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CNN Live Event/Special
Donald Trump Speaks at Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach; Chris Christie Introducing Donald Trump; Ted Cruz Speaks in Texas; Hillary Clinton Scores With Six States; Bernie Sanders Has Won Vermont and Oklahoma. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired March 01, 2016 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:01] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You look at the migration line. They're young, they're strong, they're powerful. And you say, why aren't they back fighting for their country. Now, with all of that being said, I feel strongly -- I have a bigger heart than anybody. We're going to build a safe zone. It's going to be in Syria. And I'm going to get the Gulf States who have more money than anybody, we have to loosen up their wallets a little bit. But they're not accepting people. We're going to get -- wait, wait, wait. We're going to get the Gulf States to pay for it because they should.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not specifically on the refugees, I'm talking about your plan to ban all Muslims.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I gave you a good answer. You heard what I said. Yes, go ahead. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump, if you are indeed the nominee versus Hillary Clinton in the fall, what are you going do to bring back some of the groups that have been offended by your campaigns so far, such as women, Muslims?
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: We're going to bring them back. Look, I'm telling you, you know we're going to bring them back. First of all, we're going to do great with the African-Americans. And you see that in polls where I have one poll, we're up 25 percent and one of the commentators who I think is standing right at the back of the room, the reporter said you know if Donald Trump gets 25 percent of the African-American vote, this election is over. You watch. And the reason I'm getting that, and I'm going to do great with the Hispanics, I'm going to do great with virtually every group. The reason is I'm going to bring jobs back. I'm going to get Apple to start making their computers and their iPhones in our land, not in China. How does that help us when they make it in China?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So I'm going to create jobs. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Marco Rubio cannot win Florida, is it time for
him to get out? And do you plan to spend the $25 million that you say he spends.
TRUMP: Look, I always like Marco Rubio until a week ago when he decided to go hostile. He decided to become Don Rickles. OK. But Don Rickles has a lot more talent. And honestly, I did. I've always liked him until somebody told him you're losing very badly. The only way you can possibly win, take the Hail Mary -- they called it a Hail Mary, the folks in the back and go hostile. It hurt him. In fact, one of the newscast tonight said that he went down 15 to 20 percent. It has really hurt him. But look, I'm not going to tell him what to do, I'm not going to tell anybody what to do. You have to run. He had a bad night. According to CNN, Fox, I watched their broadcast, they say the loser of the night was Marco Rubio. And it's true. He didn't win anything. He hasn't won. I mean, at least you can say that Ted has won something. And you know, Marco has not won. You got to be able to win. You can't talk. You know, these politicians, all talk, no action, you got to be able to win something. He hasn't won anything. And he actually hasn't come very close. So we'll see what happens. Yes, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump, you said the question earlier was about working with Congress. You criticized President Obama for not working with Congress but you dismissed the criticism from Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader McConnell who said you're equivocating about this issue with these hate groups.
TRUMP: I'm not equivocating. Let's not ask it again. How many times did I say -- listen, who are you by the way?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm (Inaudible) with Sirius-XM radio.
TRUMP: Good job. Look, I don't want to waste a lot of time.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Paul Ryan, I don't know him well, but I'm sure I'm going to get along great with him. And if I don't, he's going to have to pay a big price. OK?
(OFF-MIKE)
TRUMP: Go ahead. Go ahead. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: you say a lot about what you're going to do for the United States, but what kind of president will you be for the world?
TRUMP: I'm going to be a good president for the world, but we have a country that's in big trouble. Our infrastructure is going to hell, our roads, our highways, our schools, our hospitals, our airports. I go throughout the world. You go to Qatar, you go to some people say Qatar, but you go to Qatar, you go to any of the -- so many places. You go to different places in China, different places in Asia, different places in the Middle East. You look at some of the airports they have, you look at the roadways, you look at the transportation systems they have, and the trains they have, we're like a third world country. So I'm going to be very good for the world. I'm going to get along with the world. You're going to be very proud of me. Even you will be very proud of me as a president. But we have to rebuild our country. Our country is going to hell. And people don't understand that. Hillary Clinton doesn't have a clue. She can't do that. She is talking about it. I mean, one of the things that has really bothered me, one of the reason I think I have such great support is that people, you take a look, people in the middle income groups are making less money today, less money than they made 12 years ago. And in her speech she just said they're making less money. Well, she's been there with Obama for a long period of time. Why hasn't she done anything about it? Practically, everything that's she's complaining about, she's picked up what I said. The difference is she's been there for a long period of time. Why haven't they done anything about it? Then you look at her record as Secretary of State, it's abysmal.
You look at what's going on with Syria, you look at what's going on with everything, it's a disaster. So, we're going to have an interesting period of time. I don't know that she's going to be allowed to run. What she did is a criminal act. If she's allowed to run, I would be very, very surprised. But if she's allowed to run, honestly, it will be a sad day for this country. Because what she did was wrong. What she did -- let me just tell you...
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: What she did was wrong. And other people have done far less than her and they paid a very, very big price. OK, one or two more questions. Go ahead.
[22:05:42] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've talked about how you plan to deport all of the undocumented immigrants living in this country, and yesterday, you said everything is negotiable.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Where did I say this? Tell me where, tell me where.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Fox News yesterday.
TRUMP: I didn't say that.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I said the wall will be 50 feet. I'll take two feet off the wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are those parts of your plan negotiable? Would you consider allowing the people up said would you bring back in the country, would you allow them to stay in the country without...
