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High Stakes Debate between Democratic rivals ahead of South Carolina Vote; Clinton Picks up Key Endorsement; GOP Candidates Blitzing South Carolina; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired February 11, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:00:05] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, he first match-up after the New Hampshire takedown.

Bernie Sanders on fire and tonight face-to-face with Hillary Clinton. Will she unleash a new strategy?

And no pressure in South Carolina?

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now it's up to South Carolina to pick a president.

COSTELLO: But can Donald Trump's rivals convince voters not to vote for the billionaire?

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can you imagine Donald Trump as president of the United States? We will be worse off than we are now.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The hard thing about Donald in the short term is, he doesn't have any policy positions.

COSTELLO: And 125 miles per hour winds, huge waves. The nightmare finally over for thousands of vacationers. But the storm just beginning for the cruise company.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That guy should be thrown in jail right now. Thrown in jail.

COSTELLO: 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.

As you can see from the countdown clock, we're just 11 hours away from the next presidential debate. And for the Democrats, this may be their single most important showdown yet.

You're looking at live pictures from inside the debate hall at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. You can see the two podiums there for the PBS debate which will be simulcast right here on CNN starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Hillary Clinton considered the shoe in just months ago now scrambling

to gain momentum. Bernie Sanders eager to build on his crushing defeat of Clinton in New Hampshire. Both facing off for the first time since the primary there, and both ramping up their efforts to win African-American support.

Next hour Clinton will receive a key, very important endorsement from the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, and Sanders is ramping up his efforts to court African-American leaders after the first primary in the south looms next week.

We're covering both the Democratic and Republican races. But we want to begin with tonight's debate.

CNN's Brianna Keilar live in Milwaukee. Good morning.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The narrative right now coming out of Iowa and New Hampshire is this loss that Hillary Clinton was handed, a big loss by Bernie Sanders in the Granite State. So her goal here tonight is to try to turn that around.

Bernie Sanders, of course, wants to keep that narrative in place. He's been actually pretty busy here in the last day. As Hillary Clinton was laying low, getting ready for this debate, Bernie Sanders went on a bit of a whirlwind media tour in New York. He was on "The View." He was on the "Late Show." And emphasizing really what I think we'll hear him talk even more about tonight, this idea that the economy is rigged in favor of the wealthy.

Here's what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our campaign finance system, our election system, and our economy is essentially owned and controlled by a relatively small number of people whose greed, in my view, is really wreaking havoc with the middle class of this country.

I think the message that we're bringing forth that this country is supposed to be a nation of fairness, and we're not seeing that fairness right now. We have massive levels of income and wealth inequality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We'll also be seeing these candidates, Carol, looking forward to Nevada to the caucuses there. To the South Carolina primary later this month. And things are really different when you look at these two contests compared to Iowa and New Hampshire. It's a more diverse Democratic electorate, and Hillary Clinton has been doing a lot better in the polls with Hispanic voters, with black voters as well. And you're going to see Bernie Sanders really trying to cut into that advantage for her.

So you have Hillary Clinton back on her feet, back on her heels going into this debate tonight -- this key debate. But she's also got this advantage of being certainly more approved by these key constituencies that she's going to try to really tailor her message toward tonight at this PBS "News Hour" Democratic presidential debate.

COSTELLO: All right. Brianna Keilar, reporting live from Milwaukee, thank you.

Next hour, as I said, Hillary Clinton gets an important endorsement. And it follows a strong show of support from the White House. While stopping short of an endorsement, a former White House press secretary says the president, President Obama, is pulling for Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CARNEY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the president has signaled, while still remaining neutral, that he supports Secretary Clinton's candidacy, and would prefer to see her as the nominee. I don't think there's any doubt that he wants Hillary to win the nomination and believes that she would be the best candidate in the fall and the most effective as president in carrying forward what he's achieved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Let's turn to Joe Johns for more on Clinton's big score next hour. Good morning.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. It's a big deal. Not really unexpected as the Congressional Black Caucus political action committee that's doing the endorsing, headed by Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York, home state connections there with Hillary. And we've been hearing members of the caucus are going to be on the ground in South Carolina supporting her in the run-up to the primary.

[10:05:07] The political action committee normally supports African- American candidates for Congress, but the Clinton connections with the CBC go back years and years. What is interesting is that the highest ranking black member of Congress, Jim Clyburn, who happens to come from South Carolina, has been holding off on an endorsement not necessarily leaning toward Sanders either.

