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President Obama Touts Job Numbers; Clinton Fighting Back on E- Mails; New Hampshire Battle. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired February 05, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:02]

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The explosive device was actually a laptop, and that there was some kind of an explosive device either inside the laptop or it was indeed a laptop bomb.

We also know that the man who was ejected from the plane just over Mogadishu after the plane had taken off is the suspect behind this bombing. Now, investigators obviously say that they're not sure if he is a member of any terror group, particularly the al Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab, which is sort of very active in Mogadishu and in Somalia, but they are investigating why exactly he sat in that seat and why the device, which, as I said, they believe was a laptop bomb, why it was placed in such a strategic place over the wing of the plane, which is over the engines.

If it had been any higher, it was about 12,000 to 14,000 feet when this device went off, if it had been at cruising at attitude at around 30,000 feet, it would have likely brought the plane down.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Laptop bomb. Robyn Kriel, thank you very much.

You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for being with me on this Friday. We have a lot to get to here, four days before that New Hampshire primary. Two prime candidates for president, they're breaking out with new attitudes.

Donald Trump striking a somewhat softer, gentler tone, while a tougher Hillary Clinton is fighting back, her new tack on full display during the presidential Democratic debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not making promises that I cannot keep.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (VT-I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Experience is not the only point. Judgment is. And once again, back in 2002, when we both looked at the same evidence about the wisdom of the war in Iraq, one of us voted the right way and one of us didn't.

CLINTON: We did differ. A vote in 2002 is not a plan to defeat ISIS. We have to look at the threats that we face right now, and we have to be prepared to take them on and defeat them. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: Secretary Clinton does represent the establishment. I represent, I hope, ordinary Americans, and, by the way, who are not all that enamored with the establishment.

CLINTON: Senator Sanders is the only person who I think would characterize me, a woman running to be the first woman president, as exemplifying the establishment.

SANDERS: What being part of the establishment is, is in the last quarter having a super PAC that raised $15 million from Wall Street.

CLINTON: And enough is enough. If you have got something to say, say it directly. But you will not find that I ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation that I ever received.

So I think it's time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks, and let's talk -- let's talk about the issues.

SANDERS: On our worst days, I think it's fair to say, we're 100 times better than any Republican candidate.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: I am the strongest candidate to take it to the Republicans in November.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK, so that was that. How about a nicer Donald Trump perhaps? Just days after he accused Ted Cruz of stealing his caucus win in Iowa, the Republican billionaire had this exchange with Anderson Cooper about Ted Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I'm into New Hampshire now. It's just one of those things.

There was a lot of strange things. And I like Ben Carson very much. And he got pretty roughed up, frankly, although it affected me maybe more than Ben. But I'm so much, because I have been now here for two days, I'm so much into this, into New Hampshire, that I just -- I don't care about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now, Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for "USA Today," who is covering her 10th presidential campaign.

We were in Iowa. Now you're in New Hampshire. Listen, you know how important New Hampshire is, how it's a totally different beast than Iowa. But I'm curious on these sort of new attitudes between both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Are you seeing that? And what is at play here?

SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "USA TODAY": Well, you know, New Hampshire obviously very important, especially on the Republican side.

You know, we have still got a pretty big field on the Republican side. Coming out of New Hampshire, it will probably get smaller. And that's one of reasons I think you see some of the battling in ads, with Trump taking a softer tone. That's not the case on the trail for some of the other candidates.

And I don't think that will be the case tomorrow night in that last Republican debate before New Hampshire votes. Last night, among the Democrats, definitely the fiercest debate we have seen of the five so far. Probably because it was down to two people, that made it easier to go head to head, but also because close to New Hampshire and to the states that follow it, especially with Hillary Clinton, you see here, looking past a likely loss in New Hampshire to victory she hopes to score in South Carolina and Nevada and on Super Tuesday.

[15:05:05]

BALDWIN: Well, even though this is sort of Bernie Sanders geographical wheelhouse, you talked to the governor of New Hampshire, who is supporting Hillary Clinton. Let's watch that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MAGGIE HASSAN (D), NEW HAMPSHIRE: Here we are in New Hampshire, where we have come together over the last few years and really worked hard to make progress. But then what the voters tell me they see in Washington is real frustration that corporate special interests have really rigged the system for themselves and against the middle class.

PAGE: Well, what is the contrast with Bernie Sanders, not the contrast with Republicans? Why are New Hampshirites who voted for her in 2008 interested, at least at the moment, in voting for him?

