Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Snowstorm Shuts Down DC as NYC Snaps Back; Democrats to Face Iowa Voters in Town Hall; Clinton, Sanders Trade Blows as Iowa Tightens; Donald Trump Claims Everybody Hates Ted Cruz; Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired January 25, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:00:42] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, battle ground Iowa.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You stand up for me on caucus night, I will be back here in Iowa.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are locked in a very, very close race right here in Iowa.

COSTELLO: One week to the first of the nation votes, hours to CNN's Democratic presidential town hall.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Whoever the nominee is, is going to need the other person supportive hand.

COSTELLO: The future of the party could hang in the balance.

Also, Trump spends Sunday at church.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We talk about humility at church today.

COSTELLO: And he spends the night at a Holiday Inn Express. Normal guy stuff for the billionaire GOP frontrunner.

Plus buried by the blizzard.

MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: This is a complicated snow removal effort.

COSTELLO: D.C. shut down trying to dig out after a storm for the record books.

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Millions of Americans are buried under snow this morning after a record-breaking storm slammed the East Coast. New York seems to be getting back to normal, but Washington, D.C. is another story. It is still shut down today. People there working to dig out from almost two feet of snow. The D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser expected to speak at any moment now. In her city the federal government is closed. Schools are closed. And only five Metro trains and buses are running. Five. So we will monitor the mayor's comments and bring you any developments when she begins speaking.

Of course the danger from the storm is far from over. Roads refreezing overnight and officials warning drivers of icy patches. Side streets still impassable. In Arlington, Virginia, the National Guard was called in to help the stranded EMT truck. More than 1200 flights cancelled.

A look at the snow totals. And it's not hard to see why. More than 30 inches falling at JFK. 29.3 at Dulles. Baltimore, LaGuardia and Philly all above or near two feet of snow.

Nick Valencia is in Washington, D.C. He kicks off our coverage this morning.

Good evening, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. We are right smack in the middle of the cleanup here in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Just crippled by that brutal storm over the weekend. Three days of nonstop snowfall. More than 34 straight hours. More than 20 inches here measured in the district. And we're going to show you something we haven't actually seen in the last three days.

Look at that. There's traffic. Despite the shutdown, people are still trying to test the limits of these roads, probably not recommended. Of course government officials would rather prefer that you stay home. Many government officials are staying home. Federal government, local government, as you mentioned, Carol, shut down today. Schools also closed.

Let's introduce you to some of those folks that are making sure that these roads stay clean.

James, my man, how are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing, sir?

VALENCIA: Good. Good. So tell me about -- what did you guys been through the last couple of days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Been through everything. We've been through basically a lot of salt, a lot of snow, a lot of shovels and a lot of socks.

VALENCIA: Walk me with here. We want to show our viewers exactly what kind of conditions you're dealing with. So when we showed up here at this live shot location, you were trying to dig out this car here. What's going on? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's basically just a government vehicle basically

for the agencies that's just been parked there. Just got to move so we can effectively plow all the snow the right way. That's all.

VALENCIA: So you are from the area. You've been through this before. You're a resident of Virginia. I mean, what kind of storm is this? How does it compare to the storms that you've been through growing up as a kid?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This takes it, right here.

VALENCIA: This one is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next to 2010, this takes it.

VALENCIA: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

VALENCIA: Well, we've been hearing a lot of comparison to 2010. Thank you so much for taking the time and all the work that you're doing out there.

James Mills, taking the time with CNN this morning.

Carol, this is a deadly storm after all. We just heard last hour from the Virginia State Police, six people now confirmed across the river at the Potomac, five from hypothermia, one from a fatal car accident.

We are reaching out to the Maryland medical examiner as well to try to see if any of these figures here, fatalities, have gone up. Already one confirmed dead. The sun is shining but tomorrow the forecast looks bleak. Rain is in the forecast. The snow is everywhere. Tons and tons of snow. Really nowhere for it to go. This thing is far from over -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Those are government cars parked on the sidewalk there? Interesting.

VALENCIA: Yes. You'd think that they would have moved it. You'd think that they would have known to get out of here, but this is what James is having to deal with this morning trying to find the owner of that car so they can get back to work here -- Carol.

[10:05:03] COSTELLO: Kind of what I was thinking, Nick Valencia. Thanks so much.