TRUMP: At this moment, absolutely not. We either have a country or we don't. We have a country or we don't. We have borders or we don't have borders. At this moment, the answer is absolutely no. OK. How about one or two more questions. David, go ahead. Make it a nice question, David, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're hearing some suggestions, including some from a few of your former aides that some people inside the Republican National Committee are considering monkey wrenching with your delegates at the state level, trying to clear you away...
(CROSSTALK)
(OFF-MIKE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here is the question. Here is the question, Mr. Trump. If at the end of the night, you may very well maybe have 10 of the 15 states at this point. Is that enough as a pitch that the RNC should just commit to honoring their agreement or do you expect them to welch (ph) on the bet?
TRUMP: Well, look, I don't expect -- I have respect for Reince and for the group, and I like the RNC. I don't know if I've been treated fairly or not. I really don't know. I can't tell you that. But I can tell you I do respect them. What I really have is a great number of people. I have millions and millions of people. And when I was watching those broadcasts just a little while ago before I came in here because I wanted to see exactly where we were before I started speaking, I was amazed at the kind of numbers. The Republicans have tremendous energy. The Democrats don't. They don't have any energy. Their numbers are down. Our numbers are through the roof. And people are making the statements they've never seen in modern times, a party that was so energized.
I think if somebody is doing as well as I'm doing, and I'm not just speaking for myself, whether me or anybody else, but if I'm going to win five, I've already won five, but maybe it could be six, seven, eight, nine. It could be nine, with nine states tonight. If I'm going to win all of these states with tremendous number and if I'm going to come in the worst second in the two or three that I might not win, I think we're a democracy. I think it's awfully hard to say that's not the person that we want to lead the party. It's very hard.
But I really think that -- I think it's a great question, David. Because I really think that one of the biggest things that everybody is seeing happening and everybody, is the Republican Party has become more dynamic. It has become more diverse. We're taking from the Democrats, taking from the independence. We have a lot more people. We have a lot more people.
I mean, take a look at South Carolina. Look at the numbers. Look at the numbers from four years ago when nobody even wanted to waste their time and vote and then you look at -- I was there. You have lines that went a mile long. And it was virtually more than doubled. So we have a very, very dynamic party and I think we're going to be able to unify the party. I hope to be able to get along with everybody. I don't know Paul Ryan well, but I hope to be able to get along with him. I do know Mitch McConnell a little bit. But I hope to be able to get along with him.
But remember this, I have millions and millions and millions of people. This isn't like it's a close match. I mean, it's only too bad that winner didn't take all because if winner took all, this thing is over. We're just having a celebration, you know. We're having a celebration. So anyway, I would like to -- look, I just want to end by thanking everybody. This has been an amazing period in my life. My wife just called and Ivanka is going to be having a baby very soon and she's a special person and it's going to be great. And we look forward to that. She's back in New York. She wanted to be here but they're with Ivanka now. That can be certainly within the next week.
But this has been an amazing period of time, amazing for me even from an educational standpoint. And I think honestly, we've done something that almost nobody thought we could be done. And I'm very proud of it. And I just want to leave you with this. I am a unifier. I would love to see the Republican Party and everybody get together and unify. And when we unify, there's nobody, nobody that's going to beat us. Thank you very much, everybody.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
[22:10:13] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump speaking down in Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago. We also heard earlier Governor Chris Christie introducing Donald Trump. Twitter has a lot is to say about Governor Christie tonight. Let's talk to our panel here. Amanda Carpenter, you're just joining us. The man that you work for, obviously, Ted Cruz, winning in Texas, Oklahoma, he's previously won in Iowa. What do you make of -- is Donald Trump the presumptive nominee at this point?
AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, absolutely not. I mean, the good news for Ted Cruz winning those states shows conservatives who are uniting against Donald Trump live to fight another day. I think at this point in the race, if it is a Cruz-Trump race, we have to kind of throw out the dynamic that it's conservative versus establishment. Essentially, you have two outsiders in Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. The way I think we will be framing this is that there are two reactions to the anger that the electorate has for the Obama administration. You can double down with Trump with a guy who is going to have a bigger, more out of control government just because you like brute power and you want to stick it to the liberals. Or you can have a more appropriate reaction with Ted Cruz, a guy who has made his whole career abiding by the constitutional limits of government, to kind of restore things to its proper order.
Both things are a reaction that we are living in to the Obama administration. I don't know what direction we go. But at this point, I think the establishment lane has collapsed. It's over. It's where we go next.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, if restoring things to a proper order is a very hard sell.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree with you. Ted Cruz is a constitutional conservative. He has been consistently conservative. That just isn't something that this electorate seems to care about. I mean, they're caring about it in the pockets that are voting for Ted Cruz. But in the main, I just don't see that competing with Donald Trump's larger- than-life persona.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, Ted Cruz won something tonight outside of Texas. Good for him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the essence of the problem is we have these two outsiders. We haven't talked about John Kasich tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's okay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's just totally vanished.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Ben Carson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These guys are bit by bit have vanished, and I hate to say this to my friend, Amanda, but I think that despite his win tonight, you have to be winning more than Oklahoma and Iowa. You've got to win. And this is not happen hearing. That is not happening for them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a passion here for these folks throughout who are for Donald Trump and they are bound and possessed to make this happen and they are making it happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a Democrat, there are a lot of Democrats at home saying, hey, this is great, the Republicans are falling apart. I think this is a very big development. You had everybody going against Trump and nobody has been able to do anything to him. And if you think it's going to stop with Republicans, I think you're very wrong.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One other thing. You think Democrats should be very worried?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a phenomenon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Donald Trump came out tonight, I noticed my friend David (Inaudible) over there when I said presidential. I mean, this is what people expect a president to look like, act, very calm and measured. And he was that.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David, did he seem presidential to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. When he said I think I can get along with Paul Ryan and if he doesn't get along with me, he'll have to pay the price. I don't know how presidential that was. That seemed a little rough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barking at reporters.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was an attempt to do that with Chris Christie and the vice presidential position behind him. But it seems supremely odd.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I play close attention to New Jersey politics because I'm from a neighboring state. And Philadelphia is a media market that governs South Jersey. Chris Christie is in trouble tonight. Six or seven newspapers in New Jersey called for his resignation citing his arrogance, opportunism, and hypocrisy. He won an enormous newspaper endorsement in New Hampshire. And the union leaders said they got it wrong, they would like to take it back.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So to see him standing next to Donald Trump is a last-ditch effort for relevance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's listen in to Ted Cruz.
