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Rubio, Trump Get Rowdy on CNN Debate Stage; Dems Make Final Push Ahead of S.C. Primary. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired February 26, 2016 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- to work on your projects illegally, you hired --
[10:30:02] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I'm the only one that hired people. You haven't hired anybody.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me say, Wolf, I really find it amazing that Donald believes that he is the one who discover the issue of illegal immigration.
TRUMP: First of all, I don't believe anything Telemundo says, number one.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN MODERATOR: Let me get Governor Kasich in. He's been waiting patiently -- Governor Kasich.
DANA BASH, CNN MODERATOR: Let's talk about your plan.
RUBIO: Every night, he says five things: everyone's dumb, he's going to make America great again, we're going to win, win, win. He's winning in the polls.
BASH: Senator Rubio, please.
TRUMP: It's all true.
RUBIO: And the lines around the states.
BASH: Please.
BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People say that I whine a lot because I don't get time. I'm going to whine.
TRUMP: You get along with nobody.
CRUZ: If you want to be liked in Washington, that's not a good attribute for a president.
TRUMP: You don't learn anything about somebody's wealth with a tax return.
BLITZER: Gentlemen, this is -- I want to move on. I want to talk about the economy.
(CROSSTALK) RUBIO: The government doesn't support health care.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I mean, first of all, this guy is a choke artist and this guy is a liar.
RUBIO: The Palestinians are not a real estate deal.
TRUMP: No, no, no. A deal is a deal. Let me tell you, I learned a lot time ago.
RUBIO: A deal is not a deal when you're dealing with terrorists. Have you ever negotiated with terrorists?
BLITZER: The latest debate, gentlemen --
CRUZ: Hold on. I'm going to get my answer. He doesn't get to yell insults.
BLITZER: I want to move on. These are the rules. You will have a response, but I promised Governor Kasich he could respond.
CARSON: Can somebody attack me, please?
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Wolf, Wolf --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm sorry. That was Ben Carson saying that. Can someone attack me, please? I want to get a word in edge wise.
It's hard to put into words what happened at this debate. Perhaps this imagine sums it up best. The closed captioning person just gave up, forced to type, unintelligible yelling at one point.
So did voters learn anything that will help them on Super Tuesday? It's right around the corner, and could well decide who the Republican nominee will be.
With me now to talk about this, Christopher Busby. He's the president of the Houston Young Republicans. And Amy Clark is the vice chair of the Republican Party of Texas.
Welcome to both of you.
Amy --
AMY CLARK, VICE-CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN PARTY OF TEXAS: Thank you.
CHRISTOPHER BUSBY, PRESIDENT, HOUSTON YOUNG REPUBLICANS: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thank you, both for being with me. Amy, have you ever seen a debate quite like this one?
(LAUGHTER)
CLARK: No. It was fantastic. I think a good word to describe it would be robust. We were very excited, though, to hear the Republican message over and over, limiting government, conservative principles. So, I'm glad America is engaged in talking about that this morning.
COSTELLO: Is that what we heard, Christopher?
BUSBY: Well, I thought it was definitely entertainment politics at its best. You know, you definitely heard a lot of one-liners, candidates going back and fort trying to sell their message, but also going back and forth why their candidate wasn't fit to be president. Different perspectives and hear from the different candidates.
COSTELLO: OK, so Christopher, right, right, you said it was interesting to -- and I know you're leaning towards support Ted Cruz, right? So Cruz repeatedly kept Donald Trump on whether he is a true conservative. And then there was this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: Donald, Donald, I understand rules are very hard for you. They're very confusing.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I have his book.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Thank you for the book. Thank you for the book.
Go ahead.
CRUZ: Donald, you can get back in the --
TRUMP: I have a lot of fun here tonight. I have to tell you.
Thank you for the book.
CRUZ: Donald, relax.
