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George W. Bush to Campaign in South Carolina with Jeb; GOP, Democrats Divided Over Scalia Successor; Replacing Justice Scalia. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired February 15, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[09:00:11] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, 43 is back.
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a proud brother of George W. Bush.
COSTELLO: Former president George W. Bush hitting the campaign trail for the first time in more than a decade.
J. BUSH: My brother will help a lot.
COSTELLO: Will he give Jeb 's campaign a jolt?
Plus, the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia sparking a fierce political battle.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Mitch McConnell has already made it clear we are not moving forward on any nominees in the Senate until after the election and I agree with him.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a conservative person.
COSTELLO: What is at stake? 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.
George W. Bush is back and on President's Day, too. The former president will be in Charleston, South Carolina, tonight. His brother, Jeb, by his side. The ads already out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, 43RD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know Jeb . I know his good heart and his strong backbone. Jeb will unite our country. He knows how to bring the world together against terror. Experience and judgment count in the Oval Office.
Jeb Bush is a leader who will keep our country safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Donald Trump ripping the move this morning tweeting, quote, "Funny that Jeb didn't want help from his family in his failed campaign and didn't even want to use his last name then mommy, now brother."
Athena Jones live in Charleston this morning. She's following the family affair.
Good morning.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. After his less than impressive performances in the first two contests of the year the stakes are high for Jeb Bush here in South Carolina. His team is making a big play for this state and so they are bringing out perhaps their biggest gun, George W. Bush.
It is a whole new stage in the race for Jeb.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONES (voice-over): George W. Bush hitting the campaign trail tonight for the first time since leaving office.
J. BUSH: Is he a popular Republican? You bet he is.
JONES: The former president giving his younger brother a helping hand as the battle for South Carolina heats up.
G. BUSH: I know Jeb .
JONES: W. has already lent his famous face to an ad for Jeb's campaign.
G. BUSH: Experience and judgment count in the Oval Office.
JONES: His guest starring role on stage tonight is part of the Bush camp's effort to pull out all the stops after a dismal sixth place finish in Iowa where his brother won.
G. BUSH: Thank you, Iowa.
JONES: And better-than-expected fourth place in New Hampshire where his father won.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, 41ST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank the wonderful people of New Hampshire.
JONES: Jeb is hoping for a strong showing in South Carolina which handed primary victories to both presidents Bush.
J. BUSH: I think there is a lot of interest in my brother coming. This is the right time, right when the interest is -- when it's important and when people are watching. JONES: Bush, whose campaign logo doesn't even include his famous last
name, and who began his run stressing he would be, quote, "his own man," is now embracing his name.
J. BUSH: I'm proud of my dad. I'm proud of my brother. I'm proud of being a Bush.
JONES: But that extra dose of brotherly love this election year is already bringing an extra dose of scrutiny.
TRUMP: Obviously, the war in Iraq is a big fat mistake.
JONES: Especially from GOP frontrunner Donald trump who continues to bash the 43rd president's decision to go to war in Iraq and his brother's initial response to questions about that decision.
TRUMP: And then he admitted that it was a mistake finally after five days. In fact almost -- I mean, look, he's got no chance anyway. But it almost cost him the election before it even started.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: And with Donald Trump you know there is more where that came from. Meanwhile, Bush sent out a fundraising appeal to supporters saying that Trump went too far in attacking his brother in the debate the other night. But of course as you mentioned at the top, the big question here is whether bringing out W. will actually give Jeb the big boost that he needs.
The governor on "STATE OF THE UNION" would only say that he hopes to do better than expectations, to beat expectations here in South Carolina.
Talking to Bush aides they argue that he only has to be best among the electable candidates. They don't have Trump or Ted Cruz among those electable candidates. For his part Trump tweeted not too long ago that it's Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz who are the unelectable candidates saying that Hillary will destroy them -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Athena Jones reporting live from Charleston, South Carolina, this morning.
Keep in mind, George W. Bush's approval rating among Republicans is outstanding. According to a November Bloomberg poll 77 percent of Republicans hold a favorable view of the former president. Still, Jeb Bush's rival Donald Trump is far from enamored. He calls the war, as you heard, a big fat mistake and, although President George W. Bush doesn't go there, he did express regret back in 2009.
