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Donald Trump Pulls out of CPAC Speech to Campaign in Kansas; Presidential Candidates Campaign in Super Saturday States; Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to Debate in Flint, Michigan; Flint Water Supply Crisis Examined; Donald Trump Speaks in Kansas; Violent Incidents at Trump Rallies Examined. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired March 05, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:18] VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Victor Blackwell, and it is Super Saturday, the biggest political Saturday of the year. Five states head to the polls and to caucuses today. We're in Flint, Michigan, the site of CNN's Democratic debate Sunday night. Now, of course, Super Saturday with so many delegates on the table here, polls are open now in Louisiana, and five states are voting, as we said. Louisiana is the only primary. The rest are caucuses.

So, let's start with the Republicans. With 155 delegates at stake in Louisiana, Maine, Kansas, Kentucky. The Democrats now, they're battling over 109 delegates in Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska as well. We're following this story across the country. We're going to with Kyung Lah in Louisville, Kentucky, where Republicans will caucus today. Kyung, what are you expecting there?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, they just announced that this caucus has begun. You're starting to see some of the people, the very first voters here at this location starting to sift into this caucus room. Let's follow some of the people. There are about 100, 150 people who are in line. And what you're seeing here around the room are people, volunteers, and you can see that everything's in alphabetical order.

Everyone here, as we look over this way, they find that whether or not they're a registered voter, they had to be registered by December 31st. And once they have their form, once they have their empty ballot, what they do is they end up in these empty corners and then they fill in their bubble.

What is happening here is it's not a typical caucus where you see a lot of people going from one room to the other and talking to undecideds. This is going to feel much more like a primary. Once they have their ballot filled out, they drop it in this cardboard box. This is Jefferson County here in the state of Kentucky. And then the secret room, this is the room where there will be a tally. All of this tally will be happening electronically this afternoon. But until then, what you're seeing here is the very first people coming in to caucus. It does, again, Victor, feel much more like a primary. This is happening right now, opening just about one minute ago. Victor? BLACKWELL: Yes, it does look a lot like a primary there, and you have

the attendees standing guard in front of the secret room. Kyung Lah there for us in Louisiana, thank you so much.

Let's head now to Ed Lavandera. He is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Polls opened for that state, the primary there, about two hours ago. So, Ed, what are you seeing there? And give us an idea of expected turnout. We've seen record turnout for the Republicans, at least, throughout this process.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, they are expecting a higher-than-normal turnout for a primary season. You know, Saturday is traditionally a voting day when elections here in Louisiana are held outside of the traditional days where they have to vote on a Tuesday, like presidential elections, but Saturday historically is the day for voting here in Louisiana, and we will continue to see and expect to see higher turnout.

The polling location where we're at, incidentally, though, has actually been very slow throughout the morning. That is expected to change throughout the day. And 46 Republican delegates at stake here in Louisiana today, 51 on the Democratic side, so, obviously, a great deal of turnout.

And what is interesting, Victor, I've spent the last couple of days speaking with political consultants and political players here in the state -- there hasn't been a lot of really good polling done, so it's not really clear, a lot of people aren't sure how the day is going to play out, which kind of adds to the intrigue and mystique. But today, the number of delegates at stake here in Louisiana, one of the bigger takes we'll see throughout the day here on Super Saturday. Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Ed Lavandera for us there in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Ed, thanks so much.

Let's take a closer look now at the state of Louisiana. And we're joined by Silas Lee, He's joining us from New Orleans, a political analyst, Louisiana pollster. Silas, good morning to you. Can you hear me, Silas? All right, we seem to be having some audio trouble with Silas. But if we can get Silas' earpiece working, we'll get back to him in a moment. Oh, you got me now, Silas?

SILAS LEE, LOUISIANA POLLSTER: I hear you.

BLACKWELL: All right, good. Good morning to you.

