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President Obama to Name Supreme Court Nominee; Trump and Clinton Win Big on Super Tuesday Three; Interview with RNC Chief Strategist Sean Spicer; Sanders Faces Tough Delegate Math. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired March 16, 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] CAMEROTA: "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello picks up that story right now.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: You're right, Alisyn. It has been quite a morning. you guys have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We do begin with breaking news.

The hours upon hours of interviews and tough personal questions finally over and President Obama says he's made up his mind on a Supreme Court nominee.

Just two hours from now the president is set to announce who he wants to replace for late Justice Antonin Scalia.

You're looking at a live picture or you will be shortly. That was Justice Scalia. Now you're looking at a live picture of the White House Rose Garden where Mr. Obama will introduce his pick two hours from now.

It is a decision that could impact the balance of the nation's highest court for a very long time. But only if the president can get that nominee through Senate Republicans.

Manu Raju has reaction from Capitol Hill but let's begin with our justice correspondent Pamela Brown. She's in Washington.

Good morning, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The anticipation is certainly building to learn who President Obama has selected to fill the vacancy on the high court. The announcement as you say is expected to be at 11:00 a.m. And the White House is keeping this airtight. Even in that e-mail sent out by the White House this morning the nominee was referred to as he or she. So not giving anything away there. But even though this is a close -- closely held secret, sources say

the decision has come down to two prominent D.C. Circuit Court judges, Merrick Garland and Sri Srinivasan. Srinivasan, he's been named from the very get-go because he's someone who was well-liked across the aisle. He's the first Indian American -- he would be the first Indian American, Hindu nominee to be selected for the high court. He was born in India and his family emigrated to Kansas when he was just a little boy. And then he went on to graduate from Stanford. He got his -- undergrad degree there as well as his law and business degrees. And he was unanimously confirmed to the Appeals Court in D.C. in 2013. In fact garnered praise from Ted Cruz who at the time called him his friend.

Srinivasan worked in the Department of Justice for both Bush and Obama administrations. He's argued in front of the high court dozens of time. He successfully argued against the Defense of Marriage Act. And if confirmed, he would be the first immigrant on the high court since before World War II.

And then there is Merrick Garland. He is the chief judge at the D.C. Circuit Court. He was nominated to the seat by President Clinton in 1997. He's also widely respected across both sides of the aisle and is considered by many a moderate judge. He has been waiting in the wings for this opportunity for years after he was picked over for the last two seats on the high court. He's a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law School and served at the Department of Justice where he worked on the Oklahoma City bombing case.

He's 63 years old and the conventional wisdom is that Obama would prefer someone younger. But, of course, Carol, this is a unique time with Republicans vowing not to hold a hearing so anything is certainly possible.

COSTELLO: You're right about that, Pamela Brown. Thank you so much.

If I were a betting woman, and I talked to Jeffrey Toobin earlier, I would say Sri Srinivasan and only because the Senate confirmed his position on the U.S. Court of Appeals 97-0. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz voted in support.

Now bring in Manu Raju because he's covering this part of the story. Despite that, right, there is already a push on the floor of the Senate to defeat whoever the nominee may be.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This started as soon as the vacancy arose. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, said that we should wait to the next president to nominate someone and Republicans have really dug into that position, increasingly have taken a hard line. They said no confirmation hearings whatsoever.

Yesterday when I spoke to Senator John Cornyn who's the number two Republican who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he said that they won't even conduct a background check. Not even a FBI background check to vet the nominee. Something that is typically custom in this approach. Now the Democrats in response have been trying to make this a process

argument saying that the president has the right to nominate someone even if it's an election year. And the Republicans are out of step on this issue. Expect a lot of protest back home in these vulnerable Republican senator states and including Chuck Grassley, even though he is probably solid for reelection this year. Democrats say they can put a lot of pressure on him back home. So they're going to focus on him and hope that he cracks before the party conventions in July.

And one other thing that I would add, Carol, that the White House is keeping a close hold on this nomination right now. They have not informed Capitol Hill yet. Ted Barrett, our congressional producer, just ran into Senate minority leader Harry Reid, who has not spoken to the White House yet this morning. So it's still some anticipation about who that nomination -- who that nominee will actually be.

