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Clinton & Sanders Face Off in Debate Tonight; Warriors Set NBA Record to Start Season; Gov. Kasich Opens Up About His Campaign. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 11, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: -- diplomats and security officials, ISIS adapting on its own, as you say, now very much focusing on external attacks, trying to attack in Europe, even trying to attack here in the United States.

[06:30:13] The director of the Defense Intelligence Agency gave a very chilling assessment about this. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIEUTENANT GENERAL VINCENT R. STEWART, USMC, DIRECTOR OF THE DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: As the Paris attacks demonstrated, ISIL has become the most significant terrorist threat to the United States and our allies. ISIL will probably attempt to conduct additional attacks in Europe and attempt to direct attacks on the U.S. homeland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Attack on the U.S. homeland in 2016, this year. That is what the intelligence community believes could happen. ISIS now active in eight countries, very much a global threat -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Barbara, thank you very much.

Let's take a quick break here. Reminder -- you see that clock on your screen? That is the countdown to a very critical moment in the presidential race. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, going head- to-head in a debate tonight.

Everybody says Hillary Clinton needs to do something different. We have two Clinton supporters joining us next. Let's test what will work.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: This debate tonight -- it's big.

[06:35:00] It's big for Bernie Sanders. It's big for Hillary Clinton, especially after the loss in New Hampshire. It was a big loss across a lot of different categories that matter in this race.

So, we're hearing that it will be different tonight. Something's going to change coming out of Hillary Clinton. I wonder what it is. Who could tell us?

These two people, CNN political commentator, Democratic strategist and senior advisor on the former side for pro-Clinton super PAC, that's what Begala is doing right now. Paul Begala, you know him.

And with us, CNN political commentator and former Hillary Clinton presidential campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle.

Patti, I start with you. What was it like in Clinton headquarters yesterday? What kind of conversations were they having? Who was involved? What was the tone?

PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Well, look. I think the political night of my career was in 2008 in Des Moines in the Clinton suite after our brutal loss in the caucuses.

I suspect that the suite in Manchester was just as bad, if not worse. You know, as a staff person, you really sort of, A, feel guilty, what could we have done differently, what could we have done better, where could we put more resources, how do we recalibrate, how do we do better, obviously.

But they have to sort of shake it off, right? And you have to move forward. They have a debate tonight. They have another contest in ten days.

So, they have to reassess quickly. Then they have to move forward. And moving forward looks pretty good for Clinton right now.

You know, we're going to some states that favor her demographically. High populations of African-American voters, high populations of Hispanic voters. So, I think moving forward is going to get a little tougher for Bernie Sanders.

CUOMO: All right. But let's play on that theory of why. Why, Paul Begala, should we believe that African-Americans, that Latinos will naturally gravitate towards Hillary Clinton because of what happened 20 years ago?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's not what she's saying and it is not going to be natural. She's going to earn those votes because those voters are smart.

And here's why -- when you put the ideas on the track, Hillary has the better claim. Not only her experience being a senator elected twice from New York where she has actually worked with communities of color, but all the way back before she was famous, before the cameras were on her.

She went into South Carolina and helped investigate kids being put in adult prisons. Many of them were African-American. She went into Alabama, undercover investigating segregated academies that were being used to basically reinstate racial segregation in education. So, she's got a real history and a real claim.

Bernie has a good record, a very good record. But some of that will be teased out tonight, I suspect. I suspect what you'll see at the debate is either the moderators or Secretary Clinton raising the fact that Bernie Sanders was saying it would be a very good thing if somebody challenged Barack Obama and ran against him for re-election in the Democratic Party, challenged him from the left, that he has blurbed books criticizing President Obama.

President Obama got very high favorable among African-Americans and Latinos. I think you may see some of that. But they both have very strong records on those communities. Just Hillary, frankly, I think has a better claim.

CUOMO: Patti, what does she have to do tonight differently? Is it message? Is it tone? Does she play to the risk of going at Sanders? Is the condescension too big a risk? What do you think is going to be different?

