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Race for the White House; GOP Candidates Face Off in Fox News Debate; North Korea Reacts to U.N. Sanctions. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired March 04, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. We're coming to you live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm George Howell. We start with the race for the White House. And as John Vause just said at the closing of his show, nine more months to go. Where do we go from here? We will find out.
The Republican presidential candidates, they face off in Detroit, Michigan. You see them there, four candidates left remaining on that stage. But it was the front-runner, Donald Trump, with the giant bulls-eye on his back.
ALLEN: Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio attacked him on everything from the lawsuits over his failed Trump University to his flexible stance on an immigration policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R-TX) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He said well the problem is you can't find Americans who are qualified or who want to work as waiters and waitresses. But Marco's dad started as a bartender. My dad started washing dishes and yet you don't know how many Americans wanted those jobs? Roughly 300 applied. Donald hired 17.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have a club in Palm Beach, Florida called the Mar el Lago Club. It's a very, very successful club. Has a very short season, it's called "The Season". And it goes from November until March. It's a few months, five months at the most. People don't want a short-term job.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R-FL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's our country that is at stake here. The future of the United States and the most important election in a generation, and he's trying to con people into giving them their vote, just like he conned these people into giving him their money.
TRUMP: Let me tell you the real con artist -- excuse me, excuse me. The real con artist is Senator Marco Rubio who was elected in Florida and who has the worst voting record in the United States Senate. He doesn't go to vote. He's absent. He doesn't go.
Now, the people of Florida can't stand him. He couldn't get elected dogcatcher.
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You changed your tune on so many things. And that has some people saying what is his core?
TRUMP: Megyn, I have a very strong core. I have a very strong core.
You have to be flexible, because you learn. You have to show a degree of flexibility. If you're going to be one way and you think it's wrong, does that mean the rest of your life you have to go in the wrong direction because you don't want to change?
RUBIO: There is a difference between flexibility and telling people whatever you think you need to say to get them to do what you want them to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: And all this on the day the 2012 Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney attacked Trump at a speech in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Romney called Trump a phony and a fraud. He also said Trump is playing the American public for suckers.
During the debate, Trump said Romney was an embarrassment to the party, and that Romney begged Trump for his endorsement four years ago.
Let's get some analysis on what was another memorable showdown among the Republican candidates. We're joined now by Amy Kremer. She chairs a Super PAC that supports Donald Trump.
And Ashley Bell, who used to be a Democrat, was actually a super delegate in 2004. He switched parties a few years ago. He's now supporting Marco Rubio. Thank you both for being with us.
AMY KREMER, GREAT AMERICA PAC CHAIRMAN: Thanks for having us.
HOWELL: What a day for the front-runner, Donald Trump. You know, first starting the day with that scathing speech from Mitt Romney. And then on stage getting a great deal of pressure from his rivals, demanding more specifics, the moderators even putting pressure on Marco Rubio about why he was engaging in name-calling, specifically with that hands reference to Donald Trump. But then, Donald Trump did respond with this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Look at those hands. Are they small hands? And he referred to my hands if they're small something else must be small. I guarantee you, there is no problem. I guarantee it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: OK, so my question to you, and Amy, we'll start with you. Is this the sort of straight talk I guess you call it? I don't know. But I mean, is this what Donald Trump supporters want to hear? Or, is this embolden that movement anyone but Trump when they hear things like that on stage?
KREMER: Look, I think that all of us want policy and substance. We want to get down to the issues that most Americans are concerned about. And, I don't think that any of this, the name-calling, the attacks helps anyone.
I think what has happened today, though, with Governor Romney coming out, and then this debate, it seems like it was more and more got you, Donald Trump. I think it solidifies his support with the base. And the -- it's about the American voters that are supporting him. It's not about Donald Trump. And that's what everybody keep -- seeming to miss. They keep saying, you know, we've got to stop Trump.
We've got -- you know, how do we stop him. And the brokered convention and all this, it's not about Trump, it's about the will of the American people and the voters.
HOWELL: So you feel this solidifies his base. Now Ashley, I ask the same question. Starting a debate with that tone, your thoughts?
ASHLEY BELL, MARCO RUBIO SUPPRTER: I think it was a great night for Marco Rubio. I think once again he proved that he has what it takes to get under Donald Trump's skin.
You know, when Marco Rubio said he was on the stump.
[02:05:05] But we respect the integrity of the debate. So in a debate, we're going to talk about policy. So you'd hear Marco Rubio saying any of that stuff at the debate tonight.
