Return to Transcripts main page

NEW DAY

Obama Approval Improves; New Orleans Ten Years After Katrina; Sheryl Crow's Mission To Rebuild Homes. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired April 21, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:44] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: A new CNN/ORC poll seems good for the president and the economy, but does Hillary Clinton agree? Forty- eight percent of Americans now approve of the way the president is handling his job, 47 percent disapprove. Sad commentary on what passes for progress? Perhaps. But more interesting may be Hillary Clinton taking on the economy as a problem against the poll and the president.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Here to weigh in is CNN political commentator Van Jones and CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Ana Navarro.

Great to have both of you here.

Ana, let me start with you. So that poll that we just showed on the president's approval numbers, that's the first time in two years that the number has been positive. It's only 48 to 47, but still it is more approve than disapprove. So how does that affect Hillary Clinton?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, we almost have to ask what the margin of error is to see what the approval and disapproval is. And what I think, Alisyn, is that it is a very actual, you know, sad reminder and reflection on how incredibly polarized our country is at this moment, that you've got practically half the people who like him, half the people who really don't like him. And it's usually very passionately on both ways.

How does Hillary Clinton deal with it? I think she's - it's a wait and see. Part of her problem is that she doesn't want to be seen as a third term of Obama. But if Obama is doing well, she may change her mind on that. So I think she's going to tread very carefully on this. We saw that a change from one minute to the other right before the '14 elections, when he was a drag on every Democrat, it can be good one moment, it can be bad another. She knows that. I think she's going to tread carefully. And I think she's going to try to say as little as she possibly can for as long as she possibly can.

CUOMO: Well, that's because we're 5,287 days away from the election. And there is this accelerated start to it.

But, Van, you know, isn't it always this way where, if you want to be the next one, you can't really seem to put your arms around the current one no matter how good things are? VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, it's a catch 22.

You want the other person to be doing well because otherwise they're going to drag you down. Really good news on that front because you actually are seeing Obama's numbers improving, especially on the economy. And I think that's really important. You don't hear Republicans saying the Obama economy, the Obama economy so much anymore because you have to see the economy approving - improving. And at the same time, you've got to be able to say that you represent a - the future and not the past and not the status quo.

CAMEROTA: Here are the numbers that show the sentiment about the economy improving. Today, 52 percent believe the economy is good. The last time we saw numbers that high was September 2007. Then since the recession it was always below that. So now, finally, it's 40 - only 48 percent say it's poor.

JONES: This is a big turning point. Trying to get above water on the economy has been the entire point of the Obama administration from the day they walked in.

CAMEROTA: But, Van, isn't it also a challenge for Hillary Clinton to - because does she say, look, the economy's great now or dos she say, I feel the pain of the middle class?

JONES: She's got to stay right with those people who are hurting. At the same time, she's got to be wiping her brow that you now have a majority of the people who say the economy is good.

Let's not forget where we were just, you know, six years ago when we're losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month, OK? So now when you have enough of a recovery in place that ordinary people are saying, I may not be where I want to be, but I think the economy is good, that is a breakthrough. It takes a big weight off of her to have to explain how her president ruined the economy and she's going to be doing better. She can say now the president fixed the economy enough for me to now build going forward. A very different argument. A very different argument.

[08:35:15] CUOMO: And, contextually, the president did come into office during an unprecedented time of disappointment in the economy.

JONES: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Right, 2008. So, Ana, as we take a look at the poll numbers though there, the headline for the Republicans seems to be Congress has a big black eye right now. Put up the number there. Right, you know, these are not new numbers. Margaret Hoover looked this morning and said, these are new numbers but they're twice as good as the old number at 28, because the last one was like 13.

CAMEROTA: She was excited.

CUOMO: But, you know, you've got three senators in there who are obviously part of Congress. They're going to see these numbers. Historically, they're not doing as well in Congress as they were when it was Democrat in 2007. How do you process those number into strategy on the Republican side?

NAVARRO: Look, I think people do not like Congress. I think the American people see a lot of the dysfunction and see through the dysfunction that's going on in Washington and hold their nose. The numbers have improved, but they've improved marginally. They're still very bad numbers. I think what people are going to try to do on the Republican side is try to stay as far away from the Washington brand as possible. Everybody wants to be anti-establishment, everybody wants to be anti-Washington.

One of the interesting numbers, I was in New Hampshire over the weekend at this GOP conclave that we had which really, I tell you, Chris, felt like we were picking up hope. I thought that if they just left us in there with no food, you know, at some point we would have white smoke coming out of a chimney. But the - you know, one of the interesting things that they did was ask the people in the crowd, the New Hampshire folks who were there, did they want a senator or do they - did they want a governor? This was a poll that - you know, a scientific poll conducted by Frank Luntz. About five hands went up when asked about if they wanted a senator. And 100 hands went up when asked if they wanted a governor.

And I think it's an advantage for a lot of the governors running not be part of the Washington dysfunction and to be able to look at it from the outside in and point fingers and say, look, we've been able to get things done at home with our legislatures. We've been able to manage.