(APPLAUSE)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Texas. God bless the Lone Star State.
(APPLAUSE)
[22:15:05] CRUZ: And God bless the great state of Oklahoma.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: In 324 days, Marine One will depart Washington, D.C. with a very important dignitary on board, former president Barack Obama.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: This much is certain. On January 27, 2017 will be President Obama's last day in office.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And on that day, we will have a new president of the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Tonight, this campaign enters a new phase. We began with 17 Republican candidates. Through the first four states, the race narrowed considerably. Tonight was another decision. And the voters have spoken. (APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Tomorrow morning, we have a choice. So long as the field remains divided, Donald Trump's path to the nomination remains more likely. And that would be a disaster for Republicans, for conservatives and for the nation. And after tonight, we have seen that our campaign is the only campaign that has beaten, that can beat, and that will beat Donald Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: I congratulate Donald Trump on his victories tonight. But we are the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump once, twice, three times.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Fifteen states have now voted. Every one of those states so far has been won by either Donald Trump or myself.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Republicans, together we have a choice. We are blessed with a deep, talented, honorable field. For the candidates who have not yet won a state, who have not racked up significant delegates, I ask you to prayerfully consider our coming together, uniting.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: For those who have supported other candidates, we welcome you on our team standing united as one.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: That is the only way to beat Donald Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Head-to-head, our campaign beats Donald Trump resoundingly.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: But for that to happen, we must come together. And the Republican Primary Voters in upcoming states, you, too, have a choice. In our nation's darkest hours, FDR told us that we have nothing to fear, but fear itself. JFK told us to ask not what our country could do for us, but to ask what we could do for our country.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: America shouldn't have a president whose words would make you embarrassed if your children repeated them.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Our president should makes all proud, should inspire hope in all of us.
(APPLAUSE)
[22:20:09] CRUZ: We can nominate a Washington dealmaker, profane, and vulgar, who has a life long pattern of using government power for personal gain. Or we can nominate a proven conservative who has fought consistently for working men and women, and to defend the Constitution.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: It's our choice. Donald Trump has pledged to expand Obamacare into socialized medicine, with the federal government controlling and rationing your health care. As president, I will repeal every word of Obamacare.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Donald Trump promises to cut deals with Democrats and to continue the Washington cronies, just like he supported Obama's TARP Wall Street bailout. I will stand with the people of this country and end corporate welfare.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Adopt a flat tax and abolish the IRS.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Donald Trump funded the Gang of Eight. With your help, I led the successful opposition to the Gang of Eight's amnesty plan.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Donald Trump supports Planned Parenthood. I will direct the Justice Department to investigate Planned Parenthood.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Donald Trump promises to compromise with Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer on Supreme Court nominees. I will never compromise away our religious liberty.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And unlike Donald Trump, I will never compromise away our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Donald Trump pledges to be neutral between Israel and t Palestinians. As president, I will not be neutral. America will stand unapologetically with the nation of Israel.
(APPLAUSE) CRUZ: Donald Trump says he will keep in place the Iranian nuclear deal to try to renegotiate it. I will rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal on the very first day in office.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: If you're angry with Washington, I understand. But Donald Trump has been part of the Washington corruption for 40 years. He's Harry Reid's favorite Republican candidate, and Jimmy Carter's. Just yesterday, it was reported that the New York Times has a secret tape recording of Donald saying that he doesn't mean what he's saying on immigration, that it's all flexible, that he won't build a wall, that he won't deport illegal aliens. But Donald refuses to allow them to release the tape. Donald, release the tape.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: If you're telling the New York Times editorial board that you're lying to the voters, the voters have a right to know.
(APPLAUSE)
[22:25:05] CRUZ: Enough with the Washington corruption, with the deception, with using government to benefit the rich and powerful at the expense of the American people.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Five years ago I promised the people of Texas that I would fight with every breath in my body to stop Obamacare.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: To stop amnesty and to secure the border. To stop the death that is bankrupting our kids and grand kids. To defend religious liberty, the Second Amendment, and the Bill of Rights.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And I have kept my promise. That's why we were supported in this election by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: By Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, our campaign chairman.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: By former Governor Rick Perry, a true patriot.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: By nearly half of the Republican state legislators in Texas.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And by thousands upon thousands of Republican women and grass roots activists.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: They know my record. They know me personally. They know my heart. And they know that I have kept my word to fight for them each and every day.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: America, I'll do the same as president.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Together, we will repeal Obamacare.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Abolish the IRS.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Pull back the EPA regulators that are killing small businesses.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Stop amnesty and secure the borders.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And the result will be small businesses exploding, millions of high-paying jobs, wages going up, and young people coming out of school with two, three, four, five job offers.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: From this day forward, let us together show that Reagan's love, optimism, and faith in the American people were not misplaced.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Let us show that we will not let the American light go out, that we will fight for our Constitution, for life and for freedom.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: You have shown that we remain a strong and just people, a people who do not give in to fear, but rise always in our righteous might to meet the challenges of the future.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Together, we can do it. If we stand together and return to the free market principles and the constitutional liberties that built America.
