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Republican Debate. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired March 10, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:23] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Special live coverage here in beautiful Miami, Florida, of tonight's CNN Republican debate. We are live, thank you, University of Miami, for hosting us here, where the candidates will have their very final chance to face off before Tuesday's massive winner take all primaries, both here in Florida and, of course, in all important Ohio.

This could be perhaps, perhaps, their final debate together. Could Donald Trump deliver his knockout punch? Will his rivals convince voters they should survive? For John Kasich and Marco Rubio, this really could be do or die for them. They have called their home state primaries coming up must wins.

All told here, got to do some math, 367 critical delegates at stake. And today, another development adding to the drama. Look at this with me. John Kasich pulling ahead of Donald Trump in his home state of Ohio, which means there is even more at stake when they stand all four of those podiums tonight on that stage here at the University of Miami.

Let's first kick things off with my colleague, Jim Acosta, who is inside that CNN debate hall, where I know, Jim, some of the walkthroughs will begin. I was in this space yesterday. It is gorgeous, it is massive.

And did we just lose him? Did we lose him? And we lost him. We'll go back to him. I promise you. I've been in there. It's a stunning space. And that will be where all of it will go down later this evening.

But, President Obama, by the way, here's another thread, today weighing in on this Republican race during his news conference today with the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau. The president said he found the fact that some Republicans are blaming him, President Obama, for the party's chaotic primaries as, quote, "novel."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Republican base, for the last seven years, a notion that everything I do is to be opposed. What you're seeing within the Republican Party is to some degree all those efforts over a course of time creating an environment where somebody like a Donald Trump can thrive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was President Obama. We'll talk about him with our panel here in just a second.

But second time is a charm. Here he is, Jim Acosta is back inside that debate arena.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Here we go.

BALDWIN: Talk to me, Jim Acosta. Show me those four podiums.

ACOSTA: Take two.

That's right. Remember when we had 17 candidates in this race, Brooke. Now we're down to four, Donald Trump, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz. Those are the four podiums for those candidates behind me. You know, we're going to see them later on tonight.

You know, we heard Donald Trump saying that he's expecting a softer debate tonight. I wouldn't buy into that just yet. I mean there are indications coming from all sides that this could be a lively debate.

I talked to a Rubio - senior Rubio adviser just in the last couple of hours, Brooke, who said, yes, Marco Rubio is not going to go personal when it comes to attacking Donald Trump. He's not going to go after the spray tanning or the small hands or whatever you've heard Marco Rubio says over the last week or so. Marco Rubio now says he regrets those kinds of attacks. But he is going to go after Trump University. He is going to go after Donald Trump's business enterprises that he's had over the years. And so we should expect those sorts of things to come up during tonight's debate.

And you heard Donald Trump, even though he was saying to Anderson Cooper, maybe it will be a softer debate, last night, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Brooke, he was saying that Marco Rubio is basically out of the - he's already out of this race. And so Donald Trump is really almost counting Marco Rubio out of this race, coming up on this big Super Tuesday next week, even before this debate even starts.

And Ted Cruz, earlier, you know, this morning, it came out on Christian Broadcasting, Ted Cruz was saying to CBN that Donald Trump is taking advantage of poor - quote, "poorly informed voters." And so there's a lot of fur flying at this point. My guess is, is that this will be an intense, will be an aggressive debate tonight and we're going to see it all unfold here in just a few hours from now, Brooke. The clock is ticking down, not only for this debate, but for all of these candidates.

And you mentioned Ohio. We should mention, Brooke, last night, you didn't hear - you don't hear this very much, Donald Trump going after John Kasich. He called him an absentee governor out in Ohio. I think that has something to do with those poll numbers you just indicated showing John Kasich perhaps moving past Donald Trump in his home state. So, just saying, it could get a little intense later on tonight, Brooke.

BALDWIN: It definitely could. A softer intent. Name your adjective. We shall see live in a matter of hours.

