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Trump Faces Fury Over Abortion Comments; Sanders and Clinton Stump in New York; Presidential Campaigns Battle for New York. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired March 31, 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] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it just helps outs when the community steps up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Do you know why this is a good stuff? Because she raised enough to buy the K-9 a bullet proof vest.
CAMEROTA: That is beautiful.
LEMON: Yes.
CAMEROTA: Thank you for that, Don. Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.
Good morning, Carol.
LEMON: Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks so much you guys. Have a great day.
NEWSROOM starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, abortion uproar.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There has to be some form of punishment.
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC ANCHOR: For the woman?
TRUMP: Yes. There has to be some form.
COSTELLO: Trump now back-tracking. His rivals pouncing.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I strongly disagree.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Of course women shouldn't be punished.
COSTELLO: The Democrats' responses even more brutal.
Also --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The risk of nuclear terrorism was real.
COSTELLO: President Obama gathering with world leaders this morning, pushing to lockdown bomb-making materials. Why the goal is taking on extra urgency.
Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
The Donald Trump political machine, it may have a reverse gear after all. The Republican frontrunner igniting a firestorm that's managed to anger both sides of the abortion debate. In an interview on MSNBC Trump said if abortion were outlawed any woman who violates that ban should be punished. He later abandoned that stand amid great outcry and his campaign is trying to walk it back again today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATRINA PIERSON, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: This was during a discussion with Chris Matthews. And it was off the cuff, not scripted, and when he said should there be punishment he said yes. Chris Matthews says for women, he says yes. Again not distinguishing the fact that it's the actual procedure that would be illegal. That's exactly why he issued the statement clarifying.
Donald Trump is pro-life with exceptions. He does not support penalizing women for having an abortions even when they are illegal, and that's why he clarified that.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Then why did he say that?
PIERSON: But my point is -- my point because it was a misspeak. How many times do I have to say that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Phil Mattingly is live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, five days before that state's primary, with more on this.
Good morning, Phil.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Carol. Donald Trump's campaign up to this point -- very successful campaign up to this point has been defined by his ability to walk into very dangerous political situations and somehow walk unscathed or sitting even higher in the polls. Now he may be confronting something that doesn't actually allow that to happen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATTHEWS: And this is not something you dodge.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump smack in the center of another controversy, this time abortion. In a town hall with MSNBC's Chris Matthews, the frontrunner stating that women who get abortions should face, quote, "some form of punishment," if the procedure were to be outlawed.
MATTHEWS: Do you believe --
TRUMP: No, but --
MATTHEWS: Do you believe in punishment for abortion? Yes or no, as a principle?
TRUMP: The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.
MATTHEWS: For the woman?
TRUMP: Yes, there has to be some form.
MATTHEWS: Ten cents, 10 years, what?
TRUMP: That I don't know. That I don't know.
MATTHEWS: Why not?
TRUMP: I don't know.
MATTHEWS: You take positions on everything else.
TRUMP: I do take positions on everything else. It's a very complicated position.
MATTHEWS: How do you ban abortion without some kind of sanction? Then you get in a very tricky question of a sanction. A fine on human life? Would you call it murder?
TRUMP: It'll have to be --
MATTHEWS: A fine?
TRUMP: Well --
MATTHEWS: Imprisonment for a young woman who finds herself pregnant?
TRUMP: It will have to be determined.
MATTHEWS: What about the guy that gets her pregnant? Is he responsible under the law for these abortions? Or is he not responsible for an abortion procedure?
TRUMP: Right. It hasn't -- different feelings, different people.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
TRUMP: I would say no.
MATTINGLY: The backlash, fast, furious and bipartisan. Trump's rivals on both sides of the abortion issue quick to pounce and reject the notion.
KASICH: But of course women shouldn't be punished. I don't think that's an appropriate response and it's a difficult enough situation than to try to punish somebody.
CRUZ: Donald's comments, they were unfortunate. They were wrong, and I strongly disagree.
MATTINGLY: Anti-abortion groups and Democratic presidential candidates all lining up to criticize the comments.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When he was asked whether women should be punished, he said yes, and that is absolutely unacceptable. It is outrageous.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To punish a woman for having an abortion is beyond comprehension.
MATTINGLY: Amid the firestorm, Trump's campaign uncharacteristically backtracking, quickly issuing this statement, attempting to clarify his remarks. Quote, "This issue is unclear and should be put back into the states for determination. Like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions."
Within a few hours, another statement, a complete reversal of the first, saying, if abortion were made illegal, quote, "the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman. The woman is a victim in this case, as is the life in her womb."
His son coming to his defense, tweeting, "Be fair. Was asked if it was illegal, should there be punishment? Shouldn't there be consequences for breaking laws?"
