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Candidates Battle for Votes on Super Tuesday 22; Trump Defends Voter Loyalty Pledge; Democrats Battle for Michigan Votes; Commuter Train Derails in California. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired March 08, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00] CUOMO: Family first.
PEREIRA: Incredible. Incredible.
CAMEROTA: That's great.
All right. Thank you for that. Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. Hey, Carol.
PEREIRA: What's with the leg there, fella?
COSTELLO: Hi. Have a great day.
NEWSROOM starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, four states vote.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Do you swear that you are going to vote for Donald Trump tomorrow? Raise that hand. I love you.
COSTELLO: Four chances to take on Trump. Cruz hoping to close the gap.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Call your friends, call your family, call your neighbors and say this election matters.
COSTELLO: Rubio and Kasich looking ahead to their home turf.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to be on the ballot. We're going to win Florida. This is going to be a very long process. You guys have never covered a campaign like this.
COSTELLO: Plus Michigan maybe make-or-break for Bernie Sanders.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is a large voter turnout tomorrow we will win. And if we win here in Michigan.
COSTELLO: But Clinton is sounding confident.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The sooner I could become your nominee the more I could begin to turn our attention to the Republicans.
COSTELLO: Plus, a packed California commuter train derails, plunging into a creek.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like a scene from the movie "The Fugitive."
COSTELLO: Survivors describe the panic.
Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Super Tuesday take two. Another day of early voting under way as the presidential candidates scramble for delegates that can make or break their campaigns. This morning Donald Trump brushing aside the GOP's efforts to derail his campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The biggest story in politics is how many people are going to the primaries on the Republican side. It is a record number. They're up 55 percent, 60 percent. Some are up as much as a 100 percent and that hasn't happened ever. They say it's never happened. And the Democrats are down 35 percent. So, you know, something very positive is happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Republican candidates vying for a total of 150 delegates today. Four states in play from Michigan to Hawaii. Democrats will fight in just two of those states, Michigan and Mississippi. 166 delegates are at stake. A big prize for both parties today the battle ground of Michigan.
These are live pictures from a polling place in Warren. That's just outside of Detroit. Trump and Hillary Clinton hold the leads there.
Our reporters and guests are scattered across the country to follow this critical day for the campaigns. Let's begin with CNN's Polo Sandoval. He's at a polling place in Jackson, Mississippi.
Good morning.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. Good morning. That's right. People have been heading to polling locations to have their voices heard and you happen to be joining me inside one of them as you mentioned here in Jackson, Mississippi. We've already seen for the last hour that the polls have been opened. A steady trickle of folks that have been coming in. And it's a very simple process, too, Carol. As soon as people walk into the door they essentially either head to either the Democratic Party table there or on the other side, on the Republican side, and then of course pick up that ballot, fill it out and then feed it into an electronic machine that's set up here in the room as well.
It's a very quick process. It's a very simple process as well. And it allows people to be able to have their voice heard in a very quick way.
As you mentioned there, several delegates, many of them at stake today, 81 delegates in this state along, 40 on the Republican side, 41 on the Democratic side. So it's going to be very interesting to see exactly which way, at least what results we get to see here in Mississippi. And it's a very -- while the spotlight is in Michigan it's obviously very critically as well here for the people in Mississippi.
We did see yesterday the Governor Phil Bryan actually came forward publicly endorsing Texas Senator Ted Cruz but as we saw over the weekend in the state of Maine a governor endorsing you doesn't necessarily mean you'll come out the winner. So we'll have to see exactly what happens here, Carol, as the voting continues. Voters in the state now have 11 hours to cast their vote.
COSTELLO: All right. Polo Sandoval reporting live from Mississippi this morning.
Now let's turn our attention to Michigan. The grand prize of this Super Tuesday two. CNN's Phil Mattingly live in Detroit. Good morning.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Four states, 150 delegates and for every candidate not named Donald Trump, one big question. Will tonight expose cracks in Trump's candidacy that up to this point haven't really existed?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: NASCAR endorsed Trump. Can you believe that?
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump running strong as voters head to the polls today for what's being dubbed Super Tuesday two.
TRUMP: I've been to Michigan a lot. And I think we're going to do well there.
MATTINGLY: With 150 crucial delegates at stake, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz hustle to take votes away from Trump. The frontrunner sparring with protesters during his swing through North Carolina.
TRUMP: Oh, we have a protester. Out, out. Bye. Go home to mommy. Go home to mommy. Tell her to tuck you in bed. Bye-bye.
MATTINGLY: Cruz making quick and previously unannounced stops in Mississippi.
CRUZ: We're seeing folks who had been supporting Donald Trump who are realizing he isn't who they thought he was.
[09:05:06] MATTINGLY: And grappling with flight delays to arrive late in another state voting today, Michigan.