CUOMO: Are you sure you were seeing all the hands in that room or did you have some Jeb Bush blinders on when those hands went up, Ana? You saw - you saw all the hands or were you counting those governor hands a little bit more closely?

NAVARRO: Look, you know, you know, listen, you know it was - it was a - I won't tell you it was a morning panel, and you know there's only - there's only so much I'm capable of seeing in the morning. I'm much better at night. But, you know, the vampire in me comes out. But it was - it was a widely reported poll taking.

CAMEROTA: One last interesting poll finding that we want to show is how President Obama stacks up to his predecessors. So historically speaking, let's look at where President Obama is now at - in his second term. He's at 48 percent. And if you look at where President Bush was at exactly this time in his second term, 36 percent. President Clinton, interestingly, in the middle of impeachment, was at 60 percent. Ronald Reagan at 48 percent.

Van, what do those numbers say to you?

JONES: Listen, I'll take those Reagan numbers any day. Listen, I think that Republicans who right now are spending most of their time bashing Obama, bashing Hillary Clinton, may be missing something very, very important. I think people are beginning to re-warm back up to this president. I think people are actually starting to feel reasonably good about the economy. Not great, but reasonably good. And they now want to know what are you going to do for me to be helpful? Watch Hillary Clinton. She's sitting there in these small groups.

She's talking about small business. She's talking about drug addictions. She's talking about those kitchen table issues. And then you go to the next story and its Republicans saying, you know, how terrible she is and beating up on Obama. I think they may be actually digging their own grave with this incredibly relentless negativity while Hillary Clinton, frankly, is talking about real issues.

CAMEROTA: Van Jones, Ana Navarro, we -

NAVARRO: That was relentless. There wasn't relentless. And I - look, that was not relentless negativity.

CAMEROTA: Ten seconds, Ana.

NAVARRO: That's the media narrative. There was actually a - you know, I heard a lot of proposals and I heard a lot of vision. Now, there will be attacks on Hillary Clinton. That's part of auditioning for the part of being the Republican nominee. She's the presumed nominee on the Democrat's side and how effectively can you oppose her is something that people are looking for in a candidate.

JONES: Right.

CAMEROTA: Ana -

NAVARRO: But there also needs to be vision and agenda and I saw in her some of that in New Hampshire.

CAMEROTA: Got it. Ana, Van, thank you.

JONES: Well -

CAMEROTA: That's all.

NAVARRO: (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: Take it before (INAUDIBLE).

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, my goodness.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much. Let's get over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, ahead, we're going to tell you about an unusual and inventive way to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. It involves your blue jeans. Nine-time Grammy winner Sheryl Crow, the one and only, joins us to tell us what she's doing and how you can help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:57] PEREIRA: Here we go with the five things you need to know for your new day.

At number one, the U.S. is deploying warships to the waters off Yemen, trying to stop Iran from delivering weapons to rebels wreaking havoc in Yemen. This comes a day before nuclear talks resume with Tehran. Many questions remain concerning the death of Freddie Gray while in custody of Baltimore Police. An autopsy shows he died from a severe spinal cord injury. Six officers involved in his arrest are now suspended.

Six Minnesota men are now charged with allegedly conspiring to link up with ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Federal prosecutors say they were being recruited by a friend who left the U.S. last spring to join the terrorists.

President Obama's approval numbers are shifting back towards positive territory. But based on a just released CNN/ORC poll, half of Americans say they see the country as divided into haves and have nots.

The captain and crew member of a boat packed with migrants capsizing in the Mediterranean Sea now arrested on suspicion of human trafficking. This as we're learning the ship may have sunk after being bumped by a cargo ship that came to its aid.

For more on the five things to know, be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the very latest. And if you'd like to find out how you can help the victims of that migrant boat disaster, please visit cnn.com/impact.

[08:45:10] Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Mick. The best kind of fame is the fame that you use to help others. And that's what Sheryl Crow is doing. She's helping those still affected by Hurricane Katrina and there are plenty of people like that, and she's doing it in a unique way. She's going to join us here on NEW DAY and tell you how you can join the cause.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: This August it's hard to believe it'll mark ten years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Nearly 2,000 people lost their lives. More than 1 million homes damaged or completely destroyed. 600,000 families were displaced.

[08:50:03] Ten years later, the rebuilding process continues, and our next guest has a simple and unique way for you to help.

Who is it? It is Sheryl Crow, only a nine-time Grammy-award winning singer and song writer, and supporter of all things Katrina. This is so exciting to have you. We just wish you were here in the studio. Tell us about this innovative idea to use my blue jeans--

SHERYL CROW, NINE-TIME GRAMMY WINNER: I know, I would love to be there.

PEREIRA: We would love for you to be here. Tell me about this innovative way to use our blue jeans to help out the folks that are recovering from Katrina.

