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New Day Saturday
Pope Francis Set to Arrive in Philadelphia; More Than A Million Expected For Festival Of Families; Did Pope's Visit Impact Boehner's Decision?; Donald Trump Booed by Conservative Audience. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired September 26, 2015 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks for visiting us, your family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can feel the excitement and energy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excitement is really building here in Philadelphia. This is the reason he's coming to the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there is anything about Pope Francis, he is close to the people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than the man, it's about the message.
POPE FRANCIS: Don't forget to pray for me.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I decided, I'm going to do this as simple as that.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": John Boehner announcing he will step down.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He's somebody that understands in governance, you don't get 100 percent of what you want.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This clown, Marco Rubio I have been so nice to him.
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN ANCHOR: What explains Donald Trump?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to a special edition of NEW DAY. It's Saturday, September 26th, 6:00 in the east. Alison and Mich are in New York. Here in Philadelphia, the big finale of the Pope Francis tour. You have Michael Smerconish and me.
The pontiff will leave New York City in a few hours to head here. We are set up on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Hundreds of thousands are expected to gather at the Festival of Families event to see Francisco. We will have to see what happens. MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN ANCHOR: The Holy Father will celebrate mass shortly after his arrival and deliver a major message on immigration and religious freedom at Independence Hall and then end his day with a parade down this parkway, around city hall, before speaking at the Festival of Families.
Pope Francis capped off his whirlwind New York trip with a mass at Madison Square Garden last night, challenging those gathered to the light traveling through our streets, calling them to love immigrants, the homeless, and the forgotten elderly.
CUOMO: Tens of thousands of people also captured a glimpse of him as he led a procession through Central Park in the pope mobile. So we got a lot to cover. Let's start with CNN's Miguel Marquez live in front of Independence Hall with a look at today -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Chris. That light you mentioned will be traveling down this street, Market Street from city hall here in Philadelphia around here to this beacon of freedom and independence, Independence Hall.
He will speak from the leg turn that Abraham Lincoln used when he made the Gettysburg about immigration and religious freedom. This may be the last stop on his tour, but millions will show up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPE FRANCIS: May the Lord be with you.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Pope Francis departing for the final stop on his U.S. tour this morning after touching so many hearts here in the big Apple.
MARQUEZ: Now the people's pope off to the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, where he is expected to draw crowds, surpassing a million people. Like he did at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, the Pontiff will start his Philly trip by celebrate mass at the city's Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.
The pope will then visit Independence Hall, the birth place of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Here Pope Francis is expected to deliver one of his biggest speeches on immigration and religious freedom to an estimated 40,000 people.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Excitement is really building here in Philadelphia. We saw he had a great sendoff in New York. In a certain sense, the party has yet to begin.
MARQUEZ: The pope ending his day at the World Meeting of Families, the largest gathering of Catholic families from around the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a once in a lifetime. For city, it's just great.
MARQUEZ: Pope Francis will also lead the closing ceremony on Sunday, his last mass on U.S. soil. The pontiff expected to draw up to 2 million people, making his Madison Square Garden mass of 20,000 in attendance seem intimate.
"God is in the city," he said Friday, urging them to always remember the forgotten, the sick, the needy, a sentiment he displayed as he walked into the arena, blessing children with special needs, their parents in tears.
POPE FRANCIS: Don't forget to pray for me.
MARQUEZ: Over 100,000 people bore witness to the leader of the Catholic Church in his nearly 40 hour New York tour, people ecstatic to be in his presence, even if for a fleeting moment, like the tens of thousands that line the streets of Central Park.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: And what you are looking at there is the security barrier that they had so many problems in New York. They hope to have those worked out here today. Tens of thousands of people will show up here to Independence Hall. TSA on standby, thousands of National Guard as well, this city is on lockdown, but certainly ready and very excited for this pope -- Chris.