DOYLE: Well, look, for the better part of nine months, Bernie Sanders has pretty much been ignored by the Republicans, by the media, and even by Hillary and her campaign.

I think now, after the results of Iowa and New Hampshire, that's all gone.

CUOMO: But how, Patti? How will we see it manifested tonight?

DOYLE: I think it is going to be manifested in the debate by the questions of the moderators and I think it is going to be manifested by Hillary Clinton.

I think it's a mistake to go negative against Bernie because who doesn't love Bernie Sanders? Democrats love Bernie Sanders. But I think it's very fair to point out differences in their policies, in their record, and how they're going to go about implementing this change.

CUOMO: But that's what they were doing, Paul, that's what they were doing in New Hampshire. What was the phrase -- draw contrast. They were drawing contrasts, the Hillary camp. Didn't work.

So, what do you have to do this time?

BEGALA: I do think Patti is exactly right, for both campaigns, by the way. Look, this is in --

CUOMO: Hold on a second. What do you mean?

BEGALA: Both campaigns have to be careful not to be too negative.

CUOMO: But when has Sanders been too negative?

BEGALA: My gosh, are you kidding?

CUOMO: You guys are throwing this around, Begala. Put meat on the bones.

BEGALA: OK. Speak English. I just said they're not being too negative. They shouldn't be too negative. But rubbing is racing.

CUOMO: Rubbing is racing. Did you just quote "Days of Thunder" to me on my own show, Begala?

[06:40:02] BEGALA: That's exactly. That's a NASCAR thing. I'm glad you got that.

CUOMO: What has Sanders done that comes even close to being an artful smear of Hillary Clinton?

BEGALA: Oh my Gosh. OK. Now that is exactly right.

He keeps saying and he needs to do this tonight -- here's some free advice for Senator Sanders. He keeps saying Hillary Clinton took donations from Wall Street. She gave speeches to Wall Street. That's true. He doesn't close the loop though and say and here's a vote she cast that helped Wall Street.

By the way, Bernie Sanders did. He cast a vote to deregulate derivatives which did help Wall Street. So --

CUOMO: Wasn't it president Clinton who forwarded the initiative to deregulate?

BEGALA: No. He signed it. It was passed by 95 votes.

CUOMO: So, signing -- Clinton doesn't have his mark on that anywhere?

BEGALA: Bill Clinton is not running, my brother.

DOYLE: That's exactly right.

BEGALA: Bernie Sanders has got to close the loop. You can't just say imply and smear through innuendo that, well, if you gave a speech, you must have been bought.

Look, Bernie Sanders voted against the Brady bill. The violence committed against people of color especially with guns is going to be a big, big issue for Bernie Sanders. But that's a vote. That's not just smearing saying you gave a speech somewhere.

I think Bernie has got to close that loop and say here's a vote you cast that helped Wall Street and he hasn't been payable to do it.

CUOMO: Patti, whenever Paul gets momentum, I do the same thing. I end the segment.

Thank you very much for being with us today. We wait anxiously for debate. Take care, Paul Begala.

All right. So tonight, this is the big moment. It is the debate on PBS simulcast here on CNN, 9:00 p.m. Eastern tonight. You can watch it.

What will we see out of Hillary Clinton? How will Bernie Sanders make the case? This is a whole new race and this is a major moment -- my man, John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I think you'll see something very, very different tonight. Thanks so much, Chris.

On another front, two legendary athletes. But there can be only one winner in a game of egg Russian roulette. Peyton Manning and Magic Johnson battle it out on the "Tonight Show".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:53] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning -- North Korea is now expelling all South Korean workers from a jointly run industrial park. The move is in response to the South announcing it would shut down operations at that park. The move was meant as punishment against Pyongyang for their recent rocket launch.

In the meantime, the U.S. Senate voted to enhance sanctions against North Korea because of its nuclear activity.

CUOMO: The Justice Department is suing the city of Ferguson, Missouri, after the city council there rejected an agreed upon plan to implement changes. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the reforms aimed to correct the pattern and practice of unconstitutional police conduct often targeting African-Americans.

