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Kentucky Senate Hopefuls Debate; Chris Cuomo Travels to Italy

Aired October 14, 2014 - 08:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: They have not, however, stopped ISIS from pushing for control of Kobani.

He's back, or is he? North Korea releasing what it says are new photos of Kim Jong-un using a cane. The North Korean leader hasn't been seen publicly now in more than a month.

Oscar Pistorius's pre-sentencing hearing is resuming today. Yesterday the defense said Pistorius should serve how arrest and community service. He could be locked up for 15 years for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Secretary of State John Kerry today set to meet with Russia's foreign minister to talk about the crisis in the Ukraine. The move comes ahead of a planned meeting between Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's president later this week.

We do update those five things to know, so be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the very latest.

Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: With the Senate on the line, Mic, Kentucky's candidates duked it out in their only debate before next month's vote. In one corner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. In the other, Democratic Secretary of States Alison Lundergan Grimes. This fight went the distance. But who won the decision? And it matters because this Senate race could have major implications to who's in control in Washington.

Let's bring in chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash with the play-by-play.

What do you think?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, you know, from minimum wage to health care, these two candidates showed that they really do differ really in a big way on big, important issues. But it's clear, the deciding issue in this critical race may be who's more unpopular, President Obama or the Congress where Mitch McConnell is GOP leader.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): This high stakes debate in the marque Senate race crackled with heat.

ALISON LUNDERGAN GRIMES (D), KENTUCKY SENATE CANDIDATE: Now, Senator McConnell, you and your henchman, the Koch (ph) brothers.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: I haven't said anything in any private meeting I haven't said publically.

BASH: Democratic challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes came out swinging, trying to put GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell on the defensive.

GRIMES: We have to have a senator that actually realizes what the realities are here in Kentucky and the fictional fantasyland that Mitch McConnell is in, it doesn't show the statistics that are here in the state.

BASH: Saying to McConnell's face what she says on the stump, he's been in Washington too long.

GRIMES: They've happened on your watch, senator. You've been there 30 years and you don't want to take any responsibility for the loss of the jobs here in the state.

BASH: McConnell repeatedly responded in his classically calm manner.

MCCONNELL: Secretary Grimes, if I may, Congress didn't pass what the president's doing. We defeated it.

BASH: He tried to turn his long service into a plus, especially if he wins this race and becomes Senate majority leader.

MCCONNELL: The majority leader gets to set the agenda, not only for the country, but to look out for Kentucky's interests.

BASH: And link her to the unpopular president.

MCCONNELL: Giving Barack Obama another vote in the Senate, continuing this Democratic majority in the Senate, is not going to do anything to improve America's economy and certainly not Kentucky's economy.

BASH: McConnell did teeter on losing his cool when Grimes suggested he enriched himself in office since his millions actually came from his wife's inheritance.

GRIMES: Becoming a multimillionaire on the backs of hardworking Kentuckians.

MCCONNELL: I can't let that stand. That is an outrageous suggestion. She knows it's wrong.

BASH: Grimes' weakest moment, even after video went viral last week of her refusing to say if she'd vote for President Obama, she still wouldn't say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you reluctant to give an answer on whether or not you voted for President Obama? GRIMES: Bill, there's no reluctantly. This is a matter of principle.

Our Constitution grants here in Kentucky the constitutional right for privacy at the ballot box for a secret ballot.

BASH: Still, the real answer may be political, not principle. In 2012, Obama got crushed in Kentucky and is even more unpopular now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now, it's abundantly clear that Grimes is so nervous about uttering the words "I voted for Barack Obama" and what that would do to her standing in inevitable GOP ads, she'd rather take the hit for not answering that question. But some Democrats I've talked to, Chris, they're frustrated with her strategy to be evasive on that, telling me that they think it really distracted from an otherwise strong debate performance.

CUOMO: #yathink? I mean how did she not answer the question, Dana, and say it's about constitutional privacy, especially when they know the answer, right? I mean she's got the family roots there and her own volunteering in different efforts. What do you think went on there?

