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The Path for Gov. John Kasich; Mitt Romney to Speak Tomorrow on State of GOP Race; Clinton an Sanders to Debate in Flint. Aired 2:30- 3p ET

Aired March 02, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:02] TOM DELAY, (R) FOPRMER HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Yeah, and especially Kasich.

Kasich needs to win Ohio. If Kasich wins Ohio, then Trump will not have a majority of the delegates going into the convention.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: OK. So, you want all three to stay in.

Let me ask you your name -- I'm sure you know this came up at the CNN's Democratic Town Hall last week. Hillary Clinton was asked a question about, you know, Republicans that she has been able to fine some common ground with and your name came up.

Here she was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I got Washington, when my husband became president, I look for opportunities to work across the aisle.

I worked with Tom Delay, one of the most partisan Republicans in the congress to reform the adoption of foster care system. We never became friends, but we did something good for a lot of young kids who had better lives because of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Did you chuckle before? You knew where I was going with that congress. Well, what do you make of her response?

DELAY: Well, she was very, very helpful. My wife and I were foster parents, and we're very much involved in that effort to save these children. And Hillary did a lot of work to help us do that along with a whole lot of other people.

I mean, it wasn't just Hillary and me. It was a lot of people trying to take care of these children.

BALDWIN: Well, Former House Majority Leader, Tom Delay, I appreciate it very, very much.

DELAY: Sure Brooke, glad to be with you. BALDWIN: Thank you, thank you.

Straight ahead here on CNN, he is without a win, even after Super Tuesday. We were just talking about the Ohio Governor here, John Kasich.

A number of Republicans, unlike Tom Delay, they're telling him they would like him to get out.

Is he costing other candidates a chance to close in on Trump?

A Kasich supporter, Montel Williams will join me next.

Also ahead, much more on our Breaking News here, Mitt Romney, the last Republican of his party's nominee for president that he plans to address the "State of the 2016 Presidential Race" tomorrow.

Lots to talk about on this Wednesday, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:36:30] BALDWIN: Let's continue this conversation on politics today.

Here longtime T.V Talk Show Host Montel Williams is with me. Last month, he endorsed John Kasich for president.

And Ryan Williams is back with us, Former Spokesperson for Governors Mitt Romney and John Sununu.

So, gentlemen, welcome back to both of you.

And Montel, first to you, we try to withdrawn (ph) about it at half of the hour. I'm just curios of your thoughts.

Mitt Romney, giving his speech tomorrow where (ph) suddenly, you're not throwing his hat into the ring, not endorsing a candidate. But, really, it's a message on the Republican Party. What do you think?

MONTEL WILLIAMS, T.V. TALK SHOW HOST: I think as a leader, as person who's recognized as a leader in this country, you can see last week when he first started like talking about the fact that this was getting out of control, I think he is being moved, moved enough to be able to want to speak to the rest of people in Utah and rest of people in the country and say, "Look, I think we need to control the rhetoric." And I think the speech is going to be a little different than most people believe tomorrow.

I think he's going to come out and then say, "Everybody needs to ask to calm this down."

BALDWIN: Ryan, I know you said you hadn't talked to the governor. But, again, to you, what do you think he needs to say?

RYAN WILLIAMS, GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY FORMER SPOKESMAN: I think he needs to talk about the stakes in this race and what we have at stake here in terms of nominating the wrong person, who Donald Trump is.

I think he should do a job unmasking Donald Trump as the conman that he is someone, who as I mentioned, says he's going to bring jobs back from China and makes this clothing line in China, who says he's a business success but has four massive bankruptcies.

He just needs to lay the case of this to why Donald Trump is the wrong person to lead the party and the consequences that would come if we actually do nominate him.

BALDWIN: OK. Let's talk John Kasich. We have talked about him before. You say he's the adult on the playground.

But, listen, Washington, the establishment, they are from, what I'm hearing from folks, the one I'm reading, they're frustrated that Kasich is not getting out of the way. There's not job grabbing out (ph).

M. WILLIAMS: Well, who really needs to get out of the way? Kasich took a strong second in New Hampshire, he took a strong second last night in Vermont and he took another strong second and Massachusetts.

He, right now, has gone a ground swell of people understanding that he is the only adult in the room. I want to go back.

Romney, picking on Trump right now, I believe it's going to be the absolute wrong thing to do. Because all you're going to do is inspire more of the people who were zealots behind him to come out and unmask, because there's another establishment person I think.