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[09:05:03] MATTINGLY: Now, Carol, one of the most interesting elements of the last kind of 12 to 16 hours dealing with this has been watching the pro-life groups. Not only did they distance themselves immediately from Trump's original comments but in talking to a few individuals from the groups over the last day or so. They've been pointing to a series of kind of tells in how Donald Trump has spoken about this that make them very weary of his knowledge of the subject matter.
Also something Ted Cruz pointed out in his statement saying Donald Trump simply didn't know what he was talking about on this.
Now Donald Trump is facing these issues just the day after his campaign manager was charged with a misdemeanor for simple battery for grabbing a female reporter, and Carol, this is part of a pattern now that Donald Trump's opponents are pointing to. His unfavorability rating with female voters across the country repeatedly in polling showing above 70 percent. So this is an issue that Donald Trump has to deal with. Not only on the micro level but also on a macro level.
And as you mentioned, just five days away from Wisconsin and he's trailing Ted Cruz in the poll here -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Phil Mattingly, reporting live from Milwaukee this morning. Thank you.
Mr. Trump's 24 hours of mayhem, as Politico put it, is more than just a bump on the campaign trail. You heard what Phil said. Trump's support among women is now abysmal in the all important state of Wisconsin. Take a look. A new Marquette University poll found 76 percent of Republican women in Wisconsin have an unfavorable view of Mr. Trump. And that fact does not escape Senator Ted Cruz who campaigned in Madison yesterday. An event he declared a celebration of women. He took to the stage with his wife, his mother and Carly Fiorina. After that he flew into the Jimmy Kimmel show to bash Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: Donald is a unique individual. I will say I was watching the early part of the show. And if I were in my car and getting ready to reverse and saw Donald in the back up camera --
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: I'm not confident which pedal I'd push.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. Let's talk about this and more. I want to bring in two of our CNN political commentators. Donald Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany and host of the "Ben Ferguson Show" Ben Ferguson.
Welcome to both of you.
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Good morning.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: So let's ponder Trump's abortion comments. Some analysts say Trump changed his tune three times in one day because he's not a real Republican. He doesn't understand the platform. Listen to what Dr. Ben Carson told my colleague Erin Burnett.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BEN CARSON (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bear in mind, I don't believe that he was warned that that question was coming. And I don't think he really had a chance to really think about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Abortion is a complicated personal issue and Mr. Trump didn't have time to think about it, Kayleigh?
MCENANY: I think in the interview, as he was answering questions, when you're in the middle of an answer and a host interrupts you to press you further as you are trying to develop your thoughts and give an answer, it's very understandable that you're going to be thrown off. And there are some hosts, some reporters out there in the media who are foaming at the mouth to try to get Donald Trump to misspeak. They want a sound bite. They want a 15-second piece in a long interview, a long town hall so that they can play it over and over and over and try to topple Donald Trump.
That's not everyone's goal but that certainly was Chris Matthews' goal last night, was to get Donald Trump to stumble or to falter on anything.
FERGUSON: Kayleigh --
MCENANY: And he did. He succeeded. And so we're talking about a misspeak over and over and over.
COSTELLO: OK. So Ben --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Kayleigh is blaming the media. Is that fair?
FERGUSON: Yes. This is as simple as asking somebody their name or their date of birth. You should be able to answer a question when you are Republican running for the presidency about abortion and not say it is an "I gotcha" question or the media is picking on me. This is Donald Trump the fraud being exposed. He doesn't know what he believes on abortion because he's had to change his position to what he thinks people want to hear.
If you truly have a corset of values as a Republican presidential candidate, you know why you believe what you believe first off an abortion and you certainly know how to explain it when you're running for the White House.
Donald Trump was not picked on yesterday. Abortion has never been an "I gotcha" question when you are running for the presidency. You know it's going to be asked. If for no other reason because of how it relates to the Supreme Court and "Roe v. Wade." Donald Trump is a guy that was in favor of partial birth abortion as late as 2000. Now he's trying to act as if he is a conservative when he does not understand this issue.
He was attacked because he doesn't know what he's talking about on abortion. This is not an "I gotcha" question. This is a fair question and if you are running for president you should be able to answer this without flip-flopping three times in three hours.
Let me also say this. [09:10:02] His own son was contradicting the campaign when they were
fixing this problem. If your own son doesn't know how you feel on abortion, I think it's pretty clear that Donald Trump doesn't know how he feels on abortion because his own son couldn't even follow him and couldn't explain it away and was contradicting the campaign of Donald Trump. This is pathetic and Donald Trump does not know what he thinks on abortion.
COSTELLO: Kayleigh, let me ask you the question this way. Women voters seem to have the upper hand now. You saw the polling, right? 76 percent of women in the state of Wisconsin have an unfavorable view of Mr. Trump. So as a woman, as a Republican woman, what do you hope Mr. Trump will say to heal the wounds?