[14:05:02] Jim Acosta, thank you so much.

A lot to talk about here on this debate day. So, joining me now, the author of "What America Needs: The Case for Trump," CNN political commentator Jeffrey Lord, who was the White House political director for Ronald Reagan. Also here with me, CNN political commentator Amanda Carpenter, who used to serve as the communications director for Senator Ted Cruz. Also here, CNN political commentator Kayleigh McEnany, who supports Donald Trump, and David Catanese, senior politics writer for "US News & World Report."

So, hello, hello.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hello.

DAVID CATANESE, SENIOR POLITICS WRITER, "US NEWS & WORLD REPORT": Hello.

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hi, Brooke.

BALDWIN: It's so nice to be here in Miami with all of you.

But I would love to begin, David, with you talking about President Obama's comments. So we're hearing bits and pieces from him recently on, you know, marinating on this Republican race and the fact that he said it was the Republican Party that created Trump. And he was saying that all of these candidates are essentially the same. You think that's right?

CATANESE: Well, I don't think it's right that all the candidates are essentially the same. Trump is a totally different candidate in our lifetime. We've never seen anything like him and may never see anything like him again. But I do think he has a point on that the Republican Party, in part, created Donald Trump. If you talk to voters on the ground, I was at a Rubio rally yesterday, and even people that supported Rubio and are going to go vote for him understood Trump and understood why he was appealing to people.

So I think this has been sort of a long festering problem in the Republican Party. That it's now coming back at them. But I think it's most interesting that President Obama's finding himself to weighing into the Republican primary at all.

BALDWIN: He is. He has recently. Here he is again. You know, listen, he wants to remain obviously pertinent to what's happening in this final year for him in office.

You -

LORD: Yes, ma'am.

BALDWIN: Turning to you, you want to respond to any of this?

LORD: Well, you know, I have to say, I'm a little amused at this. In American history, nominees or perspective nominees of one party frequently, as my friend David Axelrod says, our colleague, are the opposite of whoever the president is. You can really say that George W. Bush was responsible for the rise of Barack Obama. And you can really say that Bill Clinton was responsible for the election of George W. Bush. What people are looking for quite frequently is all the way to the other side from whoever is in the White House. This goes all the way back to John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. So I think President Obama is just the latest

BALDWIN: But - but when you look at the state of the Republican Party and the different, you know, wings, factions, Tea Party, you know, more recently, I'm curious that with that sort of evolution over the last four, eight years -

LORD: Right.

BALDWIN: If that created an opening for someone such as Donald Trump?

LORD: Sure.

CARPENTER: Here's what happens. Every presidential nominee is a reaction to the previous president. And certainly the vacuum of strong Republican leadership created an opening for Donald Trump. But the reason why many conservative people like a Donald Trump, because they think that he will do what Obama did. They say, OK, we don't have a problem with executive action, we just want our guy to do it. And I think when Donald Trump talks about, you know, a lot of strength, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, which I think is impossible, that's a reaction to President Obama having such a big view of government and doing things unilaterally himself.

BALDWIN: On - let me stay on Donald Trump, because he - he definitely made news in the conversation he had with Anderson Cooper specifically on what he said about Islam and, as we play the sound, let me just tell all of you, in a couple of hours, C.A.I.R., this is the Council of American Islamic Relations, they're holding a news conference demanding that he apologize for this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think Islam is at war with the west?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Islam hates us. There's something - there's something there that - there's a tremendous hatred there. There's a tremendous hatred. We have to get to the bottom of it. There is an unbelievable hatred of us - anybody -

COOPER: In Islam itself?

TRUMP: You're going to have to figure that out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Kayleigh, as a Trump supporter, I want to turn to you and ask you about this. And let me just say also Trump supporters, even Sam Clovis, the Trump national campaign co-chair, you know, only was specific on radical Islam here. But it was Mr. Trump who said Islam hates us.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure, but the next question in that clip, Anderson came back to him and said, do you mean radical Islam or do you mean Islam? And Donald Trump immediately said radical Islam. However, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. So Donald Trump is against radical Islam. It's a consistent narrative we've seen from his campaign. He says, I have many Muslim friends. I count them among my peers. I respect Islam. I don't respect radical Islam.

