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NEW DAY SUNDAY

Down-To-The-Wire Election Battles; ISIS Executes Hundreds in Sunni Tribe

Aired November 2, 2014 - 08:00   ET

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


CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Don't mess yourself up when you look at the clock, it is 8:00 indeed. You got an extra hour. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I hope you enjoyed it. I'm Victor Blackwell, we enjoyed yours. Thank you so much for joining this morning.

Listen, this is the final sprint, the race to Tuesday. We're just two days now before you decide which party will control the Senate.

PAUL: That has all the candidates in full force this weekend. They're shaking hands, they're making speeches. They're holding babies. They're working the crowds, trying to get your vote.

This is going to be a nail biter really at the end of the day.

BLACKWELL: You know, it could boil down to a fewer than a dozen states, maybe a half dozen some are saying.

Take a look at the map, those are the races from New Hampshire to Alaska, even here in Georgia, and we've got you covered on all angles.

From Washington, CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp is with us, but we're going to start with Nick Valencia. He's outside Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church in Atlanta.

And, Nick, a lot of candidates will be inside those churches, trying to get those last few votes.

All right looks like we're having difficult with Nick.

Nick, can you hear me? We'll try once more before we go to S.E.?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REOPRTER: Good morning.

We're here at Greater Piney Grove Baptist Church, where the message has been voter outreach today and for the past couple of weeks. It's really a message that the pastor has said has been the civic responsibility of this demographic here. It's areas like this that the Democratic candidates in the state of Georgia are going to count on to try to push them over the top. I'm joined by Miranda Mack McKenzie, who's the spokeswoman for

Greater Piney Grove Church.

Good morning. Thanks for joining us this morning. What's the voter outreach campaign been like, Miranda?

MIRANDA MACK MCKENZIE, GREATER PINEY GROVE CHURCH: It has been outstanding. We have mobilized our members and let them know that it's so important that they get out and cast their votes. On last Sunday, we had the souls to the polls which was phenomenal, let a caravan from here to the polls and they were able to vote.

VALENCIA: This is a nonpartisan effort. It's areas like this, 55 percent majority African-American Democratic candidates Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter are counting on to try to push them over the top.

Do you think that there's more of a chance because of the growth of minority populations in this voter outreach in the state of Georgia?

MCKENZIE: Absolutely. We are nonpartisan. We don't tell our members who to vote for, but we do encourage them to vote. We do have a large Democratic population in our church, but we also have Republicans as well.

So, our important theme is to make sure that do you your part and cast your votes.

VALENCIA: So, a difficult part of this is, one, getting people out to vote for midterms, a million people cast their ballots for presidential election in 2008 and in 2012, you saw that drop by 300,000 voters for the midterm elections.

What about the potential for a runoff? We're hearing a lot of pollsters say that there is a potential for a runoff. Have you talked to your congregates about the importance not just to vote but also to show up for the runoff, if there is a runoff election?

MCKENZIE: Absolutely. We're hoping there isn't a runoff. We hope that everyone will go ahead and cast their votes. Eighty percent of our members have already voted. So, we're expecting the other 20 to show up on Tuesday and cast their vote.

However, if there is a runoff we are ready and willing to have our congregants go back to the polls again.

VALENCIA: Well, thank you so much for joining us, Miranda McKenzie.

She's the spokesman for Greater Piney Grove Church here in Atlanta, just on the fringe of DeKalb County.

Thirty percent of the registered voters in state of Georgia are African-American. This is a message that not only this Baptist Church in Atlanta is trying to mobilize the base of minority voters, but this a message that we're seeing across Atlanta and the state of Georgia, big important election midterm election on Tuesday, that's the message here today.

Christi, Victor, back to you in the studio.

BLACKWELL: All right. Important number there, 80 percent there have already cast their votes.

National reporter Nick Valencia, thanks.

PAUL: So, let's bring in CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp in Washington.

S.E., good to see you.

I know we've been talking about Georgia there but there are a handful of other states where it is practically a dead heat and one of the big tactics of course are these negative ads. Why do you think attack ads work so well? Wouldn't you think people would be smarter than that?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, sometimes in certain places especially in a midterm election, the political ad is really the only thing a voter sees especially if a voter isn't really all that enthusiastic or politically inclined, so both camps, both the incumbent, the opponent know that an ad has the potential to go a very long way.

Now, some have harnessed that potential for good, Joni Ernst in Iowa had a successful viral ad earlier this year, about castrating hogs, that really put her on the map in terms of voter ID. Others not successful in harnessing the power of the ads and some negative ads have gone on to tank these campaigns.

So, it's an art but also a science and figuring out how to tap in to what your voters want to hear is, is it's not always an easy thing to do.

PAUL: Its a not an easy thing to do and both sides are really trying to win over, you know, women as well.

CUPP: Yes.

PAUL: Is there any one particular strategy you've seen that you think is working well?

CUPP: Well, women are not single issue voters. We've proven this time and time again, and so, the candidates that go out and talk about the economy and pocketbook issues and that includes foreign policy as well, are the ones that are really going to have success with women.

