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Democrats Bash Trump Rally Violence at Town Hall; Trump Defiant Amid Criticism of Rally Violence; Rubio Raises Doubt On Supporting Trump If Nominee; GOP Rivals Gear Up For "Super Tuesday Number Three". Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired March 14, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:02] BERMAN: Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You guys have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.
COOPER: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Violence now serving as a backdrop to this already intense presidential race. Democrats seizing on the concerns and ramping up their attacks in CNN's town hall gathering.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is a pathological liar.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What Trump has done is like a case of political arson. You know, he has lit a fire and then he throws his hands up and claims that he shouldn't be held responsible.
SANDERS: He is saying if you go out and beat somebody up that's OK. I'll pay the legal fees. That is an outrage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Let's call today Manic Monday. Candidates in both parties are racing the clock and racking up the miles ahead of Super Tuesday part three. Both parties keenly aware that tomorrow can make or break a campaign. More than 1,000 delegates up for grabs. And two Republican campaigns hang in the balance. Ohio governor John Kasich needs to win his home state tomorrow just as Marco Rubio needs to capture Florida to keep his campaign alive.
We have a lot to cover this morning. Let's begin with Jeff Zeleny. He's live in Chicago this morning.
Hi, Jeff.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. Just one more day here of campaigning on the Democratic side at least before those key primaries tomorrow. But last night at the CNN town hall in Columbus, Ohio, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton trying to show their strength for Democrats into how they would take on Donald Trump. Now of course that's getting a little bit ahead of things because first they must take on each other.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLINTON: Whoever goes up against Donald Trump better be ready.
ZELENY (voice-over): Stopping the Republican frontrunner a critical topic for Democrats ahead of yet another Super Tuesday.
SANDERS: The way you beat Trump is to expose him. And he can be exposed at many, many levels.
ZELENY: Hillary Clinton touted her experience and resilience.
CLINTON: The Republicans have been after me for 25 years. And --
ZELENY: But keeping some of her battle plan against Trump under wraps for now.
CLINTON: I'm not going to spill the beans right now, but suffice it to say there are many arguments that we can use against him. I'm having foreign leaders ask if they can endorse me to stop Donald Trump. Some have done it publically, actually. The Italian prime minister for example.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: How about the ones that have done it privately?
CLINTON: No, Jake.
(LAUGHTER) =
CLINTON: We're holding that in reserve, too.
ZELENY: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders hitting his rival hard on trade which he believes helped him pull off an upset last week in Michigan.
SANDERS: You are looking at a senator and a former congressman who opposed everyone of these disastrous trade agreements which have cost American workers millions of jobs. One of the very different -- strong differences between Secretary Clinton and myself, she has supported almost all of those trade agreements.
ZELENY: And taking a dig at Trump along the way.
SANDERS: Everybody understands that trade is a positive thing. Nobody is talking about building a wall around the United States. Of course we are going to trade. There is one guy he was talking about it. Let me rephrase it. No rational person is talking about it.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ZELENY: The most emotional moment of the night -- RICKY JACKSON, FALSELY IMPRISONED FOR 39 YEARS: Excuse me. I'm
sorry.
ZELENY: On the death penalty as Clinton was pressed by a man exonerated after nearly 40 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit.
JACKSON: I came perilously close to my own execution. How can you still take your stance on the death penalty?
CLINTON: This is such a profoundly difficult question, a very limited use of it in cases where there has been horrific mass killings. That's really the exception that I still am struggling with and that would only be in the federal system. But what happened to you was a travesty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: Now, Carol, that's one of the few times the death penalty has even come up during this campaign. There is a difference between the Sanders campaign and the Clinton campaign, but going forward today they are both campaigning hard in these five states that will vote tomorrow. Now this is really going to test the strength of Sanders' insurgency. Should he have a good day tomorrow he certainly is going to keep this fight alive.
And no coincidence, Carol, Hillary Clinton is going to be coming behind me here to this Union Hall in just a short period of time. She's not so confident about her native state of Illinois, that's why she's coming here on the eve of the campaign to get out those final few votes -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Jeff Zeleny reporting live from Chicago this morning. Thank you.
The raucous nature of Trump events is not likely to end.
[09:05:03] The liberal group MoveOn.org, a group that took partial credit for the cancellation of Trump's Chicago rally, is not done yet. The group has a petition online with 22,000 pledging to, quote, "speak out in every way possible against the politics of hate, violence, and exclusion Donald Trump represents."
And although both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have denounced violence passion is at all time high on both sides.
With me now former governor, Jennifer Granholm. She's a Hillary Clinton supporter and also the senior adviser to Correct the Record, a super PAC associated with Mrs. Clinton. Also with me Sally Kohn, a "Daily Beast" columnist.
Welcome to both of you.
