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Clinton Lead Shrinks To 10 Points; Clinton's Lead Over Top Republicans Fades; Joe Biden Opens Up To Colbert About 2016 Race; Biden Reveals Emotions Over Loss Of Son Beau; Police Respond To Possible Shooting At Union Station; CNN Republican Debate; Possible Union Station Shooting. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired September 11, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, it's Wolf -- I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in New York, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

Up first, presidential politics here in the United States and Hillary Clinton's shrinking lead in the race for the Democratic nomination. In a brand new CNN-ORC poll, Hillary Clinton now leads Bernie Sanders by only 10 point, 37 percent to 27 percent. Last month, she held at an 18-point lead.

Vice president Joe Biden is at 20 percent as he considers whether to jump into the race. You're going to hear part of his very emotional conversation with Stephen Colbert in just a few minutes.

On the Republican side, a brand new Quinnipiac University poll shows Donald Trump leading with 27 percent. Dr. Ben Carson has climbed to 21 percent. Ted Cruz is third with 9 percent followed by Jeb Bush with only six percent. The Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker, who led in Iowa back in July, he's has fallen, get this, to 10th place.

Let's bring in our panel, our CNN Senior Political Reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, our Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny and our Senior Political Correspondent Brianna Keilar.

Nia, can Hillary Clinton stop this serious slide in the polls? All the national polls, the key state polls, they've shown her go -- her numbers going down over these past several weeks and months.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: I think what we've seen, over these last couple of days, is her attempt -- her campaign's attempt to course correct. We saw her out there with Ellen. She's been giving many more interviews. The campaign has sort of telegraphed, very bluntly, that they want to do this, that they want to show a more -- a more sort of relaxed Hillary Clinton and someone who's more willing to talk about that e-mail controversy that's surrounded her all summer and very much, I think, explains some of this summer slide.

I think, also, what we've seen is there's something of a Sanders' surge and also a Biden boomlet. That's going to -- I mean, if you look at those numbers, she was up 10 -- she slid 10 points and then Biden is up six points. So, I think he's very much benefited from some of those conversations around whether or not he'll run.

I do think, though, in talking to her campaign officials, they see this almost as a rite of passage for a presidential candidate, these bumps and bruises along the way to what they see is her gaining the nomination, eventually. But they've still got to contend with Sanders, with O'Malley, with Chafee, with Web and, perhaps, with Joe Biden as well.

BLITZER: Her advantage, Jeff, in hypothetical head-to-head matchups against various Republicans, also has evaporated. Look at this, she trails Jeb Bush, 49 percent to 47 percent. She's tied with Donald Trump at 48 percent and she's behind Dr. Ben Carson, 51 percent to 46 percent. What do you make of those numbers?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, remember at the beginning of the summer, you know, just a few months ago, she was winning and she was leading all of these Republicans by double digits. Well, that's over. In part, it's to be expected because, you know, she has become more politicized. She's now fully in the mix. She's being attacked every day by this big Republican field.

But something else is happening. She's also -- she's also lost ground among women voters, independent women specifically. It's all attached to this trusting credibility, these questions about her private e-mail server, about how approachable she's been, other things. So, this is part of the course correction that Nia is talking about. It's one of the things the campaign realizes that they need to try and shake up.

Again, it's important to point out, among Democrats, she is generally fine. Democrats still have a favorable impression of her. A wide majority of Democrats still believe she'll be the nominee. But no question, she's taking a hit here. And it's a reminder, Wolf, that the general election, regardless of who's the nominee on either side, it's likely to be a very, very, very tight race and these head-to-head matchups show that.

BLITZER: Good point. Brianna, the vice president, Joe Biden, he continues to be a wild card right now in this Democratic contest. But listen to what he said on the "Late Show" with Stephen Colbert last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think any man or woman should one for president unless, number one, they know exactly why they would want to be president. And two, they can look at folks out there and say, I promise you, you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy and my passion to do this. And I'd be lying if I said that I knew I was there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He also spoke rather emotionally, as you know, about still getting over the death of his son a few months ago, Beau Biden. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:05:07] BIDEN: I went out to Denver, and I landed in a military base. And I met a whole group of military families. All of a -- and it was going great. And a guy in the back yells, Major Beau Biden, bronze star, sir. I served with him in Iraq. And, all of a sudden, I lost it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. So, Brianna, to some, it sounds like maybe he's not yet emotionally ready to run. But as you pointed out, repeatedly on Labor Day, we saw a very different Joe Biden walking in a parade. He was in Pittsburgh glad handing. It seemed to suggest the opposite. What are you hearing?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm hearing that it's really what you're seeing play out here, Wolf. It is day to day. This is Joe Biden's grieving process very much on display.