All right. In New York City, a very different story from D.C. Practically back to business as usual. The recovery process seemingly much smoother and New York saw even more snow than D.C. 26.8 inches. Train spotters reporting 22.4 in Washington.

Jason Carroll is outside of Penn Station this morning. Hi, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And hello to you, Carol. And here's one sign that things are getting back to normal here at Penn Station. That is the iconic spot right outside Penn Station where you see folks lined up, getting into their cabs between huge mounds of snow on this particular morning.

But earlier this morning, it was empty, and that's because, as you know, Carol, Long Island railroad really struggled to get back online this morning. They expected to have full service sometime around 5:00 a.m. That was pushed back to around 7:00 a.m. Then pushed back again simply because some of the lines refroze overnight. They had to get out there, fix those lines so they could get things back up and running again.

So as you can here now, folks are getting back in line, getting back out into the streets. And when you consider how much snow fell here, that's pretty incredible that New York City is doing as well as it's doing so far today. 26.8 inches fell at Central Park. Putting that into perspective, Anchorage, Alaska, so far this season has received 25.8 inches. So that gives you some perspective for those watching how much snow actually fell here in the city. And considering that schools are open, government offices open, city seems to be faring pretty well.

COSTELLO: Good news. Jason Carroll, thanks so much.

All right. Let's talk about politics now. One week from the Iowa caucuses, and now just hours from the last faceoff of the three Democrats. Tonight only on CNN, they'll field questions from Iowa voters at a town hall meeting. Bernie Sanders is about to host his own town hall in Iowa Falls. With only seven days left candidates are racing to win over Iowans. And Sanders seems to be riding some momentum into tonight's showdown.

Our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny live in Des Moines with more for you.

Good morning, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. It is a deadlock contest as this race enters the final week here. Spending the weekend with both candidates, you can tell by the urgency in their voices there, they're trying to move from persuading voters to mobilizing their supporters out to those caucus sites a week from tonight. But our CNN poll of polls is showing just how close this race is in Iowa.

Let's take a look at these numbers. Bernie Sanders, 46 percent, and Hillary Clinton 44 percent. This is a poll of polls of the latest four top polls so it gives you a sense of the -- how tight and urgent this campaign is for both sides here. But let's take a listen to the closing arguments from each candidate as Bernie Sanders is addressing his supporters across the state and Hillary Clinton is doing the same.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: We are locked in a very, very close race right here in Iowa. And if we have the kind of turnout that I hope we can, we're going to win here in Iowa. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: And if we win here in Iowa, I think we're going to do very, very well in New Hampshire.

CLINTON: Why? The stakes in this election are so high and we have to start to move toward nominating and electing a president and commander-in-chief who will continue the progress we've made, make sure it is not ripped away, forcing us to once again be disappointed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So Secretary Clinton there clearly making the argument that she is the candidate to continue the legacy of this president. She is the candidate with the experience here. She had a big crowd last night in West Des Moines, Iowa, a lot of enthusiasm on her side.

And, Carol, this is a -- as close of a race as we've seen in recent cycles here. So the town hall forum tonight which also includes Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland, he has some supporters here as well, will be the last good shot for Iowa voters to see exactly what these candidates have in mind. And from there, seven more days until the Iowa caucuses -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.

As Jeff alluded to, the fight for Iowa is intense. Clinton and Sanders locked in a statistical tie. And with that the Sanders campaign has turned negative. Bernie Sanders came out swinging and resurrected Clinton's devastating loss in Iowa in 2008.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Eight years ago, Obama was being attacked by everything.

[10:10:03] He was unrealistic. His ideas were pie in the sky. He did not have the experience that was needed. But you know what? People of Iowa saw through those attacks then, and they're going to see through those attacks again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sanders also pointed to a "Wall Street Journal"-NBC News poll showing he would beat Donald Trump in a president run by 15 points to Clinton's 10.

With me now to talk about this is Brian Fallon. He's the press secretary for Hillary for America.

Welcome, sir.

BRIAN FALLON, PRESS SECRETARY, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Hi, Carol. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Hi. Thanks for being here. So Hillary Clinton is running on experience. But Democratic voters seem to want passion. Did the Clinton campaign miscalculate?