SALLY KOHN, COLUMNIST, THE DAILY BEAST: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Nice to have you both here. So, Sally, Trump has almost monopolized the media spotlight with
sometimes outrageous behavior. But some say we're at this pivotal moment right now, either democracy works peacefully as it always has or the world watches as the greatest democracy dissolves into chaos. Which will it be, Sally?
KOHN: Well, look, I mean, you can't -- this is very clear. The protesters are highlighting a fundamental problem at the center of Donald Trump and his message and his inciting not just violence but hate in his supporters or preying upon that hate. And you can't really -- it's like, to blame the protesters is like here's a dog with a propensity to bite people, you can't blame the people he bites. You know, this is a -- this is an angry, angry group of supporters who have not been encouraged by their leader to channel that anger in a constructive direction, but instead to turn it in sometimes very violent rhetoric and sometimes actual violence.
And look, it's giving the American people a very clear choice at this point between the protesters who are standing up for the American values of inclusion and tolerance and opportunity for all and Donald Trump and his supporters who very plainly want to punch those values in the face.
COSTELLO: Well, still -- and Jennifer, I'll pose this question to you. MoveOn.org seems intent on sending protesters to Trump rallies. That's what I got from their petition drive. Shouldn't this just stop?
JENNIFER GRANHOLM, SENIOR ADVISER, PRO-HILLARY CLINTON SUPER PAC: Well, I think that it is really important to send a message to Donald Trump that it is not acceptable to hate people. It is not acceptable to inspire hate in your followers. Donald Trump has been addicted in his narcissistic way to attention. And this is the way that he has seen now to cause what he believes is adulation. What really he's done is to plum this very deep vein of anxiety in a negative way.
If you are a leader you can do it one of two ways, you can inspire people and give them hope or you can plum their anger and cause terrible things to happen. And that's what he is doing. MoveOn.org has every right and should call him out on that. And they are protesting against the violence.
And our hope is that all protests on the side against Donald Trump mirror and reflect what we would like to see which is nonviolent protest, nonviolent language -- calling people to their better angels.
COSTELLO: But here's the thing.
GRANHOLM: And not to --
COSTELLO: I just don't -- you know, I wish I could say that that's the way it would be. Protesters continue to go to Donald Trump rallies. Ben Carson was on the "Today" show. He is afraid things could escalate further if -- and he specifically said if Bernie Sanders supporters continue to go to Trump rallies because they are just inciting things by their very presence, Sally. (CROSSTALK)
KOHN: Again, the great tradition of protests in our country, that's like saying blaming the revolutionary era protesters for inciting, you know, violence. That's like blaming the people during the civil rights movement who marched peacefully down the streets for inciting the water cannons that were turned on them.
You know, Donald Trump has created a festered environment of hate and violence that he is deliberately stoking as much as he wants to deny it. And you can read all reports that he is actively stoking it, saying when one of his supporters punches someone in the face and says maybe next time we're going to have to kill him, Donald Trump's response? I'm going to pay his legal bills? Come on. We all know what's going on here. And God bless these protesters who are pointing it out as opposed to letting it go un-critiqued.
GRANHOLM: Right. You cannot let -- Carol, you just cannot let him to have all of the language. There cannot be -- you can't blame the protesters for calling him out on his hateful and violent language. He cannot suck all of the oxygen and have the conversation all be about building a wall, about his hateful rhetoric. So I think Sally is absolutely right. You cannot blame the protesters.
The protesters obviously need to act in a way that mirrors nonviolence. But you cannot blame them in America for calling him out on it.
COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Sally Kohn, Jennifer Granholm, thanks to both of you.
[09:10:03] All right. Let's talk about the Republican candidates. All of them are on the trail this morning ahead of tomorrow's Super Tuesday primaries. Many eyes of course will be on Donald Trump. He's the frontrunner. He'll split his time between three different states before day's end. The Republican frontrunner under the microscope and under fire after a string of violent incidents during his rallies in recent days.
CNN's national correspondent Jason Carroll is live in Tampa with more on that.
Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. You know, one of the big questions facing the Trump campaign is what happened over the weekend, what happened on Friday? Would that have some sort of a negative effect on his momentum?
Well, a new poll out this morning seems to suggest it would not have an effect on his campaign. He is still on track for major wins tomorrow night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We had some I would say, let's be nice, protesters.
CARROLL (voice-over): After a turbulent weekend on the trail a defiant Donald Trump pointing fingers.
TRUMP: Send them back to Bernie. Hey, Bernie. Get your people in line, Bernie.
CARROLL: The billionaire trying to shift the blame to Bernie Sanders.
TRUMP: A lot of them come from Bernie Sanders whether he wants to say it or not. And if he says no then he's lying.
CARROLL: But at Sunday night's CNN town hall both Democratic candidates turned it around calling out Trump for his incendiary statements.