The move followed months of protests after the police shooting of an unarmed teenager Michael Brown in 2014.

BERMAN: All right. An important question this morning: are the Golden State Warriors the best NBA team ever?

If you go by the first half record, the answer is yes, they are.

Andy Scholes with more on this morning's bleacher report -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

Yes, most teams have hit the all-star break and the Warriors are 48-4. That's the best first half start in NBA history. They were in phoenix last night closing out the first half.

Check this out. Two Suns players get into a shoving match. This is just three minutes into the game. I guess the Warriors will do that to you.

Now, here's Steph Curry in the third quarter. Watch, he gets the steal. What's Steph Curry do? Find the back pass to Klay Thompson for three. Warriors win this one 112-104.

All right. Peyton Manning was on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" last night. Now, Peyton didn't give any hints on whether he is retiring but he did have some fun with Magic Johnson in a game of egg Russian roulette.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEYTON MANNING, NFL PLAYER: Good to see you, buddy.

(LAUGHTER)

MAGIC JOHNSON, NBA HALL OF FAMER: I don't know.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: As you can see, Peyton Manning, unlike the Super Bowl, not coming out on top in this one. I think that would be a fun game for you guys to play.

PEREIRA: Don't give these guys any ideas. You have to be questioning an invitation from Jimmy Fallon when he invites you on the show.

All right, Andy. Thanks so much.

Ohio Governor John Kasich now taking his campaign momentum to the deep south. Does he think he can win in South Carolina? We'll ask him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:42] PEREIRA: Ohio Governor John Kasich is hoping to keep the momentum going into South Carolina and beyond after a strong second place finish in the New Hampshire primary.

Our CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel spoke with the governor about his campaign and she joins us now.

Jamie, good morning.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

You know, what a difference coming in second in New Hampshire can make. We talked about whether he can stay so Zen, which he claims he is. We talked about how he's going to respond to those negative attack ads that are already coming his way.

But we started by asking him just how he's going to compete here in South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GANGEL: Fasten your seatbelt. And you have exceeded expectations. But now, the pressure is on.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I don't have any more pressure -- you know --

GANGEL: Come on, you're in South Carolina now.

KASICH: But, look, look, look. Pressure is a mom that's got three kids and the husband walked out the door. Pressure is not what I'm doing.

I mean, you know, as long as I do what I think I need to do, whatever the outcome is, I'll be fine with. People were on our bus and interviewing me and looking at us for months. They come on the bus, they say it is like Zen. Why is everybody so calm?

So, you know, look. Life is short. How do I seem now? I mean, I'm calm and happy and grounded and centered. See, the thing is, when the big lights come on --

GANGEL: You keep using that word --

KASICH: Centered?

GANGEL: -- centered. Why?

KASICH: You know, you don't want to lose yourself in this. It is probably fool's gold. All of a sudden you go from, you're the governor of Ohio, and that's a big deal. Then all of a sudden you got 50 cameras on you. And you just can't be star struck with that because it is fleeting.

GANGEL: Jeb Bush went on the air this morning and he said, John Kasich has nothing in South Carolina. They're saying you have no money, you have no ground game. Can you compete here?

KASICH: Well, yes. We're going to compete here. We don't expect to win here.

But on the other hand, if you take a look at the person that says that, they spent like well over $100 million -- something along that -- and they got like nothing. I mean, you know, so I'm not worried about what the other folks say.

[06:55:04] And this is not -- this is not the end of it for us here in South Carolina. We will be moving through South Carolina to other places.

GANGEL: So you don't spent to win here.

KASICH: Oh, no. No. No.

GANGEL: Some of these other states, the attack ads are already on the air. Are you going to hit back?

KASICH: Well, I'm not going to sit there and be a marshmallow, or some kind of a pin cushion, people just pound me. I mean where I come from, the blue-collar town that I come from, if you came in and beat our football team, we just broke all the windows on your bus. I mean, you know, that's just a joke, by the way. But I mean, the fact is I'm not going to just sit there and let somebody pound on me.