But what you did see is Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio getting under Donald Trump's skin and what did he revert to? Name-calling. When he gets irritated, he reverts to name-calling. The question is what happens when Hillary Clinton does that if he's our nominee? Will he revert to calling her names? I don't think it ends as well.
ALLEN: Rubio and Cruz both still went after Trump, and they're trying to get him, Amy, to give more specifics about his policies. But he hasn't been able to do that. At what point would you like to hear more from him on that?
KREMER: Of course I'd like to hear more. I think all of us would like to hear more from all of them. But, there is so much bickering going on between them all that we don't hear much of that at all, from anyone.
I mean, I think the best format is the Town Halls where you can get to know these candidates and they can speak to what they're about personally and how they feel about the issues and get more to policy. But right now, what has been going on here, it's like a bunch of school yard kids fighting.
ALLEN: Let's play another clip from the debate itself when Rubio questioned whether Trump is really a conservative.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUBIO: We are not going turn over the conservative movement or the party of Lincoln or Reagan, for example, to someone whose positions are not conservative. To someone who last week defended Planned Parenthood for 30 seconds on a debate stage. To someone, for example, that has no ideas on foreign. Someone who thinks the nuclear triad is a rock band from the 1980s. America is great because of the conservative principles of limited government and free enterprise and a strong national defense. And our nominee needs to be someone that stands by those things.
KELLY: All right.
RUBIO: Donald has not demonstrated that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Ashley, start this one. Do you think Rubio made some point there's?
BELL: I think he did. I think if you look at Donald Trump through the years, he has evolved. So let's just say we take him for everything that, where he was five years ago is completely different now. He's a completely different man. He now he is pro-life. He is all these different things.
But I think the biggest concern is what Marco Rubio pointed out. It was just at the last debate he was defending funding Planned Parenthood which is the base and the grassroots is an issue. And I think when you hear Donald Trump today when he responded to Mitt Romney talking about raising tariffs and taxes on companies, 35 percent, as conservative it's really hard to hear when your nominee is saying, we're going to raise taxes. And we point at his subs there will people in my back when we going to raise taxes. That is not ...
KREMER: But he has always said that, he's always said that.
(CROSSALK)
BELL: And that's always not been conservative. And that's why I agree. He has always said it, but it's all not been conservative. Conservatives are not the party of raising taxes. We're the party of limited government. We think that we have a spending problem in this country, not a taxation problem. And that's what we think that this connect this between Donald Trump in the base.
KREMER: But this is the thing. Is that who is anyone to judge another person as conservative? I've been called not conservative because I'm supporting Donald Trump. But, that's a part of where what people don't understand, that it's not just -- it's not about him being conservative. It's about him being honest and being right, and having the knowledge to fix what is wrong with this country. And people respect that if he's going to raise taxes on the 1 percent or whatever, people respect that he's going to go out there and say this is what I'm going do.
Just like tonight when he talked about the visas. He came out and he said I've changed my mind on this. And people respect that. Instead of a politician that is pandering to a group of people because they want their vote. And they say one thing and they get in office and do something else. And the American people are fed up with it on all sides of that.
HOWELL: I want to move on because we've talked about Marco Rubio and we've talked about, you know, Ted Cruz. But there was another gentleman on that stage, Mr. Kasich. Let's listen to a clip from him just real quick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOHN KASICH, (R-OH) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What is getting in the hearts and souls of people is they want change and they keep putting outsiders in to bring about the change. Then the change doesn't come. Then they put more outsiders in because we're putting people in that don't understand compromise, they don't understand policy. And people are getting more and more frustrated with the system which is why we must pick somebody that has a record of achievement. Not just talk. Not just talk.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
KASICH: But a record of achievement. That's how we'll restore yes ability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So look, there was a lot of bickering on stage. But, you know, Kasich is saying, look he's been described as the adult in the room. So, I know that you have support for Donald Trump. I know you have support for Marco Rubio.
But as Republicans, was this a good night for Kasich?
KREMMER: I think it was a good night for Governor Kasich. My problem with Governor Kasich in the debate is that no one calls him out. He talks about balancing his budget. Well, he's raised taxes to balance his budget. He expanded Medicaid in his state, expanded Obamacare. That's not how he presents it to the American people. And no one is calling him out up there.
And no one's calling him out because they're not focused on him. They're focused on these three front-runners, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
[02:10:05] HOWELL: Ashley, your thoughts? BELL: Governor Kasich is a practical man. I agree with you that he may not be the most conservative. But the same reason to choose that he's not conservative with the same reason I believe Donald Trump might not be conservative. But at the end of the day, Governor Kasich has talked about practicality.
