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New Poll Shows Trump with Commanding Lead; Cruz Using Cartoon in Fund-Raising Appeal; Clinton Slams Trump's Inflammatory Rhetoric; GOP's Best Shot; Sanders Boasts of Historic Fundraising; Plane Lands Safely Despite Landing Gear Issue; Remembering the Six Americans Killed in Afghanistan Suicide Bomb Attack. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired December 23, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, it's 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.

We begin with the race for the White House. Presidential politics here in the United States and very good news for Donald Trump. A brand-new CNN-ORC poll. Take a look at it. Donald Trump with 39 percent, Ted Cruz 18 percent, all of the others, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio at 10 percent, everybody else in single low digits. Lots to assess right now.

Joining us now are Dana Bash, our Chief Political Correspondent; David Chalian, our political -- CNN Political Director. David, these number -- Donald Trump, obviously, he knows about these numbers already. He's already tweeted about these numbers. He's very happy. But these are impressive numbers for him, especially this entire poll taken after the most recent CNN debate.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's right. And this is quite a way for Donald Trump to close out the year, because he has completely dominated, in the last several months. And now, if you look inside the numbers here, Wolf, on issue after issue, he has greater support on trust to handle the economy, ISIS, foreign policy, immigration than his horse race number.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

CHALIAN: This means that Republicans who are saying they're going to vote for Marco Rubio or vote for Ted Cruz actually still think Donald Trump is better to handle the economy. That is some of the fuel underneath his 21-point lead right now.

BLITZER: This is even a more impressive number for him than some of the other national polls taken since the debate, a Quinnipiac poll, a Fox poll, right?

CHALIAN: This is very in line with that Fox poll that we saw --

BLITZER: I just thought of that.

CHALIAN: -- last week. Big lead. He's way out in front. He really is occupying a universe of support unto his own right now. And there is other stuff that's happening underneath him. But he is in such a far and away dominate position. That is not exactly what we saw in the Quinnipiac poll yesterday, but that seems to be a little bit different than the rest of the polls around it.

BASH: And there's something else that struck me about this poll. First is exactly what you said, David. I was looking at all of the issues and how much more support he has on issues than just a general kind of head-to-head matchup. But if you look inside at the kind of people who say they support him, he has probably the highest support from Republican voters who make $50,000 a year or less.

So, the whole -- again, one of the -- just the latest examples of how he's turned the whole concept of politics on its head. Because people like Mitt Romney didn't want to talk about his wealth, because he was afraid of kind of making a wall between him and other people. That they wouldn't be able to relate to him and vice versa. It's just the opposite. His whole approach, Trump, of saying, I'm really rich. I'm really rich. It actually works with people who aren't because -- on whether they aspire to be or they know that he's done something right. He -- they support him.

BLITZER: They clearly like his blunt talk. Now, Ted Cruz, Dana, is in second place in a brand new poll, 18 percent. There's a story out today, and he's fund-raising off of it. There was a very controversial cartoon in the "Washington Post" that showed his two little daughters being led by him, monkey-like characters, if you will. He has gone out now and he's done some fund-raising as a result of this. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It used to be, for a long time, the rule is across the board that kids are off limits. That should be the rules. Don't mess with our kids. Don't mess with my kids. Don't mess with Marco's kids. Don't mess with Hillary's kids. Don't mess with anybody's kids. Leave kids alone. And if the media wants to attack and ridicule every Republican, well, that's what they're going to do. But leave out kids alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Which is a fair point. But he's now using that cartoon, showing that cartoon, trying to raise a million dollars. That's somewhat controversial.

BASH: It is. Look, first of all, let's just start by saying, Ted Cruz is a hundred percent right. Kids should be left alone, especially little kids. He's got little girls. And, you know, as a mother, I would never want my child to be dragged into anything that I'm a part of, and I think the same should go for any politician running for office.