FALLON: Oh, Carol, I think Hillary Clinton has, over the course of her career, poured her heart from the progressive causes that you hear her talking about throughout this campaign. If you look at the first job she took after law school, she went to work for the Children's Defense Fund. She knocked on doors in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and exposed how children with disabilities were being shut out from public schools.

She went door-to=door in Alabama and exposed how local authorities there were thumbing their nose at court order desegregation in the schools there. She went across Texas and enrolled Latino voters that had been disenfranchised across that state. And ever since then she has made these progressive ideals the cause of her life. She has actually lived them in practice not just in principle.

And I think that Iowa caucus=goers are increasingly finding that if you want somebody in your foxhole, if you want a proven fighter that will get results in your day-to-day life, Hillary Clinton is the candidate for you.

COSTELLO: But -- but Bernie Sanders seems to be saying, look, he has progressive ideals, too, and he's willing to give it a go. Hillary Clinton is talking about practicality. She's calling his ideas fairytales and he says that's backfiring on her.

FALLON: I don't think so, Carol. I think that what Hillary -- the point that Hillary Clinton is making is a very apt one, which is that both Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton share many of the same progressive values. But as President Clinton -- President Obama, I should say, himself said today in an interview with Politico, Hillary Clinton has proven throughout the course of her career that she knows how to translate those progressive values into the hard work of governing.

And with the high stakes that we're looking at today where you have Republicans threatening to rip away the gains we've made over the last seven years under President Obama, we need someone who can protect those gains and go further. We need someone like Hillary Clinton that knows that progress often comes through the three yards and a cloud of dust, rather than a hail Mary pass.

COSTELLO: Well, well, oddly enough, you mentioned that Politico interview with President Obama, and he was very complimentary of Hillary Clinton. He talked about her experience. So let's listen to a short bit of that interview now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Look, I've gotten to know Hillary really well, and she is a good, smart, tough person who cares deeply about this country. And she has been in the public eye for a long time and in a culture in which new is always better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. OBAMA: And, you know, you're always looking at the bright shiny

object that people don't -- haven't seen before. That's a disadvantage to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The president went on to say -- you know, he was talking about Clinton's weaknesses as well. He said she's better in small groups. That she appeared rusty at the start of her campaign, that she's been way too cautious. Is he right?

FALLON: I think I saw the comments that the president made. And there were a lot of gracious compliments that he paid to Hillary Clinton which I think is a testimony to the fact that they have a deep running, mutual respect and admiration for each other that dates back to that spirited 2008 contest that they ran.

Look, I think that in actuality Senator Sanders has been in Washington longer than Hillary Clinton. But like I said, Hillary Clinton has devoted her career to these causes. She has the calluses to show for her work to put these progressive ideals into action dating back to her work at the Children's Defense Fund, as first lady of Arkansas where she led a legal aid clinic that helped represent poor people in Arkansas.

And in 1993, as first lady of the United States of America, when there was an effort made to achieve universal health care and Republicans in Congress blocked it, she dusted herself off, picked herself up and helped pass the CHIP measure which insured eight million kids.

COSTELLO: Right.

FALLON: I think that's a testament to the fact that she has overcome adversity before. She's been through the ringer. With Senator Sanders, he's just starting to encounter some scrutiny over the last couple of weeks, and as a result we've seen him shifts some positions and walk some comments back.

COSTELLO: OK. Last --

FALLON: Hillary Clinton is the tested candidate in this race for the Democratic Party.

[10:15:01] COSTELLO: Last question for you. Do you expect President Obama will endorse Hillary Clinton soon?

FALLON: Well, actually, I think that the White House has said that he wants to let the primary process play out. So I'm taking them at their word that that's their intention there. But I think as those comments that you saw said, there is a deep admiration and respect between senator -- President Obama and Secretary Clinton, and she was very honored to serve under him as secretary of state. And she frequently goes around in campaign trail events and evokes the fact that under President Obama we've made great progress improving the economy. He doesn't get the credit he deserves. I think voters are increasingly recognizing that she's the one to help protect against the Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, repeal Dodd- Frank, repeal his executive actions on immigration, and go further on each of those issues.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Brian Fallon, thanks for stopping by.

FALLON: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

FALLON: All right. Appreciate it.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, they say everything is bigger in Texas. But what about endorsements? Ted Cruz just picked up one in his state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:20:19] COSTELLO: The clock is ticking for candidates to pick up support. You're looking at live pictures out of Iowa where Senator Ted Cruz is making a stop there to campaign. Later today his rival Donald Trump will be in the state of New Hampshire.

