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Beijing Deploys Missiles to Contested Island; Republicans Fight for Support in South Carolina; U.S. Supreme Court Showdown; Scalia Conspiracy Theories Dismissed; Sanders and Clinton Appeal to Black Voters; Obama Slams Russia on Syria; Presidential Campaigns Going to the Dogs; Jeb Bush Mocks U.S. Presidential Debate Bickering. Aired 1- 2a ET
Aired February 17, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:14] ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, China accused of deploying missiles on a disputed South China Sea Island. Just after U.S. President Barack Obama called on China to stop militarization of the region.
SESAY: Plus, Donald Trump holds a commanding lead in South Carolina just days before the presidential primary. Now Ted Cruz is attacking his record on abortion.
VAUSE: And later the U.S. criticizing Russia for launching more airstrikes in Syria, as a cease-fire approaches.
SESAY: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: Just around 10:00 here on Tuesday. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.
Our top story, Taiwan's Defense Ministry says China has deployed surface-to-air missiles on the contested Woody Island in the South China Sea. Beijing claims it's in self-defense.
SESAY: But the move will likely raise tensions even further with neighboring countries locked in territorial feud in the region. Before Taiwan's announcement President Obama discussed the need to peacefully resolve issues in this disputed area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We discussed the need for tangible steps in the South China Sea to lower tensions including a halt to further reclamation, new construction and militarization of disputed areas. Freedom of navigation must be upheld and lawful commerce should not be impeded.
I reiterated that the United States will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. And we will support the right of all countries to do the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, CNN international correspondent, Ivan Watson, joins us from Hong Kong with late details -- Ivan.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Isha, this all has to do with competing claims for the South China Sea. A region through which about a third of the world's shipping passes through. Now both U.S. and Taiwanese defense officials, they say that China has placed surface-to-air missiles in a disputed island Archipelago here, the Parasol Islands on an island called Woody Island.
Now that is claimed not only by China but also by Vietnam and Taiwan. And this is an island where China has had a presence now for more than a half century and yet some are seeing this really as a provocation. Why? Because President Obama has just been hosting the leaders of Southeast Asian nations and calling for all countries in this region both large and small to follow rule of law to avoid the militarization of the region and also vowing that the U.S. will continue to carry out so-called freedom of navigation operations.
Basically sending warships and planes into these areas especially to challenge Chinese claims to part of this region. An area of real concern are the Spratly Islands here which are claimed not only by the Philippines but also by China, very far away from this area.
China has been embarking on really incredible engineering projects here. Let's take a look at Fiery Cross. This was basically a reef, not even an island. That's before. And now look what's happened after the Chinese teams have come in. They built an entire island, as well as a deep water port and even an airstrip. And this, despite the fact, the Philippines claims this as its own economic exclusion zone.
China defends its moves here, saying that whatever defense mechanisms are put here it's purely for self-defense and that it is building up these areas to help in case of fishing emergencies and medical emergencies and basically saying that the U.S. should not intervene in this region -- Isha.
SESAY: Our Ivan Watson joining us there from Hong Kong with all the necessary context.
Ivan, appreciate it. Thank you.
VAUSE: OK. Let's get some of the latest polling now. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are enjoying double-digit leads in South Carolina. A new CNN-ORC polls shows Trump ahead of his closes rival Senator Ted Cruz by 16 points.
The Republican primary will be held in that state this Saturday. Most voters polled view Trump as the best able to handle the economy, immigration as well as ISIS.
SESAY: Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders by 18 points. But that could change. The Democratic primary is a week from Saturday. And only 43 percent have said that they are firm in who they are supporting.
Well, President Barack Obama is surprisingly candid on the campaign to replace him.
VAUSE: Speaking on a news conference in California, Mr. Obama predicted the election outcome for Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president. And the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people.
[01:05:02] And I think they recognize that being president is a serious job. It's not hosting a talk show or a reality show. It's not promotion. It's not marketing. It's hard. And a lot of people count on us getting it right. And it's not a matter of pandering and doing whatever will get you in the news on a given day. And sometimes it requires you making hard decisions even when people don't like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, Senator Cruz is attacking Donald Trump's position on abortion. He released a five-minute video reminding South Carolina voters of Trump's reversal on that issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Even now there's a candidate in the race playing games with the sanctity of life. Donald Trump spent most of his adult life prior to this election enthusiastically pro-abortion. Even for partial birth abortion, if you can believe it. Now Donald Trump is the only candidate left in the Republican field who won't even pledge to defund Planned Parenthood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, Trump responded quickly with a statement that reads, "Despite Senator Ted Cruz attempting to smear me and totally lie about my beliefs and positions on almost all of the issues, I am a conservative person, I am pro-life and have been for a long time.
VAUSE: Joining us now for more on this, John Thomas, a Republican consultant and founder and president of Thomas Partners Strategies.
You're back again, which is great.
JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Happy to be here.
SESAY: And Democratic strategist Matthew Littman. He was the speechwriter for Joe Biden and a senior adviser to President Obama when he was a presidential candidate.