COSTELLO: And just to reiterate how unusual this is. Senate Republicans -- Senate opens up at 10:00 this morning. That's in just about an hour, right?

[09:05:04] And by 10:15 Eastern Time, Senate Republican will take to the floor and they'll start pushing back on a nominee, and they don't even know the nominee's name yet.

RAJU: That's right. I mean, actually this is rather unprecedented in modern times. Confirmation hearings being the norms since, you know, the mid 1960s. Since then any nominee who has not pulled themselves out of consideration or withdrawn in anyway, they have gotten confirmation hearings. So Republicans say that it's unusual if not unprecedented to have a nominee actually nominated and confirmed in an election year, but it's also unprecedented not to even have a confirmation hearing.

So that process argument is really what's going dominate the Senate floor today and tomorrow and the weeks ahead.

COSTELLO: OK. We'll check back, Manu Raju, reporting live from Capitol Hill.

Super Tuesday becomes winning a Wednesday as frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump rack up big wins and pull farther ahead of their competition. Clinton trounces Bernie Sanders, winning four of five states, Missouri right now too close to call. Clinton scores a surprisingly strong win, though, in Ohio. Denying Sanders another dose of that Midwest magic that propelled him to last week's huge upset in Michigan.

Clinton's big night leaves her with about twice as many delegates as Sanders' and has her looking ahead to the general election showdown with the Republican nominee.

And Donald Trump may appear more likely in that role than ever. He wins three states and Missouri again. Too close to call. His only known loss of the night, the state of Ohio. A very popular governor of Ohio, John Kasich, wins big, keeping his campaign alive with his home state victory. Marco Rubio ends his presidential bid after getting hammered in

Florida. He becomes the first sitting senator since 1960 to lose his home state in a presidential primary.

This morning a triumphant Donald Trump was asked about Rubio as a possible running mate?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Would you consider him for a VP? People are saying inside the party that would go a long way towards healing a lot of concerns.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I just think it's too easterly to think about it, Chris. I don't like to think about it. I like to get the deal closed.

CUOMO: But is he -- is he in consideration ?

TRUMP: Well, I like him. I've always liked him. Then he got nasty two or at least three weeks ago and I -- you know, I got nastier than he did, I guess, that's why --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Then you can't be too upset at him.

TRUMP: Then people got angry --

CUOMO: If you got --

TRUMP: You know, they say --

CUOMO: If you got nastier than he did, you can't be too upset at him and you did say it's time for healing. So I'm just wondering, is he in consideration ?

TRUMP: Well, I think he's a fine person and, you know, I'm looking -- look, I'm looking at lots of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Trump still holding a big lead over Ted Cruz with time running out. Cruz, a Tea Party champion and self-described outsider, says he is the establishment's best hope of defeating Trump. But Kasich needs to quit now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He doesn't have any chance of winning there. It is true, John Kasich might take just enough votes to give those states to Donald Trump. If he sticks around, John Kasich will become Donald Trump's best friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Let's bring in CNN's Sara Murray. She's live in Miami Beach with more on this.

Good morning, Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Like you said Donald Trump had a big night last night. He proved once again he can win all over the country but John Kasich threw up a bit of a roadblock there and now the question is whether he or really anything at this point can stop Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: We're going win, win, win.

MURRAY (voice-over): Donald Trump celebrating another big primary night.

TRUMP: I'm having a very nice time. But you know what, I'm working very hard, and there is great anger. Believe me, there is great anger.

MURRAY: The Republican frontrunner racking up victories in three more states, bringing his total now to 18. The race between Trump and Ted Cruz so tight in Missouri that a winner hasn't yet been declared. Now Cruz is insisting the race is down to him and Trump.

CRUZ: Only two campaigns have a plausible path to the nomination.

MURRAY: But Ohio Governor John Kasich is still keeping hope alive, clinching his first win of the race in the winner-talk-all state of Ohio.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have to thank the people of the great state of Ohio. I love you, is all I can say.

MURRAY: And in Florida Trump putting a nail in the coffin of establishment darling Senator Marco Rubio.

TRUMP: I want to congratulate Marco Rubio on having run a really tough campaign. He's tough, he's smart, and he's got a great future.