Donald Trump, yet on stage again, and said, I'm going to build a wall once again. He's talking about building walls and the Mexican drug cartel is talking about digging tunnels. It's not practical. You can build a wall as high as you want, but it's not a real solution to fixing immigration.
ALLEN: I also want to talk about the fact that the Trump University failure came up as well as his lacking of hiring Americans to work at his place in Florida. Do you think either of those issues could continue to dog him in the campaign?
BELL: Well, I think it's a real issue. I think what you saw today from Megyn when she showed the clip from the Court of Appeals, they're using language that Marco and Ted are using to call -- calling Donald Trump a con artist. This is court documents here.
You're going hear from people. It may be a little too late. But you're going hear people from this university speaking out saying, "I paid for a product and I didn't get it." Does it matter? It does. Because the integrity of the nominee is going to be called into question by Hillary Clinton.
HOWELL: Amy, we have few seconds. Just last word.
KREMER: No. I mean, look, this is, whoever becomes the nominee is going to go up against Hillary Clinton. But also at the same time, this is pending litigation. And so there's stuff that we don't know that we are not privy to.
And I'm sure in the end, it will all come out. And I think at this point, you have to take Donald Trump and his word on it.
HOWELL: What a debate night. So much we can talk about for hours, I'm sure.
ALLEN: Amy Kremer, Ashley Bell, thank you for joining us.
BELL: Thank you.
KREMER: Thanks for having us.
ALLEN: Come back again. All right, thanks.
HOWELL: So with all the bickering, with all the name-calling and, you know, the rivals demanding specifics, does this help or hurt Donald Trump? We will have to wait and see.
ALLEN: We'll have much more as we push on here live from Atlanta.
When we come back, more of Romney versus Trump. The back and forth between the 2012 nominee and the current front-runner. How the rift could impact this campaign?
HOWELL: Plus, Hillary Clinton brings out the fireworks on the campaign trail. While Bernie Sanders though says the race is not over yet.
It is 2:12 on the East Coast this hour.
You're watching "CNN NEWSROOM."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:15:00]
ALLEN: And welcome back to "CNN NEWSROOM." Live. The man who led Republicans in the last U.S. presidential election says it's not too late to stop the party's front-runner this time around. And he's trying.
HOWELL: He's trying, Mitt Romney, is who we're talking about, in the Republican nominee in 2012. He launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump on Thursday, calling him a con man. And now Trump is firing back. Our chief political correspondent Dana Bash has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORREPONDENT: In unprecedented takedown of a Republican front-runner by a former Republican standard bearer.
ROMNEY: Donald Trump lacks the temperament to be president.
BASH: The most extraordinary part of Mitt Romney's message, he wasn't just blasting Donald Trump is bad for the GOP, he was calling him perilous for America.
ROMNEY: Now Donald Trump tells us that he is very, very smart. I'm afraid that when it comes to foreign policy, he is very, very not smart. If we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished.
BASH: Romney's carefully crafted speech was aimed at exposing Trump as a phony.
ROMNEY: But you say wait, wait, wait, wait. Isn't he a huge business success? Doesn't he know what he is talking about?
No, he isn't. And no, he doesn't.
BASH: Romney effectively called Trump a loser in an attempt to undermine Trump's core rationale for his candidacy, that he is a winner.
TRUMP: We're going to win, win, win.
ROMNEY: Whatever happened to Trump airlines? How about Trump University? And then there's Trump magazine and Trump vodka and Trump stakes and Trump mortgage. A business genius, he is not.
BASH: But the 2012 GOP nominee is an imperfect messenger since he courted Trump's endorsement just four years ago.
ROMNEY: I think his endorsement is a delight.
BASH: Then Romney even praised the business acumen he criticized today.
ROMNEY: Donald Trump has shown an extraordinary ability to understand how our economy works to create jobs for the American people.
BASH: But the straight laced Romney is also clearly disgusted with Trump's demeanor as a presidential candidate now.
ROMNEY: Think of Donald Trump's personal qualities. The bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third grade theatrics.
BASH: Romney even tried to preempt Trump's response.
ROMNEY: Will he talk about our policy differences or will we he attack me with every imaginable low road insult? This may tell you what you need to know about his temperament, his stability, and his suitability to be president.
TRUMP: Mitt was a disaster as a candidate.
BASH: Trump responded true to form.
TRUMP: And I backed Mitt Romney. I backed him. You can see how loyal he is. He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said Mitt, drop to your knees, he would have dropped to his knees.