(APPLAUSE) CRUZ: Once again, we can have morning in America.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Thank you and God bless each and every one of you.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listening to Ted Cruz give his victory speech for the state of Texas, also winning tonight in Oklahoma. Jeffrey Lord, former supporter of Ronald Reagan, what do you make of what you heard?
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Astonished. He totally, totally represented Donald Trump on Obamacare. Donald Trump has said repeatedly he wants to repeal Obamacare. There is Ted Cruz, as if all the rest of us don't have access to what's been said on the record there.
(CROSSTALK)
CARPENTER: Donald Trump has said he'll repeal Obamacare, but the issue is that he will replace it with something bigger.
(CROSSTALK)
CARPENTER: Here is the fundamental difference.
LORD: He didn't want to repeal Obama, that's the problem.
CARPENTER: ... before getting in that between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. When there's been a big policy problem that's approached them both, Donald Trump has usually chosen or supported the more big government solution. You look at the bailouts.
LORD: All right. Look, Amanda -- Amanda.
CARPENTER: Donald Trump has said the bailout. This is the fundamental difference between those two candidates.
LORD: This is -- you have -- yes. You cannot be running a presidential campaign. I mean, he spent a major bit of his time tonight and said what was his campaign about? It was defeating Donald Trump. Now, that is not inspirational. I worked on that morning in America campaign, and the morning in America campaign...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: One at a time. One at a time. Let Jeffrey finish.
LORD: The morning in America campaign was about that, it was about economics. It was recovery again, and all of the good things that were happening in the country. It wasn't about defeating Walter Mondale. And what his -- and what Ted Cruz has spent his time doing here today is saying, I'm going to defeat Donald Trump. Help me. This is what Marco Rubio has been doing, and where is Marco Rubio tonight?
COOPER: Amanda.
CARPENTER: Through the course of Donald Trump's candidacy, he has shown a willingness, a frightening willingness from where I sit to embrace almost tyrannical levels of government power. Look at the threat that he has posed to free speech, I think that is the single most disturbing issue of Donald Trump. He's threatened to sue journalists who write negative stories about him.
He's said the SEC should fine a conservative writer for writing negative things about him. He has sued -- threatened to sue Ted Cruz.
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: Amanda -- Amanda.
CARPENTER: For putting his own safety on the air.
LORD: Amanda, any of these things...
CARPENTER: That is not a candidate conservative to believe in free speech.
LORD: ... any of these things have to be dealt in a congressional setting (ph).
COOPER: One at a time. OK, Amanda.
LORD: Anything, anything like that, anything that any president proposes except for Barack Obama, who just has his pen on the phone wants to -- wants to do things and they have to go through Congress. Ted Cruz is going to have to go through Congress.
CARPENTER: Well, there's the executive order issue. And seeing how Donald Trump has campaigned, I think he would use executive orders to an order magnitude larger than even Barack Obama.
COOPER: S.E., your opinion.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This argument is a fantastic one to have and I would have side with, you know, Amanda that Trump is I think big government versus small government, unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the argument that the republican electorate is having.
Trump is -- I mean, I can't believe we're not talking about the fact that our potential nominee for president is a guy who has defended operation wetback, Japanese internment camps, religion...
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: Wait, wait, he never defended Japanese internment camps ever. Ever.
CUPP: He has suggested that...
LORD: No, no. What he suggested was -- what he cited was Franklin Roosevelt's three proclamations the day after Pearl Harbor that had nothing to do Japanese...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: We should just point out for our viewers; Rubio right now I think is still leading in Minnesota. We're putting that up on the screen again. It is still early in Minnesota. But you have Rubio there at 36 percent, Cruz 27, Donald Trump 20 percent, small amount obviously the vote in. But just interesting fact.
CUPP: The problem is we're not having the argument about small government versus big government. And that's a really important fundamental argument to have, especially going into a democratic -- a general election against either of the two democrats running. We're talking about the sort of crazy dog whistle policy proposals that...
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: What's the dog whistle?
CUPP: ... Donald Trump -- well, actually, it wasn't a whistle, it's a scream, it's a yell.
LORD: About what?
CUPP: I have said this before, Donald Trump has tried to etherize every other candidate in this race.
LORD: That's liberal speak.
CUPP: He's a liberal.
LORD: The other.
CUPP: He's a liberal. It falls perfectly in the line.
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: No, what you said is liberal speak.
CUPP: But he's doing it. He's acting, he's etherizing other candidates to sort of scare this very small part of the electorate who thinks that all of their problems are the fault of people who don't like look like them.
LORD: Look, look, one of the...
CUPP: He's tapping into what is real and I would argue he taps into to be the left, as well as the right, that element exists on the left and that's working for him. And that's the real thing.
LORD: Let's -- let's talk about -- let's talk what he said about the Klan. I mean, here's a guy who disavowed this many, many, many times. And you hear the statement from Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan today.