Having said that, he certainly -- a big part of Ted Cruz's appeal. And when he appeals to conservatives is the mainstream media. You remember a couple of debates ago, I mean, that was kind of his mantra attacking the media. And that is kind of a gimme for any conservative, but it's especially so for him. So, he's taken that and taken his cartoon and incorporated that kind of line that works for him. I'm not sure I would've done that or suggested that, but, you know, it's probably going to work.

BLITZER: The cartoon has been pulled by the "Washington Post." And the "Post" cartoonist originally tweeted, Ted Cruz has put his kids in a political ad. Don't start screaming when editorial cartoonists draw them as well.

[13:05:03] The editorial page editor of the "Washington Post" later said, it's generally been the policy of our editorial section to leave children out of it. I failed to look at this cartoon before it was published. I understand why Ann thought it an exception to the policy was warranted in this case but I do not agree.

So, it gets a little controversial right now. But the "Post" is acknowledging they shouldn't have published that cartoon to begin with.

CHALIAN: Yes, I don't -- right. I don't think just because Ted Cruz used his family in an ad which politicians do all the time. Then, all of a sudden, his kids are fair game.

Now, that being said, you know, that's what editorial cartoonists do. So, they take anything from them. But I think what Fred Hiatt, in that statement that you just read, is acknowledging that it's one thing that the cartoonist used that material from a campaign ad and came up with an idea for a cartoon. It's another thing that the "Washington Post" editorial page decided to publish it. And, clearly, they thought that was a mistake and they pulled it back.

BLITZER: All right, Dana, I just want to play a clip, Hillary Clinton in the "Des Moines Register" in an interview out in Iowa. She's, once again, responding to Donald Trump, some of the comments he's made there, pretty nasty comments, about her in recent days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really deplore the tone of his campaign and the inflammatory rhetoric that he is using to divide people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What do you make of her response?

BASH: Truthfully, considering, you know, what has been going on, it was kind of muted. And that has been the strategy all along. Well, for the past 48 hours since this whole thing erupted for them to try to kind of let Trumps' comments speak for themselves and try to take the high road. I've talked to some Democrats totally anecdotally who are not that thrilled with it, and say that, you know, if Hillary Clinton is running as a woman, she should stand up and defend women and women's rights. So, that was kind of low-key, considering.

BLITZER: David.

CHALIAN: I mean, listen, I remember when Hillary Clinton, back in August in Iowa, gave a big speech and started taking on Trump and poking fun at him. She uses -- just like Trump uses going after Hillary Clinton to rally his base, she has used sort of Trump as a foil to rally Democrats around him. I think here, she is a little concerned in talking to some folks around her campaign, perhaps playing the victim too much here in some way. And I don't think that she wanted to take that on. I also think she sees now that she does not want to play into his strategy.

BASH: Right.

CHALIAN: He is very clear now that he wants to show Republicans that he can take the fight directly to her, and I don't think she wants to play into that.

BLITZER: All right, David Chalian and Dana Bash. Guys, thanks very much.

Let's get some more now on the race for the White House. Are Republicans beginning to accept the possibility of a Donald Trump nomination? In our brand-new CNN-ORC poll, 46 percent say the GOP has the best chance of winning the White House with Trump. That's up from 38 percent back in August.

Joining us now, CNN's Political Commentator Tara Setmayer, our progressive activist and columnist, Sally Kohn, and our CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. Tara, what are you -- what's your reaction when you see these numbers that when Republicans increasingly are beginning to embrace the idea of a potential president Trump?

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I -- my first thought is, no. I just don't -- it's very frustrating for me because I look at the bigger picture and I look at the long term and I say, Donald Trump is not presidential material. Every single week, we see him do things, behave in certain ways that is not presidential. It's unbecoming of what this country represents. It's unbecoming of the Oval Office.

But it's hypocritical that conservatives continue to support someone like Donald Trump in what he's doing. He's offered no specifics. He continues to be an entertainer. But because he shows some strength, what people consider strength and blunt talk, that -- and it's such a contrast to what we have in the White House now, people are gravitating toward it without really thinking about the full consequences of what someone like Donald Trump would be like as the president of the United States, and as actual executive. I don't think people really thought it through yet and it's starting to concern me, actually.