BASH: Trump claimed Romney didn't run for president this time around because he feared the reality star.
TRUMP: Jeb had him convinced that he is going to run. He got the money, he says. And Mitt chickened out. But I'll tell you the real reason he chickened out. It wasn't Jeb, it was me.
BASH: But it was clear Romney's criticism of Trump's business record hit a nerve. The billionaire came armed with a list of accomplishments.
TRUMP: They don't want to talk about 92-story buildings all over the place. They don't want took about the bank of America building in San Francisco, 1290 avenue of the Americas. Frankly, it's ridiculous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So, a lot to talk about. And to do that, we have Bruce Haynes, the Republican consultant and founder of Purple Strategies. Bruce, good to have you with us. So, where do we start? You know, we saw this unprecedented moment where Mitt Romney came out and told voters, look, I understand your anger, but Donald Trump, that's not the right guy. I want you listen to this sound bite.
[02:20:08] We'll talk about it on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Mr. Trump is directing our anger, there are less than noble purposes. He creates scapegoats and Muslims and Mexican immigrants. He calls for the use of torture. He calls for killing the innocent children and family members of terrorists.
He cheers assaults on protesters. He applauds the prospect and twisting the constitution to limit first amendment freedom of the press.
This is the very brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Bruce, this is fascinating. I mean, at a time where you would think the Republican Party would be thrilled to have a front- runner who is moving right along, instead, we're seeing this divide play right out between establishment and Donald Trump.
What do you make of it?
BRUCE HAYNES, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: It's remarkable to see not just the forceful denunciation from such a substantial figure in the Republican Party as Mitt Romney, but the fact that he is, has been the party standard bearer in the last presidential election, and here he is now, as you said, unleashing what can only be described as a vitriolic denunciation of the current front-runner who was actually bringing a lot of new Republicans voters into the process.
We've seen turnout going up in my home state of South Carolina, turnout up over 100,000 people since the last time.
HOWELL: From your point of view, is this just act one with Mitt Romney, or does this backfire on him and does it bolster Donald Trump?
HAYNES: Well, I think it does two things. First of all, there's no question that the voters who support Donald Trump, they feel the Republican Party has in some way let them down, betrayed them. They haven't represented their views effectively on economic and cultural issues.
Mitt Romney in a way is the embodiment of that. So, in some way, he reinforces their support for Trump.
But, for these people who want to find a way to stop Donald Trump from being the nominee, Romney becomes a voice that comes out and makes it, it's OK for you now to come forward and say, you know, I'm willing to oppose Donald Trump at all costs, I'm willing to do what I can to see if we can have an open convention, if he doesn't get enough delegates to win on the first ballot, the convention and nominate one of these other three candidates. HOWELL: Very quickly, Mitt Romney, does he throw his hat at the ring?
HAYNES: I think it's possible that someone like Mitt Romney or Speaker Paul Ryan could be a compromise candidate in an open convention on the Republican Party floor.
Do we get there? We'll just have to wait and see.
HOWELL: My goodness, we'll just have to see. It's all quite fascinating. Bruce Haynes, a Republican Consultant. Bruce, thank you so much for your insight.
HAYNES: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
ALLEN: It has been a remarkable day on the Republican side.
HOWELL: It has.
ALLEN: As the Republican Party erupts into a civil war, Hillary Clinton is dealing with more questions over her e-mail controversy.
HOWELL: On the campaign trail, Bernie Sanders shies away from that topic, but attacks other parts of Clinton's record.
Here is Senior White House Correspondent Jeff Zeleny.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF ZELENY, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Bernie Sanders had a message today for Democrats. The primary isn't over yet.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I-VT) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANIDATE: What a fantastic turnout this afternoon. Thank you so much.
ZELENY: He had the campaign trail to himself, from Michigan to Nebraska to Kansas, hunting for delegates in his uphill fight with Hillary Clinton.
After basking in the glow of Elton John and Katy Perry, Wednesday night, at one of the Clinton campaign's biggest fundraisers, she spent the day out of view as questions about her e-mail returned.
A former aide was granted immunity and will talk about the FBI about the private server she used as secretary of state, became instant fodder today for Republicans.
TRUMP: Assuming she's not arrest for the e-mail situation, which is so terrible.
ZELENY: Again and again, Clinton has defended how she handled classified information.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is just not something that, you know, is going have any lasting effect. And I am not at all worried about it.
ZELENY: But the justice department inquiry still hangs over her campaign.
Sanders, once again, steered clear. But he wasted no time going after other parts of her record, starting with the Keystone pipeline, which would run straight through Nebraska.