LEE: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: I want to start with Louisiana's role here in this process. Louisiana is not one of the early carve-outs, not on Super Tuesday, but you say even with the small number of delegates relatively, it still plays a crucial role in this process. Explain for us.

LEE: Well, it plays a crucial role primarily because it's about not only winning delegates, but by winning with a significant margin.

[10:05:03] In this state, the delegates will be allocated in proportion to the margin of victory. So, the greater the margin of victory, that means more delegates either Clinton, Cruz, Trump, and Rubio will have compared to their opponents. So that's why you saw some momentum in the state in terms of visitations by the candidates, and we saw in the last two weeks quite a few ads for the various candidates. So they cannot take anything for granted, especially on the Republican side where they are trying to amass delegates very early.

BLACKWELL: So, we've learned from Super Tuesday that on the Democrats' side, Secretary Clinton has strength in the south. There is some strength between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz on the Republican side. Is there any expectation on who will come out with the most delegates, come out with the "w" in Louisiana?

LEE: Well, it looks like Louisiana will follow the trends from the previous results with Super Tuesday, whereby Clinton will win by a significant margin. And what's going to help Secretary Clinton is the fact that in Louisiana, it is not a caucus but delegates will be determined by the margin of victory. And that is critical because she does very well in states where, one, it's a primary, and the delegates are decided by voting versus the caucus. And with the Republicans, it looks like Trump.

And I think there are two things we need to watch in this particular scenario -- one, who wins and by what margin, and, two, what impact the last few days of attacking Trump will have on the outcome of this election on the Republicans, if any impact.

BLACKWELL: Yes, this will be the first indicator, especially after hearing from Governor Romney, the 2012 nominee, in that speech from the University of Utah. We'll see if we'll be able to from exit numbers get any indication on how effective that speech was. Silas Lee, analyst and pollster there in Louisiana joining us from New Orleans. Thank you so much, Silas.

LEE: Sure. You're welcome. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So, let's talk big picture now for the primary and caucus contests being held, again, in five states today. We've got CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston joining us now from National Harbor, Maryland, the site of CPAC, the final day. So, frontrunners Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump. We heard from Silas Lee that they're expected to do well in Louisiana, but are there any potential surprises here? What will you be looking for today?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, I'll tell you what, let's just talk about the Democratic side right now. This could potentially be a good weekend for Bernie Sanders, and the reason being is that we're talking about caucuses. We're talking about grassroots voters. We're not talking about primaries. And for our viewers, what that means is, can Bernie Sanders get the grassroots to come out and caucus on his behalf? It's a different way of voting. It's not something that is traditional here -- well, it is traditional in some ways, but it is not the traditional way of voting that most of us know.

So, we could potentially see him do very well in Kansas and in Nebraska today, and we could see Bernie Sanders do well in Maine tomorrow, all caucus states. And as we said, we don't expect him to do so well down in Mississippi.

Now, on the Republican side right now, you have to look at the momentum that is behind Donald Trump right now. Now, in the last 30 minutes, Donald Trump took to Twitter and he described his travels for today. He's been in Kansas today. He's heading down to Florida. He describes what he has been doing this campaign as a movement that has never been seen before. In some ways, he's kind of right. So Donald Trump we expect will do good today. But really, it comes down to March 15th for the likes of Ted Cruz, John Kasich, and Marco Rubio to try to stop Donald Trump from getting the nomination, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So, looking at the contests ahead today and beyond, let's look at Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine. These are closed contests for the Republicans, meaning you have to be registered Republican to participate in this process. We've seen Donald Trump has struggled in those closed contests in the past. Is this exposing some significant problems, some weakness here for Trump?

PRESTON: Well, certainly, early on it did, because there was more candidates in the race. And the idea that you would have conservatives coming out for Donald Trump didn't seem like that was really palatable, that that was something that was going to happen. But what Donald Trump has done certainly in the past few weeks is he has drawn people to his movement, a lot of them nontraditional Republicans, perhaps Republicans who didn't vote before, as well as independents.