TRUMP: Go ahead. I'm relaxed. You're the basket case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK, so Donald Trump ended the exchange with calling Ted Cruz a basket case. But, you know, not many people are really mentioning Ted Cruz today and I find that intriguing, because Cruz was also on the attack. At many points, Amy, Ted Cruz kind of seemed like a third wheel in attacking Donald Trump and Donald Trump attacking Marco Rubio. CLARK: Yes, I think it was a very interesting exchange between the
three of them. Agreed, the other two candidates didn't seem to get the same amount of time. But I know that Ted Cruz feels very comfortable here in Texas. He definitely has the home field advantage, the support of our governor and our former governor and our lieutenant governor as well.
So, obviously, the polls vary. Some show him ten points ahead, some show them in a tie. I'm excited to let the voters decide on Tuesday. We're very glad to be part of Super Tuesday. It's the earliest that Texas has had a primary. So, we've got 155 delegates at stake. And that's a big deal.
COSTELLO: OK, we have some intriguing video to show you. Wait, Christopher, I have this video to show our viewers. What you're about to see, what is it Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio shaking hands behind Donald Trump's back.
OK, so, like I said, it was a debate like no other, right? So, doesn't that prove the point, maybe there was some agreement between these two men, unspoken or spoken, they were going to gang up on Donald Trump and see what happens?
[10:35:00] BUSBY: Well, think it was very clear that Donald Trump was the man to attack last night, because he is the front-runner at this point. And I think most polls show that.
Ted Cruz I think will probably win Texas. It's his home state. He seems to have a polling advantage. But Donald Trump is the man to beat it. You know, if they focus their attacks on each other, it becomes self-defeating proposition. So, it was clear he was the one they wanted to bring down.
COSTELLO: OK. So, Amy, when all is said and done, who has the momentum now and who lost it?
BUSBY: I think in Texas, Cruz has the momentum. Across the nation, Trump has the momentum. And so, you know, we'll see a lot after Super Tuesday about which direction the rest of the Republican is going to go. We'll see where most voters find that they can see which candidate they support, which candidates are still viable. So we'll know more on Wednesday.
COSTELLO: All right. I have to --
CLARK: And the important thing is that the Republican fight is in November when we take it to the Democrats. So, that's what we're focused on, keeping our eye on the ball.
COSTELLO: All right. Thanks to both of you, Amy Clark, Christopher Busby.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM --
CLARK: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
Still to come in THE NEWSROOM, for some supporting Donald Trump -- well, it's a family affair. See the sizzling sister act, that's gained fame online and helping Trump gain African-American voters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:40:49] COSTELLO: Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz adopting a new strategy in last night's debate: take on Donald Trump -- and that was pretty clear from this video we found. This was taken of the two men during a commercial break. You see them shaking hands behind Donald Trump's back. The GOP front-runner, though, is unfazed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You're really getting beaten badly. I know you're embarrassed, I know you're embarrassed, but keep fighting, keep swinging, men. Swing for the fences. You are all talk and no action. What I've seen up here -- I mean, first of all, this guy is a choke artist and this guy is a liar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Trump told CNN he was pleased with his performance and tweeted out that Cruz and Rubio failed at a, quote, "last ditch effort to stop his great movement."
My next guests are known as the Stump for Trump Girls, and they're taking the Republican establishment on head on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUMP FOR TRUMP GIRLS: Wow, you are trying to steal Donald's thunder, trying to damn his shine, all because of conservatives that you're trying to push is trailing from behind. All wrong move, wrong move. That's the wrong move to make.
I want an outsider. I don't want an insider. I want somebody part of the establishment of GOP. I want a straight outsider, straight shooter, just tell it like it.
Yes.
Finally, we have someone who wants to work for the American people and not against the American people.
I'll drink to that.
Drink to yourself. Don't take it to the head, though.
I won't take it to the head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: They have become an Internet sensation. And they join me now, Trump supporters, bloggers and sister, Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson. They're also Diamond and Silk.
Welcome to both of you.
LYNNETTE "DIAMOND" HARDAWAY, STUMP FOR TRUMP GIRL: Thank you. Thank you for having us.
