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Graham Backs Cruz; Obama Tells Donors to Back Clinton; High Court Nominee Makes Rounds. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired March 17, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right here on CNN.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. Good to be with you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

Listen, right now, it's Trump versus everyone else. Some of his fellow conservatives today meeting behind closed door, talking about ways to take him down. And you're about to hear from one Republican senator who is now backing Senator Ted Cruz for the party's nomination after joking about his murder on the Senate floor. So, stand by for that.

But first, the Senate's top Democrat blaming Republicans for creating Donald Trump. I'm talking about Senator Harry Reid. He laid into Republican leaders today saying their obstructionism, quote, "created the drought conditions. Donald Trump has simply struck the match."

What is more here, Senator Reid challenged Republican leaders to quote/unquote get some backbone and denounced Donald Trump outright.

Then there is this. Perhaps even the best evidence that this is an exceptional year for presidential politics. Senator Reid complimented Ted Cruz, the Republican blamed for shutting down the federal government, with regard to President Obama's Obamacare.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D), MINORITY LEADER: I have to say this about Cruz. He, at least, has some principles. I don't like what he - what he stands for, but he stands for something. None of - very little of which I'm finding (ph) I agree with. But I - so I have - I'm not as turned off by Cruz, because he stands for things (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, the senior adviser to the Trump campaign, Mr. Barry Bennett, and our chief political correspondent Dana Bash.

So a lot to get through on the Democrat and Republican side with regard to Mr. Trump.

But, Dana Bash, first to you on your interview with Senator Lindsey Graham and on pig's flying. Is that an appropriate way to set it up?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's pretty much what I asked him because Senator Graham has been, for the past several years, since Ted Cruz has been his Senate Republican colleague, has been very open about his disdain for Cruz's tactics. Thought that it was the wrong thing to do, the wrong way to go. Obviously, Ted - Lindsey Graham ran initially against Ted Cruz, then he backed Jeb Bush.

Basically, at that point, it was anybody but Cruz. But now it is anybody but Trump, which is why Lindsey Graham is now backing Ted Cruz. Listen to part of our interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So you are raising money for him. Are you endorsing him?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, I think -

BASH: Is it effectively an endorsement?

GRAHAM: Well, what I'm saying, you know, John Kasich, I think, is the most viable general election candidate. I just don't see how John gets through the primary. This is an outsider year. He's seen as an insider. So I think the best alternative to Donald Trump, to stop him from getting 1,237, is Ted Cruz. And I'm going to help Ted in every way I can. I'm going to raise money for him in the pro-Israel community. And if I were in one of the states coming up in terms of voting and I didn't like Trump, I'd vote for Cruz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And, Brooke, obviously, the reason why you asked about pigs flying is because the next question I asked was, do you see pigs flying down the street because that's what I thought would have to happen before you would back Ted Cruz, never mind open up your donor list to him, which is effectively what he's doing. This is the invitation that is going out today for a fundraiser that Lindsey Graham is hosting for Ted Cruz on Monday with a lot of Lindsey Graham supporters, which is going to be important for Cruz if he has to and wants to keep this going all the way through July.

Just very quickly before I button this up, just to give you a sense of how - how much things have changed and how dire Lindsey Graham thinks this is for the Republican Party, the concept of Trump as their nominee. This is what he said not that long ago about Ted Cruz. "If you kill Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you." Now, it was tongue in cheek, but it kind of gives you a sense of what he and others have thought and how much they have shifted given the reality that they're facing now.

BALDWIN: I mean, on the notion of pigs flying with regard to, you know, the Lindsey Grahams of the world, even hearing Harry Reid essentially saying, listen, at least Ted Cruz has some things he stands by, other than, you know, comparing him to Donald Trump. Then you have this meeting, Barry, of these, you know, Republicans, today behind closed doors, the conservatives of faith meeting, they, too, were trying to get together to figure out, how the heck can we stop Donald Trump from getting to that magic 1,237 number so he can't clinch the nomination. These were apparently not embellishment Republicans. They refer to themselves perhaps as Reagan revolutionaries, going to great lengths to stop your guy. Your thoughts?