BLITZER: Ron, only one percent of the Republicans in this poll think Jeb Bush has the best -- had the best performance in last week's Republican presidential debate. So, why is his campaign not resonating? RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think he has

been an establishment Republican in a year when the party is looking for something else. It's also been a long time since he's run for office and the Bush name is very much -- has become very much of a mixed blessing. You know, the point about Donald Trump is really the widening gap between Republican assessments of him and the assessments in the overall public.

You know, as you've noted, among Republicans, his numbers are improving. Would you be proud of him as president? Does he have the right experience as president? Does he share your values? All of those are up to about 60 percent yes among Republicans.

[13:10:03] But with the public overall, they're not getting any better. They're down to about one -- only about one-third of Americans say, for example, that he shares their values or that he has the right experience to be president. And it is, I think, in those numbers that you see the real cost of the -- of the way he has approached his -- this campaign, his language, his demeanor, his style.

And the risk, of course, for Republicans is being swept away by a candidate whose general election problems, at this point at least, look very (INAUDIBLE.) Particularly among younger voters, I would add, this election will be the first time where millennials equal the baby boom as a shared eligible voters. Donald Trump's favorability among millennials is 30 percent in your poll, 15 percent in the Quinnipiac poll.

So, there's a lot of danger signs out there looking toward the general election but a growing favorability among Republicans to this kind of very insular hard-edge message that he's offering.

BLITZER: But Isn't it true, Ron, that older Americans vote in much higher percentages than younger Americans?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, particularly in the primaries, Wolf, yes. I mean, over 60 percent of Republican voters in 2012 were over 50. But in the general election, the balance is shifting. As I said, in 2016, for the first time ever, millennials will equal the baby boom as a shared eligible voters. They won't match them, as you know, in the actual electorate. But that gap is getting narrower.

But in 2020, millennials almost certainly will exceed the baby boom in the electorate. And if you look at the entire Obama coalition of millennials, minorities and college-educated socially liberal whites, Trump's numbers among all of those groups are terrible. His numbers are great among working class whites who are more culturally conservative.

And, in some ways, if he's nominated, you would see the test of two competing theories about what -- how you win the White House. The conservatives say that the way to win is to turn out more socially conservative whites. You could not have a better test case than Donald Trump. And if you were a Democrat, you could not have a candidate who, seemingly, would do more to activate this what I call the coalition of the ascendant. The groups that are growing in this society on the other side. Because his numbers, as I said, are really bad among all of those groups at the core of the coalition that provided President Obama his two majorities in 2008 and 2012.

BLITZER: All Right. No, you're absolutely right. They may be eligible to vote, the younger Americans. But, at least until now, the percentage wise, they don't really show up and vote as much as their parents or their grandparents actually show up and vote.

Sally, let's talk about the Democratic race now -- right now for a moment. Bernie Sanders -- hold on one moment, Sally, because there's some breaking news we're following out of California. I want to update our viewers on this right now.

We're watching and waiting for a southwest commercial plane to land in Oakland, California. There you see the aircraft right now. It's apparently having some problems with its landing gear. These are live pictures we're showing you of the plane. It's already made at least one fly-by and it's circling the Oakland International Airport right now.

It's apparently burning some fuel as it's attempting to land in Oakland. We're not exactly sure what the mechanical issue is, so they have to check a maintenance item right now. But it's a story that we've been following, and we're just getting these live pictures coming in from the Oakland area.

Mary Schiavo, our Aviation Analyst, is joining us right now. Mary, we're watching this plane approaching -- we believe approaching the Oakland airport.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: That's right. And, you know, these problems with the landing gear, we've covered them several times in the past. But, you know, the good news is, ordinarily, they can get the load lightened by burning some of the fuel. Many planes have the capability of dumping it.