The money's coming though. Everybody wants to sit at the table. Not everybody, maybe, but my early reports are people who sat around and said, you know, I like Kasich, he's smart, he's experienced, he'd be a great president -- but he's at 1 percent in the polls so what am I going to do? I'm not going to help him.

Now, all of a sudden, they're like how do I get a seat at the table. So I think all these things will come, over time -- or they won't! I mean, either they will or they won't.

GANGEL: When did John Kasich get this Zen?

KASICH: I've had it for a long time now.

GANGEL: You didn't always show it though.

KASICH: Well, look. That one, you covered me in Congress. You don't know how hard it is to be a congressman and have an impact. I was constantly fighting the establishment. So you can't like just walk around, la-di-da.

You know, now, I'm an executive, I'm running for president. It's a different situation. Now, when I say things, you know, particularly in Ohio, I get people to do things. Back then I had to take a battering ram to knock down the walls of the city.

GANGEL: Reality check. Donald Trump came in --

KASICH: Really strong.

GANGEL: -- more than double your numbers. He has not hit you very hard. But in the past, you've called him a bully.

KASICH: I don't think I called him any names.

GANGEL: You called him a bully.

KASICH: Well, if I did that, I don't remember it because I usually try to -- I always try to stay on the issues. What upset me about him in the beginning was, picked up 11.5 million and ship them on a bus to Mexico and dividing people. I don't like that.

But, look, he's calmed down actually. He's settled down. Look, it is a long road.

GANGEL: But you think you can compete against him.

KASICH: Yes, over time, I sure do. What do you think I'd be doing down here. I'd go home if I didn't think I could compete. Of course I think I can compete.

You know what? You got to remember in this 24/7 news cycle, the narrative changes like the flip. One minute you're dead, the next minute you're alive, the next minute you're dead, the next minute you're alive.

You know, I am going to continue to enjoy this road I'm on. How do you like that? Whether you guys like it or not, I'm going to try to enjoy it.

GANGEL: Talk to me about having fun. You really did seem relax.

KASICH: Yes.

GANGEL: I saw you playing basketball, preparing for a debate. I saw you have a snowball fight. That was a long snowball fight. That was not just --

KASICH: I will to take care of some business there.

GANGEL: I've also seen you bust some moves in Michigan.

KASICH: I busted some moves, yes.

GANGEL: In Michigan.

KASICH: "Shut Up and Dance with Me", I don't know if you've ever heard that song.

GANGEL: It is my daughter's favorite song. And you know all the words.

KASICH: I don't know all the words but I like the music. The other one was -- we're really enjoying Harrison's "Here Comes the Sun", you know, we just love that song.

We kid each other and joke. You know, we're always -- why did the skeleton not go to the party? Because he had no body to go with him.

I mean, we just laugh. We tease each other. But you can't be in this group and have a thin skin, because we come after you. We all get our turn in being in the pot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Jamie, I'm a big proponent of having some fun. I think it makes us a well balanced person if we're able to smile and laugh at ourselves.

This Zen though. Did you get a sense that he is going to have to -- he knows he has to change his tactic moving forward as the attacks and the target on his back grows?

GANGEL: Look, this is not his first rodeo, as we say. He's run before. He knows what it's like. He said he's not going to be a marshmallow, a pin cushion.

Let's not forget this -- he grew up in Pittsburgh. When he tells that story about the football game came and they would break the windows, next to the word "scrappy" in the dictionary is a picture of John Kasich. He knows how to handle himself.

So I think it's true, he wants to stay Zen and he's going to try to stay Zen. How many candidates are dancing to "Shut Up and Dance with Me."

On the other hand, he knows how to handle himself in a fight. Let's put it that way.

PEREIRA: Yes, he sure does.

All right. Jamie, great get. Great conversation. Thanks so much.

GANGEL: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Following a lot of news. Let's get right to it.