So could you see Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio do well today? Perhaps. For instance, this weekend alone, Puerto Rico is holding a contest tomorrow.

[10:10:00] Marco Rubio is going to Puerto Rico today to try to rally support for his candidacy. Puerto Rico plays a part in the Republican nominating contest even though it's not a state, it's a U.S. territory. But Ted Cruz is hoping to do well in these states. We see him in Kansas today as well. Any win right now is going to be viewed as momentum for the candidate that gets that win.

However, it really does head into March 15th where it becomes a winner-take-all scenario with two big states on the line, Ohio and Florida. If Donald Trump is able to win both those states, then I do think it's going to be an incredible uphill battle for the Republican establishment to stop him. However, if he doesn't win both of those states, then I think it is game on, Victor, and we could see a fight all the way to July.

BLACKWELL: All right, headed to July, wow. Mark Preston for us there at the conservative gathering of activists and voters, CPAC there in Maryland, the final day. Marco Rubio expected to speak in a few hours, a little more than an hour and a half, actually, about 11:35. All right, Mark, thank you so much. Let's talk about Donald Trump now ditching the appearance at CPAC just

outside of Washington, but that does not mean his presence will not be felt, of course. Ahead, the tone against Trump and the GOP rivals who will be speaking there today.

Plus, we're sitting here in Flint, and of course, you've heard about the water crisis that's been going on here. It has not gone away. We'll spotlight the media's role to help residents affected here.

And we've got live pictures out of Wichita, Kansas. Donald Trump expected to hit the stage very soon. This is also right next to a caucus site. So, strategy, of course, here on the part of Trump. He was scheduled to speak at CPAC, skipped that. He'll be here and then in Florida later today. We'll bring it to you live when it happens.

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[10:15:33] BLACKWELL: All right, I'm Victor Blackwell here at the University of Michigan in Flint. That was a look at the Flint River. Of course this is a Super Saturday, five contests. But we are watching Wichita, Kansas, first up this morning. Any moment, Donald Trump will be rallying supporters there. This is the first event for him. There will be three for him today. Trump is in Kansas this morning after a last-minute change of schedule.

He was supposed to be speaking today at CPAC, that gathering of conservatives in Maryland near D.C., but Trump decided to skip that, backed out at the last minute. He is going to be rallying at this location, which is right next to a caucus site, and then go on to Florida and continue campaigning.

Let's bring in CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju. He is live at that CPAC event in Maryland. So, I wonder, Manu, as you've been listening to some of the speakers there, have they been going as aggressively at Trump as we saw former governor Romney this week?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: We saw Ted Cruz yesterday go very aggressively at Donald Trump, Victor. Actually, right at the top of this speech, he said, well, maybe Donald Trump was scared to talk to actual conservatives. He said maybe Donald Trump was worried that the FOX News host Megyn Kelly would be here. So, clearly, they're trying to score political points. When Marco Rubio addresses this audience, I'm sure he'll take some whacks at Donald Trump, because after all, remember, this audience is generally called movement conservatives, and Trump is not really a movement conservative.

But nevertheless, a lot of folks are very disappointed that they are not hearing from the Republican frontrunner. My colleague, Deirdre Walsh, yesterday spoke to a number of attendees and this is what they had to say. They were not very happy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Personally, I'm not a Donald Trump fan, but you know, if you want to represent the Republican Party and be a part of the conservative movement, then CPAC is a really important place to be. I mean, these are the activists. These are the warriors who are going out, hitting doors. If you want to represent us, I think it's important to be here and be present with us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So a lot of support for Trump, and I respect that. He's bringing so much energy. He's getting people mad on both sides of the aisle. He's saying a lot of things that are true. He's unfiltered at the very least. People are going to be really disappointed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm supportive of Donald Trump, whatever he decides to do as a sovereign individual, and he would probably be heckled and harassed here and booed. And why put yourself through a lot of stress? The man's -- I mean, he's thrown a lot of stuff out there that needs plowed up and rearranged in our economy and in our government. And he's going to make a difference in politics in 2016.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So, that last attendee probably is right. He probably would have been heckled and booed here yesterday. A lot of pro-Cruz supporters were booing the mention of the name of Donald Trump. But Trump actually just tweeted about this. He said that "I am in Kansas, will be an exciting day," he said, "big speech this morning in Wichita and then go to caucus. Sorry, CPAC, the format was fine." That last reference to the dispute over whether or not there should be a Q&A portion after the event. But clearly, he views Kansas as more important than being at CPAC today.

