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Trump Defiant Amid Criticism of Rally Violence; Trump, Sanders Spar Over Protesters; GOP Rivals Gear Up for Super Tuesday Three; Sanders Rips Clinton Over Trade Deals; Sanders Launches TV Blitz in North Carolina. Aired 10-10:30a ET
Aired March 14, 2016 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[10:00:04] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is literally inciting violence with his supporters.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Isn't it great to be at a Trump rally? Really. It adds excitement. Doesn't it, folks?
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It looks like something out of the third world.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has lit the fire, and then he throws his hands up.
TRUMP: As big as these rallies are, nobody has ever been hurt.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's no question that Donald Trump has created a toxic atmosphere.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Against that backdrop, well, we see these live images in Florida of Senator Marco Rubio who's holding a meet-and-greet in Jackson right now. He is later heading to three other cities including West Palm Beach and West Miami.
It is do or die for Rubio in Florida. He has said all weekend that he is certain to win his home state on Tuesday, but polls for a long time now showing the GOP frontrunner Donald Trump with a comfortable lead in the state of Florida.
The Republican 2016 field march to Super Tuesday three. I guess it started some time ago but it's really ramping up right now. All four candidates about to hold rallies as they hope to lock up support in critical states.
These are live shots from the Trump and the Rubio events. Marco Rubio in his home state of Florida while Ted Cruz rallies supporters in Illinois. John Kasich is in his home state of Ohio where he will be joined later today by Mitt Romney. But team Kasich says it is not an endorsement. And finally Donald Trump picks up his day in North Carolina before visiting Florida and Ohio. Trump digging in amid sharp criticism of his rhetoric and increasing
violence at his rallies. He says he isn't responsible but that supporters of Bernie Sanders are. Sanders hitting back hard at Trump hard during a CNN town hall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: Donald Trump is a pathological liar.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: We have never -- our campaign does not believe and never will encourage anybody to disrupt anything. We have millions of supporters. People do what they do. People have the right to protest. I happen not to believe that people should disrupt anybody's meetings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. CNN is covering all angles this morning. Jason Carroll tracking Donald Trump, he's in Florida. Chris Frates is with the GOP frontrunner who will be in South -- North Carolina, rather.
Jason, I want to start with you. Good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. You know, security clearly a concern here at the Convention Center here in Tampa. Some 1,000 people expected to show up here for the event for Trump later on this afternoon.
You know, I spoke to actually, just earlier this afternoon a representative from the Tampa PD who tells me he, like so many people, watched what happened in Chicago on Friday, saw what happened when that man rushed the stage in Ohio. Saw what happened on Sunday in Boca -- Boca Raton here in Florida.
So as you can imagine, security here a great concern. They had a briefing about it this morning. He says his officers will not get involved -- will not get involved unless, of course, there's something that the Secret Service cannot handle.
As for Trump's part, well, he's remaining defiant as ever, Carol, as you know, saying he is not to blame for what happened over the weekend, saying Bernie Sanders shares some of that blame as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If my people went into one of his rallies, they'd say, oh, this is a terrible thing. They'd be arrested and all sorts of things would happen to them. If conservative Republicans ever went into his rally, you would see things happen that would be unbelievable, and Bernie would be oh, poor Bernie, isn't that a shame?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Trump also saying that the media has been unfair to him in terms of how he's -- how the media has portrayed what has happened. He says the media deserves some of the blame in all of this as well, Carol.
But getting back to this event here later today at 2:00 here at the Convention Center. Once again, Tampa PD telling me that they have no intention of getting involved unless of course there's something that the Secret Service cannot handle. They're also saying that going forward they believe that this event will be a peaceful one, given that there is event not too long ago here in Tampa where Trump hosted some 10,000 people. They say that went off without a hitch. They're hoping what happens here later on today will go off without a hitch as well -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Jason Carroll, reporting live from Tampa this morning.
Ted Cruz is also on the campaign trail. Right now of course he is attacking Donald Trump saying that he is a liberal Democrat in disguise. Let's listen for a bit.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Republican nominee, a weekend in which we saw rising tensions at his events, violence. Trump himself saying he would consider paying legal fees for somebody who punched a protester.
[10:05:07] I understand that you will say that you made a promise to support the nominee and you will keep that promise. But at what point do events on the ground force you or at least have you reconsider and maybe look at your position given that your rivals have said it would be extremely difficult to support Trump if he were the nominee?