That being said, rather than me giving my opinion, go to "The Guardian" and you can read about a Muslim supporter of Donald Trump who says, I understand Donald Trump. I understand he's standing against radical Wahhabism. And in doing so, he is protecting me as a moderate Muslim. So I'd refer everyone to go look at that and this Muslim individual explained very well how he can tell the difference between Donald Trump's opposition to Wahhabism, but support for Islam generally.

CARPENTER: But this is -

BALDWIN: Do you buy that? Do you buy that?

CATANESE: Trump is the king of imprecise language. And if he would have just added "radical" we probably wouldn't even be talking about this. But, look, this doesn't hurt him in a Republican primary, frankly. I mean this - he speaks in a raw language. He speaks in primal language. And this is why people are drawn to him because every voter that you talk to, they're sick of the political correctness. You hear that around the country.

[14:10:09] LORD: That's right.

CATANESE: And that's - that Trump is -

BALDWIN: It resonates.

CATANESE: He doesn't tip-toe around that answer.

MCENANY: And -

CATANESE: The fact he doesn't pause. He just says it. That resonates with his supporters.

MCENANY: I think it's worth pointing out, it's a huge contrast to our president who has repeatedly refused to say Islamic radicalism. He tip-toes around it. He'll call it workplace violence, like at Ford Hood.

CATANESE: They have different views. They have different - they have completely different views on it. So of course he's -

MCENANY: Yes, but - but Americans at their dinner table recognize that this is terrorism by and large is a problem within this radical sect of the Islamic faith.

CATANESE: Radical sect, not Islam as a whole though.

MCENANY: The rad - of course. But the president has failed to acknowledge that. Donald Trump has. He's speaking to the fears people have, the things that they're saying at their dinner table. It's radical Islam, but it's important to say that word.

BALDWIN: Move on. Marco Rubio. Marco Rubio. We were talking yesterday, will we see a mean Marco or will it be sort of a softer, you know, nicer, gentler Marco Rubio today. You laugh. It's a valid question. He's even commented on how he regrets some of the language he's used. Here's Marco Rubio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In terms of things that have to do with personal stuff, yes, I, you know, at the end of the day, you know what, it's not something I'm entirely proud of. My kids were embarrassed by it. And I, you know, if I had to do it again, I wouldn't.

This is a guy that's basically offended everyone for a year. I mean literally has mocked a disabled journalist, a female journalist, every minority group imaginable, on a daily basis. I mean you run - it becomes - use profanity from the stage. That said, yes, I don't want to be that. If that's what it takes to become president of the United States, then I - then I don't want to be president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Amanda, he took it there, multiple times. He's now, you know, sort of coming back. Will we see a more toned down version of him tonight?

CARPENTER: I think it's going to be very hard for him to change course. Listen, Marco Rubio has one mode when he goes on the attack. We've seen it several times against Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: But we didn't see it for a while in the beginning. It's only been recent -

CARPENTER: Yes, it came out recently, but it's always, like, I'm memorizing all these different attacks. I essentially shake out my opposition research folder and let the - let it fly.

BALDWIN: (INAUDIBLE).

CARPENTER: But it's true, he has that one mode. I think it's very hard to adapt this late in the game. And, also, he has to go - go all out. This is his last chance. Super Tuesday is on Tuesday. This isn't a time to tone it down. I think this makes him look really week when he's saying, oh, I did all that and now I kind of regret it. You've got - you have to own it. And he's not.

CATANESE: He's not going to get personal again.

CARPENTER: Yes. CATANESE: I watched him last night. He's back on his optimistic message.

