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New Day

Fight for Mosul; Immigration Reform Discussion; Separated Twins Recovering. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 19, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Right, which are terrible stories to Hillary Clinton. The problem with that, Chris, as we know, is that Donald Trump seems to be clouding his own message. Whenever something seems to be going terrible for Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump goes out on the campaign trail, he says something, or, you know, he does something that seems to suck all the oxygen out of the air. Donald Trump, in many ways, has allowed Hillary Clinton to get away with this. He keeps blaming the media. But the fact is, he seems to team trumping it, to use his own name, trumping whatever is happening to Hillary Clinton. So, while the Clinton stuff is bad, I don't know how much it's really going to move voters at this point.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Mark, let's take a look at where the polls are right now, right before the debate, because, obviously, things shift after that. This is CNN's poll of polls, meaning the last five national polls. Clinton is up by nine. She has 47 percent to his 38 percent. Then let's take a look at some of the battleground states. Let's look at Arizona.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: By the way, I'll bet you -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: That this number gets closer after this debate ends.

CAMEROTA: You think it will tighten, that margin -

CUOMO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: OK.

So let's look at the battleground states. Here's Arizona. Clinton is up in Arizona 43 percent to 38 percent.

CUOMO: Unusual.

CAMEROTA: What do you think here, Mark?

PRESTON: Well, Chris is absolutely right, it's absolutely unusual. And what it does is put Donald Trump in a defensive position in a state where he should not even have to worry about that, he should write off and be focusing on a state such as North Carolina or Pennsylvania or even looking at Democratic battleground states that he wants to go in and try to pull back or, quite frankly, Democratic held states Michigan is state, Wisconsin, some states like that, that Donald Trump now, when he looks at a state like Arizona or Utah, Texas, what have you, he's having to play defense now. He shouldn't have to be paying any attention to these states.

CAMEROTA: Let's look at some others. Here's Nevada. This is considered a battleground state. This is the Monmouth University poll.

PRESTON: Right.

CAMEROTA: She has 47 percent to his 40. What do you want to say about this, Mark?

PRESTON: Well, I mean look, Barack Obama has done pretty well in Nevada. This is a quirky state because there really is an anti- government feel here in Nevada. I think it's about 90 percent of the land here give or take is owned by the federal government -

CUOMO: But she didn't do well against Bernie again - in the primary.

PRESTON: She didn't do well -

CUOMO: Remember, everyone thought that, you know, she was going to do well there -

PRESTON: Absolutely.

CUOMO: And that the Latino vote was going to be actually motivated. And it wasn't.

PRESTON: Right. No, it wasn't, because out here, the liberal left is the liberal left. Very strong union town out here. Look, they're going to be behind her. But to your point, Chris, she didn't do particularly well with the base in the primary. But, again, this is a very quirky state, you know, that has divided government. They he a Republican governor, for example. We have Harry Reid, who's leaving. He my - his seat may go Republican. But the fact is, Donald Trump should be doing better here than he is right now. And, again, another state he's playing defense in that he shouldn't have to be worrying about. He should be trying to go on the offense in Democratic states.

CAMEROTA: Here's one that Republicans think is a shocker and it's Texas.

CUOMO: Hmm.

CAMEROTA: Because they are within the margin of error here.

PRESTON: Right.

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump is ahead, but only by three. He's getting 41 percent to her 38 percent. Is it possible that Texas turns blue, Mark?

PRESTON: No. But let's talk about - let's talk about that in twelve years from now. See the demographics shifting so much in the state of Texas that that big state, that big cache of electoral votes is likely to go Democratic if the constituents stay the same in about twelve years. But again, this really hammers home the point that Donald Trump, right now, shouldn't be worrying about Texas at all. This shouldn't even be on the map. The only reason they should be going to Texas is to raise money in Houston and in Dallas, in Austin. But the fact of the matter is, Hillary Clinton's so close right now, it's got to be troubling.

But to your point at the top, Donald Trump is playing defense almost in all of these states right now, which is not really good for him heading into the election.

CUOMO: What does Wisconsin mean to you? Obviously Paul Ryan, his home state. Scott Walker, his home state. Forty-seven to 39, Clinton on top.

PRESTON: Still a very strong -

CUOMO: A very small slice going to third parties there, only 4 percent.