We've seen a number of attempts mostly by Democratic candidates to recall the war on women meme, and it's not really worked this time. Mark Udall in Colorado, for example, running for Senate has been nicknamed "Mark Uterus" for his attention to women's issues in the state where there's a lot of other things going on.

We saw one woman in New York running for Congress there, Martha Robertson, she was booed in a debate with her opponent when she brought up a war on women. So I think women care about women's issues certainly, and they don't want to see maybe a Republican candidate go out there and talk gibberish about science, but they also don't want a single-focused campaign. There's a lot of things driving women to the polls and it's not just reproductive rights.

PAUL: OK, even if the Republicans do take control of the Senate, we need to point out that we don't believe there's going to be a major, a super majority.

CUPP: No.

PAUL: As some people talk about.

We certainly expect some gridlock. What might that do as we look forward to 2016?

CUPP: Yes, I mean the president's going to have a lot of that in his hands, if Republicans pass legislation in the House and the Senate, and then it goes to the president to either veto or sign, he's got to decide if he wants to make the last two years of his second term about fighting with Republicans or about doing some of the things that the American public want done.

There's some mythology around the gridlock narrative. Democrats held both chambers for two years, and even after that Republican -- President Obama said he would use unprecedented authority to get a lot of things done, but whether it came to closing Gitmo or immigration reform or gun control I think Democrats realized a lot of the pushback wasn't gridlock, it was that the American people weren't completely on board with that agenda.

So, it's up to Democrats and Republicans to really listen to what the people want going forward, and when Republicans I think gain control of the Senate, I'll expect them to do things like approve the Keystone pipeline, maybe some legislation to secure the borders. These are things that the American public has been behind, and has been waiting to happen.

Hopefully everyone can come together to at least do the things that voters want to get done, and then fight later about some of the other issues.

PAUL: All righty. S.E. Cupp, always good to have your perspective. Thank you for being with us.

CUPP: Thanks, sure.

PAUL: Sure.

I want to give you a program reminder here -- you can get all of your election night coverage right here on CNN this Tuesday, we have special coverage beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. BLACKWELL: There were more than fireworks at the happiest place

on earth, a fire broke out near one of the most popular rides there.

PAUL: Plus, dozens of men and boys missing in the heart of Western Iraq. ISIS now accused of abducting them, but where are they? Can they even be saved?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The pilot who lost his life during Friday's Virgin Galactic spaceship disaster has been identified. Investigators say he is Michael Alsbury, 39 years old, had nearly 2,000 hours of flight time.

PAUL: Let's talk about the second pilot, Peter Siebold. He is recovering in the hospital, alert, we're told, and talking to his family and doctors.

Virgin Galactic boss Richard Branson says he salutes both of these pilots' bravery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN GROUP: And most importantly our thoughts remain with the families of the brave Scaled pilots and all those who have been affected by this tragedy. The bravery of test pilots generally cannot be overstated. Nobody underestimates the risks involved in space travel. As I say that we owe it to our test pilots to find out exactly what went wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, investigators say the debris field spans five miles and as indicated by those photographs and the pieces on the ground, the space plane likely broke apart in the air and we hear the investigation could take up to a year.

The U.S. and Iraq, they're trying to determine what has happened to dozens of men and boys in the heart of an ISIS stronghold there in Western Iraq.

PAUL: A Sunni tribal leader tells CNN ISIS kidnapped the clansmen in Anbar province, yanking some from their beds. And now, it's feared they've been taken to their deaths essentially, executed along with hundreds of other tribal members who also fought ISIS.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is following this for us. He joins us from Southeastern Turkey. And this has been the modus operandi for ISIS for some time now, these mass kidnappings.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, when they see resistance of fear, it may be brewing, as is the case in the Albu Nimr tribe, who hadn't been in armed revolt but this area on the brink maybe of that. Yes, they move into towns and abduct everybody. Often, it's a way to strike fear into those perhaps on the brink of making a decision. The Albu Nimr tribe have it, we understand, from one of their

leaders, gathered 2,000 fighters not far away from where this incident of abduction happened in Hit in Anbar, they could move against ISIS in the days ahead, but they are very keen to see weapons from the Iraqi government, they need to be armed, they need the backing of Baghdad in order to undertake an operation of this scale.

This is the real key why this moment is so vital for the operation against ISIS in Iraq. Without the Sunni tribes, and remember here, we're talking about a part of Iraq, the Sunni community which were in many ways destined to estrange from Baghdad because of the Sunni/Shia tension that splits that country that allowed ISIS to move into those Sunni areas, now the hope for the coalition and the Iraqi government have is they can persuade those Sunni tribes like they did back against al Qaeda to turn against ISIS and be if you like the ground troops pushing them out of certain areas.

It's a very complex operation but in some moments like this when the Albu Nimr tribe growing grievances with hundreds of tribes people abducted and potentially killed, if they can't get the weapons to assist them in this moment, then that broader project of getting Sunnis to turn against is in Iraq could well be under threat -- Victor.