[06:05:10] CUOMO: All right. My friend, we'll check back with you in a little bit, Miguel. Did you hear Miguel say 40 hours? I can't believe how much the pope put into that, the stamina of this 78-year- old.
Let's discuss what's going to happen today because every stop has been special, but today will be different. We have CNN Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher joining Michael Smerconish and I. It's good to have you with us.
Michael, this is your city. We were talking about this, big numbers thrown out, 2 million, 1 million, 100,000, 50,000, over here, so much shut down. Tell us the plus-minus on that.
SMERCONISH: I know these seats will be full. I hope that all of the space where we are and city hall a mile down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, I hope that it will be full because, Chris, it didn't get off on the right foot.
The Schuylkill Expressway, which is the main artery into Philadelphia, will be closed. The Benjamin Franklin Bridge, which is the primary bridge you would take from Southern New Jersey to come into Philadelphia, it will be closed.
And the Main Septa Station, that's our mass transit station will be closed all for security considerations. There is a worry in town that some people will stay away. I hope that's not the case. It's a great opportunity for Philadelphia to shine. The weather is going to be terrific. People should come down today and see the pontiff.
CUOMO: You are talking about the ghost of Philly parades past where it doesn't get managed right.
SMERCONISH: That's true.
CUOMO: A note for people, they are doing a big tour around here. There will be a lot of chances to see Francisco there and he loves to do that. And then he is going to speak, and when he does, it will be at the leg turn that Abraham Lincoln used for Gettysburg.
SMERCONISH: Four score and seven years ago -- if I have the line right. As a political junkie, I have long had today circled on my calendar, because of the significance and the political ramifications against the backdrop of 2016 of what he'll say about immigration.
And, Chris, it's hard not to listen to the pontiff's words about immigration and the tone that he has struck in terms of being welcoming and not think of Donald Trump.
CUOMO: You know, there is no question about it. As much as you like to avoid it, it is hard to do. Della, it's not my word, but someone was saying listening to the pope coverage and it's cheap what's going on in our political dialogue set against the message of Francis, families.
This is a different area of catechism of belief for this pope that will not be of the same tone and tenor as what was heard before. What's the distinction?
DELLA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've heard that Pope Francis obviously wants to bring the discussion down to the local level where he wants to get the people energized and excited about families. He thinks we are at a crucial point in society with families.
Obviously, included in that there are some political issues about marriage, the Catholic Church believes between a man and a woman. Pope Francis will continue that theme in families. Also the ideas of abortion, of birth control and so on.
But the pope is surely going to concentrate on the fact that for him immigration, for example, one of the problems with it is that it breaks up families.
Another problem with families, he said the other day, is people are afraid to have families because of economic concerns. The other issue he says which might be relevant to this country is people have too many choices.
CUOMO: That got an oh-of-out of me, have you too many choices, you think of yourselves too much and you don't think about starting a family.
GALLAGHER: You can't make the decision, you know, who do I marry, when do I have kids? You put it off and you put it off, and so you don't it. I think he will concentrate on that message today.
CUOMO: A little note I was thinking about with Philadelphia. Obviously, we all know is the city of brotherly love. I heard that Penn picked Philadelphia putting the Greek words together because he wanted this a place free of religious persecution.
What an interesting backdrop to have the pope coming here the Catholic's main religious leader from a place that is supposed to be all about religious tolerance.
SMERCONISH: Well, both freedom of religion and freedom from religion, which I think is an important hallmark of what's going on in this event today. I found it interesting on that immigration theme that the very first public words that he spoke when the Fiat pulled up on the south lawn of the White House, and he then took the dais alongside the president.
He spoke of being the son of immigrants, himself, and noting that this country was built on the backs of immigrant. I think immigration is the word of the day today and a much more religious tone tomorrow when mass is celebrated here.
CUOMO: So far, he has been super inclusive, super positive, you know, this is about all of us coming together to do things and their challenges. When it comes to family scriptures within the church, it's just a different tone, Della.