BARRY BENNETT, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: I think a couple of them were lobbyists, so I would disagree with calling them establishment republicans. The only thing I know for sure is, I'm going to start keeping Lindsey Graham's scorecard in pencil because I'm tired of using ink.

[14:05:02] But, you know, this is - there's a lot of mourning to be done. There's a lot of grieving to be done. But, I mean, Donald Trump is going to be our nominee, plain and simple. He's the only one that has the path to 1,237. He'll - he'll exceed that path. And when we get to Cleveland, he's going to be our nominee.

And, you know, some of these guys are going to have to decide how much damage they're willing to do to the party because they're not - they don't like that. But, you know, he's going to walk into Cleveland with more - more than enough delegates and millions of more votes than anybody else and he's going to be our nominee. And they're going to have to decide if they're Republicans or if they're going to leave party. But I hope they stay in the party and I hope that they work with us because, you know, we can win in November and we can make some significant changes how this country's run.

BALDWIN: So, you know, Dana, you hear Barry indisputably saying Mr. Trump is the guy, he's going to get to that - to that number. You know, I heard an RNC member who came out today essentially who said, it's the party who decides, you know, who this nominee is, it's not the people. And he may not entirely be wrong, but why would he say that?

BASH: Well, no, he's not wrong technically, because the party, you know, people are out there voting all across the country, but they are votes for a nominee, which is a party function. It's not anything broader than that, which I think is easy to forget. However, there is the practical and then there are the rules. And to Barry's point, the rules are that, you know, they can be changed, things can happen at the convention, even if Donald Trump has far more delegates than anybody else.

But, you know, they can do that at their own peril. If people here in Washington, you know, whether it is the Lindsey Grahams, the Ted Cruzs, you know, pick your - prick your anti-Trump force, don't see the anger out there that has attached itself to Donald Trump and, more importantly, the support for somebody who is just a disrupter, somebody who is different from everybody else here in Washington, then, you know, they don't - they're not getting what's happening out there, and that is a very, very, very big cautionary tale for whatever happens at the convention. And everybody understands that, but I think once they're faced with it, it will be a whole different ball game.

BALDWIN: It's interesting when you look at the two potential nominees, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, they are both loathed and loved. And we were talking yesterday about the Donald Trump video and the Hillary Clinton barking and the Vladimir Putin laughter. So now we have this today. This is from Clinton's super PAC responding to that very video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ON SCREEN TEXT: When it comes to facing our toughest opponents -

The Republicans have the perfect answer -

MIKA BRZEZINSKI, MSNBC: Who are you consulting with consistency so that you're ready on day one?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I've said a lot of things.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (Laughing).

ON SCREEN TEXT: We don't need to be a punchline!

Vote for Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Barry, it's on, isn't it?

BENNETT: It's going to be a very different campaign. Yes, it's going to be - it's going to be a lot of fun. I mean, you know, I love the way it sets up. Frankly, I mean, you know, Mrs. Clinton moved to Washington, what, 1993, and has been here ever since. She is the quintessential establishment Democrat. She's, you know, running away with the super delegates and all those things. Versus a complete outsider. So if the question lays out as, you know, you want four more years of the policies and the path we're currently on or you want to try something different? I feel pretty good about it.

BALDWIN: With those two videos, we are seeing what our next six months look like, I do believe.

Dana Bash, great interview with Senator Graham.

And, Barry, stick around, we'll see you back in a moment here.

But, former First Lady Laura Bush, she has now weighed in on the 2016 race in an interview with "USA Today," and it's actually what she wouldn't quite say that's grabbing the attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "USA TODAY": If Donald Trump's the nominee, the Republican nominee, are you going to vote for him?

LAURA BUSH, FORMER FIRST LADY: Susan, I'm not going to answer. Don't ask that.

