[Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] All the shouting in the world is not going to do what I would hope all of us want.
[Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I've been told to stop shouting about ending gun violence. Well, I haven't been shouting but sometimes when a woman speaks out, some people think it's shouting.
[Camerota:] That was Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton trading jabs. And now, Senator Sanders fighting back against the accusations of sexism labeled by Hillary Clinton. Is it no more Mr. Nice Guy time? Let's bring in Bernie Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver. Jeff, great to see you. What does Bernie Sanders think about these charges of sexism against him?
[Jeff Weaver, Sanders Campaign Manager:] Well, look, you know, it is an illness here in Washington D.C. some politicians believe that no one could possibly be in a room with them without talking about them. But the truth of the manner was Senator Sanders was tack about the tenor of the debate in general over the issue of the gun violence and gun safety. And I think anybody who looked at it objectively understands that there, in fact, has been a lot of shouting back and forth from people on both sides, and it's time to build a consensus around common sense gun safety legislation. So
[Camerota:] Is the term "shouting" a sexiest term?
[Weaver:] Well, it wasn't leveled at Secretary Clinton. So I don't think it's relevant.
[Camerota:] So, is this what is sort of prompting Bernie Sanders new tone? What some believe is a new tone of him going after Secretary Clinton? Let's listen to what he said last night about Hillary Clinton.
[Weaver:] Sure.
[Sanders:] I have been opposed to these disastrous trade agreements from day one. I'm glad that Hillary Clinton has come on board and now said, well, she's against the Keystone pipeline. Well, do you know what if you take climate change seriously and understand the impact it will have on this planet, it is a no-brainer. What the American people and Democrats have to know, which candidate historically has had the guts to stand up to powerful people and take difficult decisions.
[Camerota:] So is that Bernie Sanders taking off the gloves against Hillary Clinton?
[Weaver:] Look, there are some clear policy differences between Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton. There's no doubt it. You know, the Clinton campaign has tried as rapidly as they can to race towards Senator Sanders in terms of positions because, you know, he's setting the terms of the debate in this election. So, you see on Keystone, she said they were inclined to support it. In terms of TPP, she said it was the gold standard. Spoke in favor of it 45 times. In terms of DOMA, she claimed it was kind defensive action when in fact it was that discriminatory gay law against Americans. So, on issue after issue, you see there are clear differences between the candidates both in terms of their positions and in terms of the consistency with which they have held those positions over the years.
[Camerota:] Jeff, this does sound like a different tone from Bernie Sanders. It is not to congenial tone that we heard at the debate. Is this intentional from your campaign that now sort of the gloves are off and it is time. We're getting closer to the first primaries, to more vociferously go after Hillary Clinton?
[Weaver:] Well, it's not about going after anybody, but it's about laying out the differences between the candidates. I mean, an election is a choice. Voters are going to go into the caucus rooms or into the booths and they are going to make a choice between two candidates. And it's important to know what those choices are. I would also say, you know, while we've been setting the agenda in this debate, the Clinton campaign has really been setting the tone. It was they who launched super PAC attacks against Senator Sanders. It was they who made this sort of distorted sexist attack against Senator Sanders. All baseless. So, you know, I think, what we would like to do is we would like to have a campaign where we talk about the issues, which we are doing. And if that is the tone that they want to set in this campaign, you know, we can do that as well.
[Camerota:] Jeff, so much was made in the debate of that moment that Bernie Sanders said, "Enough with the e-mails, nobody gives a damn about the e-mails." And we interviewed you on NEW DAY the next morning and that did seem to be one of the highlights of the debate. But now, a couple of weeks out, in sort of the cool light of day, does Bernie Sanders regret making that statement? Because it did seem too friendly to Hillary Clinton.
[Weaver:] No, absolutely not. Look, this must be a campaign about issues, about trade policy, about raising the minimum wage, about dealing with a rigged economy that is propped up by a corrupt political system. Those are the issues we want to talk about. E- mails or no e-mails, that's not an important issue to the American people. What they want to talk about are the issues that you heard Senator Sanders just talking about last night. Where he is drawing contrasts but they are on the substantive issues that American people care about, not emails and gossip and personal attacks.
[Camerota:] Jeff Weaver, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. Nice to talk to you.
[Weaver:] Happy to be here. Thank you.
[Camerota:] Let's get over to Michaela.
[Pereira:] All right. Alisyn, a new national poll establishing Dr. Ben Carson as the man to beet right now among all Republican candidates, including Donald Trump. What's behind the surge? Can it last?