BLACKWELL: All right, Manu Raju there for us at CPAC. On the right of your screen, you're seeing Donald Trump speaking to supporters there in Wichita, Kansas. Let's listen.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're all saying it. This isn't coming from Donald Trump. This is coming from "TIME" magazine and everything else. We're on the cover numerous times over the last couple of months. I never thought -- it took me like 30 years to be on the cover of "TIME" twice. Now I've done it four times in the last three months. So something's happening, right? Something's happening.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: This is better than real estate. This is more fun. But look, we've got to do the right thing. CNN just came out with a poll two days ago, 49 percent for Trump. Next was Cruz and Rubio, lying Ted and little Marco.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: This is not presidential material, folks, believe me. So, look, look, we've got to make America great again. We've got to make America great again. It's very simple.

(APPLAUSE) [10:20:02] TRUMP: Oh, look, he's got a sign. "Show him your hands, Mr. Trump." My hands -- look at these hands. These hands hit a golf ball 285 yards! Look at the hands.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: These politicians, such liars, liars. I guess when I made the statement about him being a lightweight, he said, uh, let's see, what's wrong with Trump? What's wrong? Let me think about something. Uh, maybe he's got small hands. He's got small hands! They lie.

So, anyways, look, all kidding aside, our country is in trouble. We owe $19 trillion. Nobody even knows what that means, $19 trillion. That's so much. You could take top people, top, top people, they don't know what it means. And it's just beyond. They just signed the worst budget deal I've ever seen, the worst. And we're going to change things so badly and so quickly, it's going to go so fast, and you're going to be so proud, you're going to be so proud of your country again. You're going to be proud of your president.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And it's not me. I'm like the messenger. We're all together. We're all together. I'm telling you, so many articles. What we've done is very unique, because the Republicans were, you know, for decades, decades, they made a tremendous mistake when you chose Mitt Romney four years ago. He was a disaster as a candidate. No energy, no life, no nothing. He was a stiff, OK? Just a stiff guy. He was. He was a loser.

And then he comes out -- you know, if he would have devoted the same energy four years ago to running for president, him and his third-rate campaign manager -- I see him on television all the time. Where was he four years ago when Obama was doing Jay Leno, when Obama was doing David Letterman, and Romney was looking for his own change to get a nine-car garage built, OK? Where was this guy?

So, look, it's the establishment. The establishment is against us. The press back there is against us, although some of it's coming around, I must tell you. I read a couple of articles this morning. I read a couple of articles this morning, folks, they're coming around.

By the way, polls show that I beat Hillary Clinton. Many polls show that I beat Hillary Clinton.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: You know, these guys, they like to say, well, Donald Trump will never beat Hillary Clinton. I watch them on television. I'm watching FOX, I'm watching CNN, I'm watching MS, and I'm watching television. And they say, well, Donald Trump will never, ever beat Hillary. The polls are showing that I beat her. I haven't even started on her yet. I haven't even started.

(APPLAUSE) TRUMP: You know, I wasn't supposed to beat Jeb Bush. He was establishment. He was the one that was getting it. I see all of his supporters on television saying, Donald Trump will not win. Well, what happened to their candidate, OK? It's unbelievable. No, it's so foolish. You know, the Republicans are eating their own. The Republicans are eating their own. They've got to be very careful. We have to bring things together.