I like Paul Ryan. We both work for Jack Kemp. Jack Kemp would be appalled at this. The republican -- I hate to say this about the republican establishment but their view of civil rights is to tip the black waiter $5 at the country club. I mean, this is atrocious. This is atrocious. This is why -- this is why Donald Trump has the ability because he is not going to patronize people.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, hold on, hold on for a second. First of all, there are a lot of things you said that I could take you on about. But I want to be very, very clear. The things that Donald Trump has done and not just in this race are horribly offensive. You can you go back with this guy for a long time -- I want to talk. I want to talk.
LORD: I didn't say anything yet.
JONES: You breathed. You can go back to the central jogger case where he came out and had innocent black kids winding up in...
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: No, innocent kids.
JONES: Hold on a second. Innocent black kids. Listen, hold on a second. We have a big problem at this point now. Because I agree with you about a lot. I think we have taken him not seriously, we have not respected his voters, but there is a dark underside here. And S.E. is right.
[22:35:03] He is whipping up and tapping into and pushing buttons that are very, very frightening to me and frightening to a lot of people. Number one, when he is playing funny with the Klan, that is not cool.
LORD: He didn't play funny with the Klan.
JONES: Hold on a second. I know this man when he gets passionate about terrorism. I know how he talks about terrorism. The Klan is a terrorist organization that has killed...
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: A leftist terrorism organization.
LORD: You can put whatever label you want, that's your game to play.
LORD: No, that's important to...
JONES: No, they're not level -- we're not going to play that game.
LORD: It's history. We're going to understand history.
JONES: No, you need to take a serious look at the fact that this man is playing fast and loose and footsy. When we talk about terrorism, he gets passionate. He says no, that is wrong.
But when you talk about the Klan, oh, I don't know, I don't know. That's wrong. And you came on the air and you said, well, this is just like when Reverend Wright was speaking.
LORD: Yes, yes.
JONES: Reverend wright never lynched anybody. Reverend Wright never killed anybody.
LORD: Reverend Wright is an anti-Semite.
JONES: Reverend Wright -- no, no, hold on a second. Reverend Wright never put anybody on a pose. And you guys play these war games and it's wrong to do in America.
LORD: It is wrong -- it is wrong to understand that these are not leftists. They were a...
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: What difference does it make if you call them leftists.
LORD: Van, it means a lot of different things. I'm not talking...
JONES: You call them chipmunks, they kill people. And you don't play games with that.
LORD: Van, we're not -- you're right. And you don't hide and say that's not part of the base of the Democratic Party. That has been, they were the military arm, the terrorist arm of the Democratic Party according to historians. For God sakes, read your history.
JONES: Listen, I'm not -- I don't know.
LORD: The whole attitude of surviving by race is still here and this is how democrats need to be.
JONES: I don't care how they voted 50 years ago, I care about who they killed.
LORD: I care about American history. It counts.
JONES: You have stood with Donald Trump and you have made a case for Donald Trump when nobody else wanted to, and you earn the respect for an awful lot of people, but when you do not acknowledge that he did not answered that question with the passion, he is answering with other terrorist organizations. You do yourself a disturbance. You do your...
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: He has made this point over and over and over again. This is a media thing here. Did he make a mistake? Sure. But he has said this many, many times. I've gone back and looked. He's well on record over and over and over again.
JONES: But it's worse than that, sir. It's worse than that. That whole thing with the central jogger kid, he got the entire City of New York whipped up on this idea that these kids had done something wrong. And then when they are trying -- and they were innocent, we all make mistakes. LORD: Right.
JONES: He never apologized to those kids. And that's a stain on him. And you can walk through time after time where he has done stuff like that. The stuff is got about made of Americans being, you know, criminal organizations and Mafia. He said so many...
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: But, Van, what you're doing right here, what you're doing here is dividing people. We're all Americans here, Van.
JONES: I am.
LORD: You are dividing people. This is what liberals do. You are dividing people by race.
JONES: I am not.
LORD: This is what liberalism is all about.
JONEs: The Klan divides by race.
LORD: You have to -- you have to divide it by race.
JONES: The Klan killed people by race and he have the opportunity and he did that to...
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: And they did it -- they did it to further the progressive agenda. Hello?
JONES: Why they killed -- listen, that is first of all so absurd.
LORD: Not true. It is not true.
JONES: The Democratic Party of the south in the old days with a racist party. And you are -- you are correct, sir. They were a violent party. You are correct, sir.
LORD: How do you think we got Governor Pete Wilson elected?
JONES: But hold on a second. Hold on a second. That's not the Democratic Party of the day. So, why are you talking about that for? You play this game.
LORD: It is the Democratic Party of today. The Democratic Party of the day divides by race.
JONES: My -- listen, I have a kid, 7 years old.
LORD: Right.
JONES: He can't even watch -- I used to look -- I don't want you watching the Kardashian's, I want you watching the news, you can learn something. You know what? Watching all this nonsense in your party, he turns around and he says, dad, you're a liar. he doesn't even know what the word means. But he sees so much vitriol from your party.
LORD: Right.
JONES: He brings that into our house. Now he got to -- have been watching Nick Junior. He can't absorb civics because of what's going on in your party. The circus wing in your party. Do not play.
And Tell Donald Trump, I know you, I trust you, tell Donald Trump he needs for my children's sake, but the children's sake of American, if he's going to lead this country, he needs to be as passionate about what has happened to the people in my community as anybody else.
LORD: We have to be passionate about making sure as Robert Kennedy used to say that this country is color blind. We have to, as President Kennedy used to say in that Birmingham speech that race has no place in American life or law. That's what we have to do and we have lost that totally because the Democratic Party insists on dividing people by race and it's wrong. It's morally wrong.
