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Super Tuesday Results; Clinton and Trump Hold Leads; Trump Says He'll Unify Republican Party; Clinton Wins Seven States And Sanders Wins Four; Romney Speaks On 2016 Race Tomorrow; Chair Of DNC Speaks On Super Tuesday; Next Democratic President Debate In Michigan; Mitt Romney Speech Tomorrow; Assessing the 2016 Republican Race. Aired 1- 1:30p ET

Aired March 02, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 9:00 p.m. in Baghdad, 5:00 a.m. Thursday in Sydney, Australia. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We begin with presidential politics here in the United States. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton moving closer to clinching their party nominations after winning big on Super Tuesday. But the contest is, by no means, over. Clinton and Trump rolled up victories across the south. But also in New England, both of them won Massachusetts, for example.

Trump won a total of seven states, far outpacing his Republican rivals. Senator Ted Cruz won three states, including his home state of Texas. Senator Marco Rubio notched his only win so far in Minnesota.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton took seven Super Tuesday states. Senator Bernie Sanders, he won four states, including his home state of Vermont.

But winning the nomination comes down to delegates, so let's take a close look at where things stand right now among the delegates. Among the Republicans, Donald Trump leads with 315 delegates, followed by Ted Cruz with 205, Marco Rubio with 106. John Kasich has 27. Ben Carson has seven.

Hillary Clinton has 587 pledged delegates and 468 so-called super- delegates. Bernie Sanders has 418 pledged delegates, including 21 super-delegates. The candidates will have a chance to add to their totals this coming Saturday. Republicans hold elections in Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Maine. Democrats go to the polls in Kansas, Louisiana and Nebraska. We'll have all-day coverage on Saturday right here on CNN.

Donald Trump is vowing to unify Republicans after his dominance on Super Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am a unifier. I know people are going to find that a little bit hard to believe. But, believe me, I am a unifier. Once we get all of this finished, I'm going to go after one person. That's Hillary Clinton on the assumption she's allowed to run, with which is a big assumption. I don't know that she's going to be allowed to run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us to talk about, now, the state of the race after Super Tuesday, CNN Politics Executive Editor Mark Preston, CNN Political Director David Chalian, and "Washington Post" chief Correspondent, Dan Balz. Guys, thanks very much for joining us.

So, Mark, Trump says he's a unifier. He's going to bring the diverse forces together. Can he really do that?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Yes. Not only is he a unifier, he's a great unifier. No doubt about that. I mean, great. Always has (ph) to appreciate what he says.

Look, here's the situation. He needs to bring the party together. I spoke to more than half a dozen party elders last night and this is their thinking right now. They are absolutely scared that Donald Trump is going to win this nomination.

So, there's all these things in motion right now. One is do they try to prevent him from getting the nomination in July in Cleveland? Do they try to prevent him from doing so?

Another thing that they're talking about is running the third party candidacy, creating a safe haven for other Republican candidates that are seeking House seats and seeking Senate seats, that they can flock to him if Trump gets too nuclear.

And, quite frankly, a lot of them, right now, Wolf, are talking about not even going to the convention if he becomes the nominee. So, the establishment here in Washington and across the country, petrified by Donald Trump.

BLITZER: Having said all that, though, David, and you've looked closely at the numbers, record turnout among the Republicans, not for the Democrats, this time around. But yesterday, hundreds of thousands of more Republicans decided they wanted to vote, whether in the south or the northeast.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It's astonishing. It's almost a complete reversal from what we saw in 2008. In 2008, on Super Tuesday, I think there were some 5 million votes for Democrats, 3 million votes for Republicans. This time around, 5 million votes for Republicans, 3 million votes for Democrats. This is a real warning sign for the Clinton operation or the Sanders operation, if they emerge as the nominee which seems unlikely right now.

But the Democrats have to be concerned about this. Even though they believe if Trump is the nominee, if he will activate their base, this is still a big warning sign here. Because guess what? It's not -- it's not just a lack of enthusiasm. You're dealing with an incoming Democratic president after a year, so there is a natural enthusiasm gap that occurred.