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I can give you one example where I would no longer support Donald Trump. If for example he were to go out on Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, I would not be willing to support Donald Trump, but I think the best answer to Donald Trump, to his failed liberal policies, to his being enmeshed in Washington corruption, supporting the policies that have caused so much damage, funding open border Democrats, funding the architects of Obamacare, all of which Donald has done.
The answer is not to cry in your beer about the support Donald has received and the answer is not to deal with the Washington establishment hopes to do in the fevered dreams which is they envision a brokered convention, where the convention deadlocks and suddenly end from Washington the dealmakers parachute in an establishment candidate who is their salvation. That is not going to happen. And it would spark an absolute revolt, quite rightly, from the voters.
The way to beat Donald Trump is beat him at the ballot box which is what we have been doing, and that is why our campaign -- Republicans are uniting behind the campaign because we're the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump over and over and over again, and that cannon will beat Donald Trump. Indeed to date we have beaten Donald Trump not once, not twice, not three times, but nine different times all over the United States of America. Literally from Alaska to Maine, and states all in between.
And as Republicans continue to unite, we will continue to beat Donald Trump. We will win the nomination with 1237 delegates.
COSTELLO: All right. Let's step away. You hear Senator Ted Cruz, he vows to beat Donald Trump. And that's the best way, you know -- you know, he said the only way he would not support Donald Trump is if he went out in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shot someone.
Let's head to Hickory, North Carolina, now. Donald Trump about to take the stage there. Chris Frates is there.
Good morning, Chris.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. So we're here in Hickory, North Carolina. Pretty small university's theater. And I got to tell you, it's a pretty mellow crowd here by Trump standards. I got to say. About a couple hundred people here. We're not seeing a lot of additional security, unlike what we saw over the weekend. The usual security, Secret Service, local law enforcement as well.
And of course the Trump folks for the last week or so have had private security roving all their events to try to find protesters and get them out quickly. We will see if there are any protesters when he takes the stage here with Chris Christie for a one-on-one conversation. Should last about an hour.
It's just part of a barnstorming day that Donald Trump has planned. He's here in North Carolina. Then heads to Florida and then on to Ohio. In fact he cancelled an earlier Florida event to be in Ohio. And that's not really a surprise because he's so close with Ohio Governor John Kasich. They're neck-and-neck in the polls there. It's really the only place of the five states tomorrow that are up for grabs where Donald Trump is competitive. So he's spending some extra time there while John Kasich of course getting some establishment help.
Mitt Romney is going to be campaigning for John Kasich today making two stops in Ohio, and, of course, former speaker, John Boehner, who is also from Ohio, coming out this weekend to endorse John Kasich. So that's a neck-and-neck race. That's very exciting.
Donald Trump feeling pretty good about his chances in Florida. He leads native son Marco Rubio there by double digits. And like I said, he is skipping an event in Florida to go to Ohio. Of course Marco Rubio marking a do-or-die moment there. But it all starts here in North Carolina with this conversation with Chris Christie, a former rival who is now going to interview Donald Trump in front of voters here as they try to lock down North Carolina tomorrow -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Chris Frates reporting live from North Carolina this morning. Thank you.
Donald Trump is a man of his word, pledging to looking into paying the legal bills for supporter John McGraw. He's the man who sucker punched an African-American protester as he was led away by security at a rally in North Carolina. McGraw is now charged with assault.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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. But I -- still, I don't condone violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And he said that he would look into paying Mr. McGraw's legal bills. Trump did not explain McGraw's suspicion that the victim Rakeem Jones was a terrorist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you like the event?
JOHN MCGRAW, TRUMP SUPPORTER: You bet I liked it.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes? What did you like about it?
MCGRAW: Knocking the hell out of that big mouth. We don't know who he is, but we know he's not acting like an American.
[10:05:04] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So he deserved it?
MCGRAW: Every bit of it.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What was that?
MCGRAW: Yes, he deserved it. The next time we see him, we might have to kill him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: With me now is Jeffrey Lord. He's a Trump supporter and former political director for the Reagan White House. I'm also joined by CNN political commentator Errol Louis. He's also a political anchor at NY1 News.
Welcome to both of you.
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
JEFFREY LORD, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Hello, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning. Jeffrey, I understand loyalty, but we saw the pictures. Mr. McGraw was not being threatened physically in any way. Why would Mr. Trump consider paying the legal bills for this man?