It's like you are supposed to be doing the right thing. Think of your kids first. I might have said, who am I to judge gays? But marriage is a man and a woman and what you do with ending pregnancies is wrong. That's where he is on those
GALLAGHER: He's brought it up in all of his speeches, I mean --
CUOMO: I think it's going to be a little be different down there.
GALLAGHER: There is no doubt that's where he stands on it. He has said it before. I stand with the church on all the traditional teachings.
[06:10:05] So whenever we talk about Francis being an innovator. He is an innovator in his approach and his welcome to people. He doesn't want people to feel excluded and he feels that people have looked at the teachings of the Catholic Church and says that doesn't apply to me.
I am not a Catholic. He wants to say you are Catholic. You can come in and then we can talk about it. First you change the attitudes then you can change the other structures.
CUOMO: He's been a huge celebrity. I think it's bigger than anyone anticipated. I was a kid when John Paul II came here. That was huge. It wasn't like this the conservative part of the Catholic Church. There is a big division going on right now, they have been waiting for this moment. They want to hear what he says here.
So we will take you through all it. This is going to be great. Let's get you back to Alisyn and Michaela for a look at other big stories going on right now.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris, we'll look forward to your coverage all morning. Meanwhile, a leadership battle brewing in Congress after that shocking announcement from House Speaker John Boehner that he will resign next month.
For years Boehner battled to bring the GOP establishment and the Tea Party wing of his caucus together. Today, the reaction to Boehner's exit is mixed. The president called John Boehner a patriot.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: On the heels of Pope Francis' historic visit, another marquee event at the White House, President Obama hosting a lavish state dinner Friday for Chinese President Xi Xinping.
The guests list including Apple CEO Tim Cooke, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg among others. Earlier in the day, the president said the two leaders had made significant progress on cyber security. But Chinese hacking of government and corporate databases, quote, "has to stop." He threatens sanctions if it persists.
CAMEROTA: Here's a disturbing story, U.S. officials confirming that Syrian fighters trained by the United States gave equipment to al Qaeda linked forces in Syria. Six trucks and ammunition were handed over to the Al-Nusra Front group. The rebels say they turned over the supplies to the terrorists in exchange for safe passage. U.S. Central Command says they are investigating.
PEREIRA: So, John Boehner's stunning resignation, we want to dig a little deeper. It's sending shock waves to the capital. The jockeying to replace him as house speaker is already underway. So will his departure create an even wider divide among Republicans? We'll have a closer look when NEW DAY continues. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:15:55]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOEHNER: Last night I started to think about this. This morning I woke up, I said my prayers, as I always do, and I decided, you know, today is my to-do list, as simple as that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: House Speaker John Boehner's stunning decision to resign came just one day after an emotional meeting with Pope Francis. This morning, there is already debate over who will become the third in line to the presidency. Let's bring in Manu Raju, our CNN senior political reporter. Good morning.
PEREIRA: Happy Saturday.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: All right. Good morning.
CAMEROTA: Hi, what a turn of events yesterday. Tell us about how Capitol Hill responded.
RAJU: People were shocked. There have been rumors about what John Boehner was doing for months. No one expected it for now. It happened in the middle of the congressional session. John Boehner had been criss-crossing the country, raising money for his Republican candidates in the House, to hopefully keep the House in next year's election.
It was clearly something on his mind he told his wife the night before that he was thinking about it. He didn't tell his staff until 8:45 in the morning when he announced it to the world just at about 9:00. So he didn't tell anybody. It was a closely held secret.
It sparked a serious succession fight. He is stepping out at the end of October. Not just resigning the speakership, but he is resigning his seat as well.
PEREIRA: We will talk about that in a minute about what comes next, right, what are the next steps and the jockeying, but let's talk a little bit more -- Jackie Kucinich joins us now. Good to have you with us, Jackie --
JACKIE KUCINICH, "THE DAILY BEAST": Hi. Thank you.