COOPER: All right.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think this is going well. You know, I will say this. There's a lot of blame to go around for the tone of this campaign and when, you know, when Ted Cruz, who embraced Donald Trump until he didn't embrace Donald Trump and went after Marco Rubio for, he said, supporting amnesty, he was invoking, he was playing that game as well in some ways.
I mean, it's not the same. This has been -- this has been a meme of the republican -- of the republican race. Both parties have their issues. But we ought to focus on where we are in this campaign right now and there's little bit of a preview of it here.
[22:40:05] And we heard Ted Cruz said tonight, that Donald Trump was a Washington deal maker, profane and vulgar, using his political power for private gain, part of the Washington corruption for 40 years.
And so, Jeffrey, he is trying to wind your man into the Washington mess, and I think he's trying to recapture the outsider vote. And I think we're going to see more of this in the time that comes through.
COOPER: In a general election, do you think Donald Trump has a problem -- say it's Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton? Does Donald Trump have a problem attacking Hillary Clinton as a Washington insider, as somebody who has part of problems who's been in power for so long and yet nothing has changed. When Donald Trump has supported Hillary Clinton and given money to democrats?
LORD: I don't think so.
COOPER: Do you think he has weaker position than a Ted Cruz would have? LORD: No, I don't think so for the same reason Ronald Reagan didn't
have a position because he supported Harry Truman and Hubert Humphrey and, you know, health care that was part of the left that what Obama...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: But he wasn't running directly against them. He's given, I mean, you know, he's given money to Hillary Clinton.
LORD: Right, right.
COOPER: He's given money to Harry Reid.
LORD: What I mean is his explanation. I mean, we've just been down this road so many times and this has had no effect on a republican electorate. I mean, I go back to the night we were here in New Hampshire and looking at the exit polls and he beat Ted Cruz by 12 points among those who self-described as very conservative. I mean, that's where that would show up and it doesn't.
COOPER: Just think about the conversation that Van and Jeffrey were having, which is obviously a passionately felt discussion and it echoes discussions which, you know, a lot of people have been having among republicans, between republicans and democrats. Does it telegraph what this general election is going to be like?
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. I think absolutely.
COOPER: I mean, about the level of passion and anger and...
HENDERSON: And vitriol.
COOPER: ... and vitriol at times. And this -- yes, go ahead.
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The illustration of this because it was interesting. Oklahoma, the point was made I think by Dana or Jake that it's the first state where it was pure republicans and there weren't interlopers. Something odd happened on my radio program today relative to Massachusetts alone.
I had three types of callers. One that said, I voted even though I'm not a republican. I joined the republicans today because I wanted to vote for Donald Trump because I'm for Trump. Next caller and they weren't in this succession, but another caller who said I voted among the republicans today because I can't stand Donald Trump and I wanted to go and vote against him.
A third category that said I voted in that particular primary because I think he's the weakest and I want to prop him up. The point being it's all about Trump. Everybody's vote being that so much of that based on...
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that...
COOPER: No, let him finish.
SMERCONISH: ... how they feel about Donald Trump. And the way this is headed should he become the candidate, it will be a national referendum on Donald Trump.
BORGER: But it's also going to be a referendum if Hillary Clinton runs if she's the nominee as the third term of President Obama. It's also in many ways. It's going to be a referendum on President Obama. He needs Hillary Clinton to complete his legacy, for his legacy.
And I think underlying all of this question about whether there's a dog whistle here from Trump, et cetera, KKK and all the rest, is we've had an African-American president for the last eight years and I think there are people who react to this issue to Barack Obama race is under the surface here.
HENDERSON: Yes.
BORGER: And you know, you can't say that people who support Donald Trump are reacting against Barack Obama, that's not necessarily true, but I think to disregard it...
COOPER: Nia, and we got to go.
HENDERSON: Yes. You know, I think you saw Trump tonight try to move away from what we saw over there in terms of some of the emotions from Van Jones. He called himself a common sense conservative, he called himself diplomatic, he talked about Planned Parenthood, he talked about infrastructure, which is going to be Obama hobby horse...
BORGER: Yes.
HENDERSON: ... as well as Sanders and Clinton. And he called himself a unifier. I mean, I think, does that work? I don't know if that's going to work for the party or that's going to work for the country.
COOPER: All right. Let's go back to Wolf. Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, Anderson. Thanks very much. I want to update our viewers on the races won tonight by republicans. First, Donald Trump he's won five states. Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Ted Cruz, he's won two states tonight, Texas and Oklahoma. On the democratic side, Hillary Clinton has won six states, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. Bernie Sanders has won two states, Vermont and Oklahoma.
We have a key race alert now. We're going to update you on some of the outstanding races we're watching right now. In Vermont, 70 percent of the vote is in, very close between Donald Trump and John Kasich. Thirty percent for Trump, 34.9 percent for Kasich.
Look at this, only 524 votes difference, that's with 70 percent of the vote in. In Arkansas also close 68 percent of the vote is in. Donald Trump has a bigger lead of 34.3 percent, Ted Cruz 28.9 percent. Trump is up by 12,854 votes. Sixty eight percent of the votes is in.
[22:45:04] In Massachusetts, still outstanding, 80 percent of the vote is in. Hillary Clinton -- Hillary Clinton is in 51 percent, Bernie Sanders has 47 percent. Eighty one percent of the votes are in.
We have three more states now, caucus states. We're going to update you on that right now. In Colorado, democratic caucuses, 11 percent in right now. Bernie Sanders winning in Colorado, 56.6 percent to Hillary Clinton, 42 percent.