Gentlemen, welcome. John, I want to pick up just on Donald Trump's response to Ted Cruz's as he calls them lies and attempts to smear him. He says I am a pro-life and have been for a long time. I mean, this is the very point, isn't it? That it's for a long time. He has not always been. And this is what Ted Cruz has decided is his weakness.
THOMAS: That's right. And in South Carolina that plays. I think in the clip you showed with Ted Cruz, Ted did go a little over the top and was a bit disingenuous calling him pro-abortion. No one is pro- abortion. Let's just be clear. You're pro-choice or you're pro-life. So he is laying it on as if Donald Trump wanted people to have abortions.
Yes, Donald Trump has evolved on a lot of issues as many politicians have. He's evolved more than others. But that's not why he's running. He's not running as the purist in this race. If he were, he'd have a problem. But -- look, I think the fact is, Donald Trump has done an effective job at calling Ted Cruz a liar. And Ted Cruz has not shown growth in the polls.
VAUSE: Marco Rubio has done a pretty good job, too.
THOMAS: Marco --
(CROSSTALK)
THOMAS: Exactly. Marco is enjoying the growth that Ted Cruz that's not receiving.
MATTHEW LITTMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, Ted Cruz may be having some problem with Trump and with Rubio. That's true. But he's not wrong in this case actually. Trump, when he says he's been pro-life for a long time, he means about six months.
VAUSE: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
LITTMAN: He's not been pro-life for a long time. If you go back and look at his record, he's been pro-choice. He's 69 years old. Who changes their minds on an issue like that at 69 years old? I've never heard of that before.
THOMAS: He is evolved when he discovered he wanted to run for president.
LITTMAN: When you say he says -- yes, exactly.
(LAUGHTER)
LITTMAN: The point about Donald Trump, though, is he says that he's the world's greatest salesman, right? I mean, he says it all the time. Well, now he sees an opening in the Republican primary. And he's changed all of these views to fit in with the Republicans, except on the Iraq war, obviously. But he's changed a lot of his views to fit in. I think it's just a sale.
VAUSE: Do you think he regrets not running for the Democratic nomination? LITTMAN: No, there might be a couple of people who do. But I
actually -- we'll get to that later. But I think it's going to be fun.
VAUSE: I'll ask you about the statements that the president made today. He singled Trump out of everybody. I mean, he was fairly dismissive of all of the Republican candidates. But he was particularly -- he focused on Trump. Trump responded saying well, that's a pretty big complement. Did Obama do Trump a favor by saying that?
LITTMAN: Yes.
VAUSE: So why do it?
LITTMAN: Because it also does the Democrats a favor because the Democrats want Trump to be the nominee. So for Trump this is good news. Right? Because now it's him and Obama one-on-one. He gets to say today, I would have beaten Obama in 2012. This all plays great for Trump. The Democrats also want Trump to be the nominee. They want a Hillary against Trump battle or a Sanders against Trump battle, however it is, but Rubio is probably a stronger general election candidate than Trump would be. Not sure about Cruz. But Trump is probably not a strong general election candidate.
THOMAS: Trump is having a great day today. If the president says --
SESAY: He was rather Machiavellian.
THOMAS: No, this is the best thing to happen to Trump. I mean, you could clip what Barack Obama said and just -- I'm Donald Trump and I approve this message. You know, that is --it's just like when Barack Obama talks about gun control, gun sales and gun manufacturers should be sending him a thank you note for that. This is no different.
VAUSE: Yes.
SESAY: But Matt, like really, is this a case of Democrats underestimating Trump?
LITTMAN: Well, listen, Obama says, you know, Trump is not going to be president. He's definitely not. But six months ago, no one thought Trump would be where he is in the polls.
VAUSE: Yes.
LITTMAN: So it's very hard to obviously predict. We might be underestimating Trump. Trump is the strongest of the Republican candidates. Now he's been leading in the polls for a long time. On the other hand I have a very hard time believing the American people are going to have a President Trump.
THOMAS: Well, I think you look at the Democratic side, and the fact is, the Democrats aren't exactly in love with their presumptive nominee, either. And so the questions is, all the Sanders people, do they get in line? Or do they like what Donald Trump said about the Iraq war, bucking his party? Not being part of the establishment and perhaps he can hold some of those, did well with minorities, there is a path now. It's narrow.
LITTMAN: You said he'd do well with minorities which I really don't think so.
THOMAS: You know, he does OK with certain -- like certain minority groups.
LITTMAN: Like what? Like what?
THOMAS: He's done OK with Latinos in certain states.
LITTMAN: In what -- there've only been two states.
THOMAS: In polling.
(LAUGHTER)
THOMAS: We'll get to that later.
SESAY: We're going to leave that conversation right here.
VAUSE: Hold that thought. We're going to get to that in a minute.
SESAY: The conversation continues. And we're going to turn our attention to the Democrats as well so, Matt, you can jump all over John then.
VAUSE: Hang around.
SESAY: Stay with us for that.
One South Carolina resident is very clear on who won't get her vote in the Republican primary. Governor Nikki Haley says she'll decide soon if she'll endorse someone. But she's clear it will not Donald Trump.
VAUSE: On Monday Trump said Haley didn't fight hard enough against the plan to move Guantanamo detainees to South Carolina or to keep Syrian refugees from entering the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