LORD: Carol, look, there's no place for violence here, none, zero. And, you know, I can't see you here. I can only hear you, but certainly I am aware as I think are you that there was attempts at violence. There were people who were these protesters taking swing at Trump supporters. I saw that on CNN air. And we're not talking about that. The American left is into violence. This guy -- you know, I don't know where this guy is coming from. I want nothing to do with him. You know, I don't deal in violence. It's wrong. But my point --
COSTELLO: You're talking about -- you're talking, Jeffrey, about Mr. McGraw, the guy who sucker punched the African-American protester?
LORD: Yes. Yes. Yes.
COSTELLO: You want nothing to do with that man?
LORD: I want nothing to do with him.
COSTELLO: So do you -- do you disagree with your candidate, then, Donald Trump, for even looking into perhaps paying his legal bills?
LORD: I understand what he's saying, that he -- you know, he'd stick by his word, I understand. But what I'm trying to say, Carol, here, and this is very important. The American left promotes violence. They always do, whether it's Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, the Democratic National Convention of 1968.
There are dozens and dozens and dozens of incidents of this from the American left. And that's because they depend on violence. They use violence, labor violence, race violence, Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore. This is what they do. So the guy that rushed the platform in Ohio is a Bernie Sanders supporter. They are into violence.
Donald Trump has nothing to do with this. Good lord, 48 years old, it was Hubert Humphrey they were after. So all I'm suggesting to you here is this is what they do. We're going to see more of it because we've been seeing it for decades.
COSTELLO: All right. I'm going to interrupt you for just a second, Jeffrey, and Errol, stand by. I want to go back to the Ted Cruz rally because he's -- what is he talking about? He's talking about John Kasich. Let's listen.
CRUZ: The stakes are too high. Look, this is not -- this is not a college faculty lounge where we're debating an interesting issue. This is fighting for the future of our country. This is fighting for our kids. You know, my daughters Caroline and Catherine, they're 7 and 5. When I wake up every day, I think about what kind of country are my daughters going to inherit? Are they going to inherit a country where their whole adult lives they're working to pay off the debts of their deadbeat parents and grandparents? Are they going to inherit a country where when you come out of school you can't find a job, where your hope and future is undermined? Are they going to inherit a country where the Bill of Rights is a distant memory?
And I am convinced the answer to that will be no, but the only to make it no, is for us to come together and win. And the only candidate that has beaten Donald Trump repeatedly and that can and will beat Donald Trump is our campaign. And that's exactly what we're going to do in this race and I'm encouraged the more and more Republicans continue to unite behind us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Last question.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Senator, you talked about voters saying enough is enough. But at what point do you say enough is enough?
CRUZ: This race provides a clear choice. The people of Illinois want to support a liberal New York Democrat who has funded the liberal Democrats who have imposed failed policies on Illinois year after year after year. Donald Trump is on the ballot. If you're a Republican here in Illinois and you want to support someone who gave $7,500 to Rod Blagojevich.
I got to tell you, never once was I tempted to write a check to Blago. Never once was -- it was not a difficult temptation to resist. Never once was I tempted to do what Donald Trump did which was give $12,500 to the Cook County Democratic Party. And by the way, that's not a cost of doing business. That is supporting the corruption, supporting the failures of the left. And how about $50,000 to the godfather? $50,000.
Early in his tenure as mayor, Rahm Emanuel threatened financial institutions to try to force them to cut off the lines of credit to gun manufacturers. It was an act of naked bullying, trying to use political power to try to force these companies to join in President Obama's efforts to take away our right to keep and bear arms.
[10:15:12] Now at the time I wrote to the CEOs of those banks observing that in Texas we had a different view of political power, a more humble view that we didn't think elected officials should be in the business of extorting private citizens and threatening government power and retaliation against anyone who disagrees on policy.
Now I got to say, the bullying of Rahm Emanuel is entirely consistent with the bullying of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and maybe that's why Donald Trump gave $50,000 to fund Rahm Emanuel's bullying left-wing tactics.
You know, any political candidate who demands the people who attend his rallies that they raise their hands and pledge support to that candidate as Donald Trump does, in my view, is getting it exactly backwards. Now listen, the people of Illinois are familiar with that. There have been Chicago mayors who demand fealty perhaps on the knees. That's a phrase Donald Trump likes. He likes suggesting that people come to him and he makes them get down on their knees.