CARPENTER: Sure. But he's going (ph) to go on the attack -

CATANESE: He knows this -

LORD: But, you know -

CATANESE: He said it twice that this embarrassed his kids and his wife. I bet you an adviser told him to go dirty on Trump to get media coverage when he needed it most.

BALDWIN: Yes.

CATANESE: He did it. He got media coverage for it. It just was a backlash. So I think you will see hopeful, optimistic Marco tonight.

MCENANY: It's going to be - Trump University is going to be (INAUDIBLE). It's going to be the water. It's going to be all the policy -

CARPENTER: (INAUDIBLE) Yes, he will. Exactly.

CATANESE: Yes, that's a fair game. That's a fair game issue. That's (INAUDIBLE) than spray tans -

CARPENTER: But these are - these attacks are coming.

LORD: What this says - what this says -

BALDWIN: Jeffrey Lord, go.

LORD: What this says is somebody whose message was, "I can win," that isn't a reason to elect somebody president. This was Mitt Romney's message, I'm a winner, and, of course, Mitt Romney lost. They said the same thing about John McCain. Marco Rubio was stolen (ph), if you will, the same sort of line of attack. And when you - when you run - start - run on empty, then you start to do this.

BALDWIN: Yes.

CARPENTER: He can't play it safe.

BALDWIN: I have so much more. Pause. Do not move. The panel will be with me. We have to take a quick break.

And just, of course, a reminder, so much at stake in tonight's CNN Republican presidential debate. Pregame starts at 8:30 Eastern tonight. Opening statements, 9:00. Of course that is only here live on CNN.

Ted Cruz, dissing Donald Trump supporters, calling them ill informed, unengaged. He is also saying Trump is taking advantage of them. How might Trump respond? Plus, Hillary Clinton makes an interesting admission about how she is

not like her husband, she's not like President Obama. Does the revelation feel authentic or could it make her more vulnerable?

And we'll speak live with a man by the name of Luther Campbell, rap icon and unofficial mayor of Miami here about his experiences with Donald Trump, including a visit to his mansion with Mike Tyson and Eddie Murphy. Who knows where this could go.

Don't miss a beat. You're watching CNN's special live coverage here at the University of Miami.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:18:03] BALDWIN: And we are back here live at the University of Miami, ahead of tonight's all-important Republican debate. And we're going to talk about something now. We actually hadn't planned on talking about until we just got this bit of news here. So, listen to this.

This 78-year-old man, 78, has just been charged with assault after allegedly hitting a protester at a Donald Trump rally in North Carolina. That protester apparently was being led out of this event and that's when said sucker punching occurred. Yes, there is video. And here it is.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Ouch. All right. So as the video continues, the protester is pulled to the ground by police. Again, the man there in the hat, who looks to have punched him, has now been charged with assault.

We have reached out to the Trump campaign for a response to what you're looking at. As soon as we hear from them, we will, of course, pass that along to you.

But to the panel, again, this is something we weren't planning on talking about. We - we've - but in terms of behavior at some of these rallies, a 78-year-old sucker punching?

LORD: First - right. Right. First -

CARPENTER: But - Trump isn't directly responsible, but I do think when he -

BALDWIN: I'm not blaming him at all.

CARPENTER: No, but when he, as a candidate, will say up there, drag that person out, don't give their coat back, that gins up the crowd. These protests have been angry. There's been a lot of fights. There's been people fighting. This is what happens at these rallies. They now come for the fight. So I am very curious to see what Donald Trump (INAUDIBLE).

LORD: Well, first - first - MCENANY: Yes, but most people aren't pulling in rallies with 35,000 people. That is a huge crowd. Donald Trump can't see what's going on. His speech last week was interrupted 13 times by protesters. And each and every time he said, get them out and left it there and left it to security to do that.

I don't presume that because Black Panthers showed up at Obama's polling locations that - that Obama somehow likes the Black Panthers. This is not indicative of what Trump believes. This is his supporters and they're separate -

[14:20:02] LORD: Right.