Clyburn has an institutional position in Congress. He's the third- ranking Democrat in the House, which means if Hillary Clinton does not get the nomination, Sanders could end up in a little bit of political friction with the nominee down the road, though he says that's not the main reason why he's holding off endorsing anybody, at least for now. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: There will be maybe a dozen Congressional Black Caucus members throughout South Carolina this weekend. So I'll follow their lead and make a decision sometime soon. That -- I think she has a great record to lay out for the American people, but people get so caught up in the emotions of a campaign they sometimes forget that history, and so we're going to be discussing all of that this weekend with family and friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Hillary Clinton is going to be pushing hard on the Palmetto State. She has the debate on CNN from Wisconsin tonight then back to South Carolina. We hear she's going to be focusing on Friday on education in one of the state's poorest school districts. And the challenge for Bernie Sanders is going to be to match the Clinton outreach to minorities in states like South Carolina where she's already polling very well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: That's right. Joe Johns, thank you so much.

Well, while Clinton wracks up big named backers, she's still struggling to gain momentum with young voters -- women voters, young women voters, especially after Tuesday night's loss in New Hampshire. And on tonight's stage she has a chance to reset the race and redefine her candidacy.

So let's talk about that. I'm joined by host of "The Bill Press Show," Bill Press.

BILL PRESS, HOST, "THE BILL PRESS SHOW": Hey, Carol.

COSTELLO: And former senior adviser to the -- hi, Bill. And former senior adviser to the Hillary Clinton 2008 campaign Doug Hattaway is also here. Hi, Dough.

DOUGH HATTAWAY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hi, there.

COSTELLO: OK. So, Bill, you know, we're talking a lot about Hillary Clinton redefining her message. But she's up by a lot in South Carolina. Real Clear Politics did a poll of polls, she's up by 30 points. So does Bernie Sanders have to do well, too, here even though he's got the momentum behind him after New Hampshire?

PRESS: Well, sure he does. Let's not forget, by the way, the Nevada caucuses for Democrats come first, and I hope we can talk about that, too. Both of them are challenges for Bernie Sanders. A caucus state I think works better for him in terms of grassroots volunteers, getting people out to the caucuses, even though there were only Democrats allowed in Nevada.

But, look, both of them I think come out of New Hampshire with a big challenge. Bernie has to prove that he can take his message beyond the all-white states of Iowa and New Hampshire. I think he can. And I think Hillary has to show that that one loss has not thrown her. That she's able to retool and get her momentum back in territory that should be very friendly to her, and so I think tonight's debate is really, really crucial to both of them.

COSTELLO: And, Doug, you know, more than one analyst says, you know what, the Hillary Clinton campaign is panicking. They think that she has to redefine her message. What do you think?

HATTAWAY: I think she has a new opportunity here to talk to folks who actually might not have been paying as much attention. The game is really on now, and I think there is sort of a fresh opportunity, and I'd look for her tonight actually not to go on the attack against Sanders or try to outburn Bernie. But talk directly to the voters, talk directly to people about their hopes for their futures, and their concerns about the political and economic system today because what we've seen so far is Sanders is really tapped into anger. He's the anger candidate. She can be the positives aspirational candidate talking about the future.

And she's trying to be solutions oriented. Where he's talking about problems, she's talking about solutions. I think the challenge for her is that she knows so much about policies and programs, she needs to step back and talk about the values and hopes that shows that she's in touch with the concerns of everyday hard-working Americans.

COSTELLO: Yes. And, Bill, some say that because Hillary Clinton is so wonky, her message gets lost. People don't really understand what she's most passionate about.

PRESS: Well, I think that may be true. I mean, look, Hillary is a great candidate. Can be a great candidate. I think we've seen -- I don't think we've seen the best side of her lately, and sort of building on what Doug was saying, I think that she has to -- I would hope that they would stop the attempt to tear down Bernie Sanders. I don't think it's working. I think the idea of whining about a smear campaign, nobody bought that.

It's a campaign. They both have differences and just air the differences. But I believe that she'd be very smart to go positive, to be aspirational. And I think the way Bernie has.

[10:10:07] I mean, he said I want free college tuition for everybody, I want universal health care. Now Hillary may say, I do, too, but there may be a different way to get there, but she's been saying too much, no, we can't. I think she's got to say yes, we can. It worked in 2008. It will work again.

COSTELLO: And, Doug, you know, I talked to one analyst who said really what both candidates should be concentrating on are Donald trump and Ted Cruz because those two candidates Democrats fear the most.

HATTAWAY: Good point. I would -- right. If I'm on the attack in this situation, I'd want to be drawing those contrasts with Republicans. I think there's a tendency in politics when you're in the battle just try to go after the other guy and we say, as we say, draw that contrast. I think the contrast is very clear here where if you've got the angry revolutionary candidate be the aspirational solutions oriented candidate.