If he goes out from this perspective of seeing he didn't calm Donald down and calm the rhetoric down a little bit, I think he might have an opportunity for those who have real ideas to kind of rise above.

I still think Kasich has a really good chance. I think a lot of people -- look, Tom Delay said just said the same thing.

BALDWIN: He should he's saying ...

M. WILLIAMS: He's going to win Ohio. If Kasich wins Ohio, Rubio doesn't win Florida but Kasich wins Ohio.

No one has yet to win, from the Republican standpoint, the presidency unless you have both of those states.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Ryan Williams, you say Kasich staying in is selfish. Do you disagree with Montel? Tell me why.

R. WILLIAMS: Well, with all due respect to Montel, there is no ground swell behind the candidate gone open for 50 (ph) at this point.

John Kasich actually lost the Ben Carson in seven states last night. He is siphoning votes away from other candidates who could coalesce the mainstream Republican vote. And, you know, with regards to Ohio ...

(CROSSTALK)

M. WILLIAMS: There's no one else who could coalesce.

R. WILLIAMS: It's not even going to win in Ohio.

(CROSSTALK)

R. WILLIAMS: There is no path for John Kasich to get 1,237 delegates. It is impossible. That is not going to happen.

So, why is he running now? I don't know. Maybe he dislikes the process. Maybe he wants to get something out of taking his small contingent of delegates to the convention. I don't know. But, Montel, there's no way he can get those delegates.

So, at this point, the campaign is basically just a pipe dream. He's the Ralph Nader of the Republican field right now.

(CROSSTALK)

[14:40:00] M. WILLIAMS: I will actually say anybody else cannot do it either. Rubio cannot do it, Cruz cannot do it.

I think we are better suited that if we get through the ....

(CROSSTALK)

R. WILLIAMS: How is someone who's common and who's not won one state over 15 -- he can't get enough votes to win one state out of everyone (ph).

M. WILLIAMS: Let's see what happens when he wins Ohio.

R. WILLIAMS: It doesn't exist.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: What if he will? OK, let's go with Montel's thinking, Ryan, if he wins Ohio.

R. WILLIAMS: There're 66 delegates in Ohio, that's not enough.

M. WILLIAMS: But he still is going to Ohio.

R. WILLIAMS: He needs 1237. He's not going to do it. So, with all due respect, even if he doesn't win Ohio, it is a drop in the bucket.

M. WILLIAMS: Rubio has only won one state and his not going to win anymore. If Kasich wins one state, Kasich could pick up a couple more along the way especially in the Midwest, which I don't think is safe (ph) for Cruz or for Rubio.

R. WILLIAMS: 1237 delegates, how do you get there, Montel? It's not happening. M. WILLIAMS: But how do you get there with anybody else? So we may

as well have somebody in the game that at least is talking about the issues that affect America in the right way.

BALDWIN: So obviously, this is your man. You love some John Kasich. We don't know, we don't know. I know the math is tricky, you know, I appreciate your positivity.

On the other hand, Ryan, I'm curious, to you, you know, again I'm reminded of Mitt Romney and I was talking with David Gregory about this yesterday. Who is that so strong voice in the Republican Party who's not in the crop of (ph) candidates, who can call up, you know, have a Kasich or a Rubio and Cruz on speed dial and say hey your time is up, you need to coalesce behind another candidate.

Do you think that Romney would call up John Kasich and persuade him either way?

R. WILLIAMS: Well, I don't know if the governor would make that call but there really is no one person that can make a candidate drop out. The only person that can make a candidate drop out at a race is the candidate himself. And that will come when they either run out of money, they finally read the handwriting on the wall or enough of their supporters come to them and try nudge them.

Candidates usually get out of the race when they hear from not on the outside but those who support them financially or you know as a surrogate and say, "Look, it's time to do the best thing and step aside."

BALDWIN: You get the final word.

M. WILLIAMS: Well, I would say again even if, right now, in the current debate that we have going on, we need to have a voice talking about the things that matter because at the end of the day, what the Republicans do or the Democrats do, whoever wins is going to have to bring this country back together again in December, in January. I see only one person in this race that can possibly do that and that's John Kasich.

So, I'm going to back him. And I hope he continues making much noise until we get past Ohio. And if that point is done then I think he should literally think about it. But who else is there? It's not going to be Cruz and it's not going to be Rubio.