If you like the abuse of power from Chicago Democrats, then Donald Trump is a great candidate.
COSTELLO: All right. We're going to step away from Senator Cruz, talking about -- I would suppose Donald Trump giving a campaign contribution to the disgraced Chicago mayor who is now serving time in prison.
I want to go back the our panel Errol Louis and Jeffrey Lord. Welcome back to both of you.
Jeffrey, I would assume that's what Senator Cruz was talking about. LORD: Well, I have to say, I love Senator Cruz. I like to refer to
him on occasion, Vice President Cruz. Look, he's in a race for president here with Donald Trump. He's got to say what he's got to say. I would disagree with him -- I mean, some of the things he's talking about there, the business about raising your hands, I mean, when you see the actual clip, he's kidding. He's joking. He's joshing with his audience.
You know, Senator Cruz, good politician that he is, is trying to make something of this that's more than was -- you know, in fact. But that's the way you go here. This is a presidential primary, presidential primaries are rock them, sock them, and they always have been on both sides.
COSTELLO: So, Errol, do you agree with that? Because Ted Cruz is behind -- in the state of Ohio. I don't know what the polls show on Illinois, but I think he's behind there as well. So he's trying to appeal to people to say, look, Donald Trump is not the guy to follow because he's a liberal Democrat in disguise. He's given money to disgraced Democratic politician and he wants you to pledge complete loyalty to him or drops your knees if you don't. Is that a good strategy?
LOUIS: Some parts of that have more meaning than others. The part about pledging to vote for a candidate, in a state and a time when early voting is going on really just trying to make sure people go out and vote for him, that's understandable. That's sort of meaningless.
The rest of it, though, I think is sort of important, and it's kind of a trail of bread crumbs for reporters to follow. There's a big sort of garish looking Trump building on the Chicago river, and a lot of people in Chicago didn't want it there, and to the extent that he got zoning changes and some political help in making that happen, it might well be connected to the donations that he's made to Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
It's a perfectly legitimate point to raise. Trump has always responded that I just -- I went around and bought politicians of all stripes in order to further my business interests. But to the extent that this fight, Carol, is about the sole not just of the Republican Party but of the conservative political movement in this country, there are a lot of people, Ted Cruz being one of them, who say that that's not acceptable. That's not how you lead a conservative moment by giving money to your ideological opponents over and over and over again for selfish, personal business reasons.
COSTELLO: Jeffrey, I know that Mr. Trump -- I think that he appears kind of worried about Ohio. I want to talk about Ohio for just a second.
LORD: Right.
COSTELLO: Because he added another event there tonight that he didn't have on the schedule. Why is he going back there?
LORD: Well, it is close by all accounts. What I always find interesting about, you know, whether it's Florida, Ohio, or Texas, is that if you're the governor of Ohio in the Kasich sense, and you can't win your own state, then you've got a problem. If you are the governor of Ohio and you win your home state, you would say, well, so what, and that would apply to Marco Rubio in Florida and of course Ted Cruz did win Texas. He's the senator from Texas.
So I always think these home state primaries are sort of a double edged sword. They can be fatal if you lose them, but if you win them, you know, in essence, people are asking so what, you're the governor of the state or the senator from the state, you ought to be able to win it.
COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Jeffrey Lord, Errol Louis, thanks to both of you.
[10:20:02] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a CNN town hall, Bernie Sanders versus Hillary Clinton. They're fighting for the White House, but it's your job that's becoming more of their focus.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders faced off at a CNN town hall gathering, each making their case before tomorrow's all important primaries. Sanders sharpening his edge on trade and denouncing his rival's support of previous trade agreements.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: One of the very difference -- strong differences between Secretary Clinton and myself, she has supported almost all of those trade agreements. I have vigorously opposed it.
I will not only continue to oppose trade agreements like the TPP which asked us to compete against people in Vietnam who makes 65 cents an hour minimum wage, but what we're going to do is develop an entirely different process in terms of trade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Let's bring in CNN's Jeff Zeleny. He's live in Chicago for a Clinton event next hour. Good morning.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. You can hear the band is starting behind me here and getting ready for Hillary Clinton's arrival in Chicago. But that message of trade and the economy really is driving this Democratic presidential campaign.