Now I hear, if we, not me, if we win. Look at these crowds. By the way, there are thousands -- look, it's packed, this convention hall.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Now, I wish, I wish the cameras would spin around and show those upper decks where you can't even get on. But on top of that, there are thousands of people outside. I mean, they won't show it.

Unless -- is there a protester in the room, please? The only way they turn the cameras is if there's a protester, because that's, like, supposed to be a bad thing. I view protesters as a positive thing because then the cameras swing around. That's the only reason. You can stand there and force them, they won't touch those cameras.

I didn't think -- you know what? For three rallies, I had no protesters. And nobody knew what was happening with these rallies. And I'd go home and my wife would say, were there many people there? I'd say, yes, about 20,000. She'd say, really? They never showed that. They only showed your face. Now, I like my face, but I'd rather show the crowd. I'd much rather show the crowd.

So, we're going to win, and we're going to win easily. But now I hear the establishment -- well, you've probably heard this, the establishment is saying very strongly, and I can't imagine that if Trump wins now, if I win Florida and I have a big lead in Florida over a guy that never shows up to vote, Rubio -- the guy never shows up to vote. He's got the worst voting record almost in the history of the United States Senate. Who the hell wants to vote for a guy like that? In addition, I watched him meltdown under the stare of Chris Christie, who just endorsed me, by the way.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And Senator Sessions and Sarah Palin and Jerry Falwell Jr., who's been so great. You know, Jerry Falwell -- we're leading with the evangelicals all over the country, leading big, because they don't want to vote for a liar. You have lying Ted Cruz. I call him -- I nicknamed him "lyin'." How would you spell that? L-y-e-n, "lyen," with a big apostrophe.

[10:25:00] But you know, you have "lyen'" Ted Cruz, and he comes in and holds up the bible and he tells you exactly what I didn't say. All of these guys, I say something, I make it very clear, then they get on television, "Donald Trump just said -- " it's like totally different.

I want to tell you something. I used to think that real estate people were tough, especially in Manhattan. They're babies compared to these politicians. These politicians are liars. I meet, you know, it's funny, I meet much tougher people over the years. The people I deal with are much tougher than the politicians, but nobody lies like a politician, nobody. Nobody.

So, anyway, what we've got to do is we've got to get out today, we've got to caucus. I'm going to go with you. We're going to caucus. And after making this huge U-turn to Kansas, if I lose, I'm going to be so angry at you. And my friend, did you ever hear of Phil Ruffin? Phil Ruffin --

BLACKWELL: All right, you've been watching Donald Trump at Wichita, Kansas, speaking to supporters. You heard there this huge U-turn to Kansas. He was scheduled to speak and it was confirmed that he would speak at CPAC in Maryland, but instead at the last minute pulled back from that, instead going to Kansas, as you see, Florida later today and a third stop campaigning.

This, of course, is Super Saturday. Caucuses in Kansas, also in Kentucky, Maine, Louisiana, a primary there for the GOP, 155 delegates on the line for them. And for the Democrats, 109 delegates with caucuses in Kansas and Nebraska, that primary also in Louisiana. We'll continue to follow all the candidates as they're out today campaigning on, again, Super Saturday.

Next up, we are here in Flint, and we'll talk about the plight of the people who live here and this ongoing crisis with the water system, lead in the drinking water. How are they coping? And what do they want to hear from the candidates tomorrow night at the CNN Democratic presidential debate?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:006] BLACKWELL: Welcome back. A look here at Flint, Michigan, a snowy day here. Live pictures, flurries all morning for days now actually, at the University of Michigan, the Flint campus. Tonight -- or rather tomorrow night, I should say, is the next Democratic presidential debate. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will, of course, take the stage and face off from this city. And of course, voters will be listening to their ideas about domestic policy and foreign policy, but the people who live in this community, they want to know what these candidates will do, what they plan to bring back some normalcy here, to bring back drinkable, potable water to this community.