BASH: It's the whole idea of an ad. It's the idea that Mitt Romney won in Kentucky by 24 points. And Mitch McConnell said it himself during the debate, Obama lost 116 out of 120 counties in Kentucky. And that was when he was relatively popular back in 2012 nationwide. And this is something that she's been dealing with and so giving Republicans the gift of saying, "I voted for Barack Obama," which would then be on the airwaves constantly in Republican ads, is something that they're clearly worried about.

The flipside is that what you saw is a pretty evasive person not answering a question, as you said, that that's very obvious we all know the answer to, that she says it's principle but it really looks political.

CUOMO: And now you've got Bash and Cuomo all over it on NEW DAY and CNN. They're hearing (ph) about it all over the place. Too cute by half. One thing we know about voters, Dana, they want their leaders to speak straight to them and they're so tired of this not happening.

BASH: Authenticity. It's all about authenticity.

CUOMO: You broke it down well for us. Thank you, as always, Dana Bash.

BASH: Thank you.

CUOMO: All right. So, as you know, all this week we're going to be retracing our roots. Today it is my turn. I am getting de-rooted. We're going to take a crazy trip to Italy as we discover things about my past I truly did not know. It's "The Roots" and it is coming up. What am I laughing about?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, but let's not start crying yet.

PEREIRA: I know. We have - OK, all right.

CUOMO: Made me cry yesterday. All my eye makeup runs. All right, so we have CNN special week-long series, "Roots: Our Journeys Home." Thirteen CNN hosts and anchors exploring their family histories. Some of the coolest places on the planet.

CAMEROTA: Totally.

CUOMO: This was good. It's called the boondoggle. Today is my turn.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CUOMO: I thought I knew. I thought this was going to be a mystery for a lot of the other guys, but I thought I knew my past, but boy was I wrong. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (voice-over): How did I wind up here?

CUOMO (on camera): Up, up, OK.

CUOMO (voice-over): That's what I was thinking clutching a pole slathered in pig fat with men climbing over me, at a place I'd never heard of in Italy.

But the mystery about my family that led me here was even more surprising, especially since I thought I knew the whole story.

MARIO CUOMO, CHRIS CUOMO'S FATHER: Here we are at this convention to remind ourselves where we come from.

CUOMO: For many, my lineage will come as no surprise. That's my pop, Mario Cuomo, former governor of New York.

M. CUOMO: We speak for ethnics who want to add their culture to the magnificent mosaic that is America.

CUOMO: He spoke for years about his Italian heritage and the struggle to make it here that led to not one but two men holding the highest seat in the greatest state.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Cuomo family.

ANDREW CUOMO, CHRIS CUOMO'S BROTHER: We come into the chamber, we're not Democrats, we're not Republicans, we're New Yorkers and we're working for New York.

CUOMO: That's Andrew, my brother, the governor of New York today. I knew it all cold about who we are and how the Cuomos got here, et cetera, or so I thought. Turns out I was right about my mom's family down in Sicilia (ph), Italy. But my father's side had a big fat mystery. It is true that he was a first generation American. He grew up sleeping in the basement of this grocery store in South Jamaica, Queens, and my grandparents did come to this country, working like dogs, suffering bigotry, all to build a better life. A legacy thanks to my great grandparents. Now that's where the mystery begins.

CUOMO (on camera): So let's talk about something interesting, like me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Perfect.

CUOMO: What do we know?

CUOMO (voice-over): The folks at ancestry.com uncovered that the story of how the Cuomos came here -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In digging more -

CUOMO: Is very different from what I'd heard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the first document of the Cuomos.

CUOMO (on camera): This is very cool.

CUOMO (voice-over): Looking back at records from a century ago in the U.S. and these tiny Italian villages, we found a trail that no one had ever followed, Donato Cuomo (ph), he came first. For month he dug ditches and saved and borrowed to send for his love and wife, my great grandmother, her name was Germana Castaldo (ph), or was it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The family is right here and she's listed as Germana Costanza (ph). This is the death of Germana, so she's Germana Costanza Maria Delia (ph) and Germana Castaldo.

