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NEW DAY SUNDAY

Raging Wildfires Burn Homes, Towns Evacuate; Candidates Prepare for 2nd Republican Debate; Munich Warns: City is at Capacity; NFL Changes Game Ball Rules after Deflategate. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired September 13, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Tod, what are your seeing now? Is it getting any better as we start to approach a new day?

[07:30:03] TOD SUDMEIER, FIRE PHOTOGRAPHER (via telephone): Good morning. I'm a little bit south of the fire now. But I left there not long ago, and when I left, there were still multiple dwellings, multiple structures that were burning.

However, most of the peak burning appears to be over. There are a few structures that are burning pretty actively, but a lot of it already gone to the ground. There are several fire engines that are there continuing to arrive. They're getting more reinforcements. They're getting some of these fires knocked down.

They're also doing a better job because there's more of them preventing new fires from taking off or getting large.

SAVIDGE: How likely will the effort to control or subdue these flames change with daylight? Can they bring in air assets or other things maybe they can't use at night?

SUDMEIER: Well, air assets are definitely something that are not commonly used at night. The biggest thing is they're be able to be a little bit more aware of their surroundings, be able to see what's going on. As time ticks by, more resources will arrive. That's really what they need is just more help right now.

SAVIDGE: And you mentioned that the neighborhoods in which we're looking at this incredible imagery that you took earlier, most of those people had already fled, correct?

SUDMEIER: Yes. I did not see pretty much from the time I arrived in Middletown I did not really see a mass exodus of people living. They must have been gone by the time I got there. I never really saw a lot of people leaving or leaving in a hurry. I think that had already taken place.

SAVIDGE: Where are you going to be focused today?

SUDMEIER: I'll be back in Middletown shortly. I had some cell service issue there is there, but I'll try to get back there and get a little bit more video. And I'd like to try and check and see where the main fire front is. I've been unable to locate that. The fire is so large. It's not possible to see everything from one

location.

SAVIDGE: All right. Tod Sudmeier, we appreciate it. Please be careful of your efforts. Of course, anything that you learn and see, we would want to see as well. Thanks very much.

SUDMEIER: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: And then the other breaking news is the story that's happening as dozens have been injured in violent crashes in Israel. Fighting erupted after Israeli police stormed the holy Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Protesters reportedly had barricaded themselves inside. They threw rocks and fire bombs at those who approached.

This all comes just hours, of course, before the Jewish New Year that begins late they are evening.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: So we have 11 Republican hopefuls taking the stage at the Reagan Presidential Library for the second GOP debate. The line-up will include Carly Fiorina. During the first debate last month, you know there were fireworks. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Republican Party has been fighting against a single-payer system for a decade. I think you're on the wrong side of this if you're still arguing for a single- payer system.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not -- I don't think you heard me. You're having a hard time tonight.

Most of the people on this stage I've given to, just so you understand, a lot of money.

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not me, not me.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Let's break this down with CNN political commentator and conservative radio talk show host Ben Ferguson and Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist and advising Democrats and the party.

Thank you both for being here. It's good to see you.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENATOR: Good morning, Christi.

PAUL: Good morning.

Ben, I want to start with you. You know, the stage is Trump's comfort zone. Who do you think -- give me one or two names that you think of candidates who just might be able to out-shine him this time around.

FERGUSON: I think Ben Carson. There's a very good chance that we can have a great night. I also think, you look at Carly Fiorina. She did incredibly well in that early debate last time. She's now on the big stage and a lot of people are going to be paying attention to her, especially after the last feud that they just had at Donald Trump attacking her, really her looks.

I think there's probably one or two one-liners she's prepared to go after him at this debate. So, I think both of those could have a really good night if they play it right.

PAUL: Maria, I wanted to ask you about Fiorina. Obviously, she's going to use this to say he's got a problem with woman. How do you expect he's going to respond? Certainly, we know they most likely will not be an apology.

CARDONA: No, I don't think there will be an apology. I'm sure he will respond by attacking her on her record.

It's been so interesting, because once it came out that he was actually criticizing her because of her looks, he seemed like a schoolboy who had been caught without having done his homework. He tried excuse after excuse to say, and to try to convince people that he wasn't talking about her looks.