CROW: Yes, it's hard for me to believe -- I'm sure it's hard for everyone to believe -- that ten years we are still trying to help New Orleans get on their feet. And this is a really cool project. Cotton Incorporated started this in 2006, where everyone can donate pieces of denim, whether they're blue, whether they're white, whether they're embroidered, whether they have studs on them, we will take them apart and make installation which is environmentally friendly, to be put and used in Habitat for Humanity homes. Which we are having a build-a- thon in New Orleans; we're going to build ten homes in ten days on America Street in a month. So for the next month, you can send your pieces of denim to either -- you can take them Madewell, you can either take them to a Gap in New Orleans, or you can go to our website, which is bluejeansgogreen.org and find out how to get your pieces of denim to us.

And we're collecting 10,000 pieces. And it's just a great program. Who doesn't own blue jeans that they are not wearing anymore? So I'm really proud of it.

CAMEROTA: Well, that's a great point. I mean, Sheryl, I have some lying around my closet, but I'm wondering do you accept mom jeans or are those too hideous for you to accept?

(LAUGHTER)

CROW: I was told that the consumer owns seven pairs, an average of seven pairs of jeans, and I'm thinking, wow, I own about like 150 pairs of jeans. I live in jeans. So I'm going to build my own Habitat for Humanity home just out of my own denim. But it's pretty cool. I love recycling.

PEREIRA: I was thinking about with women especially, because all women have clothes in their wardrobe that either don't fit or they're hoping they're going to fit, and it's usually of the jean variety.

CUOMO: Or that they don't need and they never had to buy in the first place.

PEREIRA: So you get behind this effort.

CUOMO: 100 percent.

PEREIRA: Ladies, clean out your jeans.

CUOMO: Less stuff, more houses. I like it.

PEREIRA: But it's so interesting. I did not know that denim would be a good --

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Sorry, go ahead, Sheryl.

CUOMO: What do you want?

CROW: Well, I would love to have just a big bin that's just for like the jeans I have grown out of and now the jeans I am growing into. But we have rescued over 600 tons of denim from landfills. CUOMO: It's a great start.

CROW: It's incredible. It's just a great story. We collected over 1 million pieces.

(CROSSTALK)

CRUOMO: And we say it's a start because there's so much need. There's so much need that you're dealing with there. If you create those two bins, you should give me one of them and we will sell it, because they're your jeans and you have a ton of money to build more homes.

What else do you need other than denim? Because obviously Habitat for Humanity has a lot of different areas that are helping. Where can people go? What do you want them to do?

CROW: Well, first and foremost, they can go to bluejeansgogreen.org, and find out how you can get involved in your community. And also we're going to have a ton of volunteers coming down for those ten days. We've got 600 volunteers from AmeriCorps coming down to New Orleans and working on these ten homes. We're going to do ten homes in ten days, and that's phenomenal, right on America Street in New Orleans. And these are our neighbors. It's a great way, if you can't get down there, to at least be a part of this great project. This is a very environmental friendly way of insulating a home and for all of us to get involved.

PEREIRA: Well, we just love you and we love what you support and we will get behind it. We're going to go through our closets ourselves and pull out acid washed from this fellow's past and make sure it gets sent down to the Habitat for Humanity effort. Thanks so much, Sheryl. We love seeing you.

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: We love seeing you. Come visit us soon, OK?

CROW: Thanks, guys.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Sheryl.

CUOMO: Don't mess with my Sergio Valentis. I'll tell you all right now

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: All right, Sheryl Crow, always good stuff. But you know what? We have a special edition, more Good Stuff ahead. You're going to love it; guaranteed.

[08:54:27]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Time for "The Good Stuff." And she's sitting right next to me today.

What do you got, Mick?

PEREIRA: Well, I was in L.A. over the weekend, as you know, because it's prom season. And for the past ten years I have been part of a group called Glamour Gowns, a really incredible group that gives brand-new prom dresses and accessories to girls in foster care and in group homes in Los Angeles County. We do it so that they too can have the rite of passage that is prom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATIMA DA SILVA, GLAMOUR GOWNS VOLUNTEER: A lot of people may take for granted that they have an opportunity to just go and shop.

JESSICA LOPEZ, GLAMOUR GOWNS VOLUNTERR: To do something for these beautiful young women; I'm here to do something better for the world and I think that this is one little step into that direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: This year for the very first time, we were able to outfit the fellows, too. There's Justin and Jonah getting suited up.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: So handsome.

PEREIRA: I know, so handsome. We believe our work with these often over-looked teens is essential, helping boost the self-esteem of these deserving young women and men. If you'd like to help, you can check out Glamour Gowns on Facebook, learn about it and earn about it. One of the girls said I didn't know people -- I didn't know you all cared about foster kids. Thank you so much. And for the young men, getting a suit means they're suited up to go for a job interview. I mean, it's more than just self-esteem, it's life-changing too.

CAMEROTA: Yes. It matters. That's great. What great work. Thanks for sharing that.

CUOMO: I see a familiar face in there, by the way?

PEREIRA: That was my sister, yes. One of the volunteers. How about that?

CAMEROTA: That's great. Great stuff. Thanks so much.

All right, time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEWSROOM": Thanks so much. Good morning. You guys have a great day.

"NEWSROOM" starts now.

(MUSIC)