BALDWIN: OK. Montel Williams, Ryan Williams, thank you both. Mr. Williamses (ph).

M WILLIAMS: The Williamses (ph).

BALDWIN: The Williamses (ph), thank you.

M WILLIAMS: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton may have turned her sights to November but in the meantime she still has to debate her party rival.

How this democratic front-runner needs to play this delicate balancing act moving forward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:41] BALDWIN: More twists and turns today in the race for the White House on the Republican side. As we've been reporting moments ago, we learned it appears Dr. Ben Carson is nearing the end of the campaign trail. Releasing a statement, essentially saying he doesn't see a "Political path forward". Not going to the debate tomorrow night in Detroit, though, he's not explicitly saying he's out, he's suspending.

Either way could mean some positive news for Senator Marco Rubio, who was hoping to be the Republican candidate who can take down Donald Trump.

CNN's Senior Political Reporter Manu Raju joins me now live from Capitol Hill.

And so, you know, we've also learned of course about this big speech that Mitt Romney is giving tomorrow on the state of the presidential race.

You spoke with Senator Lindsey Graham who has been extraordinarily critical of Mr. Trump. What did he say?

MANU RAJU CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: You know, it's really been remarkable, Brooke. And I actually spent the day speaking to a lot of Republican Senators and really the feeling is pretty strong. They are unified behind finding someone to go after Donald Trump, getting behind a consensus candidate.

The one problem is that, they don't know who that consensus candidate is, whether it's John Kasich, whether it's Marco Rubio, or whether it's even Ted Cruz.

And that latter camp is actually Lindsey Graham who said that Rubio -- Kasich will be the best candidate, Rubio would be the second best candidate and if both of those fail maybe it's time to get behind Ted Cruz.

Here's what he have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: Donald Trump is an interloper. I don't trust him.

I think Ted Cruz has represents some form conservatism that's hard to sell to the general public (inaudible) Republican conservative. I hope we can nominate somebody who is the best fit. It might be that Kasich or Rubio. But if they fall, I'm not going to support somebody (inaudible) I think will do damage to my party. Ted Cruz ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, that's pretty remarkable given that Cruz and Graham have battled over a number of issues. And in addition, Graham had said recently to me when I asked him about the prospect of Cruz or Trump, he said it's like being shot or poisoned and something that he's repeated on the campaign trail since then. But it really shows that challenge in finding someone, anyone to go after Donald Trump.

I also spoke with Cory Gardner, who is also -- he's a Colorado Senator and a Marco Rubio supporter. He said to me that John Kasich does not have a viable path forward. He said time -- he suggested it's time for him to get out of the race.

So, you're starting to hear that pressure build up, all because they believe the only way to beat Donald Trump right now is to find an alternative. They just need to figure out who that person is, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Manu Raju, thank you very much for us in Washington.

As for the Democrats, Hillary Clinton winning big, she's the likely nominated but did not deliver quite that knockout punch necessary against Bernie Sanders. She did win seven states to Sanders' four.

Senator Sanders saying he's not giving up any time soon. And with still several debates on the horizon including CNN's Presidential Debate this Sunday live from Flint, Michigan. Time could still be on Sanders' side.

So, joining me now, Bakari Sellers, CNN Commentator and former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. He supports Hillary Clinton.

Bakari, good to see you, sir.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you for having me, Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right. Still a number of debates on the horizons, town halls as well for these two. Clinton aides have privately admitted that they actually regret taking on these debates.

[14:50:01] Do you think there is a possibility that could be a lifeline for her opponent, Bernie Sanders?

SELLERS: Well, I think the debates are healthy. I've always thought the debate schedule needed to be a little bit more thorough. We need to add debates. And I'm just happy they were having this discussion in Flint.

I anticipate this being the most intense debate that we've had on democratic side. And when you take a step back and you're looking at the heightened level of discussion that we're having on the Democratic side versus the Republican side, we're actually talking about ideas, we're not talking about who has little fingers, we're not just castigating people with different slurs that your children can't even watch on TV. So I feel really good about how good of a candidate Bernie Sanders has actually made Hillary Clinton. I feel really good about Bernie Sanders' message. I feel good about Hillary Clinton's message going into Flint.

And I think this is going to be one time in American history where we can sit back and actually look at what Kimberle Crenshaw has coined that intersectionality, where we're talking about systemic races, I mean, our criminal justice system, environmental justice, sexism, all these things that plague many people throughout this country, will be on full display and we'll be figuring out how to unravel those things on the stage in Flint.