PRESTON: Right. Big union state. So that's probably where we're seeing that as well. And Donald Trump's message of trade, while it played well in the primary, Chris, doesn't seem to be connecting at this point. So, again, he should be doing better than he is there.

CAMEROTA: OK, Mark, thanks so much for getting up early for us. We'll be watching tonight.

CUOMO: He's in Vegas. He didn't go to sleep. Look at him.

CAMEROTA: Yes, you're right. There's no sleeping there.

Stay with CNN for live coverage of tonight's debate. It begins at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. And be sure to watch the debate at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

CUOMO: The battle for Mosul is taking a disturbing turn. The Pentagon says ISIS fighters are using civilians as human shields. How will they deal with that, especially in these long range artillery attacks? Answers, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:38:34] CUOMO: As if you needed another reason to know that the election matters, look at what's happening in Iraq as these forces push toward Mosul. Right now, ISIS fighters are employing a familiar and barbaric move using civilians as human shields. How will the allies dead with this?

CNN's senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward joining us near Mosul.

Tell us where you are, what the state of play is, and how this new development factors into strategy?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Chris. We're here at the Kurdish Peshmerga forces front line that is closest

to the city of Mosul. Mosul is just about eight miles behind me. But if you take a look quickly at our other shot just next to me, you can see this town, which is really just behind me. That town is also under the control of ISIS. And in the last few hours, we have seen some pretty heavy airstrikes and also artillery coming from this area, from coalition forces, as essentially they try to soften that target, preparing for an offensive to take back that town that you see just behind me. You can still see those plumes of smoke.

Just moments ago we heard a series of rockets. Earlier on there was other artillery. We heard at least four airstrikes. Reportedly those airstrikes also going on throughout the night. And I think this is what you're seeing, Chris, is an attempt to kind of wear down the enemy. To exhaust the militants who have been in control of this area behind me for more than two years now.

[08:40:07] Towards the south of Mosul, we're sort of on the eastern side, towards the south you are seeing some pretty heavy clashes taking place between the Iraqi army and ISIS militants. In the city of Karakush (ph), which is a Christian city, also near the town of Nimrod (ph), which is an ancient site, so it is pretty kinetic and active there. But Iraqi forces are saying at least 14 villages have been liberated. And, of course, as I've said many times before, the understanding here on the ground is this is going to take some time. This is a marathon and not a sprint.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes, we've heard that as well. That's an important reminder of how long this will take, weeks if not months. Clarissa, thank you very much for being there and for the reporting.

All right, turning back now to tonight's final presidential debate. One of the topics will be immigration. This is an issue that has been a centerpiece of Donald Trump's campaign from the beginning. So what will he say tonight?

Joining us now is Linda Chavez. She's a Republican a former Reagan official. She is not supporting Trump.

Miss Chavez, thanks so much for being here.

LINDA CHAVEZ, FORMER REAGAN OFFICIAL: Great to be with you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Immigration, of course, is an issue close to your heart. Donald Trump has talked about how we need to secure our borders. What don't you like about this position?

CHAVEZ: Well, first of all, the best way to secure our border, beyond putting in good border security, is to change our legal immigration laws to make it possible for the people that we need to bring in to the country, whose skills we need, to come here legally. And Donald Trump really does not like that. He wants to basically end immigration, legal immigration, as we know it. He wants to go back to a system that was in place prior to 1965. A system that basically had country quotas, and made it very difficult for people to come to the United States. That will actually increase the pressure on people to come here illegally, so it actually is counterproductive for even from his point of view.

CAMEROTA: What about his plan for a wall? What do you make of that?

CHAVEZ: Well, you know, we already have a wall along a portion of the border. But anybody who has spent time in the American southwest recognizes how impractical, difficult and expensive it would be to try to put a solid wall between Mexico and the United States. Part of the terrain is mountainous, it's desert. You would really interrupt the ecosystem in the southwest. And it, frankly, any wall that you build, someone will figure out a way to get over it or to tunnel under it. So I think it's really a waste of resources.

And, again, if you want to have better security, there are high-tech means. We already have invested more in border security along our southern border. We tripled the amount of money we're spending. In fact, we spent more money on enforcing that southern border than we do on all other federal law enforcement combined. And so it's just, to me, it's a mystery why, as conservatives, we would want to throw more money at it and build walls when there is a better way to deal with immigration.