SANDERS: There is a candidate out there running for the Democratic nomination who was a little bit wobbly about the Keystone pipeline.
ZELENY: And on trade, he called her positions a disaster for Michigan.
SANDERS: She was very, very wrong, and millions of families around this country have been suffering as a result of those disastrous trade agreements.
ZELENY: He told CNN, he has no time for Democrats who say he should tone down his rhetoric against Clinton.
SANDERS: In many ways, Democrats can say what they want.
[02:25:03] We're in this race to win it. I don't run negative campaign ads, but I do think it is appropriate that in a campaign, you distinguish your differences with your opponents.
ZELENY: He is fighting to win the Nebraska and Kansas caucuses on Saturday and Maine on Sunday.
SANDERS: On the other hand maybe Nebraska is not quite so conservative as I've been told.
ZELENY: Still, it's an uphill climb for Sanders. In pledge delegates, he has 405 to Clinton's 606. But when you factor in super delegates, Clinton's support soars to 1,074 to 426.
Senator Sanders says he has no intention of lightening up on Hillary Clinton and certainly not leaving this race. By the end of the weekend, he believes he'll have three more states in the win column, Nebraska, Kansas and Maine. The Clinton campaign does not disagree.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Lincoln, Nebraska.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: And those two candidates will face off for the first time since Super Tuesday on a CNN stage this weekend.
Please remember to tune in Sunday for the Democratic presidential debate.
HOWELL: But everybody is talking about that Republican debate that took place in Detroit. From the name calling to the pressure on the front-runner, the sparks went flying.
We will have more live this hour for viewers in London, Dubai, Seattle, and all points in between. You're watching CNN worldwide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: And welcome back. We're live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. This is "CNN NEWSROOM." No one can say that Thursday's Republican presidential debate in Detroit lacked excitement. Donald Trump was true to form with zingers, and there was even vulgarity.
[02:30:00] ALLEN: And his opponents did not hold back, hoping to knock him off his perch atop the presidential field.
Take a look now at some the most memorable and perhaps not so memorable moments depending on what you like from the spirited debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Romney on Trump, "The bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third grade theatrics." He challenged you to -- he challenged you to answer with substance, not insults. How do you answer Mitt Romney, sir?
TRUMP: Well look, he was a failed candidate. He should have beaten President Obama very easily. He failed miserably, and it was an embarrassment to everybody including the Republican Party. He went away, it looked like he went away on a vacation the last month.
So I don't take that. And I guess, obviously he wants to be relevant. He wants to be back in the game.
I totally disavow the Ku Klux Klan. I totally disavow David Duke. I've been doing it now for two weeks. This is probably about the 18th person that asked me the question. It was very clear.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: In the past week, you have mocked Mr. Trump's tan. You have made fun of his spelling. You called him a con artist. You suggested he wet himself backstage at the last debate along with other vulgar jokes and jabs. So what happened?
RUBIO: You know, Bret, let me say something. This campaign for the last year, Donald Trump has basically mocked everybody with personal attacks. He's done so to people who are sitting on the stage today. He's done so about people that are disabled. He's done it about every other candidate in the race.
So, if there's anyone who has everybody deserved to be attacked that way it's been Donald Trump. For the way he's treated people with his campaign.
TRUMP: I also happened to call him a lightweight, OK? And I have said that. So, I would like to take that back. He's really not that much of a lightweight. And as far as -- and I have to say this, I have to say this, he hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I've never heard of this one.
Look at those hands. Are they small hands? And he referred to my hands. If they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there is no problem. I guarantee you.
CRUZ: Then that is why our campaign is the only campaign that over and over again has beaten Donald Trump to date. And it's why we're the one campaign that going forward can and will beat Donald Trump in this election.
TRUMP: I've heard Ted say that over and over again on television, that he's the only one who can beat me. Just for the record. I've won 10 he's won 3 or 4? Last week, in fact, on Tuesday, I was a half a million votes higher than him. I was a million votes higher than Marco, 1 million votes. That's a lot of votes, and was by far in the first place.
So, I keep hearing that he's the only one that can beat me. But he is getting beaten very, very badly. So where does this come from? Where does it come from?
RUBIO: There is no doubt that Donald has done well in these elections. There's no doubt about that. But the numbers are there here is what the numbers also say. Two-thirds of the people who have cast a vote in the Republican Primary or caucus have voted against you. They do not want you to be our nominee.
KASICH: So, we're talking about polls, I beat Hillary Clinton by more than anybody, by 11 points. And that reason that happens ...
