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Michigan Primary Today; State of the Democratic Presidential Race; Erin Andrews Awarded $55 Million; Donald Trump's Loyal Supporters. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired March 08, 2016 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00] STEVE (ph): I basically believe that we want a change. I like change. And I really don't like to see the money that we've earned just be given out to everyone equally. I just think you have to earn -- keep what you earn and you're free to spend it in a free economy system.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, in the last week there have been so many detractors I mean coming at every direction against Donald Trump. Do you think that will make an impact here? You've got General Motors Technical Center a couple of miles from here. It's been Donald Trump's voice from the beginning about the auto industry. But could these detractors make a difference today?
STEVE: They could. You know, again, it just depends on the turnout. And I just believe that Trump or the Republicans are more about what I believe.
CASAREZ: But you also believe that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have a strength in this area, don't you?
STEVE: I definitely do. I just believe the auto industry and being, you know, about the unions and I think that the Democratic Party has a strong foothold in Michigan.
CASAREZ: All right, Steve, we'll see what happens today.
STEVE: All right, thank you.
CASAREZ: Thank you so much.
Now, the polls continue to be open until 8:00 tonight. And, Carol, do want to tell you, we spoke to one Republican voter who said she voted for John Kasich, loyal to her Midwestern roots because she said she saw him in the -- in the campaigning and just liked what he had to say.
Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Interesting.
And thank Steve for me. He's being patient and sticking around.
Thank you, Steve.
Thanks, Jean.
The polls in --
CASAREZ: Thank you, Steve, Carol said.
COSTELLO: The polls in Michigan opened just two hours ago but Hillary Clinton's focus seems to be on the general election. As "The Detroit Free Press" pointed out, Clinton spoke for 15 minutes at a campaign rally. She did not mention Bernie Sanders' name once. She also had a message for any Democrats who have yet to cast their votes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, we've got our work cut out for us. That's why it's so important for all of you to turn out as many voters as you can tomorrow, because the sooner I could become your nominee, the more I could begin to turn our attention to the Republicans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right, so let's talk about the Democrats now. Sally Kohn is a "Daily Beast" columnist, Larry Sabato is the director for the University of Virginia Center for Politics, and Larry Cohen is a senior adviser to the Bernie Sanders campaign and former president of the Communications Workers of America.
Welcome to all of you.
SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Nice to be with you.
COSTELLO: Nice to have you here.
So, Larry Cohen, I will start with you because you heard what Steve the voter said. He voted for Mr. Trump. But he also said that Bernie Sanders might have a stronghold in the state of Michigan. So, Larry Cohen, are we getting ahead of ourselves when we're all assuming that Hillary Clinton will take Michigan?
LARRY COHEN, SENIOR ADVISER, BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN: I think definitely. What we've seen in the last weeks is closing the gap. And yesterday's polls by Michigan State, closest of any of the polls, five points. We believe we're still gaining. We believe Bernie speaks to independents and Republicans, that that's going to be critical in the general election and that Bernie Sanders speaks to the auto industry in terms of bad trade policy that, unfortunately, Secretary Clinton as secretary was part of with the Korea trade deal, actually horrendous from the point of view of auto workers and that lots of folks are still moving to Bernie.
COSTELLO: Sally, do you agree with that? Because, you know, as Hillary Clinton likes to point out, Bernie Sanders did not vote to bail out the auto industry.
KOHN: Well, look, here's where I have to sort of ding Hillary on that one. She -- you know, I think there's -- I hope voters have heard by now, there was an auto bailout independent vote and he did support that. When it was wrapped up with a bailout of the banks, Sanders did not support that. It was because of the bank bailout, not because of the auto bailout.
Look, you know, the one point in which Hillary Clinton is right here is, the more that both candidates can focus their attention on the Republicans and draw the distinction, you know, it's nice to hear the substance between Hillary and between Bernie, and I do think there are distinctions, but there is a wide gulf between what both of them are proposing that would help working class Americans and strengthen our economy and make our country better for everyone and what the Republicans are proposing, which is really to push people out of the American dream and to just help those who, you know, say, just vote for us, we'll only help you. We won't help anyone else. That is sort of really radically different propositions and it's good that Hillary's drawing that distinction.
COSTELLO: OK. So, Larry, is that a good strategy? Larry Sabato, I'm talking to. I have two Larrys on my hands.
COHEN: Oh, sorry.
COSTELLO: Larry Sabato, I'm talking out. Is it a good strategy for Hillary Clinton to like look forward to the general election and talk about such things at a campaign rally when Michigan hasn't even -- well it just started to vote at 7:00 a.m. this morning?
LARRY SABATO, DIR. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Well, there's a -- there is a fine line between confidence and overconfidence. Obviously, you want to wait for the voters to make the decisions. But, frankly, it's in the Democrats' interest both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders' interests to start defining the differences very clearly, very starkly between the Democrats and the Republican, the Republicans running for president.