MURRAY: Rubio ending his presidential ambitions after a bruising double-digit loss to Trump in his home state.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: While it is not God's plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever, and while today my campaign is suspended, the fact that I've even come this far is evidence of how special America truly is.

MURRAY: Now down to a three-man race, Trump continues to call for unity.

TRUMP: We have to bring our party together. We have to bring it together.

MURRAY: While Kasich and Cruz make a pitch to Rubio supporters, both pledging to take this fight all the way to the convention. [09:10:03] CRUZ: To those who supported Marco, who worked so hard, we

welcome you with open arms.

KASICH: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. But I want you to know something. We are going to go -- we're going to go all the way to Cleveland and secure the Republican nomination.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now of course the big question for John Kasich is whether he can win any states other than his home state. His campaign is heading on to Pennsylvania. So we'll see how he fairs there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, Sara. I just got -- I just got word of this. You know, FOX is going to host this big debate on Monday night. Well, Donald Trump just said on "FOX and Friends" this morning that he will not be participating. What do you make of that?

MURRAY: Well, he is sort of been eluding to this idea that he was done with the debates. That he's participated in enough of them. You know, he tried this once before, it ended up hurting him, he said, in Iowa. But I think we're at a different phase of the race. Especially now that we are down to three candidates.

There was this sense from Trump that he doesn't really feel like he needs to be up there debating these guys. I think at this point he does feel like he is the undisputed Republican frontrunner and that if it were anyone else, anyone not named Trump, the party would have already rallied behind him. And I think sort of what you're seeing now is a reflection of that.

COSTELLO: All right. Sara Murray, reporting live from -- from Miami Beach this morning. Thanks so much, Sara.

So Trump appears indestructible. Anti-Trump Republicans threw everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at him and found nothing can sink Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But I have to say, and nobody has ever, ever, in the history of politics received the kind of negative advertising that I have. Record, record, record. By the way, mostly false. I wouldn't say 100 percent but about 90 percent. Mostly false. Vicious, horrible. They say it was $18 million the first week. Meaning last week. And $25 million. It added up to over $40 million.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Still the possibility of a contested Republican convention lives because the Republican fear of a Clinton presidency looms large.

Tony Frata who worked for George W. Bush tweeted this, quote, "What essentially happened today with the Trump win is Hillary Clinton was elected president. We have eight months of hyperventilating before it's official." With me now Sean Spicer, chief strategist and communications director

for the Republican National Committee.

Welcome, sir.

SEAN SPICER, RNC CHIEF STRATEGIST AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So many questions. But first I have to ask you this. Is there a possibility of a contested convention?

SPICER: Of course. Look, we -- we're going to let the process work itself out. We've crossed the 50 percent -- mark last night in terms of the number of states that have voted. And as Sara Murray just reported, there's three candidates now who believe that they have a path to the nomination so from an RNC perspective we're going to continue to prepare for all contingencies, including an open convention.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Because you know, Kasich's campaign seems to be banking on a contested convention. There are even whispers that the House speaker Paul Ryan could be nominated at the convention and he actually said this on CNBC last night. This is Paul Ryan. He said, "You know, I haven't given any thought to this stuff" but then he went on, when he was asked specifically about a contested convention. He said, "I say, well, there are a lot of people running for president. We'll see. Who knows."

What do you make of that?

SPICER: I don't. I feel pretty confident -- not just pretty confident. I feel confident that the nominee of this party will be one of the remaining three individuals that is currently in the race.

COSTELLO: And the possibility of a contested convention, is it because so many Republican leaders are concerned about Trump's high negatives? And I'll give you an example. When you look at the exit polling, so few minority voters turned out at the polls for Trump in Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois and Missouri. They didn't even register. Even in Florida where there is a huge Hispanic population, Trump only scored 27 percent to Rubio's 52 percent.

Won't this be a problem in the general election? Because Hillary Clinton cleans up with those voters.

SPICER: Well, I appreciate you taking the math the way you do. But if you look at how it's worked out so far, as of last night going into last night we had 3.9 million more vote on the Republican side than the Democratic side. We have a record turnout in 22 of 26 states as of -- of the states that have voted into last night. The Democrats were down in 19 of the 22 that had voted prior to last night.