So, we also talked about that on the Southwest planes that it's the typical thing that you can do. So, you burn the fuel and the pilots will bring it in as slowly as they possibly can and put it down as lightly as possible. And the outcome of the one --

BLITZER: I think we have lost Mary. But here it is. This plane is about to land. You know what? Let's just watch it land right now and then, hopefully, we'll reconnect with Mary.

All right. So, that looks pretty good right now. This is a Southwest Airlines plane that had taken off from Oakland International Airport on the way to Chicago, we're told. And it had a mechanical problem. The pilot decided that they wanted to check some sort of item, maintenance item, and made this return.

A hundred and thirty-nine people are on board, we're told, as a result of this flight. This is Flight 2547. It departed Oakland just not that long ago for Chicago's Midway Airport, 139 passengers on board. We're told that after takeoff, the captain and command made the decision to return to Oakland to check what was described as a maintenance item on the aircraft.

[13:15:10] Everything that -- this is a statement from Southwest Airlines.

"Everything we do, safety is of a paramount importance. We appreciate our customers' patience while we work to get them to their final destinations for the holiday."

Well, it looks like that plane has made a very safe landing in Oakland -- Oakland so all is fine right there. We'll find out what the maintenance issue is, but fortunately all is good in Oakland. That Southwest Flight 2547 back on the ground, all 139 passengers plus the crew there on board. They'll be off of that plane pretty soon, and Southwest says they will be rerouted to Chicago's Midway Airport. All good there.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BLITZER (on camera): All right, let's get back to our political panel right now. I was talking to Sally Kohn. Sally, On the Democratic side right now, Bernie Sanders in the national polls among Democrats not doing all that great, Hillary Clinton has a pretty commanding lead. But in Iowa and New Hampshire, he has some significant support there.

What is your analysis right now? Is it possible from your perspective, New Hampshire he is actually ahead in some of these polls, that he could upset Hillary Clinton in these first two contests?

SALLY KOHN, PROGRESSIVE ACTIVIST AND COLUMNIST: I mean, anything is possible, and you know, the great thing about we talk about this now, but there's fortunately still a lot of time for voters to make up their minds and certainly the Iowa caucuses are unique.

I was in Iowa a few week ago, I have to say the -- not only the apparent number of support, but the strength of support for Bernie Sanders I think is really part of his asset there that Hillary Clinton may have numerical support, but I think some of it is more tepid.

The people who support Bernie Sanders really support them. I think overall, though, Democrats are in a good position because it's looking like Republicans are not giving them a strong contender whoever the Democratic nominee is.

BLITZER: Well, we'll see who the Republican nominee is. Tara, as you know, the next Fox Business debate coming up in a few weeks. There may only be six Republicans on the main stage. There were nine at the CNN debate, as you remember, last week. With only six on the main stage, that could have some serious implications certainly for those -- the other three who might be dropped to the second tier. TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. I'm actually

very glad to see that, because we're getting to the point now, as like I said, where voters need to really seriously look at who could potentially be our next president of the United States. And when you have so many people like that on the stage, it is very difficult to get real answers, and real distinctions between the candidates.

We started to see some of that during the last debate, and you saw how it affected MarcoRrubio. He has dropped a couple of points in the polls since that debate because Ted Cruz and both -- Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul, and Chris Christie were going after Marco Rubio and competing with him on the issues of immigration, and then how he felt about fighting ISIS, and foreign policy.

That's what we need to see so that voters can start to really look at the substance of what these candidates are offering, not just the entertainment value of what Donald Trump has continued to offer. And I think the more that voters see that juxtaposition, the more that they'll come to their senses, especially white conservatives, and realize that Donald Trump is really not who we need to have as not only the GOP nominee, but as the next president of the United States.

BLITZER: All right guys, we have to leave it there unfortunately, but we'll continue these conversations down the road, Tara, Ron and Sally. Guys, thanks very much.

It was a deadly attack at the hands of the Taliban and now we are learning more about the six U.S. service members who were killed in Afghanistan this week. Coming up, what their grieving families are now saying about these American heroes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:22:02] BLITZER: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington.