PEREIRA: -- senior politics editor for "The Daily Beast." I mean, all of us watching the papal coverage saw during this pope's speech to Congress a very moved, a very emotional John Boehner and some people are saying that this might have sped him up in his process. He did a little soul searching.
Is that what you are hearing as well that this might have been the impetus to make the decision now and not wait a few more weeks or months?
KUCINICH: You know, he said that he wanted -- he decided now because he wanted to avoid a protracted leadership battle in the House. But you can't disregard the impact that this pope had on the speaker of the House, John Boehner.
He is a lifelong Catholic. He prayed for the pope every single day. So he told this story yesterday during his press conference about how the pope asked him. They had a moment alone together. Pope asked him to pray for him.
Boehner was telling this story to this press conference full of reporters. He teared up again. So Boehner was very touched by this pope. He just seems -- I'm sure, Manu can back this up, he seemed very at peace with his decision.
CAMEROTA: In fact, Jackie, I want to stick with you for one more second because you witnessed a moment or you report on a moment where a reporter asked Boehner how he felt to be leaving and I quote, he said, "zippety dodah, zippety day." What did he mean by that?
KUCINICH: He actually almost skipped on to like the stage, humming that. So, you know --
PEREIRA: We've all been there at some point in our careers. KUCINICH: It is true, very true. What he said was, he had made a decision to leave in the last cycle, but he had to recalibrate what he was doing. Mentally I think he was already there. It was the timing.
PEREIRA: I want to play for you. You would know that there is reaction from all corners of the hill and all representatives. Ted Cruz was speaking to a rally yesterday. Let's listen to his sound. He is sort of letting the conservatives take credit for ousting Boehner. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You want to know how much each of you terrify Washington? Yesterday, John Boehner was speaker of the House.
[06:20:07] You all come to town and somehow that changes. My only request is can you come more often?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PEREIRA: So what's your reaction to that, Manu? I mean, it makes you also think about what is coming next. That's obviously the big concern now is what's awaiting this party if that's a faction and a voice and a group of voices that are speaking very loudly.
RAJU: In one sense, Cruz is right because there were 25 Republicans who are going to vote against John Boehner and what was going to be a pretty unprecedented vote on the floor to eject him from the speakership.
If there were 29 Republicans who voted for him, Boehner would have had to ask Democrats to vote for him to keep him in the chair. That's something that really undermined his speakership and something he did not want to do.
So in one way the conservatives really who are pushing very hard to oust him, were successful and pressuring to get out, but the other thing is that he had a number of huge legislative battles to worry about this fall.
Not just funding the government, which Boehner can figure out by next week, but also raising the debt ceiling, that's always a big, big fight in Washington. That has happened in October, a long term spending bill.
He'd have to compromise and deal with conservatives who are not happy about that so the question is can his successor deal with that? Right now it looks like his likely successor is Kevin McCarthy of California, the current majority leader.
We'll see if he gets enough support to be more successful than Boehner was in running that very divided Republican conference.
CAMEROTA: Because Jackie, of course, the Tea Party has not been happy with John Boehner since they helped to sort of install him. They felt that he didn't represent him. So will they be happy with Kevin McCarthy?
KUCINICH: I don't know if they'll be happy with anyone, frankly. No, they will not be happy with Kevin McCarthy. You would imagine, we haven't heard a name yet, but you imagine, they are going to have a candidate of their own.
But I will say this about the Tea Party. They have had trouble coalescing around one person. We thought that was going to be Steve Scalise, who is the Whip, and he really has been kind of a disappointment to them in a lot of ways because the nature of leadership is you have to get stuff passed.
PEREIRA: Absolutely. Jackie, Manu, we will ask you to stick around with us. Keep us company here on this Saturday, our special edition of NEW DAY Saturday. We will talk to you in a bit.
Meanwhile, Bill Clinton entering the fray, sitting down with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, does he think Donald Trump can actually get the Republican nomination? You have to wait to hear that answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:26:06]
PEREIRA: It's 25 minutes past the hour. Some of the biggest movers and shakers within the Democratic Party are urging Hillary Clinton to give her husband, Bill, a more visible role in her presidential campaign.