CATANESE: This doesn't matter -

BALDWIN: (INAUDIBLE) about the anger. This is about the anger. It's about the feeling.

LORD: What - what -

CATANESE: It doesn't matter though. The Trump - he's the candidate. And if he wants to be president of the United States, he should stand up and denounce violence. This is getting out of control.

LORD: But, look - look -

MCENANY: Like Obama denounced the Black Panthers then?

CATANESE: This is only happening at Trump rallies.

MCENANY: Did you (INAUDIBLE) President Obama to denounce the Black Panthers?

CATANESE: The reporters, the photographer -

LORD: David, David -

CATANESE: He needs to do it. That's what leaders do.

LORD: David -

CATANESE: And he should denounce the violence because that is outrageous.

LORD: David - David, number one, there's no place for violence, period, in the American political system, right?

CATANESE: Right.

LORD: Unfortunately, the American left has a very, very long and detailed history of doing exactly this.

CATANESE: Why are we -- but that's not what we're talking about here.

LORD: No, no, no, no, that is what we're talking about. That is what we're talking about. CATANESE: (INAUDIBLE). He -- that's fine. (INAUDIBLE) all levels -

LORD: We are talking about people who show up at rallies, Donald Trump or whatever, to provoke, to provoke.

BALDWIN: But should - but shouldn't Mr. Trump say stop?

LORD: They are in search of violence. That's what their affection (ph) is.

CARPENTER: Yes.

CATANESE: But that's fine, but you have to -

LORD: What do you think the 1968 Democratic convention was all about?

CATANESE: But you're bringing all these different examples.

LORD: It's history, David, it counts.

CATANESE: Why should Trump - why can't Trump stand up and say, look, you can be passionate, I love you, my supporters, I thank you, but we can't hit anyone at rallies. Shouldn't he do that?

BALDWIN: Trump - Trump has said, bring out the stretchers. He has. He said, go - go cry - go cry to mommy.

CATANESE: He did that.

LORD: Because after decades of seeing this kind of stuff on -

CATANESE: This isn't decades.

LORD: Yes, decade, decades.

(CROSS TALK)

CATANESE: (INAUDIBLE) condone violence. Let's not condone violence.

MCENANY: (INAUDIBLE) were you calling on - were you calling on Barack Obama to denounce the Black Panthers? Were you calling on him to do that, David?

LORD: Yes. What - where was -

CATANESE: If you show me an instance like that video of someone getting sucker punched, I -

LORD: They're (INAUDIBLE) -

MCENANY: And you know what, they were (INAUDIBLE) people at polling places and I don't recall you or anyone telling him to denounce the Black Panthers. It's a complete double standard based on political party.

CATANESE: How is - LORD: Bullying.

CATANESE: OK. That is not the same thing as getting cold cocked in his face.

CARPENTER: Yes, that video was shocking. That is shocking. Donald Trump doesn't condone it, that's (INAUDIBLE) character.

LORD: Look - look, of course - of course - of course. But what I'm saying is, there are people who go to these rallies with a deliberate intent of provoking people.

CATANESE: That doesn't - that's fine.

LORD: No, it's not fine, David. No.

MCENANY: That guy came (INAUDIBLE) -

LORD: And therein lies the problem. That's - that was why that guy is so -

CATANESE: How - so it's OK to hit protesters if they disagree with your (INAUDIBLE)?

LORD: (INAUDIBLE) because people like you have given them a pass to this kind of stuff.

(CROSS TALK)

LORD: It is not OK to provoke somebody to violence. It is not OK to provoke somebody to violence. (INAUDIBLE) under these circumstances -

CATANESE: Are you saying it's OK to hit protesters? (INAUDIBLE) protesting (INAUDIBLE). That's (INAUDIBLE).

BALDWIN: OK. OK. OK. OK.

CATANESE: That's a - that's a crazy argument.