But remember, people don't dig into the details as much. Talk about a positive vision for the future. Show that you're in touch with their everyday concerns. It's interesting. I -- she agrees I think with Bernie Sanders on the problems on Wall Street, for example. But most -- you know, your average hard-working person couldn't tell you how breaking up the banks is going to improve their lives. She needs to keep a focus on the lives of everyday, hard-working people and those are the folks who are going to come out and vote in these upcoming primaries and caucuses.

COSTELLO: Well, we'll see what happens at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN.

PRESS: You got it.

COSTELLO: That's right. Bill Press, Doug Hattaway, thanks to both of you.

PRESS: Thanks, Carol.

HATTAWAY: Thank you.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the GOP blitz is on. John Kasich speaking right now in South Carolina. And as the playing field gets smaller the attacks are just getting stronger.

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[10:15:51] COSTELLO: The battle for South Carolina rages on. These are pictures from moments ago. This is GOP hopeful John Kasich. He's meeting with voters right now hosting a town hall in Pawley's Island. And while Ohio's governor is riding high after finishing second in New Hampshire, he's not banking on big numbers in South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to compete here. We don't expect to win here. I'm not worried about what the other folks say. And this is not -- this is not the end of it for us here in South Carolina. We will be moving through South Carolina to other places.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So you don't expect to win here?

KASICH: Oh, no, no. No.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Some of these other states, the attack ads are already on the air.

KASICH: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you going to hit back?

KASICH: Well, I'm not going to sit there and be, you know, a marshmallow or some kind of a pin cushion, people just pound me. I mean, where I come from, the blue-collar town that I come from, you know, if you came in and beat our football team, we just broke all the windows on your bus. I mean, you know, that's just a joke, by the way. But I mean, the fact is, I'm not going to just sit there and let somebody pound on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Jim Acosta is in Greenville, South Carolina. He's following the GOP blitz there.

Good morning, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know, Donald Trump is riding high right now after that big win in New Hampshire. We were down with him in South Carolina last night -- here in South Carolina at a livestock arena. And, you know, it's a manner of speech when we say that these candidates take a victory lap after a big win, but Donald Trump literally took a victory lap on the stage in South Carolina last night.

It was something to behold. But Donald Trump and his campaign, they both know what's coming, and all of these candidates down here, this remaining shrinking field of candidates, they're starting to go after him. And what's interesting to see at this point is Marco Rubio. Marco Rubio has sort of thrown out the Rubio playbook that wasn't working in Iowa and New Hampshire. Well, it was working in Iowa to some extent but it really did not work in New Hampshire after that disastrous debate performance.

I was on his charter plane yesterday with other reporters including my colleague Manu Raju who covers Rubio pretty consistently. And Rubio was telling all of us that basically, you know, this is going to be the new Rubio. He's going to be unscripted, he's going to let it rip. And earlier this morning here in South Carolina, he went right after Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, and Ted Cruz, in a matter of, like, 30 seconds. So take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBIO: Donald Trump has zero foreign policy experience. Negotiating a hotel deal in another country is not foreign policy experience. Jeb -- Governor Bush has no foreign policy experience. Ted Cruz has a little bit of foreign policy experience, and it's different than mine. Ted Cruz, the only budget he's ever voted for in his years in Washington was a budget sponsored by Rand Paul that brags about cutting defense spending.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And, Carol, it's interesting to hear Rubio on the plane yesterday talking about this new style that we're going to be seeing here over the next nine days before the South Carolina primary. He was joking about how, you know, his debate performance that was much maligned was not nearly as bad as Rick Perry's debate performance when Rick Perry said oops back in the last presidential cycle. Marco Rubio told the reporters on the plane there that Rick Perry's problem was that he couldn't remember what he wanted to say. Rubio said that his problem was that he remembered what he wanted to say too well which is why he kept repeating things.

And there was another lighthearted moment where he said he was going to get those boots -- remember those boots everybody was talking about a few weeks ago? He was going to get those poll tested last night here in South Carolina. So he was having some fun. A lot more fun than I've seen Marco Rubio have on the campaign trail. So we'll see if it has any effect.

As for Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner is continuing with this strategy where he jumps ahead to other states. People might be scratching their heads and wondering why is he not here in South Carolina today? He's going to be in Louisiana today and Florida tomorrow. Sort of working ahead on those states looming on the calendar. They feel like that strategy works for them -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jim Acosta reporting live from South Carolina.

Speaking of Donald trump and Ted Cruz, they are pulling no punches in their battle for South Carolina voters. Trump firing his shot with this ad, questioning Cruz's trustworthiness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:20:06] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What kind of man talks from both sides of his mouth on amnesty for illegals on national television and still denies it? Who runs a campaign accused of dirty tricks that tried to sabotage Ben Carson with false rumors?