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[09:05:04] CHARLES GIBSON, ABS NEWS: You've always said there's no do-overs as president. If you had one.
G. BUSH: The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq. A lot of people put their reputations on the line and said, you know, weapons of mass destruction is a reason to remove Saddam Hussein. Wasn't just people in my administration. You know, that's not a do-over. But I -- you know, I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: With me now to talk about this is Larry Sabato, the director for the Center of Politics at the University of Virginia and Hadley Heath Manning, a senior policy analyst for the Independent Women's Forum.
Welcome to both of you.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thanks, Carol.
HADLEY HEATH MANNING, SENIOR POLICY ANALYST, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. So, Larry, George W. Bush is expected to polish up his brother's foreign policy credentials. But even George W expressed regret over failed intelligence. How will this play?
SABATO: This is a Republican primary in a very conservative Republican state, South Carolina. So I don't think there will be many votes cast against Jeb Bush on the basis of George W. Bush having prosecuted the Iraq war. That's not the central focus. Nor is there going to be any particular shift about George W. Bush. He is popular there and popular with Republicans. Though I might not he's not popular yet with the general population. He eventually will be. All of our former presidents become golden oldies. And his time is coming. But it's not here yet.
As far as the actual election, though, this signifies a real turn around by the Jeb Bush campaign because in the beginning he was Jeb, you know, with the exclamation point substituting for his last name. And now he has fully embraced that dynastic name which was the major problem with his candidacy to begin with.
COSTELLO: So, Hadley, with that in mind, as you heard Larry say, South Carolina is a military state. Fort Jackson is there. Many veterans retire in South Carolina. They like when candidates pay attention to them. As I said George W is a war president. Is that why he resonates in South Carolina?
MANNING: That's certainly part of the reason, you know, former President Bush also from Texas, a fellow southerner, a lot of people see charm in his personality, he's an excellent retail politician. And so he's there to help his brother. But the bottom line for the Bush campaign of course is does an affinity or an appreciation or favorability towards the former president translate to votes for his brother?
Of course, it's possible that some Republicans appreciate what former President Bush did for our country and yet they'll vote for a different Republican such as Marco Rubio or John Kasich if they are in that group that really favors as President George W. Bush does in that ad someone with experience and judgment because that's sort of a differentiating factor when it comes to the Trump-Cruz type of voter and then the voters who want someone with experience and judgment.
COSTELLO: OK. So, Larry, on the subject of Donald Trump, he'll be on the stump today, too, in South Carolina. During Saturday's debate he blamed President Bush for 9/11, the Iraq war, he intimate that maybe George W should have been impeached. Is all of this effective for him in South Carolina?
SABATO: I think he let his anger at Jeb Bush and the Bush family overcome his better political judgment. I don't think he should have been as harsh. I think it's politically unwise for him to do what he did and the critique sounded more Democratic, capital D, Democratic, than it did Republican. And this is a Republican primary.
On the other hand as we have learned over and over and over and over and over again since last summer, these sorts of things don't appear to affect the 35 percent or so of the party that supports him. They view the Iraq war and for that matter the Bushes as history. And they are focusing on new concerns and their current anger about the subjects that Donald Trump has been stressing.
COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Larry Sabato, Hadley Heath Manning, thanks to both of you.
It is a --
MANNING: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
It is a unique two-night event on CNN. All six Republican presidential candidates taking part in a South Carolina town hall answering voters' questions. It is going to be spread out over two nights. 8:00 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday and on Thursday night only on CNN.
Flags are flying at half staff at the U.S. Supreme Court today as the body of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia arrives home in Virginia. The 79-year-old passed away in his sleep over the weekend while on a hunting trip in Texas. Sources telling CNN that no autopsy will be performed because the Supreme Court justice died of natural causes, a heart attack. But his sudden death has ignited a political battle in Washington that's spilling over to the campaign trail.
[09:10:04] CNN's senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns live at the Supreme Court with more for you this morning.
Hi, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Justice Scalia had such an enormous outsized voice on all issues that mattered most to conservatives in the legal world and now his death coming at a time in the midst of a huge election battle in the United States has got people in this building and across the country wondering what is going to happen next.