Thank you for having us.
COSTELLO: OK. I want to show that video once again of Ted Cruz and Senator Marco Rubio shaking hands behind Donald Trump's back during a commercial break.
So, Lynnette, when you see that, what goes through your mind?
HARDAWAY: Well, you know, I think that Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, they're both snakes.
: That's right.
HARDAWAY: You know, when I look at Marco Rubio, Marco Rubio told us to Google Donald Trump, but I did one better. I Googled him. And when I Googled him, you know, he owes America and the gay community an apology. Because it sounds like that he may have had a gay lifestyle in his past.
COSTELLO: What?
HARDAWAY: He owes people an apology.
COSTELLO: No, Lynnette.
HARDAWAY: All you have to do is Google him.
COSTELLO: Lynnette.
HARDAWAY: You'll see it. That's what is on Google.
So, you have to shall cautious when you tell people to Google people. We don't know. So we'll say allegedly. But he shouldn't have told people to Google Donald because --
COSTELLO: Well, we did our own fact check, we did our own fact-check, Rochelle, and we found that Donald Trump did indeed hire workers from outside of the United States to work in his various hotels, in Mar-A- Lago in Palm Beach, and he did it because he claimed he couldn't find Americans to work for him.
Does that bother you at all?
HARDAWAY: No, it doesn't me. Donald Trump is a businessman. He knows how create jobs, he hires people. That's who we need in our country.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: But, Rochelle, Donald Trump says illegal immigrants, undocumented immigrants are taking Americans jobs, but he is getting people from outside of the country and hiring them instead of Americans. That doesn't bother you, Rochelle.
ROCHELLE "SILK" RICHARDSON, STUMP FOR TRUMP GIRL: She's talking to me.
HARDAWAY: Go ahead.
COSTELLO: Whichever of you wants to respond?
RICHARDSON: What bothers me is our unemployment is high. You have people that is homeless. You have veterans not being taken care of. You have illegal immigrants being taken care of better than our veterans. That's what's bothering me right now.
COSTELLO: Lynnette, do you think that Donald Trump was hurt in this debate since you know Cruz and Rubio ganged up on him?
HARDAWAY: No. I don't think Donald Trump was hurt. I think he did a phenomenal job.
RICHARDSON: That's right.
HARDAWAY: The American people now see Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio for who they are -- straighten insiders. They all take and no action, and they not going to do a thing for the American people.
RICHARDSON: That's right.
HARDAWAY: They are OK with the American people, American citizens dying in the streets.
[10:45:01] Two American immigrants are OK with American peoples dying in the streets? , they -- people see who they are.
RICHARDSON: That's right.
HARDAWAY: If you go vote, go vote right or you will get left. Vote for Donald J. Trump.
COSTELLO: But, Rochelle, I do want to ask you about African-American support for Donald Trump, because there doesn't appear to be much. You know, in looking at the exit polls from Nevada, so few African- Americans participated in the caucus -- you know, there was really no data available.
HARDAWAY: Well, see, that's the same thing you all said about the Hispanics. And look at what he did in Nevada.
RICHARDSON: Duh --
HARDAWAY: But black people --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: But very few Hispanics showed up in the caucus. He got 150 people, 150 Hispanics in the whole state of Nevada.
HARDAWAY: Donald Trump is going to do well with the African-American vote.
RICHARDSON: That's right.
HARDAWAY: He's going to do well with the Latino Hispanic vote.
So, the media, stop pushing your agenda. We the people will decide because we have a man that's working for the people, and this here will be decided by the people. Not the media and not the establishment.
RICHARDSON: That's right. We already have people going to ditchandswitchnow.com to switch their parties from Democrats and independent to Republican, just to vote for Donald Trump, in these primaries. And they're doing just that. They're doing it in droves. You'll be surprised.
HARDAWAY: That's right.
COSTELLO: OKI, I'll Google it and find out.
HARDAWAY: Google it. Google it.