HASSAN: I think Sanders has done a good job of identifying the problem and tapping into real frustration, but at the end of the day, you have to do something with that frustration to create change. And that's where Hillary Clinton's record is just unparalleled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I mean, Susan, you have seen all the polls? Other than this one outlier poll, do you really think she believes Hillary Clinton's going to pull the win on Tuesday?

PAGE: I can't believe she does, but you know what, I wouldn't have believed it eight years ago either when Hillary Clinton came from behind, extraordinary contest.

The Hillary Clinton campaign thinks they are likely to lose here. They hope to lose by less, to close the gap. But they're really looking to future states to save her candidacy or boost her candidacy, because Bernie Sanders' problem is, even if he wins big here, where does he win against next? And that's a problem for him.

But, clearly, this is a race both campaigns believe is now going on for a long period of time. They both have a lot of money. A lot of supporters. We're going to be covering this Democratic contest until the spring.

BALDWIN: OK. Susan Page, I will see you in New Hampshire next week, all right? Thank you very much. Stay warm.

PAGE: Hey, thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK.

They are the two front-runners for the Tuesday New Hampshire primary. And these two candidates seem like polar opposites. But it turns out, you know what, there are some similarities between Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, especially when it comes to campaign finance reform.

Joining me now, our normal Friday date, I have CNN political commentator Michael Smerconish, who hosts CNN's SMERCONISH."

Hello.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: How are you?

BALDWIN: I'm wonderful, actually.

SMERCONISH: That's a good observation about the two of them.

BALDWIN: How do you mean?

SMERCONISH: Insofar as neither one is dependent upon -- quote, unquote...

BALDWIN: Oh, those two, Sanders and Trump.

SMERCONISH: Yes, not us two, those two.

BALDWIN: I'm sorry.

SMERCONISH: Insofar as they're not dependent upon big money. Right.

BALDWIN: They're not. They're self-financing. And that's why so many people enjoy them and they can say I'm not in bed with anyone.

SMERCONISH: Donald's doing it himself. And probably the best business transaction in which he's ever been involved, given the return for which he's making a very, I think, contribution so far.

BALDWIN: Don't you think -- listen, critics say he should put more money into it, have more of a ground game because he didn't do as well as some had thought in Iowa. And New Hampshire's huge for him. Even though he's ahead in polls, you never know what could happen. SMERCONISH: It would seem like he should have written a bigger check

in Iowa and probably should have written a check or should still write a check in New Hampshire to make sure folks get out to the polls. Great example of that was reported in today's "Times," direct mail, an old staple of making sure that people have an added motivation to come out.

But to your initial observation, you're absolutely right that neither is dependent upon big money. And I think that strikes a chord with an electorate that is so frustrated by the prospect that so much is being spent and being spent by dark forces, meaning a lack of transparency. That's the most objectionable part to me.

BALDWIN: But in addition to the money, wasn't it Donald Trump just last week -- and obviously they would maybe say it differently than I'm about to -- that he was saying, what about universal health care? I was saying, whoa, whoa, whoa, isn't that something you would hear out of Bernie Sanders' mouth?

But of course I imagine the Trump campaign would say, no, we just want to repeal Obamacare and start anew.

SMERCONISH: I think they're probably -- he's dumb like a fox. That, I have learned the hard way. I think Donald Trump is probably recognizing that 40 percent, 41 percent of the electorate in New Hampshire are independents, independents who can walk in and make a determination as to whether to vote.

BALDWIN: So important on Tuesday.

SMERCONISH: Right, and an additional reason I think why the state is so difficult to poll. But I think it's a calculated decision on Trump's part to try to reach the 40-plus percent.

BALDWIN: Can we talk about your column and how...

SMERCONISH: Lay it on me, come on.

BALDWIN: ... a lot of pick up this week. First, let me just part of Chris Cuomo's interview with host Glenn Beck. Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is there a little bit of reap what you sow in some of this for the GOP, that engendering an oppositional mode towards government, in ratcheting up negativity as a mainline discourse, you wound up somewhat birthing Donald Trump, and now some those people who are angry about what was going on and telling people to be angry, now they have got somebody who is harnessing the power of exactly that and you're disappointed?

GLENN BECK, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I'm not disappointed. I have warned about this. You go back to my shows on FOX and I warned the progressive movement -- and that is what this is.

Donald Trump is a progressive, make no mistake. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:10:00]

BALDWIN: There's that word progressive again, but used in a totally different context.

So, here you wrote this column this week essentially talking about these incredibly popular conservative radio show hosts and talk show hosts who essentially you're saying have a grip on Republicans.

SMERCONISH: A greater -- I argue they have a greater sway on the GOP base than does the party leadership and that that has taken place over last 30 years.