CRUZ: This is effectively a rally in the middle of the night. How is that?
MATTINGLY: Florida Senator Marco Rubio shifting his focus to his home state.
RUBIO: It always comes down to Florida.
MATTINGLY: A new poll showing Rubio down by eight points in the sunshine state as he continues making the case that he's the best Trump alternative.
RUBIO: I'm the only one that has any chance of beating Donald Trump in Florida. So if you don't want Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee you have to vote for Marco Rubio.
MATTINGLY: And Ohio Governor John Kasich also finishing a push through Michigan before ramping up his own efforts in his own must-win home state contest next week.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to get some momentum out of Michigan. We're going to win Ohio. There is going to be campaigning all across the country. It is going to be exciting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: Now, Carol, here in Michigan Donald Trump hoping to capitalize on what has been known as the rustbelt strategy, an effort to try and bring in voters that are disenfranchised, white, lower to middle class, not as highly educated. His campaign believes that the polling lead they've held up to this point in this state will hold. For every other campaign obviously looking at tonight but also with one eye towards next week especially John Kasich and Marco Rubio who respectively have must-wins in their home states of Ohio and Florida.
Anti-Trump groups, Carol, dishing out millions of dollars in both those states trying to halt Trump's rise. GOP 2012 nominee Mitt Romney even willing to cut a robocall for Marco Rubio. His spokesman saying that this wasn't necessarily an endorsement of Marco Rubio. Instead an endorsement of anybody who is not named Donald Trump. Also willing do the same for John Kasich or Ted Cruz -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Phil Mattingly, reporting live from Detroit.
As you heard Phil say, we will know by the night's end if Senator Cruz is indeed surging and if Trump has peaked. The polls seem to favor Trump but here's the thing. Senator Cruz picked up a lot of delegates on Super Tuesday and Super Saturday and he may do it again tonight. The frantic scramble to lock in last-minute support, though, means Trump is the star in some nasty attack ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I went to an Ivy League school. I'm very highly educated. I know words. I have the best words. This (EXPLETIVE DELETED). He gets the nomination they're going to sue his (EXPLETIVE DELETED)]. She said she's (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). We'll beat the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of that. They're ripping the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) of the sea. Bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED). What the hell are we doing? You're not going to raise (EXPLETIVE DELETED) price. I have the best words. And you can tell them go (EXPLETIVE DELETED) themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who announced he is not running for president after all is also taking aim at Trump writing this in "Bloomberg View," quote, "Trump has run the most divisive and demagogic presidential campaign I can remember, preying on people's prejudices and fears. Trump appeals to our worst impulses."
Today Mr. Trump responded to that criticism and also the criticism that he's Hitleresque like asking voters to raise their right hands in a pledge of support. Here's what Mr. Trump said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Sometimes we'll do it for fun and they'll start screaming at me, do the swear-in, do the swear. I mean, they're having such a great time. They're massive crowds. I get, you know, by far the biggest crowds. And we're having a good time. Honestly until this phone call, I didn't know it was a problem. I'll certainly look into it. I mean, I'd like to find out if that's true but I will certainly look in because I don't want to offend anybody but I can tell you that it's been -- it's been amazingly received.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. With me now CNN political commentator and radio host Ben Ferguson. I'm also joined by CNN political commentator and Trump support Jeffrey Lord.
Welcome to both of you.
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hello, Carol.
COSTELLO: Hi. Jeffrey, I'll start with you.
LORD: Yes, ma'am.
COSTELLO: It seems to be a full-court press against Donald Trump. Will it work?
LORD: I don't think so. You know, the interesting thing here is that the more of these kind of things are done the better Donald Trump does. There is a real divide here. I mean, this is -- however you want to say it the establishment, the ruling class, the elites, country club Republicans. These are folks who are so out of touch with what's going on in America, that the more they attack Donald Trump the better he does. So to be perfectly candid I mean I would encourage them. I mean, please, by all means do this because you're helping him.
COSTELLO: OK. So, Ben, somebody else who is attacking Mr. Trump through robocalls is Mitt Romney and Mitt Romney is sending out these robocalls in four states that are voting today supporting Marco Rubio. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Hello. This is Mitt Romney and I'm calling on behalf of Marco Rubio for president. I believe these are critical times that demand a serious, thoughtful commander-in-chief. If we Republicans were to choose Donald Trump as our nominee I believe that the prospects for a safe and preposterous future would be greatly diminished. And I'm convinced Donald Trump would lose to Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[09:10:11] COSTELLO: All right. So that robocall is making calls I guess in the state of Michigan where Mitt Romney is from, Ben. Effective?
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I don't think it's going to be effective. If I'm Ted Cruz right now I would be sending a big thank you note to Mitt Romney saying thank you so much for being the establishment guy and endorsing Marco Rubio without endorsing him. This is -- this is probably going to help Ted Cruz more than anyone else.