CUOMO (on camera): That doesn't sound good, I have to tell you.

CUOMO (voice-over): Who was she? Where'd she come from? And why did she keep changing her name? The story id' grown up with about who she was and how she came to be my bisnona (ph), great grandmother, was all wrong. Forgaze (ph), fake. There'd be only one way to figure out the real deal.

CUOMO (on camera): So you believe I need to go to this place and see if I can track the roots further.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

CUOMO: I'm just the man for the task.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you can handle it.

CUOMO (voice-over): My great grandmother's life had to begin in Italy. So did our journey of discovery. When I told my wife I had to go to the Italian countryside on assignment, she wasn't buying it, so I brought her along with my oldest, Bella (ph), to hunt for some answers to where my blood comes from.

CUOMO (on camera): I believe this would have been the church.

CUOMO (voice-over): Kind of cool, too. The latest generation of Cuomos looking for the earliest. The last document we found was key. My great grandmother's birth was in a tiny and unknown place called Cava di Tierni (ph), high above the Tyrrhenian Sea. It turns out she was born here in 1869. But the question is, to whom?

The good news is that her name is all over this place, Castaldo. Turns out, back in the day, the Castaldo family ruled here, so maybe we're not peasant stock after all. We're royalty, baby.

Word spread that I was here tracking down my roots and a local historian came around to help. But what he had to offer took the story in a very different direction.

Far from the gilded center of the city, he took us down a lonely side street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): In this street, in one of these doorways, there was an orphanage. There was a woman took in the orphans, the children that were abandoned, and took care of them before someone adopted them.

CUOMO (on camera): So, this is the sad part of the story. This is the street, this is where my great grandmother was given up for adoption. We're told that basically babies were just left on the ground, there was a knock on the door, and then people would take off. Why? It was a rich town, maybe it was somebody who was very wealthy who had had an indiscretion. Maybe it was someone who just didn't want a baby.

Either way, she would be given the name Castaldo because that was the ruling family in this area, so it doesn't really mean she came from that family. It just means that it was a common name. But this is where her life began, where some woman she didn't know wound up taking care of her and later on in life, she'd wind up marrying the man who would bring the Cuomos to America.

CUOMO (voice-over): But that led us to the next part of the mystery. Church records pointed us to another Italian village I'd never heard of, where I had much deeper roots than I would have ever imagined. The tiny Italian city of Sant'Arsenio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CUOMO (on camera): Okay, so we don't even have to guess about it. This is Nicola, he's the deputy mayor here in Sant'Arsenio, and he says he has documents that prove that my great grandparents were married right here in this church.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CUOMO: So 1890.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CUOMO: So, they were married in this place and the names - --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CUOMO: Germana Castaldo (ph), now, that's my great grandmother's name, but remember she used more than one.

CUOMO (voice-over): So, what about all those other names my bisnonna used? Gema (ph), Dalia (ph). No, she wasn't a criminal. The writing was literally on the wall.

CUOMO (on camera): Alright, so we have another piece to the puzzle. Dominic (ph) and I, we meet on the plane on the way over. He says, where are you going? I say, Sant'Arsenio. He goes, hey, I live in Sant'Arsenio when I'm not in Jersey City. He then asked why I'm coming. I say, well, I'm trying to trace my great grandmother, the Cuomo family, the whole thing. He says he knows something about it, takes me to this plaque. What do you know, my friend?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad once told me that the Dalia family was from Sant'Arsenio, immigrated to Jersey City.

CUOMO: Dalia is part of the family that the Cuomos were also a part of, and there are some of that family who are in Jersey City.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. It all ties back to Sant'Arsenio, a town that only has 2,700 residents today.

CUOMO: Had you ever heard of any connection to the Cuomos?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's rumor of a connection to the Cuomos going back.

CUOMO (voice-over): But what was that connection? Who was this Dalia? Why was he up on that wall, and why was my great grandmother using his name? That part of the mystery would have to wait. Our little investigation wasn't the only thing going on in Sant'Arsenio. When they heard we had roots here, we got conscripted into the man testing that is part of a festival weekend and the townspeople had big plans for me.