PAGE: You know, just a last question then. You have stayed on the sidelines in politics since you left the White House and so has President Bush, and I think a lot of Americans have respected that. BUSH: We got off the sidelines for Jeb.

PAGE: You got off the sidelines for Jeb.

BUSH: He was our candidate.

PAGE: Yes. Yes.

And yet in your book it's clear that you don't think Islam hates America, that you don't think all Muslims should be banned from entering the United States. Is there a point where you would feel compelled to come off the sidelines to speak against (INAUDIBLE) -

BUSH: Well, this is what I want Americans to remember, what our real values are. And one of the very first things, one of the reasons we are - we're a country, is because we believe in freedom of religion. We believe that people could be religious, they could choose any religion they wanted to, or they could not worship if they didn't want to. We don't have any religious test in the United States. And that's what we need to remember. We need to remember what our own Values are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:10:11] BALDWIN: Susan Page, Susan Page, the Washington bureau chief of the "USA Today." Love having you on.

Listen, Laura Bush, she is a - she is an intelligent woman and she knew darn well, you know, you had to ask about the race, you had to ask about Donald Trump. And when - when you - I was asking her face. She looks frustrated.

SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "USA TODAY": Yes, not to - you know, she's not - she's got a new book out called "We Are Afghan Women." That's a cause she's been involved with since weeks after the 9/11 attack. She wanted to talk about that. She was not too eager to talk about the 2016 race or Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: Yes, you think?

PAGE: But, you know, there's no mistaking what her message was in that final question, which is that she fundamentally disagrees with the approach that Donald Trump has taken on issues like Islam and the immigration of Muslims to the United States. And she went on to say this is part of our history. She said, we've had xenophobic episodes in our history, but it's important to remember our fundamental values.

BALDWIN: I'm curious, did she say anything to you about - obviously she mentioned, you know, Jeb, coming off the sidelines. Has she talked about any conversations, you know, she's had with Jeb, you know, or what he's been up to since he dropped out?

PAGE: No, I didn't ask her about that. That would be interesting to know, but it's not something we discussed.

BALDWIN: We've talked several times. I saw you in Iowa. I saw you in New Hampshire. You've covered, what, ten presidential elections or campaigns. And just sort of comparing all of them, we keep saying the word "unprecedented." But for you, with such an excellent perspective, what is so totally different this time around?

PAGE: You know, this is - this - this campaign is going to make history regardless of what happens going forward. We're either going to have the first - we're going to likely have the first woman nominee of a major party, perhaps the first woman president. But the rise of Donald Trump. Did any of us really see this coming when he - when he made his initial presidential announcement? The fact that someone who has never sought office before has such perfect pitch with the anger, with a big portion of the American electorate, is something I have never seen before in the - in the, as you say, the tenth campaigns that I've covered for the White House.

BALDWIN: Susan Page, thank you so much for sharing your Laura Bush interview. Appreciate that.

PAGE: Hey, thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Talking about the new book out. Thank you.

You know, it is the biggest question of the day, can Donald Trump actually defeat Hillary Clinton in a general election? The man who helped get President Obama elected says, watch out.

Plus, moments from now, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, he's speaking with lawmakers up on Capitol Hill, but which Republicans might be breaking rankings to actually meet with him?

And I'll speak live with a father and son, the dad, an immigrant, explains why he is supporting Donald Trump.

You're watching CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:57] BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Behind the political scenes, a movement may be taking shape. President Obama reportedly getting candid with Democratic donors, telling them it's approaching time to back Hillary Clinton and leave Bernie Sanders behind. This is reporting specifically coming from "The New York Times." And if it's true, we could see this race change faster than anyone anticipated.

So joining me now, Dan Pfeiffer, CNN political commentator and former adviser to President Obama, and Barry Bennett is back with us, senior adviser for the Trump campaign and former manager - former campaign manager to Dr. Carson's campaign and a Republican consultant.