Ted Cruz. The worst kind of Washington insider who just can't with trusted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Not to be outdone, Ted Cruz took on his rival with a little help from kids, a doll house, and a toy that strongly resembles Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look. I got the Trump action figure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now wait. It's huge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does he do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He pretends to be a Republican.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Hillary, I'll give you money to be my friend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check out my house, Mr. Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a lousy house. I'm going to take your house. Eminent domain. And park my limos there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eminent domain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER) COSTELLO: I can't help it. It was funny. All right. Let's about that and more. John Avlon is editor-in-chief of the "Daily Beast," and a CNN political analyst, and Tom Bevan is the co-founder and executive editor of Real Clear Politics.

Welcome to both of us. Tom, you weren't laughing at that Cruz ad. Not a bit?

TOM BEVAN, CO-FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, REAL CLEAR POLITICS: No, I -- I think the Cruz ad is very well done. But I'm not clear that the issue of eminent domain. I mean, look, Jeb Bush hit him hard on that. Hit Donald Trump hard on that the last debate in New Hampshire and guess what happened? Donald Trump rocked in New Hampshire. So I'm not sure, as well done as that ad is, and it is entertaining and it is pretty funny, I'm not sure how effective it's going to be in the final analysis.

COSTELLO: Well, John, what about Donald Trump's ad? Because he ran -- go ahead, John. Respond.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No, look, I just think the Cruz ad is enormously effective because it uses humor. Humor is one of the most underrated tools in politics, particularly in attack ads because it's disarming. Because it speaks to a different truth and it ends up getting a lot of earned media. And I think that actually is an enormously effective ad. And Ted Cruz's ads and social media presence in this campaign has been a heck of a lot more effective and more charming than the candidate themselves.

COSTELLO: Wow. OK. That was kind of harsh, John Avlon. But --

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Yes, yes, yes. Tom, a question for you. Because South Carolina is known for its nasty politics and voters there will see lots and lots of negative ads until they just want to break their television sets. Will that be effective for the candidates or do voters really get tired of negative ads and tune them out?

BEVAN: Voters -- the thing about negative ads is they're kind of like -- they're kind of like chemotherapy, right? Too much of it can kill a patient. So candidates have to be careful about running too heavy on the negative ads as voters do -- they're effective but also voters are turned off by them. And you might have a situation, if you have candidates that are sort of bashing each other, a candidate that takes a high road could sneak up and win support for that very reason. So it's a dangerous game to play but clearly everybody is now playing it in South Carolina.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. They're being bombarded with robocalls and television ads and all kinds of ads.

John, I wanted to ask you because the fight for voters between these two candidates is a fight for evangelicals. Who do you think will win? AVLON: If the question is who is going to do a better job with

evangelicals, it will be Ted Cruz because he's gotten the support of evangelical leaders who he's insidiously courted and that drove him to success in Iowa. Now there are other candidates who are competing for that.

Trump does well with evangelicals. But the key to understanding that dynamic is that his base is broader than simply any one constituency. His vision of conservative populism appeals to voters whether they're blue-collar voters who are angry at politically correct culture to, you know, some Joe six-pack bosses to evangelicals, all sorts of broader coalition, and I will say that stereotypes about South Carolina fall apart when you understand the state up close.

Yes, it has a strong Christian conservative component, but there have been over the last two decades, a lot of folks moved there to retire and they, you know, changed the sensibilities of the state somewhat. Yes, the state has a reputation for dirty politics, but it's a lot more diverse and complicated than people think from afar.

COSTELLO: So, Tom, what do you think? Because I know Ted Cruz has a great ground game in South Carolina, and Donald Trump isn't doing so bad in that arena either.

BEVAN: Yes. It's going to be interesting. I mean, we don't have any polling that even incorporates what happened in Iowa let alone what happened in New Hampshire on Tuesday. So it will be interesting to see sort of where this race shakes out. But I agree. I mean, Donald Trump is, you know, doing well there right now. Has done well there, at least his support in the polls say that over the past few months. He's been untouchable there, and Ted Cruz does have a very strong organization and support from a lot of important leaders. And it will be interesting to see if the new Rubio reboot, he's able to sort of regain any sort of ground or even momentum, you know, after his fall in New Hampshire.

[10:25:11] COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Tom Bevan, John Avlon, thanks to both of you.

AVLON: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it could make or break their campaign. Both Sanders and Clinton pushing hard for the African-American vote and now Clinton picks up a key important endorsement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A brutal start on trading on Wall Street today. The Dow plunging more than 240 points just about an hour after the Opening Bell.

Alison Kosik is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with more for you. Good morning. ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. So

the good news, I guess if you can call it good news, is the selloff is stabilizing, though we are seeing, as you said, the Dow down 237 points.