So I appreciate that. But the reality is quite different. The intensity, the turnout are all on the Republican side. So say what you will, but the numbers just don't add up. [09:15:00] People are excited about the Republican side. The fact of

the matter is that when you look at Hillary Clinton's numbers, there's nothing, I mean, her negatives are through the roof. There is a looming FBI investigation over her head. There's questions about whether she'll be indicted.

I don't -- I'm very confident our party will do very well in November. I appreciate the media concern but I think we'll take back the White House in November.

COSTELLO: OK. One more question about a possible contested convention because there are fears that if that happens, it could get violent. This is what Tony Fabrizio, a GOP Pollster, told "Politico", "Only in the mind of the D.C. political establishment is the brokered convention at this point. And if the elites try and steal the nomination from Trump, the riots of the '68 Democratic Convention will look like a garden party."

Donald Trump even hinted himself there might be violence if there is a contested convention. Let's listen to what he said on "NEW DAY" this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): I think we'll win before getting to the convention. But I can tell you, if we didn't and if we're 20 votes short or if we're, you know, a hundred short, and we're at 1,100 and somebody else is at 500 or 400, because we're way ahead of everybody, I don't think you can say that we don't get it automatically. I think it would be -- I think you'd have riots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK, you heard Mr. Trump there. He says, he thinks there'd be riots. What do you think?

SPICER: Well, first of all, I think assume he's speaking figuratively. I think if we go into a convention, whoever gets 1,237 delegates becomes the nominee. It's plain and simple.

The voice of the delegates, delegates are elected to represent the Republican voters --

COSTELLO: Sean, I'm sorry to interrupt but I don't think, I don't think Mr. Trump was speaking figuratively. I don't think he was.

SPICER: Then you should ask him Carol. I appreciate you trying to, you know, guess what he was saying.

But the fact of the matter is that the left and the people on the left that have disrupted events or trying to go in and undermine people's First Amendment rights. I think Republicans will have a very orderly process, will vote in the open. The delegates elected by Republican voters will go to Cleveland. If we get to a point where there needs to be, you know, more than one ballot, we'll do it in a very orderly and transparent way, and we will pick a nominee and go on and win in November. But I feel very good about how we are going to run our convention. I think it will be very open. It will be very transparent and we'll do it from a very democratic way. We won't use a bunch of super delegates to stack on elite frontrunner as our nominee.

COSTELLO: All right. Sean Spicer, thanks.

SPICER: Which is, you know, that's how the Democrats do it.

COSTELLO: Enough said.

Sean Spicer, thanks for stopping by.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, while Clinton dominates on Super Tuesday, Sanders now facing daunting delegate math. He struggles to survive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:21:50] COSTELLO: With four more wins in Hillary Clinton's pocket, she now widens her lead in the delegate count and sets her sights on the general election. Rather than hitting the candidate she's facing right now, that is, Clinton is out swinging against the one she thinks she'll face in the general election and that's Donald Trump.

Let's bring in CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

Hi, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol.

It was not only a winning night for Hillary Clinton. It was a big night. That number in Ohio was the state that everyone has been watching, 14 points she won over Bernie Sanders. That is a significant, a big battle ground state of course.

But also the delegate wins in Florida, North Carolina, Illinois and Missouri is still on the bubble but she's slightly leading. This gives the Clinton campaign a boost of confidence going forward and it sent a signal to the Democratic Party that it probably is time to turn a corner.

We heard the secretary saying that last night in her speech in south Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When we hear a candidate for president call for rounding up 12 million immigrants, banning all Muslims from entering United States.

(BOOS) When he embraces torture, that doesn't make him strong. It makes him wrong.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, Hillary Clinton is hoping to galvanize Democrats behind her, even some of those who may not have been voting for her first. Because of Donald Trump, she hopes that that is a way to rally Democrats.

Now, Bernie Sanders issued a statement overnight. He said he is not getting out of this race. You know, about half of the contests are still ahead of him here. In some, he plans to win. He thinks to win some of those western states.

But, Carol, the reality here is setting in. The math is clear that she is almost certain to be the nominee.

Now, she's not going call for him to get out at all. I asked her last week how long she expected to stay in. She said, look, I stayed in until the very end. I expect him to as well.