CAMEROTA: Well, let's talk about that, what you just said, that as a conservative the conundrum that you find yourself in, because you're not alone, you are a Republican, you are a conservative, yet you don't want to vote for Donald Trump. So what are you going to do on Election Day? Would you vote for Hillary Clinton?

CHAVEZ: Well, I hope not to have to do that. I - you know, I think Donald Trump is an existential threat to America. That his election, you know, we're looking at - you just had a report on Aleppo and what's - not on Aleppo, on Iraq and what's happening in Mosul, and, you know, the whole foreign policy threat that I think he poses. He is somebody who doesn't know very much about foreign policy. He's somebody who sort of shoots from the hip, which is extremely dangerous in this environment. So I really cannot vote for him.

It looks, according to the polls, like Hillary Clinton is going to win easily. I live in Colorado, which is a swing state, and it does not look like Donald Trump has a chance here. So I don't think when I go into that polling booth I'm going to have to pull the - the lever for Hillary Clinton. And what I will be doing is supporting all of the Republican down ticket candidates, because I think it's really important to have Republicans in Congress should Hillary Clinton be elected president to be able to stop her from doing things that frankly I will find objectionable.

CAMEROTA: So you're going to leave it blank basically is what you're saying?

CHAVEZ: I'm basically going to leave it blank. I mean that's my intention. I might write in Marco Rubio. He was my candidate in the primary season. But there's just no way in the world that I can vote for Donald Trump. [08:45:01] CAMEROTA: So Donald Trump says that if he loses, that it

will have been a rigged election. In fact, he's not even waiting for that possibility. He's saying that the election is rigged. What do you think of that language?

CHAVEZ: Well, I think it's dangerous language. And, you know what's interesting about it is, this is right out of the Russian playbook, this sort of disinformation campaign. Back in the days when it was the Soviet Union, they always tried to throw a pall of illegitimacy on American, American elections. And Donald Trump is feeding right into that right now. He wants people to think that if he doesn't win, it's not because he's a loser, which I think he is, but because of the election has been stolen. And that undermines the very fabric of our democracy. I mean we live in a country in which there's peaceful transition. Even if you don't like the person who wins, you accept it. I didn't like the fact Barack Obama won twice. But, you know, I was willing to accept him as the legitimate president of the United States and to go out there and criticize him when I disagreed with his policies and fight to make sure that Congress kept him in check. But I accepted his election. And I think it's very dangerous when you have the nominee of the Republican Party basically telling people that this election is being stolen.

CAMEROTA: Linda Chavez, always good to get your perspective. Thanks so much.

CHAVEZ: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Chris.

CUOMO: Let's get some good news. Let's get back to humanity for a second. We have an update on the twins. Anias and Jadon McDonald, once joined at the head, now separated, but still in a fight for their recovery. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spoke with their parents to see how the twins are doing after this landmark surgery at New York's Montefiore Hospital, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:34] CAMEROTA: The sweet faces of these little boys have captured all of our attention. Thirteen-month-old twins, conjoined at the head, undergoing a rare 27-hour surgery to separate them. So how are the boys doing? CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jadon and Anias McDonald are finally resting in separate beds. Born conjoined, connected at the head, Jadon and Anias underwent a 27-hour operation beginning last week to separate the two. Messages of support and encouragement poured in from all over the world as people learned about the story of the two little boys.

CHRISTIAN MCDONALD, JADON & ANIAS' FATHER: It's just amazing how these people who are total strangers can love our babies. I mean, the way they do, and they really, you can really feel their love through their messages, and just, you know, all the donations.

GUPTA: Today, mom Nicole can now cuddle up next to Anias in a single twin bed. Jadon is opening his eyes. Four days after the historic operation, I got a chance to speak with Nicole and dad Christian.

GUPTA (on camera): How are the boys doing this morning?

C. MCDONALD: They're doing well. Jadon has his eyes open and he's - he's tracking, you know, with his eyes. And he's moving his - he wasn't moving his left side there for a little while, but now he's moving his left arm.

NICOLE MCDONALD, JADON AND ANIAS' MOTHER: Jadon, I mean, I think he just smiled at me. I'm almost sure he just smiled. Under all that tape, yes, and he's looking me right in the eye and he follows you. It's - it's awesome. And he's trying to pull all his tubes out.