It's been almost two years since toxic lead began leeching into Flint's water supply. The people who live here, understandably, are upset, angry that almost nothing has been done about it. And $250 million in federal aid has been allocated to help replace the aging pipes, but that bill has now stalled in Congress. Sara Ganim is joining us now. So, you know, I just want to start with what you're hearing from people here. You've been here literally for months.

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People are upset, because what they're seeing is a lot of red tape and not a lot of money to fix the problem. And meanwhile, Victor, there are many homes, according to the county health department, more than 600 homes that still have very, very high levels of lead in their water. I talked to one woman, she had 10,000 parts per billion lead in her water. To give you an idea of how high that is, toxic waste level is considered 5,000. So, she's twice the level of toxic waste. The EPA says anything over 15 is bad. That's how bad her water is. And that was just last month. That's, you know, five months after the crisis was declared here. I want to show you what we're talking about.

BLACKWELL: OK.

GANIM: This is a lead pipe from Lansing, Michigan. I witnessed a pipe removal replacement there. This is a lead pipe. The orange coating that you see inside, that is called a phosphate. They're supposed to protect the lead pipes so that when water flows through, lead does not leech. That's what was torn away here in Flint. The corrosive water got rid of that protective coating, and lead began to leech into the water. So the people, they want to see these lead lines come out of the ground. They want them gone because they don't trust their water until they see these lines replaced, and they won't trust their government until they pay for that.

BLACKWELL: So, the problem, obviously, has been identified. You have been working diligently to show the impact and the effects. Why has nothing changed? Why are there no new pipes?

GANIM: Money. It's all about money. The state caused this problem when they switched the water supply and didn't treat it properly. The state has not given Flint any money to replace the pipes. We've talked about -- the governor has said he has proposed money for it, but that money is part of next year's budget plan. It wouldn't be available even if it's approved until October.

BLACKWELL: Wow.

GANIM: The city is also asking for money from the feds, but no money has come from the feds yet, either. So, the city is basically taking what very little money they do have -- they've been in financial crisis for a long time -- and they're trying to replace some of the lead service lines. The mayor asked for $55 million. Right now she has kind of scrounged together $2 million on her own.

BLACKWELL: So $2 million.

GANIM: Yes, $2 million.

BLACKWELL: Sara Ganim, thank you so much. Understandably frustrating for the people who live here and can't drink the water, can't brush their teeth, can't bathe using the water. Again, thanks so much.

CNN will donate 500,000 bottles of water to the residents of Flint, Michigan, starting today. Distribution will continue weekly throughout the month of March. We've partnered with Convoy of Hope, a 501C3, to distribute the water to four different locations throughout Flint. CNN anchors and reporters and senior leaders will assist with bottled water distribution.

All right, now, take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, actions like this -- you see protesters being forcibly removed. Some of these protesters, Black Life Matters protesters -- are these acts considered racist? Well, our next guest believes so, and that conversation is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:38:02] BLACKWELL: A live look here at the University of Michigan, the Flint campus. Flurries for hours now. It's been snowing a couple of days here. Beautiful campus. Of course, the big show is tomorrow night, the Democratic presidential debate here on CNN. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will face off on stage in just a little more than 33 hours from now.

Now, we're here in Flint, of course, and the water crisis is the biggest issue for the people who live here. This is an election year, and they want to hear from the leaders about what they propose to do about fixing this. It even played a key role in getting a debate here in Flint. I went out and spoke with some people here, and they are expecting to hear a lot, not just rhetoric, but solutions from the candidates tomorrow night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: What are you hoping to hear at the debate this weekend?

ANTHONY PANNOCK, FLINT RESIDENT: You know, I want them to talk about Flint, talk about the water, talk about how that's affected our community and how we can move forward from that and how we can protect children poisoning again.