TRUMP: In one poll.
KASICH: You know, the reason is because as the Democrats tell me all the time. I can get the crossover votes. You see, because throughout this campaign, I've talked about issues. I have never tried to go and get into these kind of scrums that we're seeing here on the stage. And people say everywhere I go, you seem to be the adult on the stage.
The simple fact is this that, you know, you all wrote me off. You wrote me off before I even got to New Hampshire. Then when I finished second in New Hampshire, you wrote me off in the south. Then you wrote me off in Super Tuesday.
I split delegates in Vermont with Donald Trump. I finished second in Massachusetts. And we won delegates in Virginia. But guess what? It's now March madness. And we're heading up north to the place, to my turf, OK.
KELLY: Mr. Trump, hi.
TRUMP: Hello.
KELLY: How you doing?
TRUMP: Nice to be with you Megyn.
KELLY: Great to have you here.
TRUMP: You're looking well.
KELLY: As you.
TRUMP: This little guy has lied so much about my record.
RUBIO: Here we go. Here we go.
TRUMP: He has lied so much about my record.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Rubio, why don't you let him talk.
TRUMP: And I will tell you this, first of all, I got a call from my sister and brother tonight and they said we had no idea that dad gave you $200 million. Believe me, I started off with $1 million. I built a company that is worth more than $10 billion. And I say that not in bragging way, but that's the kind of thinking we need.
Very low debt, tremendous cash flow. My financials are all -- they're in there with the federal elections. You've seen them, everybody seen.
RUBIO: You ever heard of trump stakes?
(CROSSTALK)
All these things ruined. Trump stakes is gone.
TRUMP: Mitt Romney came up with things that are false, totally false. And now, the funny thing is he didn't talk about the hundreds of really successful jobs, the buildings all over the world that are made of -- he doesn't talk about that.
[02:35:08] CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS HOST: Mr. Trump, I have a policy question for you, sir.
RUBIO: Let's see if he answers it.
TRUMP: I will. Don't worry about it Marco.
RUBIO: Well let's hear about it Big Donald.
TRUMP: Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, little Marco.
WALLACE: Gentlemen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: There's a lot of bickering, lively debate I guess you could, and some things said on that stage that have never been said in the history of U.S. Presidential debates.
ALLEN: Yes, and hopefully never will again because it was low point for sure. Well, what do voters there in Michigan think of the Republican debate?
HOWELL: Well see as Gary Tuchman joined the viewing party in Grand Rapids to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDNET: I do want to ask you, this debate was full of criticisms and jokes and putdowns and little Marco and little Marco and liar Ted and liar Ted and people coming back to Trump. Were any of you OK with that? Do you like to see that in a debate? You're OK with that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm OK with that.
TUCHMAN: Well hang on I got to bring you a microphone so we can hear you. Who are you support the by way?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ted Cruz all the way.
TUCHMAN: So you like when Donald, do you think it's appropriate when Donald Trump criticizes him like that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it's Donald Trump, we've seen him on reality T.V. We've gotten used to his stick, that's who he is. But you know what? We also can see that has a very thin skin, and we probably don't want that in a President, but Ted Cruz, I think he's answered back to his critics. He is a true conservative, he has never ever -- I thought lied about anything, he stayed true to his voters.
TUCHMAN: Well let me ask you this question. For those of you who are -- don't like seeing that, tell me why, who's really -- tell me why that it upsets you hearing all the criticism?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, at first it's funny then you would, you know, oh my gosh these people are running for president. The only two people who are happy with that debate performance are the Democrats and the people working at "SNL" because they think it's funny and they're going to mock them relentlessly. And they're not going think about the Democrats and that could have an effect on the actual election it's just embarrassing.
TUCHMAN: Do a lot you have agree it's embarrassing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN: Let me ask you this woman here. Tell me why you think it's embarrassing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we have two toddlers at home, and it's kind of comparable to who they act at home when they're in arguments. It's very immature and it makes me uncomfortable because these people are supposed to represent our country.
TUCHMAN: You sound like someone who might switch parties. It's not going to do that is it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most likely not but I hope they can rise to the occasion and talk about policies.
TUCHMAN: Are any of you considering if Donald Trump gets the nomination not voting for Donald Trump? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN: It's very clear that people here have varied opinions and very strong opinions about this election. And it's not something that all Republicans want to hear that so many people in the audience might not support the Republican nominee if the Republican nominee is Donald Trump, back to you.