GUPTA: Yes, usually it's a good sign if they're trying to pull the breathing tube out themselves. It's usually time for it to come out, huh.

N. MCDONALD: Yes. Yes. Yes. He is ready for extubation.

GUPTA (voice-over): Anias has always been the one to struggle more. After he was born, he had breathing issues, feeding issues, and seizures. Doctors expected his recovery to be slower.

N. MCDONALD: We knew Anias would struggle a little bit more. He is progressing at a slower rate, but he's still moving forward. And there's still so much hope for him. And he is - right now he is crying and moving his arm. So I know that he just has a lot more recovery to do. But he'll get there. He'll get there. He always surprises us. Every time.

C. MCDONALD: He is doing very well, but he is still having some of the seizures. So, you know, we just appreciate everybody continuing to pray for him. That's what we need the most.

GUPTA (on camera): Does he seem to respond to you when you touch him or you talk to him in terms of movements or some sort of response?

N. MCDONALD: I can only see it on the monitor, so I know that he knows that I'm here. When I talk to him, his heartrate goes down, his blood pressures go down and he's calmer.

GUPTA (voice-over): So Nicole reads and sings to her son.

N. MCDONALD (singing): Good night.

GUPTA: Both the boys are going to go back into the operating room tomorrow to have their dressings changed. But overall doctors are pleased with their progress.

N. MCDONALD: You're still as feisty as ever.

GUPTA: Nicole and Christian, they're taking it just one day at a time. N. MCDONALD: The very first day when Jadon wasn't moving his left side

at all, and Anias wasn't moving anything, I think I couldn't stop focusing on it. I just couldn't stop thinking that this was permanent. But every day it gets better and I think that's the best part is that every day there's something new and good to focus on and we just keep doing that.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Amazing medical mystery, you know, development. No, no question about that. But can you imagine - I mean we're both long time parents now, new parents, all right, these kids are 17 months old, 16 months old, and to have that perspective and to deal with this. How old are the kids?

CUOMO: Thirteen months old.

CAMEROTA: And, you know -

CUOMO: Can you imagine that?

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, I only have a little teeny window into this in that I had preemies, so they were in those little isolettes. And they had all - some wrapping and wires up their nose. And to see your child so vulnerable, I mean, and to see somebody else's child so vulnerable, it is heartbreaking, but modern medicine is incredible. And we're all praying for those little boys.

CUOMO: Right. Keep them in your thoughts. They're going to need it for a long time to come.

All right, we had some good news. Now how about some funny news? The late night laughs is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:58:18] CAMEROTA: OK, time for late night laughs. There is a new interview with Melania Trump.

CUOMO: What?

CAMEROTA: Sort of. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: We haven't seen you much since your speech at the convention.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that is my choice. They did not send me to live in an undisclosed location. I am a private person, Stephen. My life is not a photo-op.

COLBERT: You don't blame your husband for what he said? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do. I said to my husband that those words are very unappropriate. Plus, he said them on a bus. Disgusting. This is not the man I married.

COLBERT: Well, have you forgiven your husband?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes.

COLBERT: So you've forgiven him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have. More than forgiven. Stephen, I have forgotten.

COLBERT: It's hard to believe anyone - it's hard to believe anyone can forget what he said.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Forget what who said, huh?

COLBERT: OK, but - but numerous women have said they were groped by your husband, as well as beauty pageant contestants who say he walked in on them while they were naked.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those are all lies, Stephen, except the ones where there's videotaped. Then it's locker room talk.

My husband is kind. He is a gentleman.

COLBERT: OK. If he's a gentleman, then why did he say he didn't do it because they were too ugly?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's raw. He tells it like it is. And these women, woof, am I right, up top?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Up top. She looks like Melania Trump. That is a very good actress. Do we know who that is?

CAMEROTA: Where did they find her? I do not.

[09:00:00] CUOMO: You know what, though, tough, tough being in this game for the spouses, you know?

CAMEROTA: Of course.

CUOMO: She didn't ask for this.

CAMEROTA: There you go.

CUOMO: Now she's got it.

CAMEROTA: All right, time for "Newsroom" with Carol Costello on that note.

Hi, Carol.

CUOMO: Up top.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I know I needed to laugh. Thanks for that.

Good morning from Las Vegas.