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Obama Vetting GOP Governor; GOP Race; Trump Campaign. Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired February 24, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:18] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. Top of the hour. I'm Poppy Harlow, in today for Brooke Baldwin.

We begin with break news in the partisan battle to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Despite Republican leadership promising they will not consider anyone the president puts forth, CNN now just getting word that the White House is vetting a Republican to potentially fill the vacant seat. His name, Brian Sandoval. He is the Republican governor of Nevada.

Let's talk about it with the man who broke the news, CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju. Also with us for analysis, Paul Callan will be with us in a minute. And constitutional attorney Page Pate.

Thank you all for being here.

Manu, you know it's interesting, this comes at an interesting time, a day when the gloves came off in the fight. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there will be not even a hearing. He won't even meet with any nominee until the next president takes office. How did this happen?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, they - Sandoval is a former federal judge. He's someone who's very popular in his home state of Nevada. He had been viewed as a possible Supreme Court choice for a while, but it's unclear how seriously he is being considered. He did stop by Harry Reid's office, the Senate minority leader, a Nevada Democrat, on Monday, and the two actually discussed the issue of being vetted. That was part of their discussion.

And I had a chance to talk to Harry Reid about Brian Sandoval just a little while ago and he had some positive things to say about the prospects of Sandoval to the Supreme Court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: You met with Brian - you met with Brian Sandoval. He's been mentioned as a possible Supreme Court justice. Do you think that he would be a good Supreme Court justice?

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: Well, you know, I don't - I don't pick the justices. But I know if he were picked, I would support the man. He's a good person. He has a great record. And he's been a tremendously good governor. And despite - in spite of having to deal with some very big problems there.

RAJU: So do you advise the White House to pick a moderate Republican who could divide the Republican Party, or pick a progressive that could fire up the liberal base?

REID: I've talked to the president. I've talked to his chief of staff many times. I've talked to his political guy today and he should pick who he thinks is the best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, Reid says that the president is actually going to make a decision soon. We don't actually know when that's going to happen. But, clearly, Sandoval is one person they're thinking about. It's an interesting choice if he does go this route. It would put - divide Republicans. But what would it do to the Democratic base given that he's a moderate Republican and not a progressive?

HARLOW: Right.

RAJU: Poppy, one other thing. I just talked to Republican senators about this and they're not even willing to consider him. Deb Fischer of Nebraska told me, it's not about the person, it's just about the fact that - it's about the president and the voters having a choice this November.

HARLOW: All right, so a few things that I find interesting about this - you know, this pick, if this is indeed the pick. We certainly don't know and let's remember Josh Earnest said this week that there is no short list yet, right, they're just going through them. But this is someone who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate after being brought up by former President George W. Bush, 2005, he's unanimously confirmed by the Senate for a district court judgeship, which shows just sort of support on both sides. This is also someone, right, who is pro-choice, but not a - but opposed to late term abortion, Manu, one of the biggest, you know, cases that is about to be heard in front of the high court.

RAJU: Yes, and that's what's going to be challenging for him going forward is support for abortion rights. Actually, Sandoval had long be viewed as possible vice presidential pick for the Republican Party, but because of his support for abortion rights, that made him - put him in a difficult spot.

But, you know, that really shows the challenge for the White House here in picking someone like this, someone who has views that could anger both sides. Someone who may oppose late term abortion but supports abortion rights. What will that do for the Democratic base, because at the end of the day, if this nominee is not going to be confirmed, and it sounds like Republicans are saying they won't even consider Brian Sandoval if he were the nominee, what will that do for the elections? And if it does not bring out the Democratic base, maybe it's not the right choice for the White House.

HARLOW: Right. And what does it do in the down ticket races, right, for senators if they're not even willing to meet with someone who's a Republican being nominated.

Page, to you.

Manu, stay with me.

Page, to you. You're a constitutional lawyer. I want your read on this one, what you make of it, if it is the case, if he does become the nominee, why the president wouldn't try to float a name that leans more to the left. What do you think?

PAGE PATE, CONSTITUTIONAL ATTORNEY: Well, I think it's going to be virtually impossible for any truly progressive nominee to get past the Senate. I think that's clear. So I think the White House has made a good decision here if they do make this decision and put Governor Sandoval's name forward because it really forces the hand of the GOP folks in the Senate. I mean if they have unanimously confirmed this individual before for a federal judicial position, and they have, what is their objection to his qualifications at this point, or is it purely political?

[14:05:10] Obviously, the Supreme Court is a higher court than a district court, so it's an important selection and you want to take time to both vet him and review it from the Senate side. But to out of hand reject the even - the idea of even considering and confirming a nominee, it's really disturbing, especially to lawyers who practice before the court, who know that coming up this term we have several hot button issues and we need a full court because some of these cases are going to be 4-4 split and you need that ninth vote. So I think it's a good idea.