BLITZER: That Republican turnout, the huge numbers, largely the result of Trump running?

CHALIAN: Listen, I'll quote Donald Trump here, what he said about the debate viewership. Who do you think they're coming to see, Jeb Bush? I don't -- clearly, Donald Trump is part of what is bringing voters out. It's what has generated a lot of interest in the race.

BLITZER: Dan, you wrote an important article in "The Washington Post" today saying, among other things, and I'll quote you, "For the GOP establishment, Super Tuesday had nightmarish qualities." What's the nightmare that they -- they're worried about?

DAN BALZ, CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Well, the nightmare is the continuation of a divided field of opposition to Donald Trump. And as long as that continues, as we've been saying for weeks, the easier it makes it for Donald Trump to continue to rack up victories.

[13:05:06] And as we get to March 15th, when states can award delegates on a winner-take-all basis, if that field continues to be divided, he can win virtually all of the delegates in a state without getting a majority of the vote.

So, it is a terribly difficult proposition for the establishment. And the other fact is, you've now got, in Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and John Kasich, candidates who represent other different wings of the Republican Party, and wings that normally would be warring against one another. How you get them together in some consolidated fashion to take on Trump, I think is the thing that's baffling all of the people who are trying to stop Trump.

BLITZER: The question, though, Dan, is they might not, necessarily -- any of these other Republicans, whether Cruz or Rubio or John Kasich, they might not necessarily be able to reach that threshold of enough delegates. But can they prevent Trump from reaching that threshold, meaning it goes to the convention without someone who is guaranteed those pledged delegates?

BALZ: At this point, Wolf, it is still theoretically possible that that could happen. But that requires for Kasich to win Ohio, as Cruz won Texas last night, for Rubio to win Florida and for some continuation of their ability to win states farther into the spring. I think it is something that certainly the Rubio campaign and probably the Cruz campaign are clinging to, at this point. There are some people who still have some hope for John Kasich being able to bust out and be the -- you know, sort of the favorite of the establishment. But each one has their own priority first and not the overall party's priority.

BLITZER: Mark, you study this closely. What was impressive for Trump's wins last night, he carried seven states. He carried those so-called working class moderates, those what they used to call Reagan Democrats over in the Northeast. And then, the bible belt, the Evangelical, he carried them as well. He was really bringing in diverse wings of the Republican Party.

PRESTON: And he's won in every regions of the country right now. He's won out west. He's won in the Northeast. He's won down in the south. What is problematic now for Republican -- look, there's a lot of things that are problematic for Republicans right now.

But guess where we're heading right now? We're heading to the industrial Midwest right now. And guess where those Reagan Democrats are concentrated? They're concentrated in states like Michigan and Ohio, in Missouri and Illinois. States that Donald Trump is going to do very well in. That's why, you know, when we talk to our viewers and we say that the clock is ticking right now, well, the clock is ticking right now. And the Republican establishment is in such disarray right now about high to -- how to try to stop Donald Trump that I'm not sure that they can.

CHALIAN: And it's not just geographic. I mean, one of the things that really did surprise me in the results last night, take a state like Alabama. It was one of his best two states of the night. That's a state that is overwhelmingly evangelical, the electorate was, overwhelmingly not college graduates.

Then compare it to Massachusetts, his best performing state of the night. And it was overwhelmingly college graduates and far fewer evangelicals. It's like 80 percent non-evangelical. So, to me, the breadth of his support is reaching all different pockets of the party.

BLITZER: Quick question before I let you guys go. And I'll go to you, Dan Balz. We're just getting word that Mitt Romney now has announced he's going to be making a major statement on the state of the campaign, the election tomorrow, at the -- I guess in Salt Lake City. What do you anticipate? Have you heard anything about where Mitt Romney is going to come down? Because we know he's been quite critical of Donald Trump.

BALZ: In talking to people who may or may not have real insight into what Governor Romney is thinking, I think the chances of him jumping into the race, as a candidate himself, remain pretty slim. I think he wants to be a leader in the anti-Trump forces, but I think -- excuse me. I think he wants to speak for himself, and that's what he's going to do tomorrow.