[07:35:03] First he said, oh, no, it wasn't talking about her looks. It was about her persona. Then he said, oh, look, I said it because it's entertainment. You know, so which is it?

So, I do -- I agree with Ben, I think Carly Fiorina is in a very good place to call him out on his hate speech, his divisiveness, the fact that leadership, I love her line earlier today, it's not about everything that you are showing helicopters and boardrooms, and, you know, gold plated stairs. You know, whatever it is. But I also think --

FERGUSON: Reality TV.

CARDONA: Exactly, reality TV.

I also think the other candidates need to start calling him out on his lack of policy positions.

PAUL: Well, that may happen. I wanted to say this because I want to get this sound bite in of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. He may be, indicated to CNN yesterday, ready to show a sharper edge at this debate.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: You know CNN has this little debate coming up. What's your strategy going into that debate to make sure you have a moment that people remember? GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R-WI), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the biggest

thing is just presence. Have some -- you know, I'm a Midwesterner, we're pretty polite. Last time, around I waited until questions came to us, I think we're going to step it up and be more aggressive this time, not rude, but be aggressive and make the case we're ready to wreak havoc on Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: OK. So, here's the thing, Ben, I'm just wondering. Walker saying he's going to step it up. Chris Christie is indicating he's not necessarily going to wait for a question, so to speak, every time. Is there a chance that any aggression anybody else shows could be a risk because we have seen it before and it might seem disingenuous?

FERGUSON: Well, I don't know that it will be seen as disingenuous, as much as you run the risk of Donald Trump fighting back. And he's very good at off the cuff remarks, attacking someone that just attacks him. I mean, that's where he really does steal the scene. He's the master of the one-liner and that's where you have the biggest risk of overreaching or trying to do too much.

At the same time, I think you look at two different people that I think you'll see come after him, not with just a war of words, but with policy. I think you're going to see Scott Walker do that.

I also think you're going to see Ted Cruz do that. Ted Cruz over the couple of weeks has really been focusing on policy. And I think even when he took the stage with him talking about earlier Iran in Washington, D.C., several days ago, one of the things I noticed about Cruz -- and I think you'll see this Wednesday night is he's going to come out and say I'm the guy that you might want to look at the you like Donald Trump who actually has policy ideas. I think that could play very well for him. But you always run that risk of Donald Trump being able to smack you around verbally because he is a great trash talker in politics.

PAUL: Yes, he is. This is something that I found interesting. When you look at the two guys who are on top, you got Trump at 32 percent, I believe it is, and Ben Carson at 19 percent. These are two very different individuals.

FERGUSON: One eighty.

PAUL: Yes --

FERGUSON: Completely different styles.

PAUL: -- one is bombastic. Yes.

And then you've got Ben Carson who who's a little more soft spoken but making his points.

What does that tell you, Maria, about the divide of the GOP right now?

CARDONA: I think that's exactly right, that GOP voters are divided. That is a great opportunity for all of these other candidates to come in and really differentiate themselves with real leadership positions, real policy positions.

Let's remember that Trump at, let's say, 32 percent, which is the highest that he's gotten in any polls, that still means that 68 percent of Republican voters don't want him as their commander in chief. But the challenge for all these other Republican candidates is to then say, here's what I'm offering instead of what Donald Trump is offering and do something that really elevates voters, that puts them into a position of optimism, of thinking that the future can actually be better.

And the big difference that Donald Trump is using, he's using very negative language, rhetoric, focusing on fear.

PAUL: But it's working for him. It's working for him so far.

CARDONA: You're right it is. But it's early.

(CROSSTALK)

FERGUSON: Look at Ben Carson. His style like we've just said, completely different. Ben Carson, his style is also working for him. Look at how much he's been able to get a solid grass roots effort behind him.

If I was advising Ben Carson, I would say, you know what, go out there and be you. Don't be anybody else. Don't try to be different than what you are. Because obviously when you speak about political policy, people are listening and they're liking it.

I would stay true to form if I'm Carson and I would not try to get into some back and forth match with Donald Trump on who is more entertaining on Wednesday night.