SANDERS: He is saying if you go out and beat somebody up that's OK. I will pay the legal fees. That is an outrage.
CLINTON: He is the person who has for months now been not just inciting violence but applauding violence.
CARROLL: The GOP frontrunner canceling his event in Chicago Friday night after the rally erupted in chaos.
On Saturday, in Ohio, this man tried to rush the stage. The Secret Service quickly tackled the protester as Trump supporters cheered.
On Sunday --
TRUMP: Get them out of here.
CARROLL: More protesters crashed the party.
TRUMP: Get him out. Now.
CARROLL: With over 350 delegates on the line in five states this Tuesday.
TRUMP: Like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you.
CARROLL: Trump is doubling down, claiming his heated words are not to blame for the violence like this supporter sucker punching a protester last week.
TRUMP: I don't accept responsibility. I do not condone violence in any shape and I will tell you from what I saw the young man stuck his finger up in the air and the other man sort of just had it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, the Trump rally set to get underway here at the Convention Center in Tampa at about 2:00. Security obviously a concern.
Carol, this morning I spoke to the public safety coordinator with the Tampa PD. He tells me that they had a briefing about security here this morning. He says that his officers will only be used and put to work if there is something that the Secret Service cannot handle. There will be a number of officers stationed inside the convention center, outside here as well. Of course he's hoping his officers will not have to be used -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I hope so, too. Jason Carroll reporting live from Tampa, Florida, this morning.
Tomorrow will be a huge day in the race for the White House. We'll have complete all day coverage of Super Tuesday part three right here on CNN.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it's all about Ohio. Trump signaling he is worried as Republicans gear up for a fierce fight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:16:04] COSTELLO: Today marks the final push for Republican candidates as they gear up for Super Tuesday number three. The big prizes Florida and Ohio which are both winner take all contests.
Today the candidates are trying to lock in last minute support. These are live pictures out of Youngstown, Ohio where Governor John Kasich is getting ready to hold a big rally.
Later today, the governor will be joined by Mitt Romney, who has yet to make any kind of official endorsement, but former House speaker and Ohio native, John Boehner, who is in a good mood after tweeting this photo of himself mowing the lawn. He put this picture on Instagram just before he endorsed John Kasich.
In the meantime, Donald Trump appears a little worried. He cancelled a campaign event in Florida to rally in Ohio later today. Let's bring in CNN's Chris Frates. He is Hickory, North Carolina where Trump will be next hour. Good morning, Chris.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. So Donald Trump starting a barn stormer of a day here in Hickory, North Carolina. Just about an hour, he will sit down with Governor Chris Christie and have a one-on-one conversation in front of an audience here.
Then he heads to Florida and then onto Ohio so hitting three of the big states that are up for grabs tomorrow. Really no surprise why he replaced a rally in Florida later tonight with one in Ohio instead.
John Kasich and Donald Trump neck-and-neck in that race. It is really the only race where Donald Trump is being threatened. And if you look at the polls depending on who you look at Kasich up in some and Donald Trump up in others.
John Kasich getting a lot of help from the establishment as they try to put the brakes on Donald Trump cruising to this Republican nomination. Mitt Romney making two campaign stops within today. Of course, John Boehner, the former speaker of the House from Ohio endorsing John Kasich over the weekend today. And then you had, of course, you had a -- you had a lot of decisive language this weekend, as well.
Critics saying that Donald Trump is not -- is bringing these protests on himself. In fact, Marco Rubio telling our own Jake Tapper, coming as close as he could to say, he is not going to support Donald Trump should he get the nomination. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD": It sounded like somebody who no matter what you say publically you are not going to vote for Trump in the privacy of the voting booth.
[09:20:03]SENATOR MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, let me tell you that I think a significant number of Republicans will not vote for Donald Trump at the voting booth no matter what I say or anybody else tells them. They just won't do it. They'll abstain.
I never argued that anyone should abstain in an election and I need to lead by example. Yes, but I'll be frank, it is getting harder every day to justify that answer. I'm not prepared to say something different today other than tell you I hope we can avoid that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: So there you have Marco Rubio coming as close as he has to suggesting that he might not endorse Donald Trump should he get that nomination. It's do or die for Rubio in his home state, 99 delegates up for grabs in a winner take all contest.
Marco Rubio needs to win there, but he's down by double digits. So much so Donald Trump feeling comfortable enough to go to Ohio instead of Florida today -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. All right, Chris Frates reporting live from North Carolina, thank you.
Let's talk Ohio shall we? I am from Ohio. Hugh Hewitt, my next guest is from Ohio. We both know how important Ohio is for any presidential candidate. It is true in the primary, too.
If Mr. Trump does not win Ohio, his primary fight will go until July and a loss increases possibility of a contested convention. With me now, fellow Ohioan and radio talk show host, Hugh Hewitt. Hi, Hugh.