So that is likely what is going happen here. But this is a turning point in this campaign. No question at all about it -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.

You heard what Jeff said. There is no doubt. Sanders now faces daunting delegate math in every scenario he loses. Still, according to "Politico" his campaign could soon start making a plea of support to super delegates.

A senior campaign advisor telling "Politico", quote, "We believe that slowly we can win support for people who aren't for someone or who are softly for her," meaning Clinton, "and then we can reach out more."

But as Jeff said, time is running out. So would late breaking momentum be enough for sanders to survive?

Let's talk about this with CNN commentator Bakari Sellers, who supports Hillary Clinton. I'm also joined by Democratic strategist and Bernie Sanders supporter Nomiki Konst.

Welcome to both of you.

Bakari -- good morning. Bakari, I'll start with you. Should Sanders drop out?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, not at all. I think Sanders is necessary for this race. Just for the most obvious point that if he drops out, then the robust conversation we're having about substantive issues on the Democratic side will go silent.

[09:25:03] And mainstream media, including CNN and everyone else would simply cover Trump.

So, this is a good voice to have. It's good issues to talk about. And Sanders has every right to the convention, although it looks as if his path to a nomination is completely narrowed if not completely shut down.

COSTELLO: Nomiki, staying in the race, you know, that's understandable. He wants to get his message out, right? But it is something else to reach out to super delegates to try to secure the nomination, right? So should he be doing that, his campaign, not Bernie Sanders specifically?

NOMIKI KONST, BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER: Absolutely. I mean, Hillary Clinton started arguably three years ago and locked down over half of them in August.

Listen, as Democrats, we talk about, we campaign the economy being rigged. Well, our own system is pretty undemocratic. You can't be a little bit pregnant. You can't be a little democratic.

This was a system that was designed in the '80s, in the early '80s, to block insurgent non-establishment candidates and it is doing so right now and it's been a safety net for the establishment candidate. It was created by the establishment, built and designed for the establishment, and it's run by the establishment. And that is why, when you look at the super delegates it is made up of party leaders -- party leaders that are running the campaigns on the ground as surrogates.

So, Bernie Sanders, despite everything that's been going on and what this 320 delegate difference minus the super delegates mean, you look at every single state. He has had to go state by state with the money he's raised and set up an operation. While Hillary Clinton has had an operation, a surrogate operation running in all of these states. Not to mention in Ohio specifically, 25 years of relationships of on the ground support by party leaders who have already endorsed her as far as back in August.

So, my big question is, why even have a primary if we're going to have a super delegate system that determine whose the candidate is going to be before the primary system? It's all a farce. It's a facade.

So, I think, you know, Bernie sanders is right. He should be going after and trying to woo super delegates, showing the difference is not as much as you think. There is momentum at his side. We've got western states ahead of us, have California and New York and taking one of those states, this advantage could disappear and the divide has been narrowing.

COSTELLO: OK. So it is not all wine and roses for Hillary Clinton, Bakari, because, you know, I took a look at the exit polls this morning, especially for the state of Ohio, right?

So, 43 percent say Sanders is honest, 43 percent. But only 5 percent think he's electable. When you look at Hillary Clinton, she gets high marks on experience, but not that many people think she is honest. Voters think she's electable but they don't really trust her.

In a general election, couldn't that be a problem?

SELLERS: Well, I think Hillary Clinton is in a very good position for general election, especially running against Donald Trump.

But let me push back just quickly on super delegates. The super delegates in the Democratic process have never tilted the scale in the way Nomiki is talking about. In fact, they've never gone against the popular vote. The fact of the matter is, if they were built to stop an insurgent candidate, they would have stopped Barack Obama and they did not. You have to win in order to build the momentum, so super delegate wills come on your side.

However, I'll tell you, that after last night, Hillary Clinton is looking very, very forward thinking and looking towards running against Donald Trump. She has the wind at her back. At 11:02 today when you have the name of Sri Srinivasan come out as a Supreme Court justice nominee, she will also have that momentum and be able to ride that amongst the base. And we look forward to having a robust discussion against Donald Trump and what I viewed a battle for the soul of this country.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Bakari Sellers, Nomiki, thanks to both of you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: we know who won, but why did voters pick them? A breakdown of our exit polling, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)