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JOHNS (voice-over): The body of Justice Antonin Scalia returning home to Virginia this morning. The 79-year-old died here in his sleep at a Texas resort over the weekend. Funeral plans for the Supreme Court's strident conservative voice are underway and so is the epic political battle for his replacement.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Obama in my view should make that nomination. I hope he does it as soon as possible.
RUBIO: There is no way the Senate should confirm anyone that Barack Obama tries to appoint in his last year in office to a lifetime appointment.
JOHNS: The Republicans fear another liberal nominee would tip the scales on some of the defining debates of our time. In the coming months the Supreme Court justices are expected to take on several hot button issues including an Obamacare mandate requiring most employers to pay for birth control, abortion and the president's actions on immigration.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor. And there will be plenty of time for me to do so.
JOHNS: Top Democrat Harry Reid called for the seat to be filled right away. As for a timelines, a senior Obama administration official points to the president's previous Supreme Court nominations both taking about a month.
J. BUSH: He has every right to do it and the Senate has every right to not confirm that person.
JOHNS: But Senate Republicans are pledging to stall, demanding that Mr. Obama allow the next president to make the choice, nearly a year from now. The GOP hoping this could rally conservatives against a potential liberal shift on the high court driving voters to the polls come November.
The problem with only eight justices their only options are to leave the Lower Court's decisions intact if they're divided on a case, or to hold the case over until a replacement is confirmed.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: If the Republican leadership refuses even to hold a hearing I think that is going to guarantee they lose control of the Senate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: There was some confusion about the circumstances surrounding Justice Scalia's death. A county judge in Texas confirming to news reporters that he died of natural causes. He didn't have a heart attack. His heart just stopped beating. He had been sick for a while and then he was pronounced dead over the phone after consultation with law enforcement authorities -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Joe Johns reporting live from Washington this morning.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Scalia's death not just sparking a major political battle but can also change the outcome of some major cases looming right now.
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[09:17:10] COSTELLO: It is shaping up to be an epic battle between President Obama and Republicans in the aftermath of Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia's death. And there's good reason for that. The outcome of the country's highest priority cases hang in the balance, cases involving gun rights, abortion, and immigration. The 2016 election has been transformed and President Obama is back in the center of that political storm, infuriating Republicans with his vow to nominate Scalia's successor before a new president is elected.
CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is traveling with the president. She joins me now with more. Good morning.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey Carol. Right, well, the White House is framing this as it is the president's constitutional duty to put forward a nominee now. I mean, can you imagine him saying, well, we're not going to do this? We'll just wait a year until the new president is elected.
But the White House also sees it as the Senate's constitutional duty to give whomever the nominee will be a speedy confirmation. The odds of that of course right now are looking very, very slim. But at this point the White House isn't weighing in on all this talk that's out there, all that Republicans are saying about the needing to wait until there's a new president.
Here's what the White House is saying right now. "Given that the Senate is currently in recess, we don't expect the president to rush this through this week, but insteadwill do so in due time once the Senate returns from their recess. At that point, we expect the Senate to consider that nominee, consistent with their responsibilities in the United States Constitution."
So there is a process that needs to be done. And that's already started, with the White House Office of Counsel. They're going to vet everyone who is believed to be on the president's short list at this point. Some of the names that have been out there include federal court -- federal appeals court judges and even some wildcards like U.S. senators and the current Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
This is going to be interesting, because the White House isn't really giving away thinking at this point or their take on what Republicans are saying. Do they believe that there is any chance a nominee will be given a shot? And if not, what kind of nominee do they want to put forward? Do they want obviously Democrats to have a best advantage then going into the election? We expect the president, whoever he narrows the list to be, he will then meet with them and the White House is pointing to, in the past, his nominees have taken about a month for him to announce publicly. So we will see the process. There's obviously some urgency here, but the White House seems to be indicating that this could very well take a month before we hear exactly who his nominee will be. Carol.
[09:20:04] COSTELLO: All right, Michelle Kosinski, reporting live from Rancho Mirage, California, this morning.
Justice Scalia was an uncompromising voice of conservatism, often railing against Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action, gay rights, and gun control. That's why you're seeing headlines like these this morning: "Supreme showdown in the works". That's on the front page of The Los "Angeles Times". And today's "New York Times" headlines reads "Senate Republicans dig in over naming next justice".