BLACKWELL: What are you hoping to hear from Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton?

STEVE MCCLAIN, FLINT RESIDENT: Get rid of the governor. The governor's the cause of this, and it was only a small amount of money that he chose not to give, and look where we're at now. We're living in a third world country. All we've got is water to live off from. We can't bathe, can't shower. We can't do nothing.

CHUCK TOGGER, FLINT RESIDENT: Well, I'd like to hear some serious conversation about, you know, the real issues confronting our country -- the immigration, the economic issues are still -- I mean, we're seven, eight years beyond this great recession, and I don't think things are really, truly better.

BRIAN LARKIN, FLINT RESIDENT: What I'm really interested in hearing is how from the federal perspective they really wish to change some of the fortunes of cities, because there are cities like Flint all throughout the country that are really underserved.

[10:40:04] When you look at property values continuing to go down and having to provide a quality of life for their residents, it is really, really hard for cities. And so, what do they think the federal government can do for that? So, whoever provides really strong answers for that will really gain my attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: We have with us CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter. First, Brian, good morning to you.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: And I want to start with how did we reach this point? How did we get to hosting this debate in Flint?

STELTER: It certainly is unusual. You think about the debates this primary season, they're usually in bigger cities. They're places with more stature. Flint happened because of the water crisis here and because Hillary Clinton suggested a debate be held here. This actually happened back at the end of January.

Bernie Sanders had wanted more debates. He had been angling for more debates, challenging Clinton to appear on stage with him more often. Clinton said, OK, I'll do it, but one of the debates should be in Flint. I think that was a notable decision by her campaign, and then of course, Sanders' campaign pretty quickly agreed to that, and CNN got involved with hosting it, working with the Democratic National Committee and with a couple local news organizations here as well.

I think it is noteworthy to think about whether -- and I think this is true -- whether this crisis is getting more attention than otherwise would have because it's in an election year.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

STELTER: You know, certainly, I think many news outlets were slow to report on what was happening here. The local media was ahead of the game, national media took a while. But because this is happening in an election year, we're seeing the candidates, especially the Democratic candidates, pay a lot of attention to this.

BLACKWELL: So, you've said the Democratic candidates. There was the Republican debate. That was in Detroit not too far from here on Thursday night. And from people I spoke with, they were pretty disappointed by the amount of time that was dedicated to this crisis.

STELTER: Right. There was one question, one answer from Marco Rubio, and then the topic was changed. Now, in defense of the FOX moderators, they had a lot of ground to cover. Every debate moderator does, but it seems like we've heard less from the GOP candidates than from the Democratic candidates on this specific issue. We'll see if that changes in future debates. But frankly, we've had 11 of the GOP debates. This Flint situation did not come up until the most recent debate just a couple days ago. I was talking this morning with the editor of "The Flint Journal." He

was actually with CNN folks getting ready for the debate. He's been inside the meetings because "The Flint Journal has been helping give local input on what questions should be asked tomorrow night. He's now flying back to Flint to be here later today, but he said he really appreciates the opportunity for the nation to have a better sense of how the government here failed the people.

BLACKWELL: And so many of the people I've spoken with just feel like they've been ignored. And now they'll have an opportunity to, on the big stage here, have those concerns addressed. Brian Stelter --

STELTER: It is the power of television, right? To bring in the national media, especially for an event like this.

BLACKWELL: Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: All right, up next, the actions at Trump rallies where black protesters are forced from these buildings, are they considered racist? Our next guest believes so.

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[10:46:34] BLACKWELL: Flint, Michigan, the site of tomorrow night's debate. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton on stage together facing off on CNN. Let's talk about the Republicans, though. You've seen the shouting matches, the protesters being thrown out, some say attacked. A veteran White House photographer slammed to ground. Those confrontations at some of Donald Trump's rallies have been violent. Let's call them what they are. Critics say that some of what's driving Trump's supporters to face off against opponents of the Republican frontrunner is pure and simple racism.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out! Get out!