[10:25:04] Certainly in Michigan last week when Bernie Sanders won that primary, trade and the economy was the central issue. And he hopes it will be again tomorrow in states like Ohio, like Missouri, like here in Illinois as well. But last night at the CNN town hall in Columbus, Ohio, Hillary Clinton said she, too, would fight for steel workers. She, too, would protect these workers but didn't exactly say how. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Standing here tonight I can't tell you exactly what that would look like, but I can pledge to you that I'm committed to keeping a steel industry and steel workers working in Ohio and America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Of course this is something that is kind of hanging over her a little bit. Largely because of NAFTA. You know, from really a couple of decades ago, you know, she didn't vote for it, but she was the first lady at the time, and she has supported some trade agreements, she's opposed some others. But Bernie Sanders is really driving those, making an issue.
Something else he is driving here in Chicago, Carol, specifically is Rahm Emanuel. You'll remember him, of course, as the mayor of Chicago. A former White House chief of staff for President Obama. Longtime aide to the Clinton administration. Well, he is not very popular here now in Chicago at all. His approval rating is some 27 percent and Bernie Sanders is suddenly trying to tie Rahm Emanuel to Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: But let me say that, as you know, Hillary Clinton proudly lists Mayor Rahm Emanuel as one of her leading mayoral endorses. I believe he is at the top of the list of mayors who are endorsing her.
Well, let me be as clear as I can be. Based on his disastrous record as mayor of the city of Chicago, I do not want Mayor Emanuel's endorsement if I win the Democratic nomination. That is not the kind of support that I want to take.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Now, of course, you know, the Clinton campaign still believes that in her native state of Illinois, Carol, that she can do OK here, but there's no -- if she thought she was doing fine and was not in any trouble at all, she wouldn't be here in Chicago. She'll be coming here this hour and then she'll be campaigning here throughout the day before going on to North Carolina. So it's a telltale sign that they believe Illinois is just too close for comfort, one of the five states voting tomorrow -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Jeff Zeleny reporting live from Chicago this morning. Thank you.
Sanders and Clinton are fighting for nearly 700 delegates tomorrow scattered across five states. Sanders expected to be at least competitive in the Midwestern contest. And once again Clinton has the clear edge in the south.
Patsy Keever is the chairwoman of the North Carolina Democratic Party. Good morning.
PATSY KEEVER, CHAIRWOMAN, NORTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Thank you so much for being here. Bernie Sanders has not given up on your state. In fact, according to Politico, he has outspent Clinton 3 to 1 in TV ads in the last week. Do you see a chance of a Sanders upset here?
KEEVER: Not really. No. I think that Hillary still will win North Carolina, but Bernie has had a very spirited campaign. They've both had a very respectful campaign, and I think as a Democrat, that's the thing that I appreciate about both of our candidates. They are both excellent candidates who treat each other with respect, and that's a lot more than we can say for the Republican candidates.
COSTELLO: Just still on the subject of this contest between Sanders and Clinton, I just wonder, are you surprised by how much Sanders has put into your state? North Carolina represents two areas of weakness for Sanders. It's a southern state and it has a large African- American population.
KEEVER: Well, I think that's why he's had to pour a lot of money into the state. That just stands to reason.
COSTELLO: So do ad blitzes work? I'm just wondering because it's such a different kind of campaign season this time around?
KEEVER: I'm sorry, do what work? What did --
COSTELLO: Ad blitzes, like --
KEEVER: Ad blitzes.
COSTELLO: Television ad blitzes.
KEEVER: Probably not. I think most of -- particularly Senator Sanders' supporters are probably in a more digital area than the ad blitzes on TV.
COSTELLO: Do you expect a large turnout tomorrow?
KEEVER: Yes, we do, and we've already had a large turnout. Our voters are very excited about this race, and we're all looking forward to it. We have a lot of races in North Carolina that are very important and we have primaries in many of those.
We're very much looking forward to Tuesday so we can come out and support our candidates once they've been chosen.
COSTELLO: And I just wondered, I know Ohio, they're seeing a lot of people -- a lot of voters changing their party affiliation. Are you seeing that in North Carolina as well?
KEEVER: I don't think we're seeing very much of that. I know there are a few people that do that. But I think most people are staying within their parties and they are voting for the people they choose -- they think will be best.
COSTELLO: Patsy Keever, thanks for joining me this morning.
KEEVER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
And be sure to stay with CNN for tomorrow's final Super Tuesday.