You said it, on Monday, he was in Pittsburgh. He was fired up. He was getting a lot of energy from a crowd of union members. And then, the week before, he's in Florida, talking to a crowd about his decision making. And it's very similar to what we saw last night on Colbert's show.

So, I think talking to sources in his orbit, they say he isn't there, at this point. But he also doesn't need to be there to make a decision, at this point. Maybe he still has a little bit of time. His decision timeline perhaps being pushed back beyond September. But I think he is having, obviously, a tough time right now.

He's also, though, -- I can't think of a more sympathetic character in the wide sort of menu of potential and actual candidates in this. It'll really be -- you know, I think it is very much a personal decision for him.

BLITZER: Does he have to decide, Nia, before that first Democratic presidential debate in Nevada. CNN is hosting that debate on October 13.

HENDERSON: You would think he would want to decide almost as quickly as possible, perhaps to get in that debate and just to start getting some of the work you have to do to mount a 50-state campaign. He's got -- you know, he's got to contend with Hillary Clinton if he gets in who's built up a huge lead, just in terms of the infrastructure on the ground, hiring staff and doing all the things you have to do to run for president. So, it's not just that debate. It's just all of this massive work that his team would have to do if he -- if he joins this race. So, you know, time is running short for him.

BLITZER: And, Jeffrey, you know -- as you know, Jeff, the Hillary Clinton advantage, in these hypothetical matchups, against Republicans clearly has gone away. But Biden does fare better in these hypothetical matchups. He's slightly behind Ben Carson. He leads Trump by 10 points. He's ahead of Bush by eight points. So, is that a factor right now, you think, in Joe Biden's decision making?

ZELENY: Sure. I think he has to look at all these poll numbers. And you see several openings. It's not just one lane or one door. He has several reasons to sort of be intrigued by all of these poll numbers.

But the fact of the matter is, Wolf, if he actually got in, I think his support would level off pretty quickly as well. And it's going to be back to pretty much 50-50. He -- you know, he does very well among blue-collar voters, among those, you know, sort of rust belt Democrats. I think that, you know, he does not have as much baggage as she does. So, that's one of the things that would sort of propel him into this here.

But, again, he has to ask himself, is he ready for this? And I think -- one thing, when I talked to some of his advisors, his timing is based on, yes, he can wait. But what he doesn't want is Democrats to view him as a spoiler. And I think if he waits too much longer, perhaps after the debate, the next point is when Secretary Clinton testifies before the Benghazi Committee at the end of October. That's not a good time to jump in, either.

So, Democrats do not want to view him as a spoiler here, so I do think he has to get in early October. But that is the beginning of the next fund-raising period, so that's another opportunity for him here. So, he has a window, but the window is closing or at least inching down ever so much.

KEILAR: But looking at the --

BLITZER: All right, guys, -- hold on -- hold on. Brianna, I just want to hold on because we're getting some breaking news out of Washington, D.C. Now reports of a shooting incident at the Union Station, that's the main train station in the nation's capitol.

I think our Justice Correspondent Pamela Brown -- well, we're going to check in with her. This is what we're getting so far. Union Station in Washington has been evacuated because of police activity. Some train activity also has been halted, we're told. D.C. police say there is not, repeat not, an active shooter situation. They said that in a tweet that they just posted.

U.S. capitol police have warned Capitol Hill members of the House and Senate and their staffs to stay away from Union Station right now. Union station is the main train station in the nation's capital in Washington, D.C. We don't know what's going on but police have responded to what they're calling a possible shooting incident. They're saying it's not an active shooter incident.

We'll stay on top of this story for us. I know our Justice Correspondent Pamela Brown is working the story. We'll check in with her. Let's take a quick break. Much more right after this.