We are maybe seeing the start of that. The former president sat down with CNN's Fareed Zakaria weighing in on the phenomenon that is Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN ANCHOR: I got to ask you about Donald Trump and as a great student of American politics, what explains Donald Trump?
FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Well, first of all, he's a master brander. And when you got a lot of people running, and people are trying to make distinctions being able to put a personal stamp on who people identify with who you are, it counts for something, certainly in the beginning.
Then he said to the working class supporters of the Republican Party that have largely shifted over for cultural reasons, I'll give you an economic reason to vote for me. I'll build a wall around the southern border of America and I'll stop buying Chinese imports.
So now that will all have to be flushed out in the course of time and I'm sure the other future debates will do it. But he's got a lot of pizzazz and zip. He's branded himself in a clear way and he's generated some excitement. And it remains to be seen what's going to happen.
It's an unusual election. You know, there doesn't seem to be much interest yet on their side, I think there is on our side, because both Hillary and Senator Sanders have laid out pretty detailed positive policy positions.
Talked about what they would cost. And you know you can have a debate there where you can discuss the relative merits of their position on health care or generating jobs or whatever. But over there it seems to be more about resentments and one liners, I don't know, it's interesting.
ZAKARIA: Could Trump be the nominee?
CLINTON: I think so.
ZAKARIA: Wow.
CLINTON: How do I know? I don't understand any of it very well. Look, I have been out of politics a long time. I haven't run for office in 20 years. And also I'm not mad at anybody. I mean, you know I'm a grandfather. I love my foundation. I'm proud of Hillary.
I'll do what I can to help her. But I'm not the best pundit anymore. I don't have a good feel for this. All I know is what I think is good for the country and I think the country needs somebody who can give us a broader share of prosperity, help families and kids.
Try to reduce the impact of all this huge anonymous money in our political system and in a world full of challenges, keep big bad things from happening and make as many good things happen as possible. That's how I would define the job of the next president. That's what I think and so I think Hillary would be a great president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PEREIRA: You will get more of Fareed's interview with Bill Clinton in our 7:00 hour of NEW DAY. The former president weighing in on the e- mail controversy that has plagued his wife's campaign and you can see Fareed's entire interview with Bill Clinton tomorrow on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
All right, let's head back to our brother in the city of brotherly love, Christopher Cuomo. Good morning, dear.
CUOMO: Good morning, my friends. Well, we are entering the final full day of Pope Francis' historic visit to America. So many memorable moments packed into such a few precious hours, what stamina this 78-year-old has shown.
If you think you might have missed one, because you actually had to do something else, we are going to give you a nice review of the big moments when this special "NEW DAY" continues. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis is saying good bye to New York City this morning and hello to his final U.S. stop, Philadelphia. He is set to arrive there in about three hours and begin his Philadelphia visit with mass. Then he will give a major speech on immigration and religious freedom at Independence Hall. Tonight he'll appear at the star studded Festival of Families, along with actor Mark Wahlberg and soul diva Aretha Franklin.
PEREIRA: You saw that. I can't wait to see. That's going to be beautiful. So who will be the next speaker of the House? It is the big question after John Boehner stunned the political world with his announcement that he will resign. He has spent years struggling to bring the establishment and Tea Party wings of his caucus together. The president, for his part, called Boehner a patriot despite their differences. Boehner's last day on the job is October 30th.
CAMEROTA: Hyundai recalling almost half a million midsize cars in the U.S. to fix a critical engine problem. The recall potentially affects nearly every 2011 and 2012 model year Sonata vehicle manufactured at the company's plant in Alabama. The problem involves metallic debris that could restrict oil flow and cause engine failure. So far there have been no reports of accidents or injuries.