COSTELLO: All right, thanks to both of you, Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson.
Still to come --
HARDAWAY: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, voters in South Carolina prepare to have their say as the Democratic primary takes place tomorrow. We'll take you to South Carolina, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:50:59] COSTELLO: All right. I want you to take back out to Dallas, Texas, for just a minute, because as you can see, Marco Rubio rally is about to get underway. We're awaiting the candidate. He was expected to come out maybe a half hour ago.
But he had a very busy morning, and, of course, a very long night, after the CNN debate. This morning, he appeared on many morning shows, with a new line of attack against Donald Trump, calling him a con artist. We'll monitor this and see what he has to say to all of these people gathered to hear him today.
Let's talk about South Carolina now. For the second time in a week, the political universe will center on that state, only this time, for the Democrats. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton making their final pitches to voters ahead of tomorrow's primary. Clinton with a sizable lead, but that's not stopping her or Sanders from barnstorming the state in search of some last-minute support.
Our senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns is live in Columbia this morning.
Good morning.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
The Hillary Rodham Clinton messaging team, especially in e-mails, is focusing her on a general election candidate over the last 24 hours, but here on the ground in South Carolina, it's been all about getting out the vote with the possible exception of the next hour, when she jets off to Atlanta, for an event there. Then comes back here to South Carolina, where she, her husband, the former president, and even Chelsea Clinton, their daughter, have been canvassing the state, trying to run up the vote in the primary on Tuesday, in part trying to show weakness on the part of Bernie sanders.
Of course, one of those situations here in this state is that she may have a weakness of her own. That weakness would be questions that Bernie Sanders has raised about Hillary Clinton releasing transcripts of her speeches to Wall Street banks. She has been hit by Sanders about it. She's been hit by "The New York Times" about it.
And she was asked about it this morning on MSNBC. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want people to look at my record. People are treating me sometimes as though I just decided to run for president. I've been on the record on a lot of these issues for a really long time. The real question underneath this is, OK, if you take money from Wall Street --
INTERVIEWER: Right.
CLINTON: -- can you regulate Wall Street?
INTERVIEWER: Right.
CLINTON: Well, Barack Obama took more money from Wall Street than any other candidate that has ever run for president, turned around and passed and signed the Dodd-Frank bill. So, I think you should be judged on what you've done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Closing arguments here in South Carolina, just about over. The voting begins tomorrow, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Joe Johns reporting live, thanks. I'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:57:55] COSTELLO: All right, I will said goodbye and I'll leave you with Marco Rubio speaking to his supporters in Dallas, Texas. Have a great weekend.
RUBIO: Thank you. Thank you, Dallas. Thank you for having me today. Thank you. Thank you.
Man, this is an important election. I'm so glad to be here in Big D.
(CHEERS)
Everything is bigger in Texas. The only place that makes Florida seems small. Such a big place. So thank you for coming.
This is a huge election, all right. It's a big -- as big as this crowd. This is how big and important this election is.
That's why we're getting closer now. These votes are starting to count. What you're going to do on Tuesday is not a poll. It is a vote. It counts.
And what we are being asked to choose is not just a future of our country. That is ultimately what this election is about, but also the future of the conservative movement. What it means to be a conservative in the 21st century.
For 36 years, OK, for 36 years, the conservative movement, after the Reagan revolution, has been about limited government and about free enterprise, and about a strong national defense. That was the Reagan revolution. It changed the country in a way that re-embraced all of the principles that made us the greatest country in the world.
But now, we're being asked to choose once again. What will it mean in the 21st century?
So, if the polls are to be believed, and the election results from some of the states continue to go, then we have to view what will the conservative movement be like if the front-runner in this race right now, Donald Trump, is put in charge of the conservative movement?
So, last night, we had a chance to talk about that.
(CHEERS)
It's time to pull his mask off, so that people can see what we're dealing with here. What we are dealing with here, my friends, is a con artist. He is a con artist.
First of all, he runs on this idea that he is fighting for the little guy.