All of this as a new CNN poll of polls shows the real estate mogul edging out Cruz with steady support. You see it there.

Let's bring in CNN's Sunlen Serfaty. She's covering things from Des Moines, Iowa. Good morning.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. Well, Donald Trump actually will start his week in New Hampshire today, but this is after he made a big push here in Iowa over the weekend.

We really saw him put everything -- laid everything out in the field, sort of speak, kind of significantly raising the stakes here in Iowa in the final week. We saw Trump really go out of his comfort zone as a candidate and actually spend the night here in Iowa at a Holiday Inn rather than returning to New York to sleep like he normally does. He also attended a church service the next morning on Sunday morning. He listened to a sermon on humility.

So Donald Trump really investing in more of the traditional campaign- style tactics. Also at the same time, he is really doubling down on Ted Cruz. Here's his attack on Cruz yesterday in Muscatine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: One of the problems with Ted Cruz is everybody hates him. I mean, he's such a nasty guy. Every hates him. He can't talk -- think of it. Not one United States senator has endorsed him. Not one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And Cruz responding to these sorts of attacks by labeling Donald Trump as an irrational bully, so to speak. He says that people in Iowa don't want to hear bickering coming from school children. But the key for Cruz this week is to kind of reclaim this narrative that has surrounded his campaign. He's doing that in a big way, launching today, rolling out this big endorsement from former Texas governor, Rick Perry, today.

He will also make 22 stops over the next eight days here in Iowa. So certainly, Carol, the focus for him is to try to take back that narrative that Donald Trump has been painting about his campaign.

COSTELLO: All right. Sunlen Serfaty reporting live from Des Moines, Iowa. Thanks so much.

We're joined by a Ted Cruz supporter and former Virginia attorney general, Kenneth Cuccinelli. He's also the president of the Senate Conservatives Fund. I also have CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston with you -- with me.

Thanks to both of you for being with me. I appreciate it.

Ken, I want to start with you. You heard what Donald Trump said. Not a single senator has come out and backed Ted Cruz. Interestingly enough, the former senator, Chuck Grassley, introduced Donald Trump in a campaign rally. He didn't endorse him but he was there. Does that matter?

KENNETH CUCCINELLI, TED CRUZ SUPPORTER: Well, not really. I mean, Dave Brad introduced Ted Cruz at his event in December. And, you know, it certainly suggests an openness to work with somebody, but it doesn't rise to the level of an endorsement, and you know, Ted Cruz has challenges inside the beltway, and he has supporters outside the beltway. And the reason is he has taken on every special interest in Washington, and he has shown a commitment to continuing to do that as president.

You've seen it in Iowa with the discussions that you all have reported on on ethanol. He is the only candidate in the history of the world for either party to take on big ethanol and stay with that challenge while running for president and lead in the polls in Iowa. He's the only one who's ever done that.

COSTELLO: History of the world. Wow. Well, just going back to Ted Cruz's likability for just a second. Because you know, we live in a very divisive time. Right? Partisanship rules in Washington. Not much gets done. People know that. If Ted Cruz is so unliked by members of Congress, how as president will he be able to get anything done?

CUCCINELLI: Well, I don't think Obama is all that well liked by the same people in the Republican Party that say they don't like Ted Cruz. A lot of the Democrats are upset with Obama. Look, when you're the president, you have a job to do. You're going to do that job. Ted has told us what he's going to do, and the fact of the matter is the Republican leadership --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Yes, but you have to -- you have to --

CUCCINELLI: Well, let me finish. The Republican leadership --

COSTELLO: You have to negotiate to do that.

CUCCINELLI: No you don't. Obama hasn't negotiated with the Republican leadership --

COSTELLO: So Ted Cruz is for executive orders?

CUCCINELLI: No. No. Oh my gosh, no. The first thing he'll do is undo a lot of those unconstitutional executive orders. But decisions have to be made, and ultimately, you've got to come to some conclusions with the people in Congress, though they have shown a complete willingness to give the president everything he wants. Everything. Which makes this race for the president all the more important.

And for those of us on the Republican side of the aisle, it's all the more important to have a consistent conservative, a proven consistent conservative like Ted Cruz there.