[06:35:01]
PEREIRA: So, New York City is preparing to bid farewell to Pope Francis as he heads to Philadelphia where our Chris Cuomo is. It has been a big week. It's worthy of us to sort of spend a minute to reflect on how great of a week it's been.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is no superlative that fits. Epic, historic, those words seem tired compared to this. The man is leaving, hopefully his message remains. There have been so many moments. Here's a look back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERS)
CUOMO: The people's pope, he's come with a message for the Americas and the world is listening. The 78-year-old pontiff made history by speaking about tolerance and freedom, in communist Cuba.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker. The Pope of the Holy See.
CUOMO: Echoing the need for cooperation and respect for our world and the people in it to Congress, performing the near miracle of bringing lawmakers together.
POPE FRANCIS: I am most grateful for invitation to address this joint session of Congress in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
(APPLAUSE)
CUOMO: His presence moving hard bitten members to tears.
(APPLAUSE)
CUOMO: But Papa Francisco was here for the people, not the politicians, especially the littlest, like five-year-old Sophie Cruz. The little girl carrying a letter and a drawing, asking his holiness to urge Congress to legalize her parents, both undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Francis canonized the first Latin American Saint on American soil at Catholic University. Passing right by us as even we got caught up in the fervor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Papa Francisco! Papa Francisco!
CUOMO: New York City became like Vatican City for a day, streets stuffed with Francis fans and faithful. A memorable scene at historic St. Patrick's Cathedral.
The pope's praising the religious women of the U.S. for their strengths, telling them "I love you very much."
Nuns in pews rising to their feet, following the footsteps of his predecessors, Pope Francis addressing the General Assembly at the United Nations, then to Ground Zero, praying for the fallen. Meeting with the families who have lost so much, while visiting our Lady Queen of Angels Elementary School in east Harlem. Students inside were eager to share their teachings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy Father, we baked this (INAUDIBLE) to share with you.
CUOMO: Pope Francis, the Jesuit, true to form, gave the kids homework, but it was a coveted assignment, to pray for him. He left the students with this reminder.
POPE FRANCIS: Don't forget the homework.
CUOMO: Central Park became a spectacle as it seemed every pathway was lined with eyeballs, anxious for a glimpse of the man who's boosted his church and a nation. The grand finale of his Big Apple tour the pope's triumphant arrival at Madison Square Garden, showing compassion and blessing children with special needs. Later leading mass for some 20,000 Catholics.
POPE FRANCIS: May bless you in the father the son and the Holy Spirit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CUOMO: A lot of non-Catholics in there, too. So many beautiful moments. What a man. So, Delia let me start with you, what did I miss?
GALLAGHER: I think you got a lot of it. I mean but there were just so many wonderful moments, and obviously, the pope with the gesture, you know. That's really the way that he teaches as well through his gestures. But one of the things that I thought was very clever of the pope is what he said, you know, he always says, pray for me at the end and that's a sign of his humility. Asking - to pray for him, but at the U.N. when he was talking to the staff members, and, of course, recognizing that they're not all Catholic and he ended his talk.
[06:40:00] GALLAGHER: Pray for me. And if you are not religious, wish me well.
CUOMO: That was good. Michael.
SMERCONISH: I've watched it all from home. Your shoutout was a particularly good moment. But what really chokes me up is when he has paused on a number of occasions to minister to the infirm, to special needs individuals, there was an African-American girl at St. Patrick's Cathedral in a wheelchair. And it just broke me up when he stopped and gave her a special blessing.
CUOMO: Just a great reminder, Alisyn, in making - about what matters, for me, I believe life is service, and for him, message is great. If I had to pick an image, the Fiat. That Fiat was - it said so much about him. It's small because he's humble. He wants to talk about the environment. He has got something that's more economical. And I just can't wait for the follow-up story from Christine Romans about how many of those cars the pope version, the Franciscan that they sell in America after that.
