deep does it go, how large does it loom tomorrow night at the debate?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, if Donald Trump is smart, it will large - in a big way. I mean if he can focus most of the debate tomorrow on calling into question Hillary Clinton's character and, quite frankly, those that she surrounds herself with, that's going to be a winning strategy for him. If he stands on the debate stage behind me tomorrow, Chris, and continues to talk about allegations of sexual harassment and trying to defend himself, that's not going to be a very good strategy.

CAMEROTA: OK, so, Mark, what about the rigged election strategy? Do we think that he'll talk more about that? PRESTON: No question. And it's actually very dangerous. I know you

guys have been talking about it this morning, inciting studies that show that it really isn't an electoral system that is in shambles and corrupt and what have you.

But what's even more troubling is when you have somebody like Sheriff David Clark out of Milwaukee come out and say that it's a rigged election, it is, and then go on to talk about how he needs to get people out to vote and how people need to be out there for Donald Trump. But this is a law enforcement official coming out and saying that the election is rigged. That is a very dangerous thing to say, especially when you have an Ohio secretary of state, a Republican, come on our air yesterday - by the way, a Republican who's going to vote for Donald Trump, and say that the election system is actually not rigged and Donald Trump should have more faith in it.

CUOMO: That's part of the state of play of this election is that someone can be so grossly inaccurate and the man says, and I'm still voting for him. That's how divided we are.

All right, so what do you make of this Scholastic poll? For, what, like 40 years or something they've been having kids pick who's going to win the election and they're almost like always right.

CAMEROTA: Have a perfect score since 1964. These are kindergarteners through 12th graders. And here, this time, 52 percent say that Clinton will be the winner, Donald Trump will get 35 percent to her 52 percent. What do you think of the Scholastic children's vote, Mark?

PRESTON: You know, sometimes children certainly know a lot more than we know and they're out in front of the curve, no doubt. But if you're going to match those numbers up with where we are in the state of play, they're absolutely correct. Right now even CNN has Hillary Clinton, if the election were held today, winning the election. But what's even more interesting about that poll, and certainly a little more lighthearted, is that Spider-man got a vote, Harambe got a vote. So, clearly, they're not that enamored right now with Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. They're shopping around a little bit.

CAMEROTA: Uh-huh. Mark, you're - you're buying the lead, I feel, because, yes, they did write in "Harambe" the gorilla and "Spider- man."

PRESTON: Right.

CAMEROTA: They also wrote in "bacon."

PRESTON: They did write in "bacon." And for all the mothers out there, they did write in "mom." So, you know -

CUOMO: Always a strong choice.

PRESTON: They know that, you know, home is where the heart is, of course.

CUOMO: I wonder if Trump can use the fact that the kids wrote in Harambe, who has deceased, as proof of fraud.

CAMEROTA: Good point.

PRESTON: If we say it enough - if we say it enough on TV, by the way, he'll probably repeat it this afternoon.

CUOMO: What are you watching for tomorrow night? What do you think will be the big moment?

PRESTON: Well, first of all, we saw in this last debate when he rolled out the four women and had them sit in the audience, I don't know what could top that. But who knows with Donald Trump. You know, he's so unpredictable. But, again, if he wants to win this election, he's got to go out and start to try to call into question her character. He's got to go out and start to talk about what he's going to do to make America great again in order to have a good night.

Hillary Clinton is now four days behind closed doors doing debate prep. And, by the way, we saw this in the past two debate and she did a really good job in those debates. So, clearly she's putting the time in. We'll see if Donald Trump can, you know, carry his own weight tomorrow night on the stage behind me.

CUOMO: Trump says that she's probably spending that time dosing up because of those PEDs she's been using (INAUDIBLE) drugs.

CAMEROTA: Right. There will be a drug test. But you know what would win the debate?

CUOMO: What?

CAMEROTA: Give everybody bacon. That would be a winner.

PRESTON: Bacon. Everybody loves bacon.

CAMEROTA: That's what the country wants.

Mark Preston, thank you.

PRESTON: Thanks, guys.

CUOMO: You talk more about bacon than you actually eat it, by the way. I've -

CAMEROTA: Yes, but when you order the bacon, I do eat half of yours, because it's so good.

CUOMO: True.

CAMEROTA: Late night laughs, next.

CUOMO: Half is probably -

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:57:57] CAMEROTA: Comedian Stephen Colbert wants to give President Obama a job after he leaves office. Check out late night laughs.

CUOMO: OK.

CAMEROTA: Let's do it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT: Do you have any awards or commendations?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, I have almost 30 honorary degrees and I - I did get the Nobel Peace Prize.

COLBERT: Oh, really? What was that for?

OBAMA: To be honest, I still don't know.

COLBERT: OK, good. All right.

It doesn't say here. Where were you born?

OBAMA: Really?

COLBERT: Is this the longest form of this resume available?

OBAMA: Why don't we move on?

COLBERT: OK, good.

Because we are on a network television show, I cannot allow you to endorse a candidate right now, but I do - I would like to ask you about your choice of snacks. Could I do that?

OBAMA: Sure.

COLBERT: All right, great. I have two choices for you here. Would you care for an extra fiber nutrient bar, which has traveled to more than 100 countries, or this shriveled tangerine covered in golden retriever hair filled with bile that I wouldn't leave alone with the woman I love?

OBAMA: Well, I think I'll go with the fiber nutrient bar.

COLBERT: Interesting.

These days every business wants to appeal to the millennials. Do you know what millennials are?

OBAMA: I think so.

COLBERT: OK. How do you plan to get their attention?

OBAMA: Well, I tell them straight up that this is the most important election of their lifetimes, that they have the opportunity to make history, and that the results in November could change their lives forever, so they have to get out there and vote. COLBERT: I'm sorry, I didn't catch all of that. Did you know there's a

Snapchat filter that gives you a flower crown?

OBAMA: Of course I know that, Stephen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That's funny. At the end -

CUOMO: He got me at the end.

CAMEROTA: He got me at the end. He reeled us back in. But that - wasn't that just basically a take-off, a rip-off of "Between Two Ferns"?

CUOMO: A little bit.

CAMEROTA: I think so.

CUOMO: A little bit. A little -

CAMEROTA: I mean I love Stephen Colbert, but -

CUOMO: What did you think of the moustache?

CAMEROTA: I don't understand the moustache. What is behind the moustache?

CUOMO: I don't know. That's for you to answer.

Maybe Carol Costello knows.

CAMEROTA: I'm sure she does. It is time now for "Newsroom" with Carol Costello.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I don't know.

CAMEROTA: Any theories on the mustache?

[09:00:00] COSTELLO: Ken Bone (ph), who we used to like but now we don't like, had a mustache. I don't know. I'll ponder it for the rest of my two hours.

CAMEROTA: Maybe that's it.

COSTELLO: I know.

CUOMO: Should a grow a moustache?

CAMEROTA: No.

COSTELLO: No. OK, got to go.

CUOMO: Good, because I can't.

COSTELLO: The NEWSROOM starts now.