In Minnesota, Bernie Sanders is also ahead but only 6 percent of the vote from the democratic caucuses in Minnesota is in, 59.3 percent for Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton 40.6 percent.
The republican caucuses in Minnesota shows Marco Rubio he is ahead, 79 percent of the vote is in, 37.3. Ted Cruz in second place with 28 percent, and Donald Trump in third place in this republican caucuses in Minnesota, 21 percent for Donald Trump.
So, there are still some outstanding races but several have clearly, Jake and Dana, have been resolved.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Well, first of all, let's look at this Minnesota contest of Marco Rubio, the results are not final and they're still counting votes. But I mean, that could be the first victory that Marco Rubio theoretically declares. It is still early.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Not just tonight. Ever.
TAPPER: Ever. Yes, yes, ever.
BASH: Yes.
TAPPER: And Marco Rubio's history in presidential politics. So, everything's hinging on Minnesota right now. In terms of any sort of argument he might have. Now, that said, even if he wins Minnesota, that's still a pretty thin read on which to hand -- hang a campaign at this point.
And then obviously Bernie Sanders having some strong showings as well, both in the Minnesota democratic caucuses and in the Colorado democratic caucuses. Again, early results, we can't say anything for sure. But you have good news for the underdogs at least so far in these results that are still outstanding.
BASH: Absolutely. And I should say that the Rubio campaign just in texting with a senior source there as we were watching these numbers come in, they feel very confident that they are going to win. But as you say, it is just one state, it's not that delegate rich.
But they also are insisting at the end of the day, they are going to do pretty well with delegates because we should, you know, remind everybody that this is all -- this is all proportional. And so, even though he's not winning in a lot of states, he could do well.
But the one thing that I want to point out is on the Rubio point, is what the Rubio campaign is saying and we've heard it for the last several weeks now is that John Kasich needs to get out of the race because he's a spoiler.
And they point to Virginia, which we called for Donald Trump, where they show the percentages, the difference between Donald Trump and Marco Rubio is just a few percentage points. And John Kasich got like more than 9 percent of the vote.
They are firmly of the belief, at least they argue, that those votes would have gone to Marco Rubio and he could have overtaken Donald Trump in Virginia.
TAPPER: John Kasich came in second in New Hampshire. He has just as much right as anybody to be...
BASH: Sure, no question.
TAPPER: ... to be running in this race. So, it's a...
BASH: It's just the kind of tug of war that's going on behind the scenes in the push to have one single opponent.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: Virginia is a state where there are coming, Wolf, where there are a lot of the delegates are proportionally and there is not a threshold.
BASH: Right.
TAPPER: So, that is a limited argumentative value. But let's go to Mark Preston right now who can talk to us about the actual delegate count. Because at the end of the day, Mark, this comes down to math.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: It certainly does, Jake. Certainly you can you describe tonight's Super Tuesday as one of emotion, one of momentum and, as you said, most importantly one of mathematics.
So what's at stake tonight when it comes to the republican race for the presidential nomination? Let's take a look at this right now. Five hundred ninety five republican delegates up for grabs. If we were to look at it right now, Donald Trump has 84. He has collected 84 so far tonight.
Ted Cruz has 35, Marco Rubio has 25. Now let's put that altogether, year to date right now, Donald Trump has 166 delegates, Ted Cruz 52, Marco Rubio 41. You need 1,237 delegates to secure the nomination.
On the democratic side right now, Hillary Clinton has won 188 delegates tonight, Jake and Dana. Bernie Sanders has won 82. If you were to look at it year to date right now, Hillary Clinton has 747 delegates. Bernie Sanders, 168. You need 2,383 delegates to win the democratic nomination.
Now we should note on the democratic side right now, not only this is includes delegates that you are awarded for wins in the states, there is also includes super delegates. These are elected officials who have pledged their support to Hillary Clinton and in some cases Bernie Sanders, who will have a vote at the convention.
So, as you said, Jake, it always comes down to math. And tonight right now, the big winners Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump but there's still a lot more to be awarded throughout the night.
[22:50:00] TAPPER: Thanks, Mark Preston. The politics executive editor for CNN. And, Wolf Blitzer, so far right now, Donald Trump five contests that we've projected will be in his -- in his bank. Hillary Clinton six. Sanders and Cruz two apiece.
BLITZER: Including their respective home States of Texas and Vermont as well. I want to go over to John King, who is taking a closer look at a lot of what we're trying to understand what happened tonight, obviously very successful night so far for Donald Trump, very successful for Hillary Clinton. But not completely unsuccessful for Ted Cruz. He wins his second and third state.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But look, if -- we're waiting on Alaska, but if you look at them and we're still waiting on Minnesota. But if you assume, let's look at Minnesota right now. We're at 79 percent. Marco Rubio at 37 percent. So, it looks very good for him. It's a complicated system, which is why we haven't called it. We're waiting to get the final results. It's done by congressional district.
But it looks like the possibility. You see that red, Marco Rubio could get his first win in Minnesota. Again, as we count the votes, Ted Cruz now has three, as he noted, winning Texas and Oklahoma tonight after starting the season in Iowa. And Donald Trump says, that's great, you guys got a combined four maybe, but I've got 11 assuming he gets Alaska at the end of the night tonight after 15 contests.
And so, Donald Trump has momentum on his side as the calendar moves forward. One thing we still haven't called. We're still waiting up here in Vermont. I just said Donald Trump could win this but there's a close race here with Governor Kasich. So, it is possible if Kasich could squeeze out the win here, then the muddle in the middle, if you will, between Cruz, Rubio, and Kasich would continue. Each playing to the other campaign saying you guys should get out.