HARLOW: And - right, and let's remember, when it is a 4-4 split in the situation we're in now, the lower court's ruling is what stands, putting certainly a lot of pressure on the lower court.

PATE: Right.

HARLOW: And, obviously, you need a full bench.

We do have our Paul Callan, who is here with me. And I just want to have him weigh in as well on this pick.

You know that we were - we were on the air when the news broke that Antonin Scalia had died and you were with me and there were a bunch of names being floated, Sri Srinivasan, also unanimously confirmed. This is the first I'm hearing of this name, Brian Sandoval.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's also the first I'm hearing of the name Brian Sandoval. And it's - it's sort of a classic idea to go for someone with a political background. You know, many governors have served on the Supreme Court. As a matter of fact, even a president of the United States was once subsequently named as a Supreme Court justice. But by going with an elected political figure, you have the possibility here of someone who maybe would have broader support than an unknown judge who might be a great scholar but unknown to the public. And, remember, in the end, this is going to be a battle between the executive of the Congress and public pressure to support the nominee will be the most important thing. So I'm not surprised that he's gone with what will be described undoubtedly as a moderate governor to be appointed to the seat.

HARLOW: And, Manu, to you, just your take on - we haven't heard from McConnell yet, right, his reaction? Just wondering if this changes what he said even today about not even meeting with someone who's nominated.

RAJU: Absolutely not. Republicans came out of this lunch - they just had a lunch. They talked about this issue. And I'm told that they are dead set against any nominee, including if it's Brian Sandoval, a Republican governor. So this will not change Mitch McConnell's calculation. No Supreme Court nominee will be confirmed this year if he's majority leader and he's willing to go as far as potentially a very bad story, bad optics, if Brian Sandoval is the choice, comes up here and tries to meet with senators and he doesn't meet with them. That's not going to look very good for him. But, who knows, this could eventually all be a trial balloon. Maybe the White House goes in a different direction. But right now it's an interesting prospect and something that they're at least considering.

HARLOW: Absolutely right. Manu Raju all over the news break it for us this hour, thank you. Paul Callan, Page Pate, thank you all. Stay with us. Much more on this a little bit later this hour.

I do want to go to politics now though.

On this stage tomorrow night, Donald Trump's rivals get their best shot at reaching a huge number of potential voters during what may be the most critical point so far in this wild election season. CNN's Republican presidential debate is the last one before Super Tuesday. That is in five days when 11 states have Republican primaries or caucuses. You see them there on your screen. And derailing Donald Trump is looking as tough as ever after he won by a long shot in Nevada, notching his third consecutive victory. Trump won by his biggest margin so far, just a hair less than 46 percent of people siding with him.

In fact, more people voted for Trump Tuesday night than, get this, than who voted entirely in the 2012 Nevada caucuses. Let me say that again. More people voted for Donald Trump last night than all the people who voted in the Nevada caucuses in 2012. That is stunning.

And at a moment - at really any moment now, the man you see in third place is about to get a much-needed boost to his campaign. We've learned that Texas Governor Greg Abbot is about to endorse Ted Cruz.

Let's turn now to our Phil Mattingly. He is following the Trump campaign in Virginia Beach. We know he just spoke to a crowd at Regent University. What was his main point today?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, his main point was that victory last night, Poppy, as you just noted, was sweeping across every voter subset, across every voter subgroup. And it's leading him with a lot of momentum heading into Super Tuesday. Obviously the CNN debate tomorrow night will be a being moment for any candidate trying to take him down. But it looks like Donald Trump is so confident at this point, Poppy, that he's willing to look at the Democratic candidates. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I go around and I meet with crowds and we have tremendous crowds. We have by far the biggest crowds. Far, far, far bigger than Bernie. And Bernie's heading down now, I think. Bernie looks like he's over. And looks like Hillary's going to be protected from the e-mail scandal by the Democrats. I mean, can you believe it? So many people, for doing much less than she did, are in prison and just, you know, devastated.

[14:10:18] No, think of it. Think of it. For doing less than she did. And she looks like she's just going to be - you know, she's going around. Boy did you ever see anybody so nice to the president, though? Oh, the president is wonderful, she says. Oh, the president, he's great. What - he wants to do this. Oh, that's wonderful. What everyone - you know why she's doing that, right? Do you know why? I know why. Boy, oh, boy, she's become like a marshmallow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Like a marshmallow. An interesting critique of Hillary Clinton's strategy. But, look, Poppy, as Donald Trump looks at the Democratic competitors, the potential people he would face, a lot of questions left for the rest of the Republican field right now. How do they stop him and when will they actually make the move? Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz really feeling the urgency now. I think you're going the see that tomorrow night at the CNN debate in Houston, Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes, I have no doubt we will. Thank you so much, Phil Mattingly. Of course, that debate hosted by our very own Wolf Blitzer.