PAUL: All righty. Nick Paton Walsh, we appreciate it so much, thank you.

All right. We'll keep you posted on that story throughout the morning.

I want to give you a live picture here as in just a couple minutes -- the Big Apple bracing itself for let's call it a different kind of traffic jam, some brave folks out there this morning.

BLACKWELL: Fifty thousand runners taking part in the New York City marathon. We'll check conditions there.

PAUL: And, hey, happy Halloween! Who does that look like? Prince maybe?

BLACKWELL: Yes, and we got a cowgirl here. I am half of a couple's costume. I am the fresh Prince of Bel Air, Randy is Carlton Banks.

PAUL: Carlton, and they played it so well.

Happy Halloween to all of you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: To the wire here.

BLACKWELL: Yes, and maybe singing some hymns today.

CNN's Candy Crowley joins us with the latest. Because we heard from a woman who leads the effort at a local

church that nearly 80 percent of their members have voted, Souls to the Polls has been very important to the Democrats.

CANDY CROWLEY, "STATE OF THE UNION" HOST: It's important to anybody. I mean, let's face it, all those advertisements, all that campaigning, all that handshaking, doesn't mean a thing if your guys don't show up at the polls. It's true of every election and true of this one.

And that's what they're counting on now is just trying to drive out their people and if that means you rent 28 budget vans and go down the street, because you've pinpointed their voters and picked them up and taken them to the polls, then, by golly, that's what they do.

PAUL: So, talk to us about what you've got going on "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning. You're talking about Rand Paul and his statements.

CROWLEY: We are. One of the things we love is that right now, at this time, in the second term of the Obama administration -- so, on the eve of the midterms, you can tell a lot about how 2016 is shaping up, by just looking at the travel logs -- I encourage you to do so -- of Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, all people with the 2016 question mark over their heads, sometimes not so much a question mark.

So, we sat down and talked to Rand Paul about his party, about what he thinks he might do come next year in deciding on whether to run or not, and some of the various headlines around Ebola and Ferguson are a couple things we talked about.

BLACKWELL: All right. A lot to talk about coming up this morning. Candy Crowley, thank you so much.

PAUL: Thank you, Candy.

CROWLEY: Thanks, guys.

BLACKWELL: And keep it here for "STATE OF THE UNION WITH CANDY CROWLEY" starts at the top of the hour, 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

PAUL: Have you dared to open up the window or the door yet this morning? Ahh, cooler weather.

BLACKWELL: Don't rush it.

PAUL: It is a long distance runner's best friend, whether you like it or not.

BLACKWELL: So I hear.

In New York, 50,000 people from all over the world are expected to take part in the city's marathon, which starts in just a few minutes. The course will take them through all five of New York's boroughs.

Jennifer Gray is in the weather center with a look at the race and the conditions the runners will encounter.

How about it?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is cold. But, you know, the runners will be warmer than the folks watching it because temperatures feel like 32 right now.

Here's a live look at the south side of Central Park, runners will be running through there in the next couple of hours, and so, as we get ready for the marathon, temperatures are starting out chilly but winds are having an impact, 10-mile-per-hour winds with gusts at 22.

Earlier this morning, we were picking up gusts higher than 30 and so you know that does make an impact when you are trying to run.

So, temperatures right now, 42 degrees in New York City, when you factor in that wind chill, it feels like 36. So, warming up just a tad, it was feeling like 32, just about an hour or two ago. So, we are trying to warm things up a little bit.

We are going to have quite a bit of cloud cover, so don't expect that temperature to warm up very much. But definitely chilly, guys, for those runners. I'm sure they'll warm up quickly, though, once they get going.

We'll be right back after this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: Twenty-five years after winning the U.S. Open, Becker is back on the ATP tour. I caught up with him in Cincinnati, where Becker was preparing the world number one, Novak Djokovic.

The Serbian star hired Becker to be his head coach at the start of the season.

BECKER: A great student. I mean, somebody that's won so much already, being number one, (INAUDIBLE) a very rich man, he really wants to learn. He wants to get better. He wants to be in the history books of tennis. Yet he's very hardheaded. He's very convinced about his way -- and he should be.

So, some of the conversations weren't that easy, were not easy. But sometimes I have a different point of view. So it's up to my magic to find a way to convince him.

REPORTER: You've had such a great tennis career, haven't you, and you are such a competitor. How does it feel now to be right back in it, and to wake up every day coaching the man who is the world number one?

BECKER: It feels like something I haven't felt in a while.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back.

I mean, when we say must see moment, this is a must see moment for my whole life.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: I know.

BLACKWELL: Did you stay up late last night because of daylight saving time, I hope so.

PAUL: Could we only have been there it would have made it better.

Pop icon Prince performing on "Saturday Night Live." You might not recognize him at first but you got to see this, it was electric.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

PAUL: Would it have taken you a minute to know it was him? Eight minutes long.

BLACKWELL: Which is great. He only came out once, performed four songs, typically they do two but he is on my list of people I have to see before it's all over.

PAUL: You and me both.

BLACKWELL: Wow.

John King is up next.