CUOMO (on camera): Alright, so this is the festival, the solemn festival in honor of San Rocco. And look at this. At the events participating will be Chris Cuomo directly from CNN, but participating in what?

CUOMO (voice-over): We had an amazing time with these beautiful people, some of whom could be cugini, cousins. We played games, drank some wine, maybe too much. The next thing I knew, I was staring at this.

CUOMO (on camera): So, here's how this works. The is like the main event of this festival, where they climb this pole that's like 45 feet high, okay? It takes four of them. The pole is greased with like this pig grease soap stuff. So I'm going to be the first guy, and I'm going to hold on.

CUOMO (voice-over): The good news is, they now say I'm a real member of the village. The bad news is, I loved that shirt and I smelled like feet for a while. For all we had learned, though, we still had one last stop, the coast. CUOMO (on camera): The Cuomos left their tiny villages up in the hills

and came down to the Tyrrhenian Sea. But, when they looked out, they didn't just see open water. They saw their future, America.

CUOMO (voice-over): My great grandfather, Donato (ph), became what's now known as a bird of passage, someone who traveled to the new world to make his fortune. Some fortune, though. The $16 voyage was more than he had to his name, but he and his mysterious bride would make it to the new world, and their progeny would lead to the man talking to you now.

What about the other names and parts of the family we learned about? Remember Dominic and what he told us about the Dalias? Turns out Francesco Dalia was my great grandmother's adoptive father. The Dalias would make it big in the new world, too, and you guessed it, Jersey City. They sent a big chunk of that money home to Sant'Arsenio. Oh, and my team on that greased pole? They went on to win the competition without me. And my family left Italy with a new understanding of who we are, and remember for the Cuomos, famiglia e tutto. Family is everything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Fantastico! That was, Chris, that was beautiful.

CUOMO (on camera): It was nice. John Griffin did that for us, he's my producer here. Did a great job, came with us, so he's famiglia also now. I'll tell you, it was interesting to know, you get a little scared when you think you know and you don't know. It was sad to hear that, why hadn't she said anything? Well, she was embarrassed. I mean, look.

PEREIRA: Different times.

CUOMO: I don't have to tell you. Especially then, coming to this country. They all had it so hard. You hear these stories all the time, how the early immigrants, how hard it was for them, and it was hard for her to reconnect with that family that was here, the Dalias.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CUOMO: They didn't help them out. But it was amazing, and especially to be able to bring this back for my father, you know?

PEREIRA: How did your parents react to it all?

CUOMO: My mother was like why didn't you focus on my family? Why do you think the Cuomos are so interesting?

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: And I was like I'm sorry mom, they told me. But pop was - - my father's all about the facts, and he's so much about his roots and his family, and he made a very interesting point to me. When I was like I learned this, I learned that, he says you know everything you need to know. He was like you work hard, you love your family and you put others first. He's like you're not going to learn anything over there that you didn't know already.

CAMEROTA: Did he know that his grandmother was adopted?

CUOMO: He did not.

CAMEROTA: So, that was a surprise to him?

CUOMO: He was, it was to all of us, and in fact many in the family don't accept it.

PEREIRA: I just think it's so great that Bella, your daughter, got to experience that with you guys.

CUOMO: That was a great surprise. My wife, very familiar with Italy, speaks the language much better than I do. But to let your kids know who they are and where they come from, it's very special, and they're lucky kids. The family, politics aside, has a lot to be proud of.

PEREIRA: We're lucky it doesn't have to be a mystery anymore, you know?

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: I know.

PEREIRA: That's wonderful.

CAMEROTA: I can't believe how well they put this together. So, how did it feel to have four men on your shoulders?

PEREIRA: Because you smell like socks still.

CUOMO: Yes, but that has nothing to do with what happened. I still stink. I actually enjoyed it. I thought, first of all, it was a testament of my significant man strength. The average man would crumble.

PEREIRA: He told us to look at his form while they were doing it.

CUOMO: You see the form on the squat? Cross-fitters out there unite

PEREIRA: Really, really?