So, Dan Pfeiffer, first to you, you know, on this President Obama news. I mean so far the president has been careful not to explicitly endorse Secretary Clinton, but it appears now, if he's talking to donors like this, he's approaching that lane. Why do you think he's doing this now? DAN PFEIFFER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first, I'd be a little

skeptical of why it gets read out like second and third hand from a fundraiser. And I've spent a lot of time over the years working for President Obama where what came out of the president's mouth and then what got read back to people is not exactly the same, but there are some truths here I think within this reporting that are important.

One, the Democratic race, in terms of delegate math, is essentially over. There - I can't see a world in which Bernie Sanders can make up that deficit in time given the proportional rules Democrats have. Second, President Obama cares a lot about winning this election. It's very important to him. It's very - he knows it's very important for the country. And I think there's no question that Hillary Clinton, although not a perfect candidate, is a much more electable candidate than Bernie Sanders. So we're going to get to a point at some point where the party is going to have to decide the donors, the supporters, the Sanders campaign itself, at what point the primary starts to becomes hurtful to Hillary Clinton's general election chances or continues on.

BALDWIN: Let me just follow up with that because, to your point, if this is - you know, we don't know if it's a game of telephone, right, between the president and reporters.

PFEIFFER: Right.

BALDWIN: I mean I can't imagine that could ever happen ever in a million years. I kid. But, you know, if this is true and if the president, you know, has done this, do you think this could give a little nudge to the Sanders campaign? This is coming from the president.

PFEIFFER: No. Look, I think Bernie Sanders has every right to stay in this race for as long as he wants to stay in it. I think he has accomplished tremendous things. What - to go from where he was to making this a close race is incredibly impressive. The question will be, for the period of time in which he's still in the race, what will the tone be? Is he making negative arguments against Hillary Clinton? Is he creating video snippets or clips that can be used in ads by Republicans, or is he continuing to carry his positive, populous message to the rest of the contest? And I think that will be the question.

BALDWIN: OK, Barry Bennett, let me just pivot to you because one big question that we all need to start asking is, can Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in November? I know your answer's going to be yes. I want you to tell me how that will happen.

BENNETT: Well, I mean, I think that the political map that we've always, you know, that I grew up with is going to change. I mean, if we look at - since January 1st in Pennsylvania, over 50,000 Democrats have switched parties. In Ohio we had a big instance of that as well. In Massachusetts as well. There's a shift. So the traditional battle lines are probably not going to be in play this cycle, it will change.

[14:20:20] And, you know, I feel very good about it. I mean, you know, if the campaign is about who - are we going to continue, or are we going to change? I feel very good about it. So, you know, it will be a different kind of campaign. It will probably be a nasty campaign. Both candidates have pretty high negatives. But I feel pretty good about Donald Trump being - getting elected in November.

BALDWIN: Dan, you former colleague, Mr. Plouffe, you know - you know where I'm going with this, his quote, to paraphrase, you know, Democrats should not start popping bottles of champagne just yet. I mean how would you assess Mr. Trump as a challenger?

PFEIFFER: Right. Look, I agree with David Plouffe that Democrats should not take Donald Trump lightly. All the people who said Donald Trump couldn't win the primary are the same ones saying he can't win the general. So I don't know why we would listen to them.

But, there are some very - for any Republican, Hillary Clinton or any Democrat has some very serious structural demographic and electoral damages. To win - for A Republican to win, they have to dramatically improve their position with non-white voters and flip a lot of states. Not just a couple of states, a lot of states that Obama won in 2012. And many of these states have gone Democratic in, you know, three, four, five of the last elections. And so it can happen. I think Hillary Clinton would go into this as a very strong favorite. Donald Trump's negatives among Latino voters in particular create a particular barrier to his victory. But if Democrats take this lightly, we could lose.

BALDWIN: The, you know, I said this a second ago, that both of these candidates are loved and loathed. And their unfavorables are very, very high. People love them or they love to hate them, Dan. How would Hillary Clinton, starting with her, how would she overcome that?