ALLEN: Thank you, Gary Tuchman. Well, there are some major international issues that the next president will have to deal with. And one of them is certainly North Korea and there is a new provocation from North Korea as Kim Jong-un orders his country's nuclear weapons ready for use. We'll have a live report coming up here
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:40:00]
HOWELL: Welcome back more to the -- on the race to the White House a little later. But some other stories we are following, first in Turkey where at least two police officers are dead after a car bombing that took place near the Syrian border. Turkey's semi official Anadolu news agency reports members of the Kurdish group PKK detonated the bomb.
ALLEN: Several other people were injured including civilians. The attack was reportedly carried out Friday morning near a police station in the Nusaybin district Turkey considers the PKK a terror group.
HOWELL: There is some threatening new rhetoric coming out of North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-un. It's coming just a day after the U.N. Security Council passed strict sanctions against Pyongyang.
ALLEN: State news agency KCNA says Kim has ordered nuclear weapons to be ready for use, "at any time." Paula Hancocks is in Seoul, South Korea watching these latest developments. And Paula certainly part of the sanctions were about curbing his nuclear ambitions.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. That was really the main focus of those sanctions. And what we have heard today from KCNA, the state-run media is that Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader went to give guidance at a military drill. This was basically test firing a multiple launch rocket system. Though it doesn't give a date on the photos we're showing you, but we do know that on Thursday, the South Korean defense ministry said they detected six short-range projectiles.
So it could be what we're looking at here, and he has said in this KCNA right that nuclear warheads need to be ready for use at any time. He said the situation has reached a very dangerous phase that no longer can be neglected. And he also spoke of those sanctions that you mentioned calling them unprecedented and gangster-like.
So, certainly it appears as though where Pyongyang has been rattled by these sanctions, they have been described by the United States as the strongest sanctions they have seen in two decades and a very different way of dealing with North Korea. Now we also know that just about an hour and a half ago here in Seoul, the South Korean defense ministry and the U.S. forces, Korea actually started talks about a missile defense system, it's called THAAD, to potentially be deployed here to South Korea in direct response to the threat from North Korea a defense missile system that China and Russia are dead set against. Natalie?
ALLEN: Yes, and I do say this -- that came across an hour and a half ago, certainly response to this situations. And it's certainly, again another dangerous dance by Kim Jong-un, Paula and, an analyst of CNN talked with earlier suggested the reason maybe internal though. That in the face of these sanctions perhaps Kim is looking just shore up his support there domestically.
HANCOCKS: Well certainly anytime you see something on KCNA you have to question whether or not it is meant for an international or a domestic audience. Very likely this is meant for both. So Kim Jong- un wants to show strength to his own people as well as trying to play up the sense of deterrent for the -- what he calls the U.S. hostile force. And remember, it's a very interesting time of the year we've just had the U.N. sanctions, of course. But we're just a few days away from these joint military drills that the U.S. and South Korea holds every year.
They are very large drills and they always irritate Pyongyang. Pyongyang sees them as dressed rehearsal for an invasion.
[02:45:04] Although Washington and Seoul say that's not the case, they're defensive in nature, and then looking just a little further ahead in May, you have this 7th Congress of the workers party, something that hasn't been held for more than three decades. Natalie?
ALLEN: All right. Paula Hancocks dialing in from Seoul, South Korea. Paula, thank you.
HOWELL: U.S. women's football star Brandi Chastain says that she is donating her brain to science. The two-time world cup champion says she will give her brain for research into Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE
ALLEN: And the brain disease can create Alzheimer's like symptoms including memory loss. Scientist believes CTE could be tied to repeated hits to the head such as heading the ball in soccer. Well, she is now a 47-year-old mother. Chastain is a long-time advocate of soccer safety.
Well, a family in the U.S. is thankful they didn't throw away a paper bag with a treasure inside. They found seven rare baseball cards just like this one in their great grandfather's home. The cards date back more than a century.
HOWELL: Wow, what a treasure. And the players profile there, that's Ty Cobb. He played for the Detroit Tigers for 22 seasons starting in 1905. The cards are worth millions of dollars.
ALLEN: What a find that must be.
HOWELL: Totally.
ALLEN: It's awesome.
HOWELL: This is "CNN NEWSROOM." Still ahead, short in substance. It was long on insults, the best and the worst of the latest Republican presidential debate. That's ahead next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:50:00]
ALLEN: And welcome back. Take a few insults, a little bit of vulgarity and sprinkle in some substance and that was the U.S. Republican presidential debate in Detroit.
HOWELL: What a recipe there. The candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio took every chance they could get to attack the front-runner, Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a policy question for you sir.
RUBIO: Let's see if he answers it.