But what we see and what Jeffrey said a moment ago, and I got to go back to this, he said when people attack Donald Trump it only makes him stronger. The last couple of primaries have actually shown that not to be true. You look at what happened in Louisiana on Saturday. It is the complete opposite of what Jeffrey said happens when you attack Donald Trump. You look at Mississippi now. You have the Governor Phil Bryant there who has come out in last minute endorsement of Ted Cruz.
That is going to be a much tighter state now because Phil is loved in that state. You might even have a delegate count that's virtually even like you saw in Louisiana. And I think that's what you're seeing now is people are really looking at the words of Donald Trump, looking at what he has said, looking at his plans, looking at his past and saying, do I really trust him in the future of this country?
Get past all the excitement, all the fun of it, all the laughter of Donald Trump in your face. And voters even in the south are saying maybe this is not the guy that we really want to run against Hillary Clinton. And that is why I think you're seeing Ted Cruz do so well. I think you are going to see him do very well today not only in Michigan but also I think in Mississippi and that's going to matter in this election.
COSTELLO: OK. So I just want to draw --
LORD: Carol? COSTELLO: I just want to draw our viewers' attention to Marco Rubio
because he's campaigning now in Kissimmee, Florida, and he's been saying some -- well, he's continuing to insult Donald Trump quite frankly, Jeffrey. But as Ben said, every insult that Marco Rubio throws Trump's way seems to pay off for Ted Cruz.
LORD: You know what's very interesting in this statement that was put out by Michael Bloomberg, we should not lose sight of the fact that he not only attacked Trump, he attacked Ted Cruz, which is a reminder here that the same folks that are going after Donald Trump -- if Donald Trump didn't exist, they would be saying all of these kind of things give or take about Ted Cruz. They can't stand him.
So I find it very curious here that we're thinking that this kind of thing helps Ted Cruz because the establishment is after Ted Cruz just like they're after Donald Trump.
COSTELLO: Ben, there is something to that.
FERGUSON: Well look, I agree. Ted Cruz is an outside who is not liked by Washington. The last I checked, if you are in the Republican primary, that's exactly what you want. It's exactly what has helped Donald Trump do so well here. They are a lot alike in the fact that they are both outsiders. Senators have not endorsed Ted Cruz. That is why people that support Ted Cruz actually like him because he didn't go to Washington, he didn't play the Washington game the same way that Donald Trump says, I'm an outsider and I'm going to be my own man and no one is going to control me or own me. Well, Ted Cruz is taking a beating on Capitol Hill for standing up for his principles.
You look at this Bloomberg thing, though, it doesn't really matter in the Republican primaries because most Republican conservatives think that Bloomberg is in fact a liberal, not a conservative, and I think he showed that in this op-ed.
LORD: That's right.
FERGUSON: He said, I'm not running because I don't want any of the Republicans to win. Well, you are a liberal.
LORD: Right.
FERGUSON: I wish he would have run as a third party. He would have taken more votes away from Hillary Clinton than from Ted Cruz. No one would have gone into a voting booth saying, am I going to vote for Donald Trump or Ted Cruz or Michael Bloomberg? It's insanity. So for him to act like his name had that much influence in this race or in the Republican race is kind of laughable and absurd because he's not a conservative. I don't think it will have any bearing on where people go or who they vote for today.
COSTELLO: Well, we'll see what happens --
LORD: Carol --
(CROSSTALK) COSTELLO: Go ahead, Jeffrey, last word.
LORD: It's worth noting that when you add up the Trump numbers and the Cruz numbers you are reaching almost 75 percent of the Republican vote. This is an open revolt against the establishment.
FERGUSON: I would agree with that.
COSTELLO: And I love that picture of Ronald Reagan behind you, Jeffrey Lord.
(LAUGHTER)
LORD: Thank you, Carol.
COSTELLO: A nice touch. A nice little touch.
All right, Jeffrey Lord, Ben Ferguson, thanks to both of you.
Super Tuesday round two, just part of a big political week here on CNN. We'll have complete coverage all day of the primaries in four state. Tomorrow the Democrats will debate in Miami and on Thursday the Republicans take the stage in a debate in Miami as well. You can see it all right here on CNN.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a make-or-break day for Bernie Sanders. Can he pull off a Super Tuesday surprise in Michigan?
[09:14:53]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Bernie Sanders as Hillary Clinton's VP? One of Sanders' top advisers said he'd consider it, but before the Vermont senator can hop on the ticket there is a presidential nomination that needs to be wrapped up. And today Democrats face off in the battle ground state of Michigan where last night they met at a town hall in Detroit. Among the questions they were asked? To name their favorite Republican.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: The women in the Senate became good friends. Both Democrats and Republicans. And we worked on a lot of issues. Susan Collins from Maine, for example. But I also worked with John McCain.