BALDWIN: OK. We'll come back to that. I appreciate the passion on both sides.

But, let's move on to Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz, so he had some words for Donald Trump supporters. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know Donald gave a press conference where he said, to quote him, "I love the poorly educated." Listen, part of it is, I think Donald is taking advantage of his voters because I understand what they're angry about. But Donald - if you're angry at the corruption of Washington, you don't solve it by supporting someone who has been enmeshed in the Washington corruption for 40 years.

Donald does well with voters who have relatively low information, who are not that engaged and who are angry and they see him as an angry voice. Where we are beating him is when voters get more engaged and they get more informed. When they inform themselves, they realize his record. He's what they're angry at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Amanda, turning to you, this is your former boss, should he not be courting these voters?

CARPENTER: Well, listen, I think we've seen that Donald Trump supporters aren't going anywhere. It's very hard to peel those people off. It's easier to get a Rubio voter or someone else, as we've seen Cruz to do so far.

And, listen, I think he's dead right. If Donald Trump voters were concerned about his policy inconsistencies, they wouldn't be Donald Trump supporters. So I think he's got it dead right.

LORD: I - I can only say, I like vice president Cruz a lot. I really do. But I just think he made a bit of a misstep here -

CARPENTER: Yes.

LORD: And that all these folks - I bet a lot of folks that he's describing there voted for Ted Cruz in Texas. So I think he made a bit of a mistake.

BALDWIN: Lightning round time. What is the number one thing that will surprise you tonight, Kayleigh?

MCENANY: I really want a Republican to mention Flint, Michigan, on their own accord. I think it's an issue that transcends party lines and I want a Republican to point that out.

BALDWIN: David.

CATANESE: Will Ted Cruz go after Marco Rubio? We know that Trump is the target here, but Cruz also wants to get rid of Rubio in Florida so he can have him one-on-one after that. I wonder how much of the aggression will be targeted at Rubio versus Trump.

LORD: The question that has to be asked, if you're a senator or a governor and you win your home state, why is that a big deal?

BALDWIN: What do you mean?

LORD: If Marco Rubio wins Florida, shouldn't he win it? He's the senator from Florida.

BALDWIN: Sure.

LORD: If John Kasich, in this poll, is leading in Ohio -

BALDWIN: That's right.

LORD: He's the governor of Ohio. So he wins and what? I mean the question is, can you win elsewhere? That's the question.

BALDWIN: By the way, pause, let me ask - let me follow up on that. If, you know, the latest poll says Kasich is beating Trump, but Trump says, if he does take Ohio and if he does take Florida, you know, the others should be out and he should, you know, be in it to win it. Is that true?

LORD: No. No. I mean, you've got to go compete around the country. You're running for president of the United States, not president of Ohio, not president of Florida. You're running for president of the United States. You've got to go around to all these different places that you may never have been -

BALDWIN: Yes.

LORD: And spend time and talk to them. These are your fellow Americans. You owe the - and I might add, this means, in the case of Republicans, you should be going into black communities, you should be going into Latino communities and appeal to these people directly and not about race. Talk about economics. Talk about, you know, the environment. Talk about whatever you want, but appeal to them as Americans.

[14:25:10] BALDWIN: What would surprise you most?

CARPENTER: Lightening round. Well, the Ohio poll, Kasich is performing very well. And we know Donald Trump obsesses about the polls. I think Donald Trump is going to blow Kasich up. Kasich has tried to stay out of it.

BALDWIN: He's the adult.

CARPENTER: You can't play that any more. Once you're performing well in the polls, you pose a threat to Donald Trump, you can't stay hands off.

BALDWIN: All right, David, Amanda, Jeff and Kayleigh, thank you all very, very much.

Coming up next, it is being called a raw and candid moment from the Democratic debate. Hillary Clinton asked why voters just don't trust her, despite years and years in the public eye. Why her answer is generating so much buzz today, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:14] BALDWIN: And we're going to come up on live --