CAMEROTA: Yes, there you go. But Chris, I think you are so right. And I do feel as though he gave us all sort of a spiritual tune up, and reminded us to focus less on sort of consumption and more on service and giving so much so that yesterday I was driving my daughter to one of her after school classes, and I got behind the wheel of my luxury vehicle and I was like, ew. What am I doing with my life? I have got to give back more.
PEREIRA: One of the moments I thought was so beautiful. I think we have video, is when he visited east Harlem. You know, we all complain about the new generation of kids, and how they like the wrong things, and think rock stars and celebrities are the rock stars of their life. This is what I love. I don't think we have the video. He sat and had took selfies with some of the kids who were rushing to have a moment with the pope and that is a beautiful thing. . We can get behind the support and the beatification of such a holy, humble man. It's a beautiful thing.
CAMEROTA: The ultimate star, the celestial star.
PEREIRA: Absolutely. Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: You are so great, Michaela. We will be back with you all shortly. Thanks, so much for those memories of this past week. Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, Donald Trump sparring with another one of his Republican presidential rivals. His latest adversary, Marco Rubio, who may be gaining ground on the front runner. So our panel weighs in on Trump versus Rubio, and what this all means next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:45:45]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, (R ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have this clown, Marco Rubio. I have been so nice to him. I have been so nice. I have been so nice. And then now, but he's in favor of immigration and he has been. He has been, he was the gang of eight. And you remember the gang of eight. It was terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Well, that was a conservative crowd booing Donald Trump when he insulted GOP rival Senator Marco Rubio. What's behind their new spat? Let's bring in Manu Raju, CNN senior political reporter and Jackie Kucinich, senior politics ...
PEREIRA: We missed you.
CAMEROTA: For the GOP.
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: I hope you guys have grabbed a cup of coffee. We have - Jackie, is that the first time on this election cycle that we remember Donald Trump being booed by what is supposed to be a friendly crowd?
JACKIE KUCINICH, SENIOR POLITICS EDITOR, THE DAILY BEAST: Yeah, it does seem to be a big miscalculation by Donald Trump. Marco Rubio had spoken earlier in the day, had gotten a good reception from that crowd. So it seemed like they weren't liking that particular put down. But, you know, Rubio has made a very true calculation here. It seems to be playing out that way. He's going to attack Donald Trump. He wants to make him look small, he wants to make him look petty. And there he kind of did.
CAMEROTA: So, Manu, does he have to readjust his strategy then? I mean it is interesting to see that happen. Like you said, it's supposedly a friendly crowd. And we also know, he does not take criticism well. And I imagine he's going to take the boo as criticism. What happened?
MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, the interesting thing here. Here is really the reflection of Rubio's growing prominence in this Republican race. You know, Rubio has been really overshadowed for much of this year. We've talked a lot about Trump, of course. And Jeb Bush and Trump have gone back and forth and Rubio, who has tried to stay away from the fray, really seized an opportunity as Jackie said to not only make him look petty, but also to showcase his own commander-in-chief credentials. I mean that has been the one question about Rubio as whether or not he has the experience to be commander- in-chief, to run this nation and what he's trying to do is show his level of experience and contrast that with Donald Trump and in some ways, he's making some effective argument.
The question, though, as we know will these punches land? Will this stick? Because Donald Trump continues to maintain a lead in the polls, although it's narrowing, how much narrower will it get? How will Donald Trump react if it becomes so narrow, that he ends up in second place, and he can no longer say I'm number one in the polls, which seems to be his favorite argument. It's been a fascinating development to see this happen.
CAMEROTA: A couple of interesting polls to show you, this is from CNN WMUR. And they've pitted Trump against possible Democratic rivals. Not against his Republican rivals. So, obviously this assumes that he would win the nomination. But here Clinton wins in that matchup 50 to 42. And the next one is against Bernie Sanders, and Bernie Sanders wins, 57 percent to 37 percent, and then the next one is the hypothetical if Joe Biden gets into the race, Biden wins. 56 percent to 37 percent. Jackie, do any of these mean anything or are these just sort of a fun parlor game to look at right now?