TRUMP: I will, don't worry. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it little Marco I will.
CRUZ: But Donald has a tenuous relationship with the truth. Let me point out if Donald act the care act.
TRUMP: That is not what you said in the op-ed.
CRUZ: But Donald, Please, I know it's hard not to interrupt.
TRUMP: That is not what you said in the op-ed. Lying Ted.
CRUZ: Breath, breath, breath, breath. You can do it. You can breath. I know it's hard. I know it's hard. I know it's hard. But just
TRUMP: When they're done with the yoga, can I answer a question here?
CRUZ: You cannot.
I really hope that we don't see yoga on this stage.
TRUMP: Well, he is very flexible so you never know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: OK, from yoga, the insults, the personal attacks. This is really unprecedented, the insults that we saw. But these presidential debates have been known to get heated. ALLEN: And here's a look at some of the most memorable insults in the recent history of U.S. presidential debates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This guy is a chose artist. And this guy is a liar.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Reagan is against typically is against such a proposal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor?
REAGAN: There you go again.
JEB BUSH, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You're not going to be to insult your way to the presidency. That's not going to happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I hear your new ideas I'm reminded of that ad. Where is the beef?
CRUZ: For Marco to suggest our record is the same is like suggesting the fireman and the arsonist have the same record because they're both at the scene of the fire.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: George Bush taking credit for the Berlin Wall coming down is like the rooster taking credit for the sunrise.
CRUZ: I never attacked him on his look. And believe me, there is plenty of subject matter right there.
CLINTON: I don't think I'm that bad.
BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: You're likable enough, Hillary.
CLINTON: Thanks.
BUSH: I mean, literally, the Senate, what is it like a French workweek? You get like three days where you have to show up?
CRUZ: Not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan. I'm just saying.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Ruddy Giuliani, there is only three things he mentioned in a sentence, a noun, a verb in 911. I mean there's nothing else.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: If your eyes are glazing over like mine, this is what it's like to be on the floor of the United States Senate.
RONALD REAGAN, 40TH U.S. PRESIDENT: I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience.
KASICH: If I were sitting at home and watching this back and forth, I'd be inclined to turn it off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Well yes, there has been a history there. But perhaps tonight's debate was yes, something that we have never seen before.
HOWELL: Took the cake.
ALLEN: Well, you know, from backstabbing to back room deals, even a deadly duel, CNN's new original series, in case you haven't gotten enough, "Race for the White House" explores how ruthless the road to the world's most powerful office has been for centuries.
HOWELL: Actor Kevin Spacey is the show's co-executive producer and narrator. You probably know him from the popular Netflix series "House Of Cards." He spoke to CNN's Alisyn Camerota.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So in researching all of these presidential races, which ones did you find most fascinating?
KEVIN SPACEY, CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, CNN'S "RACE FRO THE WHITE HOUSE: There's actually, they're incredible. I can Dukakis-Bush, one is really interesting because it's remarkable how events that happen in the course of a campaign can become the singular thing that a candidate is then identified by.
Certainly in Dukakis' case it would be the moment in the tank. Which, of course, tanked then his campaign. It's really interesting to, you know, you look back on it now. And sometimes no matter how intelligent, articulate, how many incredible policies an individual might have, these individual moments, these slip-ups, these, you know, it's like I think of the great moment when George H. W. Bush looked at his watch in the middle of a debate as if had somewhere better to be.
How of course it wasn't what he intended. But it is so fascinating how little moments like that reveal something to a public, to a press that can then change the course of history.
[02:55:06] CAMEROTA: Some people have characterized this race, the 2016 race as the most astonishing race ever. How do you characterize it?
SPACEY: No. I think that there are many parallels that we could make to the 1968 race. George Wallace ran a very similar kind of campaign. He did exactly the same sorts of things, attacked journalists, attacked integrity of other candidates, he used racism, insulted people. There were fights at his rallies. I mean you can sort of go oh, yeah, we've seen this before.
And, you know, at least the good news about our country is, no matter how crazy it gets and no matter how much fun we have and how insane it looks, we generally get it right in the end. We generally figure it out.
CAMEROTA: That's a hopeful take on this.
SPACEY: Oh, I'm very hopeful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Kevin Spacey is the executive producer of CNN'S "Race for the White House." We'll have much more on the debate that you have just seen and the campaign next hour. We're back in just a moment. You're watching CNN live from Atlanta.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: America's Choice 2016. Hello and welcome to our viewer here is in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell.
ALLEN: And, I'm Natalie Allen. We are live here from Atlanta. Thanks for being with us.