Brooke, when I'm out and about, not here on CNN, not answering the phone on my own radio program, but leading my real life, people engage me about politics and what I hear most often is the question, people will say, explain to me, how did Donald Trump get to be the front- runner, how did Ted Cruz, two relatively bombastic personalities, get to be in the position?

BALDWIN: What do you say?

SMERCONISH: And I say look to the leadership of the Republican Party. I'm not talking about Reince Priebus. I'm not talking about Sean Spicer.

I'm talking about Beck and Limbaugh and Hannity, because they have supplanted the leadership of there GOP. And so those candidates are a reflection, I think, of the talk radio world.

BALDWIN: Rhetoric, everything that's been...

(CROSSTALK)

SMERCONISH: Absolutely, stirring the pot. But the problem, I think, is the party exists, the Republican Party, Democratic Party, for one purpose, to win elections. Those personalities exact for a different person, which is to attract ears and eyeballs and clicks and frankly to make money. I think those purposes are at odds.

BALDWIN: But they then in all of this stirring have created the crocodile, Frankenstein, whatever analogy you want to use.

SMERCONISH: Great in primary season. Great to assist someone in winning a nomination, but not the way in which you go after the 42 percent of the country who are independents.

And one other thing. Make no mistake, the best outcome for those personalities, Hillary. They get to complain for four or eight more years. Think about that.

BALDWIN: Marinate on that for your weekend. We will watch you, special edition tomorrow morning, "SMERCONISH," 9:00 Eastern here on CNN. Thank you very much. Coming up next, speaking of Donald Trump, Donald Trump canceling a

trip to New Hampshire today. We will tell you why, and how Jeb Bush is taking advantage of that announcement.

Also ahead, President Obama holding an unexpected news conference today and delivering some sharp words about not getting any credit.

And Saturday surprise, have you heard? We're getting some news about Larry David's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" tomorrow and why Bernie Sanders has a sudden change in plans -- more on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:30]

BALDWIN: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is blaming the weather, snow, for rescheduling a New Hampshire town hall event tonight. Trump postponed -- it was actually this morning's planned event until Monday. A snowstorm coming down on New Hampshire. That's the weather issue there.

The move comes after Trump had dramatically bulked up his New Hampshire campaign schedule this week in wake of criticism that he wasn't doing enough retail politics in the Granite State.

Meantime, Republican rival Jeb Bush mocked Trump's weather issues on Twitter, sending out this photo. He writes: "My 90-year-old mother made it out to the campaign. She met with Destiny, age 5." The photos you can see showing Barbara Bush shaking hands with that little girl.

They are out and about in it.

Let me bring in CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta, who is in Florence, South Carolina, where Trump will appear later.

All right, you're in South Carolina. Are you hearing anything from Trump's campaign on any of this from Bush?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, I mean, you could say that the Trump schedule is frozen in New Hampshire right now. That's for sure.

BALDWIN: Ba-dum-bum, Jim Acosta.

ACOSTA: This is not a good thing -- there you go. I try.

This is not a good day for Donald Trump, only four days until the New Hampshire primary. Obviously, this is playing in the media up there, this criticism that he did not have enough of a ground campaign in Iowa, that that was part of reason why he lost to Ted Cruz in the Iowa caucuses.

And so you do have this narrative out there that history might repeat itself in New Hampshire. Yes, the Bush campaign did send out that tweet to sort of tweak Trump a little bit talking about Barbara Bush being out there in the snow, braving the elements of New Hampshire.

I asked Corey Lewandowski, the Trump campaign manager, about this, didn't really have much of a response, said they're too busy making America great again. But Donald Trump from his office today did post a Facebook video honoring the official slogan of New Hampshire. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The great slogan of New Hampshire, live free or die, means so much to so many people. All over the world, they use that expression. It means liberty. It means freedom. It means free enterprise. It means safety and security. It means borders.

It means strong, strong military, where nobody's going to mess with us. It means taking care of our votes. What a great slogan. Congratulations, New Hampshire. Wonderful job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So there you go, Donald Trump really likes the official slogan of New Hampshire. I'm sure that will please some folks out there.

But at the same time, people in New Hampshire, they're a little bit like the people in Iowa, Brooke. They expect these candidates to be at these town halls. They expect them to trudge through the snow and go to diners, go to coffee shops, no matter what the weather is. Undoubtedly, this is probably going to have some kind of a small effect on this campaign. It's going to continue this narrative Donald Trump isn't going in all the way and doing everything he has to do to win these contests.

BALDWIN: He was there last night. Listen, some of these other candidates have camped out for months and months and months.

Jim Acosta in South Carolina, thank you very much.