KUCINICH: I think this might be a parlor game to look at right now. But I will say, that you do see Trump's numbers coming down. I'm not going to say he is dead, because my goodness, I think we've all said it once or twice during this cycle. He's been wrong. So, but it does seem like his stick is wearing a little thin on people at this point.
CAMEROTA: So, I mean it's interesting, because we had Michael Cohen speaking for Donald Trump. He's the spokesperson for Donald Trump here, speaking with you earlier this week and he said that made the fact, Manu that, you know, Donald Trump doesn't attack unless he is attacked. But we've seen this back and forth with he and Rubio all week. So which is it? Is it a new spat, is it back and forth? Is he reacting or is it an indication that he sees Marco Rubio, whose numbers have come up in this CNN on RNC poll in Quinnipiac, those numbers for Rubio and Fiorina are both coming up, where Trump's are coming down.
RAJU: Yeah, and it's also as you noted, if Donald Trump gets attacked, he attacks back. If he thinks you are his friend, he doesn't attack you. Why he hasn't attacked Ted Cruz? Why? Because Ted Cruz has tried to become Donald Trump's best friend. So as a result Donald Trump doesn't feel the need to do that. Even though Cruz has maintained a pretty steady numbers in all of the polls, but still he sees Rubio as not only a threat, but someone who is actually putting him down.
[06:50:11]
And Donald Trump as we know likes to punch back very, very hard. The question is Rubio is a very well-liked person among a conservative base. He alienates the same people he is trying to court.
CAMEROTA: There you go. Manu and Jackie, thanks so much for waking up early with us. Great to have you on "NEW DAY".
KUCINICH: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: All right, let's go back to Chris covering, of course, Pope Francis' visit. What do you have, Chris?
CUOMO: Well, look, we are here in Philadelphia. But this time it's going to be different. Not only it's the finale, but remember, Pope Francis is here. This is something Pope Benedict agreed to, to come to the Festival of the Family. Now, this is a world meeting that was going to happen with or without the pope. But this is different. This is about this church positions that often can rub liberals the wrong way. What marriage is for the church as a man and a woman? What about abortion? What about birth control? These are the harder positions. What will the impact be?
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CUOMO: The Francis effect is coming to Philly. What will he say about families, and how we live our lives that will feed the conservative part of the Catholic Church? So far the message has been about calling people to service and everyone has responded, but few the way speaker John Boehner did. He responded to the call by deciding to end his service. We have Bill Clinton weighing in on what happened with John Boehner, all ahead on this special "NEW DAY." Stay with us.
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CUOMO: The well of sound that is coming to us from Central Park right now. You can feel the excitement of energy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The excitement is really building here in Philadelphia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A major message on immigration and religious freedom at Independence Hall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there is anything true about Pope Francis -he's close to the people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than the man, it's about the message.
POPE FRANCIS: May god be with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaker Boehner announced that he will be resigning.
(CHEERS)
JOHN BOEHNER: I decided today is the day I'm going to do it. As simple as that.
TRUMP: I grew up with my bible.
BILL CLINTON: This female think became the biggest story in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is "NEW DAY" with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.
CUOMO: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is "NEW DAY." Alisyn and Michaela in New York, Michael Smerconish and I are coming to you from Philadelphia live. We may experience a different Pope Francis here, the final stop of what has been a blow away visit to America by the pontiff. The Holy Father is leaving the people residence in New York City at this hour. He is scheduled to arrive here in the city of brotherly love at 9:30 this morning.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He will start the morning with mass before delivering what is expected to be a powerful speech on immigration and religious freedom at Independence Hall. Afterward, Pope Francis leads a parade here on the Benjamin
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- what's expected to be a powerful speech on immigration and religious freedom at independence hall.
[07:00:06] Afterward, Pope Francis leads a parade here on the Benjamin Franklin parkway, then turns his attention to families.