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TRUMP: In the good old days --

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BLACKWELL: Now, take a look at just what happened on Friday in New Orleans. Black Lives Matter protesters thrown out, about a dozen of them removed from that facility in New Orleans. Joining me now to talk about this, "The New York Times" op-ed columnist, CNN political commentator Charles Blow. Charles, good to have you, joining us from New York. I read your column "Demagogue for President," and I want to put a portion of it up here. You say that "Stop thinking that it's all a joke, a hoax, a game. It's not. Indeed, his candidacy -- " speaking of Trump -- "is providing a refuge for and giving voice to white fear and anger over the inevitable changing demography of the country, the erosion of the center and the rewarding of whiteness as a commodity. Anger, not policy, is in fact the cornerstone of his candidacy."

Now, Trump has accepted that mantle of anger, but you call him a nativist, sexist, arguably fascist, and racist demagogue. Explain that for us.

CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, this is based on things that he has said himself. One thing that "Politico" did that was very helpful for all of us is they put together a list of 199 things that Trump has said out of his own mouth in interviews over the years, right? And a lot of those things are incredibly sexist, the way he refers to women as dogs and all sorts of other things you can't actually say on television, the way that he, you know, said in one interview that he has black people counting his money and he hates it because the only people he wants to count his money are short, who wear yarmulkes all day. These are things that he has said himself out of his own mouth.

He launched his candidacy basically saying that Mexican immigrants to this country are largely drug mules, criminals, and rapists. This is a person who has said that he does not mind at all blocking all Muslims from entering this country.

[10:50:00] This is a person who struggled to immediately disavow and distance himself from being endorsed by the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The list goes on and on and on about what he himself has done out of his own mouth.

And this is -- you know, I am always kind of reticent to use the term "racist" unless I know what the person -- really, you can't get inside somebody's head, you can't get inside their heart. What you can do, however, is look at what they say out of their own mouth. And these are things that he has said out of his own mouth.

BLACKWELL: So, let me ask you about the physical violence, because the video we showed there, those were Trump supporters. And they may not even be supporters. They're just people who were there at the rally to listen and make up their mind. For those people who say, all right, Charles, I hear what you're saying, but as it relates to the pushing and shoving of that attacking of that photographer, Trump can't be responsible for what supporters do. No candidate can be responsible for what the people who support them do. You say what to those people?

BLOW: I think they're actually right. You can't be responsible for anybody who supports you or shows up at a rally. There is no questionnaire that queries what you feel about things. However, what you can do is set a tone at your rallies. You can condemn people for the behavior. And I have yet to see any condemnation coming from the Trump camp for what is happening with these physical altercations at his rallies. You want that to come from him. You want that to either come from the stage, which he can do. But what he says very often -- you will hear him in the background saying get them out of here, get them out of here, as these people are being roughed up. That is very disturbing.

And even if he can't see it in the moment what's happening, you can review video and you can release a statement saying we really disavow anyone who is conducting themselves in this way, and that has yet to happen.

BLACKWELL: All right, Charles Blow, the column is "Demagogue for President." Charles, thank you so much. Always good to have you.

BLOW: You, too. Thanks for having me.

BLACKWELL: Quick break. We'll be back.

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[10:56:00] BLACKWELL: And 155 delegates on the line for the GOP, 109 on the line for the Democrats, five states going to primaries and caucuses -- Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Nebraska, Louisiana. CNN's special live coverage of Super Saturday will continue throughout the day.

Now, here in Flint, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will face off on the debate stage once again in the CNN Democratic debate. That is live from Flint, Michigan. Anderson Cooper moderates tomorrow night at 8:00 right here on CNN.

Now, there's much more ahead in the next hour of CNN's Newsroom with Ashleigh Banfield live here in Flint, Michigan. That's coming up after a quick break.

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