MCENANY: I think he did what he needed to do. He came out and he clarified. And look, I think it's a misnomer that women in this country walk around thinking about abortion all day. It's an important issue, of course it is. But most women care about jobs. They care about --
COSTELLO: But it's more about abortion, Kayleigh. That poll is taking into account many things Mr. Trump said about women that they don't like. 76 percent is an incredibly high unfavorable finding in a poll, don't you think?
MCENANY: Sure. But we also have the fact that of the 16 states that CNN has done exit polls in Donald Trump has won women in 12 of them and high among women in one of them. So Donald Trump has done better in this race among women than any candidate including Ted Cruz.
FERGUSON: Carol.
MCENANY: So -- and also the latest CNN poll showed that he is ahead of Ted Cruz by 14 points with women. So there is contradictory data out there to suggest he has done well among women.
FERGUSON: Carol.
MCENANY: And in fact he's done the best in this race.
COSTELLO: Ben, go ahead. Ben, go ahead.
FERGUSON: Carol, this -- this literally summarizes the insanity of Donald Trump's last 24 hours. He came out as a conservative or claiming he's a conservative and said we should punish women for having an abortion. He also says that Planned Parenthood does great work. The only reason -- the only reason why you can explain these two extreme positions by Donald Trump is, he has no idea what his own beliefs are on abortion or -- maybe what he does believe he realized it doesn't fit the Republican platform and it doesn't fit the process here.
You cannot punish women and conservatives, evangelical Christians and every other candidate in the Republican field understands. You don't punish a woman for having abortion ever, period. If you want to punish a doctor for doing an illegal procedure, if abortion was illegal, that is something you can say. But Donald Trump didn't say that. This is not a misspeak and I'm tired of people acting like this is just a misspeak here.
MCENANY: You don't know that.
FERGUSON: This is Donald Trump --
(CROSSTALK)
MCENANY: I'm glad that you have access to Donald Trump's mind, Ben.
FERGUSON: Yes, I do know because Donald Trump said it. Donald Trump is a smart guy.
MCENANY: I'm glad you have access to his mind.
FERGUSON: I will give him that.
COSTELLO: OK. Well, let -- let Kayleigh have her say.
Kayleigh, last word for you.
MCENANY: You were saying categorically that this was not a misspeak. I'm glad, Ben Ferguson, you have access to Donald Trump's mind. None of us do. Only Donald Trump does.
FERGUSON: No. I take him at his word. He's a smart guy.
MCENANY: And you are categorically saying this is not a misspeak. I take him at his word and he came out and he said this is my policy, so if you take him at his word, you'll take him at his last word.
COSTELLO: All right.
FERGUSON: And he switched the policy three times in three hours.
COSTELLO: I have to -- I have to leave it there. I have to leave it there.
Kayleigh McEnany, Ben Ferguson, thanks to both of you.
MCENANY: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a lot at stake in New York state and don't Democrats know it. Both candidates hitting the Big Apple today.
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[09:17:31] COSTELLO: Wisconsin is the next big battleground in the presidential race with that state's primary next Tuesday. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are too close to call when you factor in the margin of error. He is hoping for another big win in the upper Midwest, much like his upset victory in Michigan. And Sanders needs it. He lags far behind Clinton in the all-important delegate count. So today both are stumping in New York where some 250 delegates are up for grabs next month.
CNN's Joe Johns is in Washington with more on this. Hi Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hi Carol, the campaign for New York with its huge haul of delegates is just about to hit stride now. The Sanders camp this morning trying to start some buzz on social media about an event in the Bronx. Hillary Clinton also just got it going with her kickoff in Harlem. Both candidates have New York ties, though the latest Quinnipiac poll suggests Hillary Clinton, a former senator from New York, currently hold a 12 point home state advantage over Sanders and a wide lead in the hypothetical match up against Republican frontrunner Donald Trump as well as Ted Cruz.
Secretary Clinton was out slamming the Republicans just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLiP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On the Republicans side, what we're hearing is truly scary. When Donald Trump talks casually about using torture and allowing more countries to get nuclear weapons, or when Ted Cruz calls for treating American Muslims like criminals and racially profiling predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, that doesn't make them sound strong. It makes them sound in over their heads.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Bernie Sanders is just a few ticks ahead in a neck and neck race in Wisconsin and once again he's hoping his appeal for high turnout puts him over the top in a state that can be progressive friendly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a little prejudiced about this. We have won 6 out of the 7 last caucuses being held. And we seem to always do well when the voter turnout is high. We don't do so well when the voter turnout is low. I myself am prejudiced; I'd like to see a large voter turnout.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: The Sanders campaign hoping to make a big splash with a Bronx event that is supposed to feature Spike Lee, Harry Belafonte, and actress Rosario Dawson. Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Joe Johns reporting live from Washington. Thank you.