BALDWIN: So, in terms of the unraveling then, Bakari, when you think of these two on the stage Sunday and with Hillary Clinton with this seven state win on her back, how should she treat Senator Sanders on the stage? How exactly should she go about in terms of sparring?

SELLERS: Well, I really think that both of them will continue to build contrast. But there will be a third person on the stage. And that person is Donald Trump.

Look, the fact of the matter is the Democratic Party is in a much better position and we've actually learned something from the Republican Party. That is, you have to begin to define Donald Trump earlier and you have to take him seriously.

I anticipate both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, taking on the third person on that stage, which is Donald Trump, and beating back xenophobia, beating back races and beating back bigotry, and saying our country deserves better. And I look for unified voice in that.

Although they're going to have contrasting positions in points in the past on how we get to these ultimate goals, I do think that we can now begin to pivot, somewhat begin the steps of unifying and begin to make sure that Donald Trumps is not the next President of the United States.

Contrary to Corey Gander and in contrary to Lindsay Graham and all my other friends, the only person who can stop Donald Trump is Hillary Clinton.

BALDWIN: On Trump, though. This is interesting.

I'm sure you saw Tavis Smiley's opinion piece this morning in USA today. He is essentially saying black voters could get on the Trump train, "Something tells me that if Donald Trump is indeed the Republican nominee, it might be a miscalculation for Democrats to assume the black voters are a lock for their nominee.", as he talked to African-American friends of Mr. Trump. What say you?

SELLERS: Well, I mean I one of the things we've seen throughout this whole cycle, My good friend Van Jones said it's somewhat of a cradling of the vote. But we're actually talking about issues that directly affect African-American voters in this country. African-American voter are huge part of this decision-making process of who the nominee is. And the Democratic Party is honestly not taking them for granted.

You have to please forgive me for flippantly disregarding Tavis Smiley's comments. Tavis Smiley has been very antagonistic of Barack Obama. Tavis Smiley has been antagonist of many of the same things that I stand for. So, I will flippantly disregard that statement. But underlying that we do have to take Donald Trump seriously, we had to take Donald Trump seriously on all fronts.

And I think you'll begin to see that in Flint, Michigan, which I can honestly say that I usually get excited the day of a debate but I'm actually genuinely excited about the atmosphere.

I'm excited about the atmosphere because, you know, there're kids literally dying because of the water they're drinking in Flint, Michigan.

And to have CNN there, to have this atmosphere there, I mean, I'm just glad that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are shining so much light on this really bad injustice.

BALDWIN: Agree, couldn't be better said.

Bakari Sellers, thank you so much. And to Bakari's point please tune in.

Just a reminder, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will be debating in this next Democratic forum Sunday night, 8:00 Eastern live from Flint, Michigan. Tune in here on CNN.

Coming up next today, Breaking News on two political fronts, one, Mitt Romney announcing that he will be making sort of a surprise speech on the 2016 race, that happens tomorrow, and two, Ben Carson announcing his plans going forward in this campaign.

Stay with me.

[14:54:29] Busy, busy news day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And we continue on the top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

As you saw, Breaking News, two major turns of events in the Republican Race for President here.

First up, we have learned from the Ben Carson camp showing signs he may be pulling out. Let's be clear. He's not saying that explicitly. We have more reporting on that not seeing a political path forward. That's number one.

Number two, Mitt Romney is now stepping in, not as a candidate. Let's be clear. He will be giving a speech tomorrow at the University of Utah on the State of the 2016 Presidential Race.

The 2012 Republican nominee, former Massachusetts Governor, not expected to endorse anyone, but he's likely to as in his past events speaking out also on Twitter against Donald Trump.

Trump, now the clear front-runner for the nomination after his seven- state win Super Tuesday.

As for Dr. Carson, he just announced he will not attend tomorrow night's Republican debate in his home town at Detroit. And his statement included some harsh observations about his future in the race.

So with me now, I have Senior Political Reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson. She is live with us. And we also have Dana Bash, both of you are with me.

Let's begin with Nia.

[14:59:59] And I think I also have David Challion. This is just sort of "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" situation.

Nia, let's just begin with you. So let me begin with you. Dr. Carson, what's the scoop?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it looks like he is not going to continue in this race. That's the word that we got this morning.