SANDERS: I have favorite Republicans, people I work with. If I tell you that person it will be a disservice to that person.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, Mark Preston. He's probably right about that, actually. MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Yes, no doubt, Carol.
You know, I spent many years covering Bernie Sanders on Capitol Hill and I have to tell, I never knew he had some humor but over the past couple of months we've learned that he does have some very dry humor.
[09:20:01] But when it comes to the election and the nomination for the Democratic Party right now obviously there is a lot on the line as you said. 147 delegates at stake up in Michigan on the Democratic side tonight and at that town hall Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton both had tough questions. One of them came out of a question that was asked at the scene and town hall regarding race. Bernie Sanders was criticized for his answer. This is what he had to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: I talk about poverty all of the time. What I meant by that is that in African-American communities you have people who are living in desperation, often being abused by white police officers. That is a bad thing. And that has got to change and that's why I'm fighting to reform a broken criminal justice system. But I know about white poverty. It existed in my state. It existed all over this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: And that was Bernie Sanders. What the controversy was, Carol, is that he had used the word ghetto when he was describing African-Americans and the fact that Caucasians, white people were not able to understand it. But Hillary Clinton herself got her own tough question. It had to do with the nagging controversy regarding her e- mails. Let's hear what she had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I have said it wasn't the best choice to use a personal e- mail. It was a mistake. However, I am not alone in that. Many people in the government, past and current, have on occasion or as a practice done the same. Nothing I sent was marked classified or that I received was marked classified.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: And so there you go. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton at the FOX News town hall last night as you said. Big contest tonight up in Michigan. 147 delegates. But also down south in Mississippi, 41 delegates at stake and of course this election is right before tomorrow night's Univision town hall or rather presidential debate that will be simulcast here on CNN -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Mark Preston, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, new pictures this morning of a passenger train full of passengers actually. It derailed in northern California. Part of it fell into a creek. We'll have the latest for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:26:32] COSTELLO: At least nine people hurt after a packed commuter train derails and plunges into a creek in northern California. These are live pictures from above the wreckage. It's our first look in the daylight. Officials say the train apparently struck a fallen tree in the middle of the tracks. Incredibly all 214 passengers on board survived.
CNN's Dan Simon live in San Francisco with what happened. Good morning.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. While this was a scary situation, you had some bad weather move into the bay area yesterday and apparently it led to this tree falling down on the tracks and that is what ultimately led to this derailment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON (voice-over): Breaking overnight, a harrowing scene of panic and chaos. A packed commuter train derailing 45 miles east of San Francisco after hitting a downed tree on the tracks, sending a train car full of passengers plunging into a swollen creek.
JAY VIJAYEN, TRAIN PASSENGER: I realized something was wrong so I started -- I held on to the rails and right then the train flipped over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was thrown out of my seat.
SIMON: All 214 aboard miraculously managing to make it off the train alive. Officials saying nine injured, four critically, but not life- threatening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen anything like this. It was absolutely chaotic, absolutely chaotic. You can only imagine the terror and the angst that went through their mind when that was going on. Very fortunately nobody was killed in this incident.
SIMON: Rescue crews fighting the creek's fast-moving currents throughout the night to pull riders to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's scary. It's still scary. But, you know, somebody was watching over us tonight. Everybody got out and everybody is going to hopefully be okay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON: Well, obviously with that train still sitting on its side there will not be any service today, Carol. The task today is to try to somehow get it removed -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Dan Simon reporting live from San Francisco. Thank you.
And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The state of Michigan expects a rush at the polls today, so much so
some precincts ordered extra ballots. Michigan has the most delegates up for grabs of any state today, enough to help close the gap or push a frontrunner even further ahead.
CNN's Jean Casarez live in Warren this morning. Hi, Jean.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. You know, we're in the heart of the auto industry. Warren, Michigan, it is the largest suburb in the Detroit metro area. 100,000 voters in Warren alone. And the polling place has really been a constant stream of voters today from the moment they opened at 7:00.
I want to show you, the procedure is pretty easy. You see this man right here. He is checking in, in essence. And so once you check in, then you come over here which is where you actually get your ballot. You have to show your photo ID. And this is an open primary. So if you want to cross lines, if you're a registered Democrat but you want to vote Republican you would ask for a Republican ballot and here and then you would go to your ballot box and you would vote.
This is the birthplace of the Reagan Democrat. But I've got to tell you, we talked to someone today who said they were a lifelong Republican and they actually had just voted for Bernie Sanders because they believe he is the voice of the people. But overwhelmingly we've talked to people that have voted for Donald Trump today. We want to talk to one gentlemen right here.
Come on in. This is Steve. Steve, you voted for Donald Trump. Why?
STEVE, VOTER: I basically believe that we want a change. I like a change and I really don't like to see the money that we've earned just be given out to everyone equally.