HUGH HEWITT, HOST, "THE HUGH HEWITT SHOW": Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning. An NBC/"Wall Street Journal"/Marist poll shows Kasich leading Trump by six point in Ohio. Another poll shows the two candidates tied. I talked with my cousin the other day. He is predicting a Trump win. How about you?
HEWITT: Your cousin is wrong. I talked to my brother and my best friend from high school over the weekend and they are both voting for Kasich. I think Governor Kerry is 86 out of 88 counties, is going to win.
Now I did know and John Kasich is appearing in 45 minutes with Jim Trestle, former Ohio State University football coach, and currently the president of Youngstown State University.
The Father, Son and Holy Ghost of football in Ohio are all for John Kasich. But tonight Donald Trump is going into my hometown to the airport at 6:00 p.m. trying to rally Democrats.
And Democrats are actually voting in large numbers for Donald Trump. John Kasich has a Republican organization behind him. He knows the local media. He served in the state senate seven years, 18 years in Congress, and six years as governor.
I don't see how you beat someone like that in Ohio and when he wins that means an open convention in Cleveland.
COSTELLO: OK, so going back to voters, the Democratic voters, who may vote for Trump, the "Columbus Dispatch" is reporting that voters in Ohio are switching political affiliations at a high rat.
Of the 39,000 requests for absentee ballots, 17,000 came from voters changing their party registration. Those 17,000 voters changing their party registration are going to vote for Trump?
HEWITT: Yes. They had a number of Democrats coming in saying they want to vote for Donald Trump. I said yesterday Donald is very right. The people going to rallies are going there to disrupt. I was shocked that Jennifer Granholm is encouraging an invitation for violence.
Donald Trump is absolutely right that that is what is going to happen. I'm not shocked that Sally did it. I'm shocked that Jennifer Granholm, a former Democratic governor of Michigan would do that.
But Donald Trump is drawing Democrats to these rallies because the steel validity is not what it once was. It wasn't what it is in the 60s. Car manufacturing business isn't what it was.
I think he is drawing disenchanted, disappointed Democrats, Democrats disappointed with the government, and President Obama's promises, disappointed maybe with where they are in life.
He is getting those people to come to his rallies and to vote for him in open primaries. Closed primaries like North Carolina and Illinois tomorrow will tell a different story.
I wouldn't be surprised with 1.1 million votes in Florida cast if we have a surprise in Florida tomorrow. Donald Trump is absolutely right. These protesters are not protesters. They are going to his rallies to cause disruption.
I'm shocked that Jennifer Granholm said go ahead with your --
COSTELLO: I will say that Donald Trump has a responsibility to shut this violence down. He ought to come out and say I condemn violence in whatever form. I don't care if there are protesters coming in that want to rally you and kind of provoke you. It doesn't matter. No one should resort to violence. Why doesn't he say that?
HEWITT: Hillary last night said that Donald Trump is an arsonist. What I just saw with Jennifer Granholm in move on.org that is the arson. They are setting the fire. Hillary said it last night.
[09:25:05]So I don't know how you build this giant tire of dry wood and send in the gasoline and matches and Hillary says this is terrible. Donald Trump is exactly right that they should stay away from his rallies or peacefully protest.
I have seen the tape. You have seen the tape. The people in Chicago were there to start a riot. That doesn't fly in Ohio. This will not fly in Ohio for Hillary Clinton. She is losing the state in real time.
She is such a terrible candidate. She had that aids fall on Friday. She responded very late to the Chicago thing. She is a terrible candidate. Donald Trump is going to have a great rally tonight, but John Kasich will win buckeye state tomorrow.
COSTELLO: Donald Trump says the blue collar Democrats voting for Donald Trump I would think that would take votes away from Bernie Sanders, not Hillary Clinton.
HEWITT: I think that is what happened in Michigan. I think a lot of Democrats switched over to vote for Donald Trump that Hillary was counting on, classic union Democrats in north of Detroit. They voted for Donald Trump for the reasons I talked about earlier.
There will be a lot of that in Ohio and Chicago. Hillary is in trouble in Illinois of all places, her home state. Nevertheless, you go back to Ohio and look at Miami University, that area, John Boehner's old congressional district.
The former speaker endorsed John Kasich yesterday. Ohio is going to be in the bag for the governor. I think the poll yesterday with a six point lead is much more likely on the mark given anecdotes are not evidence. My anecdotes match up with the Marist/NBC poll.
COSTELLO: All right, Hugh, thanks so much for dropping by. Appreciate it.
HEWITT: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: You're welcome. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, get them out. It's the latest phrase to be added to Donald Trump's stump speech as he squares off against protesters. I will talk to three protesters who were kicked out of Trump rallies next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