Kasich is running at least a strong second in Vermont right now. His campaign is already put on memo tonight saying, he's the only who can win. Rubio's campaign says he's the only one who can beat Trump, Cruz just said publicly he's the only one who can...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Let's go to your home State of Massachusetts on the democratic side. We still have not been able to yet project a winner. Look at how close it is between Hillary Clinton, 50.9 percent, Bernie Sanders 48 percent.
KING: Extraordinarily close, 84 percent. So, we're still waiting for some votes. You see along the Vermont/New Hampshire border mostly small towns up here. Bernie Sanders is winning them. But Hillary Clinton winning where the votes are, if you will.
We're still waiting for Worcester. We have zero percent out of Worcester, 2.8 percent of the population. A lot of democrats in Worcester. So, we're waiting for that. We'll have to call up here and see what the delay is. Now you move in to the City of Boston itself, we're up to 98 percent. So, we're just about done in Boston.
This is where Hillary Clinton gets her big lead with the huge lead in the city there. And then you come down, I'm just looking other places, New Bedford you move down toward the southeast part of the state. This is a blue collar town as we head start toward to Cape Cod. Hillary Clinton with a big margin there.
If you look, it's pretty typical, each place we've gone, Hillary Clinton winning in the cities and in the suburbs right around them but Bernie Sanders winning big in the small, rural areas. As Clinton campaign will be happy with this as you get closer to New Hampshire, Lowell an industrial city, now a high tech area moving up, it's a narrow win.
But again, up in the place where Sanders has been doing well. You move over to Lawrence as well where we're looking, we're still waiting for Lawrence as we look at voters, Lawrence and Worcester as we wait to count.
BLITZER: So, we still have seven contests outstanding right now. Maybe Marco Rubio will win his first state. Maybe John Kasich will win his first state. There is still seven contests. We have a long way to go. Much more with our coverage right after this.
[22:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
I want to update you on the states that have been won by the respective democratic and republican candidates.
First of all on the republican side, Donald Trump, he has now according to our projections won five states. Let's review, Georgia, Alabama, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Virginia. Five states won by Donald Trump.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, he has won his home State of Texas and Oklahoma, two states won tonight by Ted Cruz.
On the democratic side, six states won by Hillary Clinton so far, Georgia, Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. Bernie Sanders he's carrying his home State of Vermont as well as Oklahoma, two states won by Bernie Sanders tonight.
Let's get a race alert on some of the outstanding caucus right now. In Vermont, look at this, 74 percent of the vote is in. Trump is slightly ahead of John Kasich, well ahead of Marco Rubio who is in third place, 32.2 percent for Trump, 30.7 percent for John Kasich, only a difference of 705 votes. That's in Vermont right now. We're watching that close.
In Arkansas it's also a contest, 79 percent of the votes is on, Trump is ahead in Arkansas with 33.8 percent to Ted Cruz's 29.4 percent. Marco Rubio in third place by 24.7 percent. But Trump does have a lead of 12,332 that potentially could be significant in Arkansas.
In Massachusetts on the democratic side right now, 87 percent of the vote is in. Hillary Clinton is slightly ahead of Bernie Sanders, 50.6 percent to 48.2 percent, that's lead right now of 23,460 votes for Hillary Clinton. And once again, 87 percent, 87 percent of the vote is in.
There are some caucus states we want to update you on right now as well. The democratic caucuses in Colorado. Only 16 percent of the vote is in, but look at this, Bernie Sanders is ahead of Hillary Clinton 57.3 percent to 41.4 percent.
In Minnesota, similarly, very early, only 6 percent of the vote has been counted but Bernie Sanders is ahead of Hillary Clinton 59.3 percent to 40.6 percent.
In the republican caucuses in Minnesota, bigger numbers have been counted already, 79 percent have been counted. And Marco Rubio has the significant lead with 37.3 percent, Ted Cruz 28 percent, Donald Trump 21 percent. This potentially could be Marco Rubio's first win, if he goes on, Jake and Dana, to go ahead and win Minnesota.
TAPPER: Yes. Still a big if. Still a lot of votes outstanding. But it could be something for Marco Rubio to hang his hat on.
It was interesting, Dana, earlier when Donald Trump was speaking, taking questions from the press, perhaps trying to get the nation to imagine him as a president taking questions from the press. There was somebody standing behind him with interesting facial expressions, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. It was interesting that he was there.
BASH: That's right. You know, a lot of people on the other side of the room had been talking about the fact that he looked like he was sort of running, auditioning to be a vice presidential candidate perhaps.
But the other thing that was fascinating is that this was going on just a couple of hours after what we were talking about earlier, this big call among donors who are trying to stop Marco -- excuse me, trying to stop Donald Trump and some of the donors on that call were Chris Christie donors.
TAPPER: Sure.
BASH: Not the least of which is Meg Whitman, who is his national co- chair to try to raise money for him. She was part of the leader -- leadership of the call. So, it's absolutely ironic that you have this guy, really a member of the establishment standing with Donald Trump while you have so many people, money people especially who supported Chris Christie trying to take down Donald Trump.
[22:59:59] And Chris Christie getting a lot of blowback for his endorsement of Donald Trump back in his home state.
BASH: That's right. Six newspapers I believe got together, sort of on mass and wrote an editorial condemning Chris Christie. Actually saying he should -- he should resign because of this endorsement.