BLITZER: What are you hearing, Mark Preston, about this? He's going to be addressing the --

PRESTON: Right.

BLITZER: -- Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah tomorrow. Tomorrow morning Mountain time. 11:30 a.m. Mountain time.

PRESTON: Let me put as many caveats on this as I possibly can. But I just heard from somebody very close to the governor, and they tell me that this is not an endorsement or an announcement which is very interesting. So, I'm not sure what it could be.

But I did talk to somebody else, unrelated to this announcement, late last night about Mitt Romney possibly getting into the race and I was told, no way, no how. He wants no part of it. But, you know, he definitely does not want Donald Trump to get in. So, let us not think that Mitt Romney is going to put himself on the line.

CHALIAN: He has long wanted to play the party adult --

PRESTON: Right.

CHALIAN: -- to try to get the race back on course in a way that he thinks is more advantageous for their chances in the (INAUDIBLE.)

BLITZER: Presumably, let me make it clear, he is not a Trump supporter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At a minimum.

BLITZER: At a minimum right there. All right, guys, thanks very much.

While Hillary Clinton received the lion's share of delegates with her Super Tuesday wins, rival Bernie Sanders says he is not going anywhere.

Let's talk about the state of the Democratic contest. I'm joined by the Democratic National Committee chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She's a Democratic Congresswoman from south Florida as well. Congresswoman, thanks very much for joining us.

[13:15:01] Let's talk about the results. What does it say to you about the state of the Democratic Party that there seems to have been, based on the turnout, hundreds of thousands more record turnout for the Republican candidates showing up as opposed to the Democratic candidates?

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Well, first of all, let's not set aside the absolute and utter chaos that is going on in the Republican Party. They are in full blown panic mode. And when it comes to the turnout, though, I mean, we had nearly as many voters turn out in the early primary state window as the Republicans did with for fewer candidates.

Even last night, Wolf, with Colorado, the Republicans are in such disarray and it's so chaotic there that in Colorado, the Republican Party cancelled their caucus. And so, the only delegates going to the convention from Colorado on the Republican side are super-delegates. So, I mean, that's how much disarray is going on on the Republican side. We had more voters in Nevada in our caucus than they had in theirs.

And then, if you look at the states in which there was a less competitive contest between our two candidates on our side, that's where the turnout dropped. And where there was a more competitive contest, in those states, we had nearly the turnout the Republicans did. So, --

BLITZER: Last -- WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: -- are very, very -- we're very, very pleased with our turnout and are confident that we're going to have success in November as a result.

BLITZER: -- last night, Dan Pfeiffer, a former top senior advisor to president Obama, who worked on the Obama campaign back in 2008, he was blunt. He said the Democrats worry more about having to run against Donald Trump than, for example, running against Ted Cruz. Do you agree with him on that?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: I don't. I mean, really, we've watched the Trumpification of the Republican Party. He has an absolute chokehold on the Republican Party and is barreling towards the Republican nomination. There are people who are doing everything they can to try to stop him. They look like the keystone kops in the process.

And, you know, I mean, at the end of the day, look at what's going on on our side of the aisle. We have two really incredible candidates who are focused on continuing to move this country forward, build upon the success that we've had, add to the 71 straight months of job growth we've had, make sure we can help people keep their health insurance, maintain their retirement security, have a good roof over their head and get a good education that doesn't bankrupt them. That's what the American people are going to want in their president.

They are not going to want a president who is misogynistic, who won't even disavow the KKK, who, in Rubio's case, is, I guess, taking the if you can't beat them, join them, talking about small hands and spray tan. To me, the contrast couldn't be more clear. And I know we're going to have to be focused and driven and more prepared than ever. This race will be close in the general. But, ultimately, the Democratic nominee will be the 45th president.