[09:35:04] And, look, part of this is a ballet. It's a very careful dance. And it's important for Hillary Clinton, if she is going to be the Democratic nominee, as she is favored to be, to keep good relations to the extent possible with Bernie Sanders and his supporters because she is going to need all of them in November. I don't care who the Republicans nominate. This attempt to get a third consecutive term in the White House will not be easy.
COSTELLO: OK. With that said, Larry Cohen, I want you to listen to something that Hillary Clinton said about your candidate, Bernie Sanders, at last night's town hall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Secretary Clinton, when you think of Senator Sanders, do you consider him an enemy or an ally?
CLINTON: Oh, an ally for sure. And here's how I think about it, Samuel. We have differences and we are passionate about our positions and our differences. And, you know, like we saw in the debate last night, we air those differences about issues. I hope to win the nomination. If I am so fortunate, to hope to work with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Something else that was said about your candidate, Larry Cohen, Tad Devine, who is another top Sanders adviser, said the senator, Senator Sanders, would consider the V.P. slot. What do you think about that?
COHEN: Well, I think that what we're focused on, number one, is getting the nomination. And there's still a clear path to that. Big states like Washington, New York, California, we believe we're far ahead. But, more importantly, what kind of Democratic Party will it be when voters go to vote in November. And what Hillary Clinton needs to realize is, we're in this to Philadelphia and beyond. We believe we need a much more populous Democratic Party. Not only because it's the right thing, that in order to win, that's what Bernie's all about. He's not looking for some position and that's what we're all about and that's what the millions of volunteers are about.
We want to get super delegates out of the process. I happen to be one. But the Republicans don't count them. Democrats have 700. We want to get super PAC money out of the primaries. It doesn't have any place in Democratic primaries. So that kind of list goes on and on in terms of not only what are the issues that a Democratic nominee will run on in November, but also what kind of a party do we have? Is it a party captive by finance or is it a party of the people, a populist party? That's still very much up for grabs.
COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Larry Cohen, Larry Sabato and Sally Kohn, thanks to all of you.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a big legal win for Erin Andrews, but her battle is far from over. Those nude pictures of her, they're still on the Internet. Why?
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[09:41:53] COSTELLO: Erin Andrews is thanking supporters after her big legal victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What amount of damages, if any, do you award the plaintiff, Erin Andrews?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $55 million.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: A Nashville jury awarding the network TV star $55 million in a peephole lawsuit. Splitting the bill will be Andrews' stalker and the group that manages the hotel where she was secretly filmed nude.
Martin Savidge is in Atlanta with more.
Good morning. MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
This is a case where there was emotion. There was also the issue of privacy, which is more and more coming to be a very significant issue in our very open society. $55 million. The emotions we talked about here, of course, the horrific invasion of privacy of Erin Andrews with the videotaping, but also her own testimony. She was quite cheerful visibly in the courtroom at times, she walked out on other occasions. Her parents were very emotional too as they gave testimony about when they heard about this video when she first had to tell them, which you can only just begin to imagine.
And it's that emotional connection that appears to have worked very well for the jury. They, obviously, picked up on that and hence $55 million. She wanted $75 million. $55 million is still a significant sum of money and clearly a great victory.
The question is, could there be an appeal? The hotel says that they're still weighing their options. They didn't give an answer. And how much money of that is she likely to see? Well, $29 million of that is the responsibility of her stalker, Michael Barrett, and he is not worth anything like that kind of money, so doubtful she'll get much there. And then there is the hotel itself. If it doesn't appeal, it could file for bankruptcy. Now, that wouldn't let it off the hook, but it could greatly slow down the time frame in which those payments would have to be made. So a lot of financial decisions yet to be made.
Lastly, she did put out that statement thanking many people, including her legal team, the people of Nashville and she ended with, "I've been honored by all of the support from victims around the world. Their outreach had helped me to be able to stand up and hold accountable those whose job it is to protect everyone else's safety, security and privacy." This is going to have huge ramifications, Carol, for the hotel industry.
COSTELLO: Martin Savidge reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
That footage of Erin Andrews, by the way, has been viewed 17 million times according to trial testimony and the video, it's still online today. Andrews breaking down on the stand last week because of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN ANDREWS, FOX SPORTS REPORTER: My naked body was on the front page of "The New York Post." Like, they had put bars over my body parts. I remember just saying to my parents, we've got to get it down, we've got to get it down. We can't get it down. And that's all I was so worried about. I was like, we've got to get it off. We've got to get it off. And like, we're never going to get it off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Carrie Goldberg is an Internet privacy and sexual consent attorney. She joins me now by phone.
Good morning, Carrie.
CARRIE GOLDBERG, INTERNET PRIVACY AND SEXUAL CONSENT ATTORNEY: Hi, Carol. Happy to be here.
COSTELLO: I'm happy to have you here. Why is this video still online?