[09:20:02] CNN has learned that Team Clinton is preparing for a New York sized battle against Bernie Sanders, preparing to spend more money than planned in a bid to win the state's primary in just over two weeks. Some 247 delegates are at stake, 10 percent of the total needed to capture that Democratic nomination. And during a rally at Harlem's Apollo Theater, Clinton had this to say about her Democratic rival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Any candidate comes before you, that candidate owes it to you to be clear about how we're actually going to deliver. Now my opponent and I share many of the same goals, but some of his ideas for how to get there won't pass. Others just won't work because the numbers don't add up. And that means people aren't going to get the help that they need and deserve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So you can see Hillary Clinton is talking trash against Bernie Sanders.
Joining me now to discuss the Democrat's battle for the Big Apple is Chris Smith, contributing editor for "New York Magazine". Thanks for stopping by.
CHRIS SMTIH, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": Thanks for having me.
COSTELLO: So I think it is amazing; normally -- well, you know, most of the country has a negative view of New York and New York City. Yet three of the top candidates are New Yorkers -- Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump.
CHRIS SMITH: It is weird, isn't it?
COSTELLO: It is.
SMITH: But I'll push back a little bit. I mean, after September 11, there was a vogue of people saying we're all New Yorkers now. And it goes beyond that. I mean, look at New York's tourism numbers. We set records every year. That's domestic as well as international.
COSTELLO: But people come here and visit and then they go home and they say, "Ugh."
SMITH: Maybe they don't want to live here, OK, but if you go even a little further, you know, the country broadly looks more like New York all the time. We're more racially and ethnically diverse. The country has, as a whole, become somewhat more liberal over time. New York is still out in front on both of those angles, but New York is not so much different than the rest of the country likes to think of itself.
And then when you get into politics, you know, you look at Bernie Sanders, certainly New York roots. Grew up in Brooklyn. But left in 1960 and has been a national socialist liberal ever since. You know, h's got family here but he's been out of New York forever. Hillary --
COSTELLO: But he still has the Brooklyn accent though, right?
SMITH: Yes.
COSTELLO: And you would think that would be a turn off to some voters out there, but young people seem to love that about him.
SMITH: Certainly, because he's tapped into issues that cut across, you know, geographic roots. He has tapped into the anti- establishment, populist, anti-Wall Street crowd. Hillary, you know, moved here only in 2000. Some people at the time called her a carpetbagger and whether she really lives here completely, you know, could be argued as well, but she's been a national figure a long time. Donald Trump --
COSTELLO: So can Bernie Sanders catch up and beat Hillary Clinton?
SMITH: Well, it's interesting. You showed that poll, the Pew poll that came out this morning. It looks like a big lead, 12 points. That's actually down from what earlier polls showed where Hillary was up 20 and 30 points. Yes, maybe they were too soon. But if Sanders were to win Wisconsin next week, it gives him momentum. New York, people forget, has a very large college age, particularly in the city, population. You know, those are folks who have been Sanders voters, who have been passionate. Hillary is out there working hard. Bill Clinton I think is doing four rallies today with African-American and Latino voters. So they'd like to put it away. They'd also like it not to be as close as it seems to be.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about Donald Trump because, you know, Ted Cruz has accused him of having New York values, right? I think when people look at Mr. Trump, they see New York. So which is the real New York? Is it Mr. Trump? Is it Hillary Clinton? Is it Bernie Sanders?
SMITH: You knw, tere is a lot of New York that would like to disown Trump. He's lived here his entire life but, you know, calling him the most authentic New Yorker has always grated on people. He again has been a national figure for a very long time through his TV shows. And, you know, he reflects an older white New York that has a lot, you know, of anger about how the lower middle class and middle class is fading, not just in the city but nationally. He has certainly tapped into that. You know, he should win easily over Cruz and Kasich. But, you know, the Republican population in New York is a tiny thing.
COSTELLO: In New York City, because when you -- I think -- Quinnipiac did a recent poll and I think if you pit Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump in New York City, she has 68 percent, and I think she had -- let me look -- anyway, beats her (sic) by a whopping double digits. But when you include the entire State of New York, the margin is much smaller. There like, she's only like 3 points ahead of him, or something like that.
[09:25:01] SMITH: And Trump has tapped into genuine anxieties not just in New York but nationally about economic opportunity, about terrorism. Those are things New Yorkers care about. You know, his garishness, his boarishness, his misogyny, are things that New Yorkers have been familiar with for a very long time. I think that's something that has gotten lost, as maybe a subplot here, is how New Yorkers, particularly in the media, couldn't believe that the rest of the country would take Trump seriously given our 40 years of exposure to him.
COSTELLO: Chris Smith, thanks for stopping by.
SMITH: Thanks for havingg me.
COSTELLO: I appreciate it.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, why President Obama says the United States can't go it alone when it comes to keeping nukes away from terrorists.
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