PFEIFFER: Well, I think this is going to become largely a campaign about motivating people's bases of support. I think that's how Trump would run. That's how Hillary will run. I expect both of their numbers, but particularly Hillary's, to potentially improve over the coming months because there's some portion of Democratic voters who are now giving Hillary Clinton an unfavorable rating because they're very passionate Sanders supporters. And when the choice is not Bernie Sanders versus Hillary Clinton, but Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump, I think her numbers will improve. I think that will happen some on the Republican side as well. It's a question of how - of how much the party is willing to unify around Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: If, looking ahead to let's say November, Barry, with a potential Trump/Clinton matchup, do you think we will see a record turnout or a record low turnout?

BENNETT: I bet we have a record turnout. I bet a lot of people - we're seeing on the Republican and Democratic primaries right now huge turnouts. I mean we're seeing people vote that, you know, aren't on the rolls because they haven't voted in the last four elections. So, you know, I think it's good for the democratic process. I also agree that, you know, right now what's fueling their high negatives largely is their primary opponents. You know, I was not a big fan of John McCain in the primary and I said, never McCain, I'll never vote for that guy, and I gave him a check and I voted for him and that's going to happen. That just naturally happens. So those negatives will come down significantly.

BALDWIN: Barry Bennett, Dan Pfeiffer, thank you both very much.

Coming up next, Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama's choice as the nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, he will be making the rounds on Capitol Hill today, but will he actually meet with any Republican lawmakers? Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:28:10] BALDWIN: U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Judge Merrick Garland making the rounds on Capitol Hill today. Or when I say rounds and meetings, this is what he's supposed to be doing. The 63-year-old chief federal appeals court judge is schedule to meet with a number of lawmakers in advance of potential confirmation hearings. But we are hearing that many Republican members of Congress might conveniently be out to lunch when Judge Garland comes a knocking. CNN justice correspondent Pamela Brown has more on these potential political snubs.

I'm assuming he's meeting with a lot of Democrats, but is he meeting with any Republicans, Pamela?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, some Republicans actually, Brooke, are saying that they are open to meeting with Merrick Garland, including the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley. In fact, today he told reporters, if I'm willing to meet with dictators, then the least I could do is meet with Merrick Garland. So we're anticipating some of these meetings to happen after recess in a couple of weeks. But today Merrick Garland is meeting with Democratic senators and with -

BALDWIN: Oh, Pamela Brown, let me stop you right now. We have Marco Rubio, back at work, Capitol Hill. Let's dip in.

QUESTION: Are you going to support him?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: I don't have any announcement on that today. I'm still talking through with our folks. I'm - we're still in the process of thanking all the people that were helpful to us and until - you know, so, but I don't have anything to announce today.

QUESTION: What did you mean - what did you mean by that comment?

RUBIO: Well, I mean, clearly, I mean, Ted's positions on issues are conservative. So - but I don't have anything further to elaborate on in the - I don't have anything to announce today.

QUESTION: What about Kasich? What - given the issues, is he not conservative enough?

RUBIO: I like Governor Kasich. I just - that was my opinion.

QUESTION: Do you think that there is any - QUESTION: Do you think it's time, though, for Republicans to coalesce around one of the two candidates left in the race that's not Donald Trump to be able to stop him?

RUBIO: Yes, I mean, I think that's going to happen now that the race has narrowed even further and hopefully it's - there's time to still, you know, prevent a Trump nomination, which I think would fracture the party and be damaging to the conservative movement.

QUESTION: Would you consider being Cruz's vice president if -

[14:30:01] RUBIO: No, I'm not going to be anybody's vice president. I'm not - I'm just not going to - I don't want - I'm not interested in being vice president. I don't mean that in a disrespectful way. I'm not going to be vice president. I'm not running for governor of Florida. I'm going to finish out my term in the Senate over the next 10 months. We're going to work really hard --