Next, Hillary Clinton breaks out some new ammunition to defend her use of a private e-mail server. Turns out she wasn't the only one to do it.

Plus, the governors in this Republican presidential race have been hammering Marco Rubio for so-called canned speeches. So, CNN took a look. What happened when we compared some of Rubio's stump speeches? Don't miss that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:24:24]

BALDWIN: The headlines over Hillary Clinton using that private e-mail server for classified information not going away, but a new report from the State Department investigators revealed Colin Powell and staff members of Condoleezza Rice also received e-mails on personal accounts.

Hillary Clinton wasted no time on using the news here to defend herself against all her critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Now, we had a development in the e-mail matter today when it came out that Secretary Powell and close aides to former Secretary Rice used private e-mail accounts.

[15:25:05]

And now you have these people in the government who are doing the same thing to Secretary Powell and Secretary Rice's aides they have been doing to me, which is that I never sent or received any classified material.

They are retroactively classifying it. I agree completely with Secretary Powell, who said today this is an absurdity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's bring in CNN's chief political correspondent, Dana Bash.

And, Dana, just on facts, I mean, what more have we learned now about these e-mails from these past administrations?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That Secretary Colin Powell sent two e-mails, and then Condoleezza right apparently didn't use e-mail when she was secretary of state. Top aides sent or received 10 e-mails.

All of those were marked secret or confidential. But just as you just heard Secretary Clinton say, it was done after the fact. I think that is what most importantly right now Hillary Clinton, because she's the only one of the three running for president, what she is dealing with, and she's clearly very frustrated by, which is at the time they weren't confidential. There was no problem when it comes to the secrecy and importance of that with regard to the government's classified nature.

But the problem is, in retrospect, they have been deemed that way. And it is the intelligence part of the State Department that does that. And in a bipartisan way, these former secretaries of state are quite frustrated.

BALDWIN: But with this news, does this at least -- does it help her at all, at least in this political part of the battle?

BASH: Of course. I mean, there's no way it doesn't help.

However, Brooke, this is kind of baked in the cake. And I think with anything of this nature, particularly for somebody like Hillary Clinton, who is polarizing, people who just don't care already didn't just care. People who think that whatever she does with regards to these e-mails is nefarious, they're going to think there's something else there.

So it's hard for me to believe that there are undecided voters out there going, oh, well, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice did it, so, OK, guess I will change my mind.

BALDWIN: OK, OK, people's minds are made up on that one.

On the president, we saw him pop out for a news conference today just after noon. He was talking jobs and the economy. He was defending some of his policies he enacted to strengthen the U.S. economy. And yesterday we took it live. It was a great moment. You know, he was out with the NBA champs, the Golden State Warriors. He made a subtle joke about giving credit where credit is due, talking about the Warriors' assistant coach. Here was the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You defied the cynics. You accomplished big things, you racked up a great record, and you don't get enough credit.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I can't imagine how that feels.

Had we adopted some of the policies that were advocated by Republicans over the last four, five, six years, we know that we probably would have done worse. And we know that because a lot of European countries adopted those policies, and they haven't yet gotten to the same place they were before the crisis. So, evidence, facts are on our side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK. Wants to take a little credit. Economic recovery. Making a joke yesterday with the ball players. What did you make of all that?

BASH: I remember when I was cub reporter which, of course, was...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Yes, not too long ago.

BASH: We used to cover presidential campaigns, and the first Friday of every month, at 8:30 in the morning, every campaign operative on both sides, they were holding their breath waiting for the jobs report to come out, especially when things were not good in the economy, because they would take that and spin that whichever way because it was all about jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs.

The reason why the president is clearly so frustrated and is talking about this is because today's jobs number, for example, was an eight- year low. I mean, that is pretty good. But what you are seeing on the Republican campaign trail is everybody from Donald Trump on down saying, these jobs reports don't mean anything. They're sort of meaningless, because they say -- and they're not entirely wrong about this -- that it doesn't take into account other factors that make people feel bad about their economy, like wage stagnation, like the fact that people might have jobs, but they're not really great jobs.

Maybe they have to have two jobs to survive. It's that kind of thing that you're hearing from Republicans, because at the end of the day, Brooke, you know this, it's really about how people feel, whether they feel like they can get ahead, whether they feel like they have a fair shot, whether they feel like they can balance the budget or send their kids to college.

It's not so much about what a number says, a percentage point about a jobs report.

BALDWIN: So much of it is psychological. We talk about it all the time when those numbers come out.

BASH: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Dana Bash, cub reporter just yesterday, right?

(LAUGHTER)

BASH: Of course.

BALDWIN: Dana, thank you very much. Thank you in Washington for us this afternoon.