I want to bring in CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin to talk about this. Good morning. So how ugly will this get?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's going to get pretty ugly because you have not only a conflict over a nominee in the offing, but a conflict over the basic responsibilities of the president and the Senate. The president is saying, look, the Constitution clearly lays out that the president has the right to nominate and the Senate has obligation to advise and consent, in the term of the --
COSTELLO: I could read the exact thing because, as you know --
TOOBIN: Never can get too much of the Constitution.
COSTELLO: Senator Elizabeth Warren who's obviously a liberal, she wrote this on her Facebook page. "Article II Section 2 of the Constitution says, 'The President of the United States nominates jutsices to the Supreme Court with the advice and consent of the Senate.'"
She goes on to say, "I can't find a clause that says, 'Except when there is a year left in the term of a Democratic president.'"
TOOBIN: Right, and it's worth point out, yes, President Obama is in his last term but that's 25 percent of his presidency. That's a substantial chunk.
Also what's different about this Supreme Court vacancy from other resignations and retirements is that there are only eight members of the Supreme Court now. In previous nomination battles, the incumbent justice has said I'm retiring upon the confirmation of my successor. Here, yes, it's true that the Supreme Court can function with eight people, but it certainly wasn't designed that way and there could be tied votes that create legal uncertainty.
COSTELLO: Interesting. So you know, you heard what Donald Trump said. He said the Senate ought to delay, delay, delay. Is that against the Constitution? Does the Senate have the right to delay, delay, delay on purpose? TOOBIN: I think the Constitution recognizes that the Senate is a
political body and the Senate will act in response to its political imperatives. This is not only a key vacancy because Justice Scalia had so much influence, but also there are currently -- or before Justice Scalia died -- there are five Republicans and four Democrats. This has the potential to shift the balance and that would be immensely important in terms of how the Supreme Court makes decisions.
COSTELLO: Remember back in the day when everybody argued that there shouldn't be activist judges, that they should base their judicial decisions, you know, on legal precedent and keep politics out of it? What happened to those days?
TOOBIN: Well, I have to say, I'm sympathetic to the justices who say it is impossible to keep politics out of this process. Does the Constitution protect a woman's right to choose an abortion? May university consider race in admissions. May Congress regulate campaign finance? Those are political questions as much as they are legal questions. And I don't think even the best judge in the world could somehow turn off politics in deciding those issues.
COSTELLO: Maybe not. Jeffrey Toobin, thanks for stopping by.
TOOBIN: All right, Carol Costello.
COSTELLO: Always appreciate it.
TOOBIN: Good to see you.
COSTELLO: Nice to see you too.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, two candidates, one church. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battle it out for the African-American vote and they wind up in the very same church on opposite sides of the pew. We'll talk about that next.
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[09:28:02] COSTELLO: Checking top stories at 27 minutes past.
Two men have surrendered in the shooting of police officer in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The officer remains in critical condition. He was shot in the head on Saturday night while pursuing two suspects who allegedly robbed a convenience store.
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert is now behind bars. He reported to prison today to begin serving an 18-month sentence for robbery. Olmert, who was 70 years old, was convicted in 2014 of accepting bribes from real estate developers when he was mayor of Jerusalem.
On the latest leg of his trip to Mexico, Pope Francis travels to the country's poorest state with inspiring message for people there. He has already visited hospitals and held a special mass. The pontiff said they must break the powerful hold that drug traffickers maintain over the country and make Mexico a land of opportunity so its people will not have to leave to find a better life.
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COSTELLO: And good morning, and thank you so much for joining me. I'm Carol Costello. We are just hours from Bernie Sanders making his first campaign stop in scandal-plagued Flint, Michigan. It's a stop Hillary Clinton has already made, but at least the candidates were in Flint at different times. In Nevada, it was a whole different story.
This was the Victory Missionary Baptist Church. On one side of the sanctuary, Bernie Sanders. On the other side of the sanctuary, Hillary Clinton. Can you say awkward? Both candidates attending the influential African-American church hoping to win over voters.
Here's what both candidates said over the weekend.
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SANDERS: If you look at my life's work, if you look at the agenda that we are bringing forth in terms of economics and criminal justice, this is an agenda that works for all Americans, but especially for those who are hardest hurt, hardest hit economically.
[09:30:03] HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Not everything, not everything is about an economic theory. Right?