Coming up next, a lot of politics. Hear who Donald Trump says he'd consider for a running mate. The criteria, it might surprise you, someone who is an outsider and not part of the establishment. So who does he want as his number two? We'll talk about that.

Also, the Senate's Democratic leader revealing who he is backing in the race for president. Just making that endorsement. The person he says is best for the party.

And we are moments away from another major endorsement for Ted Cruz. His staffer says the senator has hit a boiling point and is about to hit Donald Trump hard. Will this endorsement help? Keep it right here.

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[14:15:45] HARLOW: All right, Donald Trump fresh off his huge win in Nevada. And I mean a huge win. Courting evangelical voters, today he spoke to students at Regent University. Nothing was off limits. He took shots at Hillary Clinton. He took shots at his rival, Ted Cruz. And he touched on everything from Obamacare to Israel. He was even asked if he could fine forgiveness and also he talked about a pick for a vice presidential nominee potentially from one of his rivals in the process. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can forgive. I mean I'm pretty good at that. I do have every once in a while there will be somebody that went too far and I won't like it. I mean you've - you've been hearing what I've been saying over the last few weeks and, you know, things were said that were lies, frankly, that were real lies and I won't mention because I can't mention it in Pat's presence. I won't. I've got to be - I've got to be a good person, you know, today, at least for the next hour, I'm sorry.

Senator Cruz gave us Obamacare in a true sense because any good - it's true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are the most important qualities you are going to look for in a vice presidential candidate? And feel free to name some names.

TRUMP: The main quality that you want is somebody that can be a great president if something happens to you. That's got to be - don't you think that's got to be number one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you're right. Exactly right.

TRUMP: And then I would want somebody that could help me with government. So most likely that would be a political person because, you know, I'm business and I'm very good at what I do and all of that and I'm also very, very political. I've - you've seen me - you know, when you can get zoning on the west side of Manhattan to build almost 6,000 units of housing and you have to go through New York City politics, believe me, your - that's as tough. I don't say Israel, Palestine, but it's about as tough a deal - it's about as tough a deal. I view that as the single toughest deal. Anybody can make that deal. And we're going to give it a shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: A lot to talk about. Here with me, CNN political commentators Ana Navarro and Ben Ferguson. Also with us, Terra Grant, who supports Donald Trump.

Terra, let me begin with you. We just heard Donald Trump say probably looking at a quote/unquote political person as a VP. This coming from the ultimate outsider. What do you make?

TERRA GRANT, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: You know what, I think he's right on the money with this one. I think with him being a great businessman, having the back-up, it's much like he said, if something happens to him, then, of course, you want someone who knows the world of politics. You want someone who knows the world of Washington, D.C. I agree 110 percent. I would love for him to choose a Marco Rubio kind of guy. But, you know, we'll see what happens. Good for him.

HARLOW: Ben, when you look at the numbers from last night, more than nine out of ten caucus goers in Nevada said they are, quote/unquote, "angry" or "dissatisfied" about the way the federal government's working.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

HARLOW: We saw them run to Donald Trump. I'm interested in why Trump is the only candidate who seems to be benefitting from that anger, because, you know, yes, he's the outsider, but you also have a Ted Cruz who can't get along with anyone in Washington, who also would consider himself an outsider from the process as it is typically. What do you make of it?

FERGUSON: I think it's two things. One, I think it's media attention, and Donald Trump has been able to control the attention of this campaign now from months on end. And the other issue is, flat out, people like to choose a winner. And if you feel that the momentum is on the side of a certain candidate, you are willing to jump in for him and get excited about him a lot easier than other candidates that fall behind.

And most people don't understand, you know, the election map, you know, and how that works and when it comes to the math behind. It's just, where were you hot the week before? South Carolina is a long way away from Nevada, but when it comes to TV, it might as well be right next door to you because that's what people are focus on. So I think he's riding that momentum right now. I think he has - he's been able to have the anger and be seen the most on TV with it. And I think that's the reason why he had such a big win last night.

HARLOW: Another number that obviously has stood out to a lot of us, Ana, is the Latino vote. Granted it was only 9 percent in terms of the 75,000 people who went out to caucus. But look who got so much of it. Donald Trump got the Latino vote last night. And the two Latino candidates, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, were not even close. Why?