CUOMO: I love - - oh, that was it.

PEREIRA: The face. It was that shot right there.

CUOMO: I don't think he needed to kick me in the face.

CAMEROTA: He just wanted to.

PEREIRA: He did.

CUOMO: He did, and I'll tell you, nobody enjoyed that more than my wife. My wife was a good - - -more people!

PEREIRA: Do you think she maybe paid them off to give you a little shove you in the face?

CUOMO: Who knows? I think everybody wanted to climb up there, like, let's watch him collapse.

PEREIRA: That was phenomenal.

CUOMO: It was a great trip. I was happy to do it.

PEREIRA: And you guys did that in a short amount of time.

CUOMO: We did it really fast, we did it really fast, but it was really worth it.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Great gift they gave us here.

PEREIRA: Next time we all want to go to Italy.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: As it is my kids already like Mickey better than they like me, so that's easy. Now, the good news is you can now leave my story in the past, because there are a lot better ones to tell. You're going to get to see behind the scenes photos from me and my journey. You can just go to CNN.com/roots, and today at 4:00 on "THE LEAD", Jake, my man Take Tapper will share his family story.

CAMEROTA: Interesting revelations.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: A lot of great stuff there. And then, at 7:00 p.m. on her show, Erin Burnett is going to learn about her family's history in Scotland. And then at 10:00, D. Lemon, Don Lemon, is going to go on an emotional journey. Tomorrow on NEW DAY, Christine Romans will share her roots experience.

Remember, this CNN series culminates with a prime time special Tuesday, October 21st at 9:00 p.m., hosted by some guy named Anderson Cooper and the one, the only, the inimitable Michaela Pereira Cuomo.

PEREIRA: It's a good way to see it if you miss some of the pieces during the week. Did you call me a Cuomo?

CUOMO: I did, you're in.

CAMEROTA: Hey.

CUOMO: You're in, but first I have to climb on top of you on a pole.

PEREIRA: No, not happening. That is not happening.

CAMEROTA: Maybe we'll do that during the break. (CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Of course we do.

PEREIRA: Really?

CUOMO: Every day we have the Good Stuff, stay with us, but first.

CAMEROTA: Oh, okay. A pastor puts his money where his mouth is and goes to extraordinary lengths to help the homeless, but you won't believe what he actually did. It's the Good Stuff. It's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Alright, how about a little bit more Good Stuff today. Why not, right? Today's edition, walking a mile in another man's shoes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (voice-over): Reverend Rick Cole, that's the guy's name, he runs a megachurch in Sacramento, but he recently left the comforts of his church and home to live for a week on the streets as a homeless person with nothing but a sleeping bag and one change of clothes. The goal was to raise $100,000 for a winter shelter for the homeless around Sacramento. Well, he got that done ahead of schedule, so guess what he decided to do, to stay longer and this time for a very different reason.

REVEREND RICK COLE, CAPITAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH: I feel like I'm being changed by being out here. The goal was to raise money to help people, but I feel like I'm going to be a better person for having had this experience.

CUOMO: Think about how many of us just walk by someone who is homeless every day. The reverend completed his two weeks, he pulled in $144,000, and on Saturday he walked right off the streets and back to his church, and delivered a very emotional sermon. The reverend says he will never look at a homeless person the same way again and encouraged his flock to do the same. They're still raising money for the homeless. If you'd like to give - -

PEREIRA (voice-over): How admirable.

CUOMO: - - you can visit revonthestreets.com.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (on camera): Revonthestreets.com.

CAMEROTA: That's beautiful.

PEREIRA (on camera): We salute you. That's really tremendous.

CAMEROTA: To walk in somebody else's shoes so you really understand.

PEREIRA: Have a moment with them, have a conversation. CAMEROTA: Yes, it's great.

CUOMO: Looking at them differently, looking at them at all would be an improvement for most of us because they're there and they need us.

A lot of news for you this morning. Let's get you to Ana Cabrera.

PEREIRA: Hey, Ana.

CUOMO: In for Carol Costello. Hey, Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, you guys, thanks so much. NEWSROOM starts now.