BLITZER: And this notion that Bernie Sanders says he's not going anywhere. Hillary Clinton may be ahead in the pledged delegates or the super-delegates, but he says he's going all the way to the convention. How is that going to impact the Democratic nominee, whoever it turns out, if this is such a long, drawn out process?

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Well, I mean, our long, drawn out process is, really, completely dramatically different than theirs. Our long, drawn out process is simply continuing to actually build on the ability for us to add data that is incredibly important to our voter file. Remember, Wolf, we have a unified voter file, memorandums of understanding with all candidates and all our state parties.

The work that our candidates are doing, they are generating data, important data, on voters that all goes back into our centralized voter file with the -- which the DNC now owns. The Republicans were never able to do that. They've got vendors all over the place. As their candidates have dropped out, they're data goes with them.

So, they're in disarray and it's -- you know, we're going to continue to focus, no matter how long our primary goes, on making sure that we can be completely prepared to launch our nominee in Philadelphia to the White House in November. BLITZER: All right, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Chair of the

Democratic National Committee. Congresswoman, thanks very much for joining us.

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: And this important programming note for our viewers, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they will face off in the next Democratic presidential debate. That takes place this Sunday night, 8:00 p.m., live from Flint, Michigan. Our own Anderson Cooper will moderate. You can see that debate live here on CNN as well as on CNN International.

Coming up, Mitt Romney is speaking tomorrow on the race for the White House, the 2016 race. What will he say? We're working that story. We're getting new information. Stay with us.

[13:14:48]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:18:35] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: We've got some breaking news. We're just getting word that Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee four years ago, will speak tomorrow about the state of the 2016 presidential race.

Once again, let's bring in our politics executive editor Mark Preston, who's here with me right now.

Mark, a simple statement on Thursday, March 3rd, former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, will address the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah on the state of the 2016 presidential race. That's in Salt Lake City. No word on what he's going to say other than the state of the presidential race.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Right. And I spoke to a source very close to the governor as we were sitting here on air and we were e-mailing back and forth and I'm told that it will not be an announcement, nor --

BLITZER: An announcement to run you mean?

PRESTON: To run, as many people have speculated, nor will it be an endorsement of a specific candidate in the Republican race. But just to add to that, not only will he be talking about the state of the 2016 race, but I was told we'll also discuss the choices facing the Republican Party and the country moving forward.

Now, Governor Romney has been very critical of Donald Trump. He's been going back and forth criticizing him, using social media to do so. So I suspect that he will be out there trying to frame the race right now for Republican voters who will be voting on Saturday and onward.

BLITZER: And making basically the case against Donald Trump being the Republican nominee. PRESTON: Correct.

BLITZER: But we'll have to wait and see what he has to say. We're still working this story.

Mark, don't go too far away.

I want to get some reaction. Republican Congressman Peter King of New York is joining us.

[13:20:04] Congressman, I know you've been critical of Donald Trump lately. First of all, do you have any idea what Mitt Romney is going to say tomorrow?

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: No, I don't. All I know is that Governor Romney is very concerned about the direction that Donald Trump has been taking the Republican Party, but I have no inside information at all as to what he's going to say tomorrow.

BLITZER: Where did -- where does it stand? Because it seems to me an enormous amount of concern right now among the Republican leadership out there that this Donald Trump train is speeding ahead.

KING: Well, there's no doubt. Listen, last night was a big night for Donald Trump. Maybe not as big as it looked originally, but still pretty big. Marco Rubio, who I'm supporting, did win Minnesota, which is important.

No, there's no doubt that right now Donald Trump is the favorite and many Republicans are concerned. This is not an establishment thing. I never consider myself part of any establishment. But that the views he's taking, the statements he's making have really nothing in common with the Republican Party. (INAUDIBLE) supporting Vladimir Putin, criticizing John McCain for not being a war hero, saying that George Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction and, of course, you know, the most recent with David Duke of the Ku Klux Klan, this is not the Republican Party. I mean the guy who supported John Kerry for president is not really a Republican. So that's the concern we have.