COSTELLO: So --

[10:25:07] CUCCINELLI: Because it's going to matter that -- so much who the president is.

COSTELLO: OK. So I just -- I'm sorry I'm ignoring you for the moment, Mark. I just want to get this straight. So Ted Cruz will have the ability somehow to tell Congress what to do, even though no one gets along with him and he's not for executive orders of any kind except for rescinding those that President Obama has implemented.

CUCCINELLI: All right. Look. What a left-wing media you are. Come on now. That is total generalization and you really pollute the discussion with things like that.

Look, his likability ratings, if you compare where he was in March to today among Republican voters, not among the left-wing media, are among the highest in the entire field. Donald Trump whose clip you just played cannot claim that. This is a guy who runs around calling people losers and names and teasing handicap people.

Likability is not a contest that he's ever going to win. And Ted Cruz, as more Americans have met him, has become more and more liked across the country.

COSTELLO: All right. So I'll go to Mark Preston now.

So, Mark, I guess I'll ask you that as a political observer that you are. Is Ted -- is it possible for him to negotiate with members of Congress? Are we all, like, overplaying this notion that nobody in the Senate gets along with Ted Cruz?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: You know, I think you have to look at this as two-step process. There's the campaign and then there's the election and when you take office. I think that Ted Cruz to the point of the fact that he has no U.S. senators backing his candidacy, necessarily, I think that he's embracing that because he is playing this outside Washington image.

When he came to Washington he certainly wasn't supported by the establishment Republicans when he came and he beat an establishment candidate to come and do that, as did, you know, others. But the thing about Ted Cruz right now is he's going to have to make a turn at some point. Right now I don't think that is when he wants to make the turn. He wants to appeal to evangelical conservatives here in Iowa. He wants to show folks that he's an anti-establishment candidate. And that's why we're seeing him and Donald Trump locked in this pitch battle right now about who could go in, who can dismantle Washington and who can rebuild Washington.

COSTELLO: OK. And he did pick up the endorsement of Glenn Beck who's a very powerful conservative voice. And I just want to play a bit of what Glenn Beck had to say on "NEW DAY" this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN BECK, NATIONALLY SYNDICATED RADIO HOST: Donald Trump, I really, truly believe, is a very dangerous man. When you have a guy who is angry and then has an enemies list and starts just to take people down over and over and over again, if you disagree with him, he destroys you. That -- if that's the mood of the country, we're in more trouble than I thought.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ken, is that true? Is Trump a dangerous man and if you don't agree with him he'll destroy you?

CUCCINELLI: Well, he does make these sweeping declarations. And you were -- you were sort of teasing me about executive orders earlier. I mean, think about Donald Trump writing executive orders. This is someone who clearly believes that winning is everything. Not the principles, just the victory. And that kind of attitude is one that you see dictating to elements of government, including the Congress and the courts as much as he can.

So I do have concerns as someone who is sort of an idealist in terms of respecting the rule of law. Ted Cruz has a track record on that. Donald Trump's track record is not very good. I mean, this is someone who opposes imminent domain protection because he's made deals to make money off of that arrangement, which is exactly why some of us like it.

He has made statements consistent with Glenn Beck's criticism that make me concerned and make others concerned about whether we'll just see a Republican version of Obama writing executive orders and dictating to other parts of government, instead of working through the process the founding fathers set up which is something that Ted Cruz has committed to do, despite our earlier discussion about how easy or difficult that will be. But it's important to respect that constitutional process. And only Ted has shown a commitment to doing that.

COSTELLO: All right. And, Mark, just one last question for you. These endorsements coming from Glenn Beck and others, how important are they to candidates, do you think?

PRESTON: Well, they're certainly important. Glenn Beck is a very influential voice in the conservative circles here. And I think it was very important. It allows Glenn Beck as well to be the one who goes on the attack against Donald Trump. Ted Cruz has been very careful and very calculated about how he will engage with Donald Trump and has done a very good job of it. But one thing I think is worth pointing out is that there's campaign rhetoric and then there's governing.

And I think that no matter who gets elected, whether it is Ted Cruz or Donald Trump, whether it's Bernie Sanders or any of these other candidates out there, when you come to Washington, you might want to stand by your beliefs, but you do have to work with the other party, you do have to work with folks in your own party. And I think what we're hearing now, no matter who it is, is that rhetoric will change a little bit.