As the Taliban pushes further into Helmand province in Afghanistan, we are now learning more about the six U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing earlier in the week.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): Today, the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, ordered flags on government buildings to fly at half-staff in honor of Sergeant Joseph Lemm and tomorrow for Staff Sergeant Louis Michael Bonacasa. We are learning more about each of the victims.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BLITZER (on camera): Our national correspondent, Jason Carroll, is joining us now live from New York.

Jason, you've been learning more about the background of these six U.S. service members, tell us what you found out. JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, as you can

imagine each story unique, each story tragic. Six families in mourning today, six fallen heroes. We've already heard a little bit about Technical Sergeant Joseph Lemm. He was the one who surprised his family two years ago when he returned home from Afghanistan and surprised his daughter who was performing at a singing contest.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CARROLL (voice-over): Lemm was a 15-year veteran of the NYPD. There is the video there from two years ago when he surprised his family. New York's governor said Lemm embodied the bravery of police officers and soldiers everywhere.

Also killed, Louis Bonacasa. He was 31 years old and from Manorville, New York. I spoke briefly to his mother last night. She described her son as a hero, someone who loved his family and being a soldier. He also has a daughter who just turned 5 just a few days ago, his brother speaking out about their family's loss.

VINNY BONACASA, STAFF SGT. LOUIS BONACASA'S BROTHER: It was always a blessing to have him in my life. He was cut from a different cloth. He was a good man, a man's man, a gentleman. He loved his family, loved his country. He died doing what he wanted to do. He was a real soldier, a real hero.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CARROLL (on camera): Also killed, Sergeant Peter Taub from Pennsylvania. His father says he skyped with him just a few weeks ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CARROLL (voice-over): He thought this son was in Saudi Arabia, he now knows Todd didn't tell his family he was in Afghanistan because he didn't want everyone to worry about him.

JOEL TAUB, SGT. PETER TAUB'S FATHER: Real good personality, he was funny, he was thoughtful. He was a really good family man and loved his wife, and more I think more so he loved his daughter.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CARROLL (on camera): Wolf, adding to the list Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen. She was also killed. She was 36 years old.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

CARROLL (voice-over): She was the first openly gay female active duty service member in the U.S. military and the first openly gay Air Force officer to die in combat. She fought for years to get the don't ask, don't tell policy repealed and later married her partner. They have a son jacob.

Also want to add to that list of fallen heroes, 28-year-old Sergeant Michael Cinco who was a resident of Mercedes, Texas. And also, we also want to mention Chester McBride, a former football hero from Georgia.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CARROLL (on camera): He was described as a quiet man who was a class act. And Wolf, one of the family members telling us this is another reminder that there is still a war going on in Afghanistan and to always remember and not to forget those men and women who are still serving there. Wolf?

[13:25:14] BLITZER: Yes, there's about 10,000 U.S. military personnel on the ground, boots on the ground as they say, in Afghanistan right now. Almost 4,000 in Iraq right now, and there's at least 50 special operations forces, according to the Pentagon, U.S. military personnel on the ground in Syria right now, but those numbers could go up by several hundred.

Our deepest, deepest condolences to the families of these U.S. military personnel who were killed in the suicide attack in Afghanistan. Thanks very much for that report, Jason Carroll.

Straight ahead we will speak with congressman and Iraq War veteran Scott Perry. He'll talk to us about these six U.S. service members who lost their lives, what it means for the bigger fight against terror in the region. Much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The fight against ISIS is ramping up on two fronts, Iraq and Syria. First CNN has learned a small contingent of U.S. special operations forces now back in northern Syria. They're advising local fighters moving against ISIS. U.S. officials decline to disclose a troop number or their location.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): An initial group had been there several weeks ago to conduct what was described as a series of surveys on how to proceed with the battle against ISIS. The group is part of the 50 special operations forces President Obama has already approved for a so-called advisory role in Syria.

And in Iraq, security forces are making headway in the quest to take back the critically important town of Ramadi from ISIS.