[13:10:17]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: There are reports of some sort of shooting incident at Union Station in Washington, D.C. That's the main train station in the nation's capital. I want to bring in our Justice Correspondent Pamela Brown. Pamela, what's the very latest?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have learned from the Metropolitan Police Department, Wolf, that there was a shooting sometime today at Union Station. But, most importantly, the situation is contained, we're told. This is not an active shooter situation. We have learned from producers who were there on the scene at Union Station that there was a victim, a man that was taken out on a stretcher. There was ambulances there. Lots of police there around Union Station as well as the FBI assisting in this.

Again, no active shooter situation. But we are told, Wolf, that there was a shooter there at Union Station earlier today. We're trying to learn more details.

[13:15:10] Of course, the big question, it is the anniversary of 9/11 and people are wondering what could be behind this. We don't have those details yet, Wolf, and we're actively searching for them.

There was some train activity halted earlier today, but it appears that everything at Union Station is getting back to normal and people are being allowed back in to Union Station after they were evacuated earlier for this shooting that occurred there.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, well that sounds encouraging that things are getting back to normal. You'll update us later when you get more information, Pamela. Thank you very much.

Let's get back to the race for the White House. The lineup is now set. The CNN Republican presidential debate is only five days away. Eleven candidates will take part in the main debate. That's Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. The front-runner, Donald Trump, will be center stage, flanked by Ben Carson and Jeb Bush. Also Carly Fiorina has earned a spot on the main stage. Five of the remaining candidates face off in an earlier 6:00 p.m. Eastern debate.

Let's talk presidential politics with our CNN political commentators S.E Cupp and Hilary Rosen are joining us.

S.E, many of these Republican candidates, they've been a lot more aggressive in taking on Donald Trump since the first debate. What do you expect look ahead to Wednesday night?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, it's going to be interesting. You know some have kept their heads down and tried to stay out of the fray. That's going to be a little hard to do when Donald Trump is standing right next to you and, you know, he's potentially put you in his line of fire. So we'll see if people like Scott Walker or Marco Rubio really come back at Trump if he does directs some of his criticism their way. Otherwise, I would expect the people that have been going after Trump,

like Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina, to be pretty vocal about it. You know, this is the - the big time to shine for a lot of folks who cannot get covered if they're not talking about Donald Trump. So I would plan - expect to hear a number of very good, very well-rehearsed one liners from some of the front-runners looking to have a moment in this debate.

BLITZER: As you know, Hilary, Carly Fiorina's strong performance, she was one of the first - the second-tier debate, but her strong performance in that second-tier debate certainly helped make her - get her to the main stage this time. Do you expect any of the other candidates to try to have that sort of breakout moment coming up Wednesday?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think they're all hoping to have a breakout moment. Carly Fiorina is quick on her feet. When Donald Trump attacked her this week, she didn't - she didn't play victim. She just shot right back at him. I think we should expect to see that from her again as Trump, you know, attacks her business experience.

You know the - the good news for these candidates is Trump is fairly thin skinned and to the extent that they can turn him into an insult machine yet again while they're talking politics - while they're talking policy, I think, you know, there - that's where they're going to be stronger. You know, none of these candidates are going to be as entertaining as Donald Trump is. So they have to be careful. They can't - they can't overly exaggerate, you know, the theater of it without getting to offering a real strategic and substantive alternative. And that's going to be their challenge.

BLITZER: There have been, S.E, lots of real battles on the Republican side. Donald Trump's comments as we noted about Carly Fiorina's face, Trump and Ben Carson, they're going after each other on religious faith, among other issues. Now Hillary Clinton saying she would love to debate Donald Trump. Listen to what Trump said to Fox's Greta Van Susteren.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): Well, I probably can think of nobody I'd rather debate. She was the worst secretary of state in the history of this country, although I think John Kerry's going to top her with this crazy deal that he's made with Iran, which is one of the worst I've ever seen of any kind of a deal. But Hillary, until now, was the worst secretary of state in history. I've think beating her -

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX: Well, what - well, let me ask you about that.

TRUMP: I think beating her in a debate would be one of the easy challenges of my life, that I can say.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: It's interesting, S.E, that Hillary Clinton is already speculating, talking about a possible debate against Donald Trump and that would only occur if she's the Democratic presidential nominee and he's the Republican presidential nominee.