PAUL: Yes, I'm sorry. We're out of time. I didn't even get, Maria, to this new ad from Hillary Clinton where we're going to see her as grandma, which nobody as seen yet, and the whole thing.

Next time, next time, guys.

[07:40:00] Thank you so much.

CARDONA: Sounds great, Christi. Thanks.

FERGUSON: Thanks.

PAUL: Sure.

All righty. And today, by the way, just a reminder here, we're starting a full day of coverage from the Reagan Presidential Library, home to the next GOP debate. Of course, Jake Tapper, kicking it off with the "STATE OF THE UNION" at 9:00 a.m. Eastern today. Be sure to tune in for the next Republican presidential debate hosted by CNN this Wednesday starting at 6:00 p.m. Eastern. SAVIDGE: This weekend's massive wave of migrants and refugees has

pushed Munich, Germany, to its tipping point. We're going to get a live report of the crisis, just ahead.

And now that the New York Police Department has apologized to James Blake about this controversial takedown, the former tennis star says he's considering a lawsuit. Why he might do it, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The massive flood of migrants is pushing Europe to a tipping point. Officials in Munich, Germany, are even warning that their city is at capacity and, quote, "fully booked" today.

This comes after a wave of some 12,000 exhausted men and women and children arrived in that city yesterday, in hopes of finding shelter and a better life. Borders remain open in other cities.

And CNN's senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is live in the Greek-Macedonian border where migrants and refugees were able to cross freely -- Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Martin, what we've got here is one of the stops on this crossing point on this migrant trail into Europe. This is the Greek-Macedonian border.

[07:45:00] Up until a little while ago, it was little more than open farm fields here. But the security guards here have put up barbed wire and they've set up an informal crossing point for thousands of people, 5,500 people have crossed here during the last 17 hours. It's a quiet right now and there's a lull.

But it's a constant stream of migrants and refugees. And they move from here to a transit center where they get some food, some water, documents that let them stay in Macedonia for 72 hours. Most of them move on immediately, paying their own way, buying tickets on buses, hiring taxis, getting onto a migrant train, hundreds, thousands of them, that will take them to the next stop in Serbia.

Now, nobody you talk to wants to stay here in Macedonia. It's got 30 percent unemployment. It's a relatively poor country. They all say they want to go to Germany. They all say they want to go to Sweden, which has better social welfare benefits which has basically opened the door to these refugees and migrants.

A lot of people I talked to have only left Syria in the last week or so, have just decided to get on this migrant trail, getting on these dangerous rafts from Turkey to the Greek islands. I've met some of the people who have been refugees in Turkey who have fled Syria more than a year ago. And they've decided now that they've seen this big wave of humanity moving, they've decided now is the time to go.

And so, you're getting new refugees coming in. There's a pull factor that's attracting new people. I met somebody who's come all the way from Egypt who lived there for three years after fleeing the Syrian civil war. So, the indicators are that this wave of humanity is getting bigger and bigger. We just heard from the German transport minister, enough is enough. We've got to start shoring up these European borders. So, I expect it will be more and more of a debate in the days and weeks ahead about how long can Europe truly sustain this -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: Ivan Watson there on the Greek-Macedonian border with the update for us. We'll continue to follow through you. Thanks very much, Ivan.

PAUL: Former tennis star James Blake is talking about the takedown by a New York police officer as seen in this video. He says he's not decided whether he'll sue. And he explains why he may do it. It might surprise you.

Also, a little bit later no more deflategate. The NFL's new rules to be certain that footballs stay inflated (INAUDIBLE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:51:28] PAUL: Former tennis star James Blake says if he had not been passive with the police officer who tackled him to the ground last week, he believes things could have really gotten a lot worse for him. While he was being aggressively arrested for a crime that he did not commit, he thought of what happened to Eric Garner.

Blake said he's concerned that if he wasn't a public figure, this sort of aggressive force would be business as usual for the NYPD. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES BLAKE, FORMER PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: If I hadn't gone to the press, his superior officers would have never known anything went on. And to me is extremely scary. You wonder how many times this has happened without anyone knowing.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The officer has been investigated several times for excessive force and lawsuits have been filed. Are you planning on filing a lawsuit?