GOLDBERG: Well, as we all know, when something's downloaded to a phone or a computer, it's relatively simple to repost it. Erin's picture is still circulating because our legal system is not stopping people from posting, liking, reposting, downloading.
[09:45:05] And the site operators where the material is published are not liable because of a federal law that protects them. And fortunately (ph) because copyright was transferred to Erin, she was able to get some of it removed for infringement, but when it's a million places, any single person can reupload it.
COSTELLO: Well, that seems to be the route that women are taking. Like Erin Andrews copyrighted her nude images. Other women are actually copyrighting parts of their anatomy so others won't profit from them online.
GOLDBERG: Well, that might work for the Erin Andrews and the Jennifer Lawrences among us, but suing for copyright infringement is not the most practical resource for the everyday person. We really need laws, criminal laws, that deter people from uploading the images in a first place. And we need an Internet and Internet companies and websites to not foster a home for these images.
COSTELLO: So what does the government need the do to protect women?
GOLDBERG: Well, we need more regulation. 24 states in our country still do not have a law prohibiting the non-consensual distribution of intimate images. Our country does not have a federal law. This is a borderless crime and need a federal law for uniformity here.
COSTELLO: Carrie Goldberg, thanks for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump supporters are known for being fiercely loyal. So what would make them a change their minds? Anything?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:51:12] COSTELLO: Donald Trump supporters are known for being fiercely loyal. Trump knows this and even brags about it. So could anything make them back down?
Chris Frates has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to the Church of Trump.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I love you people. Look at you. I love you.
FRATES: And they love him back, it seems, unconditionally.
(on camera): Is there anything Donald Trump could say that would change your mind about voting for him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would change my mind? Only if he said I withdraw, which ain't going to happen. You know that.
FRATES (voice-over): Trump brags about their loyalty.
TRUMP: They say I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's like incredible.
FRATES: The billionaire's supporters are much more likely to stand by their man.
TRUMP: Who is going to win North Carolina?
(CHEERS)
FRATES: The latest CNN poll shows that 78 percent of Trump's backers say they will definitely support him. Of those backing Trump's rivals, only 57 percent say they're as committed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 100 percent for Trump. I mean, even if his whole -- if his entire goal and his entire result is the destruction of the current GOP establishment, he'll still have my vote. They don't represent me.
TRUMP: Thank you.
FRATES: Broadsides from Romney and the Republican establishment are only further fueling his fans. The hashtag #stoptheestablishment is a favorite of Trump nation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Republican establishment got to Mitt and they're afraid that -- they're afraid Trump's going to mess up their whole little club up. And that's what we need. We need the club shaken up.
FRATES: Trump shifting positions, reversing his call to kill the family members of terrorists and softening his immigration stance are not an issue for some of the faithful.
SCOTT AUMULLER, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think it's one of the biggest problems with Cruz, is, you know, he's a Christian conservative, he's a good guy, but he's completely inflexible. I mean, it's crazy. You can't run the country and be inflexible.
FRATES: And his controversial statements mocking women and the disabled, or discussing the size of his manhood, are seen by some Trump supporters as the price of admission to the 2016 race.
MARY LOLL, TRUMP SUPPORTER: You know, it's just a lot of TV shows that are getting a lot of attention. And you know what? Donald Trump is getting attention that way. But he's also telling the truth.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Chris Frates reporting. Thank you.
Trump supporters may not mind the comments, but we're learning at least one Hillary Clinton PAC is hoping the wider electorate will. Emily's List is tracking Trump's offensive comments and planning to deploy them during a general election.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Maria Sharapova speaks out. The latest fallout for the tennis superstar after failing a drug test.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:58:11] COSTELLO: Taking a look at some top stories for you at 58 minutes past.
The Pentagon says at least 150 suspected Al Shabaab fighters have been killed in a series of U.S. air strikes. Happened on Saturday as the fighters were standing in a military formation outside of a training camp. The Pentagon says the suspected terrorists were planning to attack American and African peace-keeping forces.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is canceling a U.S. trip that was supposed to include a visit with President Obama, a move that caught the White House off guard. Officials say they learned of the cancellation from press reports and they found the news surprising. This is after Netanyahu had requested a sit-down with the president next week. But the Israeli government says it gave the White House a heads up days ago that the prime minister might not make it.
The funeral for former First Lady Nancy Reagan will be held this Friday in California. The White House says First Lady Michelle Obama will attend. Mrs. Reagan will lie in repose tomorrow and Thursday at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley. After Friday's funeral, she'll be buried next to her husband on the library's grounds.
Several companies including Nike and Porsche are suspending their multi-million deals with tennis star Maria Sharapova. This after Sharapova admitted to failing a drug test at this year's Australian Open.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA SHARPOVA, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: I know that with this I face consequences. And I don't want to end my career this way, and I really hope that I will be given another chance to play this game.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Sharapova says she began taking Meldonium back in 2006 after an irregular EKG. She said she didn't realize the drug was declared a banned substance at the start of 2016.
[10:00:00] The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.
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