CUPP: Yes. I think, in a way, Hillary is trying to telegraph that actually electable candidates in a general election are somehow, you know, deflated and out of the race. Of course, it's, you know, 14 months away and so she wants Democrats to think that Trump is all - all we're left with. And if only they run to support Hillary Clinton and watch her debate Donald Trump, she's a sure bet to the White House and she's doing that while -

ROSEN: Please, please.

CUPP: While not acknowledging the turmoil within her own party and the Democrat who really want someone other than Hillary to run.

[13:20:00] ROSEN: Please, please sends us Donald Trump in the debates.

CUPP: Right.

ROSEN: Send us Donald Trump in the general election. That - that would be totally fine.

You know, God, they're losers, they're the worst, they're the - you know, I'm the best. There, you know, this is ridiculous. At some point there's going to have to -

CUPP: That's the clean version, Hilary!

ROSEN: There's going to have to be some - some more adjectives there that actually go to policy. Jake Tapper, I think, is going to be able to put real substantive questions to Donald Trump and we'll see if he can answer them. But, God, a debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the general election, that would be extremely exciting for Democrats.

BLITZER: It would be extremely exciting for everyone. And, Hilary, remember, be careful what you wish for because a lot of us remember that there was a Democratic president named Jimmy Carter and then Ronald Reagan got the Republican nomination, they said, oh, an actor from Hollywood, who's ever going to vote for him, and we all know what happened in that election in 1980. So you've got to be careful what you wish for.

ROSEN: It's true. I could spend a year on the differences between Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, but -

CUPP: Me too.

BLITZER: All right, we'll talk about that another time. But we'll see what happens. Guys, thanks very, very much.

A reminder, CNN hosts the next Republican debate on September the 16th from the Ronald Reagan Library in California. We'll also be hosting the first of six Democratic debates coming up on October 13th. That will be live from Nevada.

Up next, vulnerable refugees say they have to fight for food like animals, adults and children alike, but police say it's not their fault. Much more on the worsening refugee crisis. That's just ahead.

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[13:25:45] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: Very disturbing news - breaking news coming in from Saudi Arabia right now. A crane apparently collapsed at one of Islam's most important mosques, the largest mosque, we're told, in Mecca, the Masjid al-Haram mosque, killing at least, we're told, at least 52 people, injuring 30 others. This according to Saudi authorities. They've just released this information.

There's been no official comment, no immediate comment about the cause of the collapse. This Masjid al-Haram mosque surrounds Islam's holiest site, a shrine that worshippers visit during the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Approximately two million people make that pilgrimage every year. The Hajj is due to begin later this month.

Once again, we are getting this initial report from Saudi authorities. A crane collapsed today at this huge - the most important mosque, the Masjid al-Haram mosque, in Mecca, killing at least 52 people and injuring at least 30 others. We'll stay on top of this story for you and get more information. A very disturbing development out of Saudi Arabia.

Once again, in Washington, D.C., the reports of a shooting incident at the main train station, Union Station, in Washington, D.C., it looks like that incident has been resolved. But I want to go back to our justice correspondent, Pamela Brown.

A lot of nervousness going on right now, Pamela, in Washington, but you're getting some new information. What's the latest information you're getting about this shooting incident?

BROWN: We're getting a better understanding, Wolf, of what exactly unfolded there this afternoon. According to D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier telling my colleague Jim Sciutto that apparently a security guard there at Union Station shot the suspect who was - apparently pulled out a knife to stab his girlfriend. So this appears to be a domestic dispute. And we know we reported earlier that a male was taken out on the stretcher from Union Station. Apparently that was the suspect who was shot by the security guard who acted very quickly when he saw him pull out a knife.

Of course, this caused a lot of fear. People were evacuated from Union Station. This is the anniversary of 9/11. People are on edge, Wolf. But it was resolved fairly quickly. The crime scene was contained. The word spread fairly quickly this was not an active shooter situation. And now we're learning that this apparently was a domestic dispute.

Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Fortunately it looks like it's over in Washington, D.C., at Union Station. Pamela, thanks very much.

Up next, remembering the tragedy of 9/11.

We're going to show you some of today's events honoring the victims of the attack and I'll also speak live to the former governor of New York, George Pataki. We'll get his reflections on 9/11 in the world today, as well as his own take on the presidential run and the Republican front-runner, for that matter, Donald Trump.

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