BLAKE: We haven't decided. I have an attorney and we haven't decided how we're going to go about it. The plan is to speak with Commissioner Bratton and Mayor De Blasio and really do it on civil terms and make sure that we're trying to make a positive change. And if we come up with solutions, then we don't need to take it to court.

LEMON: Do you think he should lose his job?

BLAKE: I do think he should lose his job over this because I don't think this is the right job for him. With him to have that kind of agenda, to take that kind of tone, and that kind of attitude towards this situation, a nonviolent criminal, if I had been the criminal, I still think this is excessive and this shouldn't happen the way it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes joining us now.

So, you know, a lot of people, Tom, believe that Eric Garner's death, the chokehold death, was going to change aggressive, I guess, aggressive officers in the NYPD. James Blake, he's talking there. He's got money. He's got influence. He's got a voice some would say Eric Garner perhaps did not.

But do you think the NYPD will make some policy changes?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Christi, I don't know. To me, the difference between Garner in this case is that the Blake case is more flagrant. In the Garner case, they were talking to him for an extended period of time. He knew the drill. The officers at a certain point were directed to just, OK, take him in, take him down. In this case, the officer that takes down Mr. Blake is so far out of line that it's -- to me, it's worse.

And, you know, to make that kind of a violent takedown for even a nonviolent crime where there's no indication. Also an officer has to be aware of the circumstances, the location, the entire situation. You know, you have a man standing calmly in front of, you know, an expensive hotel in New York, it's not exactly a dark alley at 3:00 in the morning where the guy's running away or resisting or fighting. So me, this situation with Blake is worse.

PAUL: Do you think either one of them, coupled together and everything else that's happened with the protests and the people coming out and saying, we need to have some changes here. What will it take, let me ask you that, in police departments and in New York to perhaps change something like this? And should this guy lose his job?

FUENTES: Yes, I think he should lose his job. I agree with Mr. Blake that he does not seem to have the temperament or restraint or management of his anger to be a police officer out in the street making these kind of misjudgment calls, in his case.

So, where this starts really is with the hiring process. Do not hire people who will have a tendency to be a bully or to use excessive force, or have bad judgment or bad interpersonal skills in the first place.

[07:55:09] In the second -- and have bad judgment. In the second place, then have a vigorous training program. In the third place, strict discipline that when somebody like this is identified within the police department, they have to be taken off the street. If they can be removed from the police department, all the better.

But they are not, to me, in a position to be around the public, to be using this kind of judgment and abusing people. So I think -- to me, the Blake case is extremely flagrant, but it appears to be a single officer who's had a problem in the past and would continue to have a problem in the future, I believe.

PAUL: OK. Tom Fuentes, always appreciate your insight. Thank you, sir.

FUENTES: Thank you, Christi.

PAUL: Of course.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: As if you need me to tell you, it is the first Sunday of the NFL season. It is. The teams are itching to get back on the field.

SAVIDGE: But thanks to deflategate, they are going to be playing by some new rules.

Nine-year NFL veteran and CNN sports anchor Cory Wire is here with more on those rules.

PAUL: No more gates, right?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: The game's going to look a little different. For example, the extra point rule. But it's changes to the pregame protocols regarding the inspection of game balls that's getting the most buzz. The football world is a different place in the wake of deflategate. Here's a quick primer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE (voice-over): If the NFL's learned one thing, it's that they never want the air pressure of game balls to cause such great controversy ever again. So, this season, the league is making changes to their football inspection protocol. Here are a few.

Before each game, two members of the officiating crew will measure the psi of the footballs and they'll record the measurements while a league security ref watches every step. Previously, only one official checked the pressure. They didn't keep any sort of record and the league didn't have anyone overseeing the process.

All 24 footballs for each team, the 12 for play and 12 backups will be numbered, whereas in the past, they were not. Each approved football will be stamped with the referee's personalized distinctive mark. The NFL security ref will then escort a football coordinator in charge of transporting the footballs to the sideline where they're given to the team ready for play.

Throughout the season, the NFL will randomly select games where they'll respect each team's footballs at half time. The coordinator will transport the footballs escorted by NFL security, of course.