It's not a -- listen, I disagreed with Rand Paul, but if he were the frontrunner now, he represents an ideology. Ted Cruz represents an ideology. Marco Rubio -- there are three distinct ideologies, but at least they represent something. With Donald Trump, it's just day to day. It's a personality. It's all based around Donald Trump and his personality. And there's no rhyme nor reason. There's no coherent philosophy. That, I think, is what Republicans are concerned about.

BLITZER: If he is the nominee, though, will you be in Cleveland at the Republican convention in July endorsing him, working to get him elected?

KING: Well, first of all, I'm definitely going to be at the convention. I hope I'm there supporting Marco Rubio when he's nominated. If not, I'll have to decide, you know, what to do. But I am a Republican. I'm a lifelong Republican. I've been active in the Republican Party for 50 years. So I want to stay as active. And to do that, you have to work with the nominee. But Donald Trump makes it difficult when he calls our last Republican president a liar who intentionally allowed Americans to be killed in Iraq under false pretenses. That's -- that's hard to work around. But we'll have to see. Right now it's going to be difficult to show the type of support I would like to give to the nominee of my party.

BLITZER: Marco Rubio, he's -- he won Minnesota yesterday. On March 15th it's winner take all in his home state of Florida. Most recent polls there show he's maybe 15 or 20 points behind Donald Trump in Florida. He's got to win Florida to continue, right? If he loses Florida, it's over for your candidate?

KING: Yes. Again, I'm not speaking for Marco Rubio or the campaign, but I would say that Marco Rubio does have to win Florida. I expect him to win Florida. My understanding is that the internal polls are a lot closer than the 20 points.

But, no, the reality is that Marco Rubio will have to win Florida. I expect him to win it. And that's why I think we very well could, over the next several months, see Donald Trump, even though he may be ahead, not getting the majority of delegates that he would need, which would mean that more than half of the Republicans are still opposed to him. So that's why the convention could be very lively, Wolf, and I hope you're out there covering it.

BLITZER: We will be there, not to worry. The governor of one of your neighboring states is facing a backlash over his endorsement of Donald Trump. We're talking about New Jersey. Six New Jersey newspapers are calling for Governor Chris Christie to resign. They're saying him -- he's an utter disgrace. What do you think of Chris Christie's endorsement of Donald Trump?

KING: I couldn't understand it because I believed Governor Christie when he was saying throughout the debates that basically Donald Trump was not qualified, that he's a talk show person, that, you know, doing a reality TV show is not the same as, you know, being a president or being a chief executive. So I was very surprised by Chris Christie and also so many of the positions that Donald Trump has taken are so opposite of what Chris Christie has taken. So I was surprised. I was surprised to see him standing there last night. But again, everyone has to do what they have to do, I guess, but that's hard for me to figure out.

BLITZER: Congressman Peter King of New York, thanks very much for joining us.

KING: Wolf, thank you.

BLITZER: Up next, voters in five states head to the polls this coming Saturday. Our panel is standing by. We'll break down what each of the candidates needs to do to stay competitive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:29:00] BLITZER: No rest for the weary. This coming Saturday, five more states will have their say in the 2016 presidential campaign here in the United States. On the Republican side, there are caucuses in Kansas and Kentucky, while there are primaries in Louisiana and Maine. On the Democrat side, there are caucuses in Kansas and Nebraska and a primary in Louisiana.

I'm joined now by CNN political commentator Amanda Carpenter. She's also a former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz. Our political commentator Donna Brazile is with us. And Scottie Nell Hughes, she's a chief political correspondent for USA Radio Networks and a Trump supporter.

Ladies, thanks very much for joining us.

Let me get your reaction quickly, and, Amanda, I'll start with you. The press release we just got, Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee four years ago, announcing that tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Mountain Time, or 11:30 a.m. Eastern, he will make a speech addressing the state of the 2016 presidential race. What are you hearing? What do you think?

[13:30:00] AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, judging from his actions last week where he started calling for the release of Donald Trump's tax returns, it's clear that Mitt Romney is frustrated with the way that things are going and somehow he wants to influence the race in a more positive direction.