[14:20:07] ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think - I think you're right to put it in context. We're probably talking about, oh, I don't know, somewhere in the range of 700 votes. That being said, there were two Latino -

HARLOW: No, it's about - it's 9 percent of 75,000. So it's around 5,000, 6,000.

NAVARRO: It's - Latinos make up about 9 percent of the Republican electorate, and he got about 40 percent of that. So I think it's less than the number you just cited. But, look, regardless of the math -

HARLOW: Right, so about half. Good - good point.

NAVARRO: Which I'm not - regardless of the math, which I can tell you I'm not good at, which is why I went to law school, you know, there were two Latinos on the ballot.

HARLOW: Yes.

NAVARRO: One of whom, Marco Rubio, lived in Nevada.

HARLOW: Right. NAVARRO: Was raised there part of his childhood. And it is amazing that Donald Trump was able to appeal to Latinos.

But I think what we are seeing time and time again with different groups, whether you're talking Latinos, women, whether you're talking evangelicals, is that no group is one homogeneous blog that engages in group think. There are very angry people who happen to be evangelicals, who happen to be Hispanics, who happen to be women and who are voting on that, not on, you know, one single issue or one single demographic trend.

FERGUSON: And, Poppy, and you also have people that have never voted before that are showing up and caucusing.

GRANT: Why does it always have to be angry?

FERGUSON: I mean usually we don't see numbers like this.

HARLOW: Sure.

FERGUSON: We talked about how shocking these numbers were of how many people showed up to caucus. We've seen massive turnout. And if you are a first-time voter, there's something in this - many of them, something is inspiring you. One, it's the anger and frustration of Washington. And, two, the person you're seeing on TV that seems to be as mad as you are the most is Donald Trump. And that's the reason why he's continued this success.

HARLOW: Terra, let - yes, you want to get in there?

GRANT: I absolutely do. You know, as a Trump supporter, we have been called angry by the media. And I just did this same thing. It's not the fact that we just walk around being angry people. It's not the fact that we walk around being uneducated people. We are very educated and some of the smartest folks that I know didn't get a college degree. The fact of the matter is, we finally have a voice. We have been a silent majority for so long in this country, Donald Trump is giving us a voice. We're not standing out in the street, Poppy, streaming at the top of our lungs that we're pissed off and we're not going to take it anymore. We are simply saying, Washington needs a choke hold on itself. It's out of control. Donald Trump is going to bring that control back and -

FERGUSON: Well, let's be clear - let's be clear, though.

HARLOW: And, Terra, let me just follow that up with this question or you. Donald -

(EMERGENCY ALERT TEST)

[14:25:51] NAVARRO: If Brian Sandoval - if - if and when is nominated, then it's an entirely different ballgame and Republicans should not, you know, cut off their nose -

FERGUSON: Pick a date (ph). NAVARRO: To spite their face. I will tell you that I'd rather Brian Sandoval than anybody a potential President Hillary Clinton could nominate.

FERGUSON: Look, and I - I would say this.

HARLOW: Ben.

FERGUSON: I don't buy this for a second, honestly, that this is who the nominee is going to be. I think this is flat output put out there this name to bait Republicans into saying that they would support them. And then when they put their real name out there they can say, well, hold on a second, you guys said you would support this person. So now you don't like this other one so you're going to - you're going to, you know, you're going to stop it? You're not even going to have a hearing on this? I think if you're a Republican right now, a congressman, senator, if you're an elected official, I wouldn't comment on this because I think it's nothing but a bait and switch to try to get Republicans on the record as saying this one would be acceptable and then they'll give you the real name.

NAVARRO: But, by the way, when it comes to the Supreme Court, it makes all the sense in the world for the scrutiny, the critiques, the vetting to be person specific, not procedure specific.

FERGUSON: Yes.

HARLOW: Right.

NAVARRO: And if it is Brian Sandoval, it would be - it would be - it would be an enormous surprise. (INAUDIBLE) -

HARLOW: All right, I've got to leave - I have to leave it there.

FERGUSON: (INAUDIBLE) and I - yes, that's why I don't' believe it.

NAVARRO: To see this coming out of an incredibly partisan president.

HARLOW: I have to leave it there.

FERGUSON: Yes.

HARLOW: Ben, Ana, thank you. Terra Grant, thank you so much.

FERGUSON: Thanks.

HARLOW: Everyone have a great time at the debate.

Coming up next, the push for the palmetto state. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders zeroing in on South Carolina. you heard them live there with our Chris Cuomo last night. Today, a major endorsement. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid announcing who he will support in this race. We will tell you who that is next.

Also, Ted Cruz holding a rally right now. Also, how his campaign responded to its third place finish in Nevada and a big endorsement for Cruz. Say with us, next.

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