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At This Hour
Republican Presidential Debate Highlights; Winners, Losers in Presidential Debate; Did Bush Attempts Takedown of Trump. Aired 11- 11:30a ET
Aired September 17, 2015 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I watched pretty much through the whole thing. I struggled through the last hour.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: I think it was impressive that Jake Tapper was able to sit there for so many hours and moderate.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: I wonder how many Red Bulls he drank during the night.
(LAUGHTER)
Brian Stelter, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
STELTER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.
AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts right now.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman, live in Simi Valley, California, site of last night's Republican presidential debate. There was politics, there was drama, even comedy. Maybe a sitcom with the title 11's Company.
BOLDUAN: That doesn't sound so good.
BERMAN: But the stakes were no joke. The CNN debate could reorder the race for 2016.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. What was more of a marathon than a race last night, they got personal, they got feisty, they got confrontational, and also went deep into policy, with some very memorable one-liners all along the way, all packed into three hours that could change everything.
There are so many highlights. Here are just a few.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: First of all, Rand Paul shouldn't even be on this stage. He's number 11, he's got 1 percent in the polls, and how he got up here. There's far too many people anyway.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R), FLORIDA & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I also know that California has a drought. That's why I made sure I brought my own water.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: What I am far and away greater than an entertainer is a businessman.
SCOTT WALKER, (R), WISCONSIN GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're not talking about real issues.
And, Mr. Trump, we don't need an apprentice in the White House. We have one right now.
DR. BEN CARSON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & RETIRED NEUROSURGEON: I, in no way, am willing to get into bed with special interest groups or lick the boots of billionaires.
TRUMP: I get along with everybody. That was my job, to get along with people.
(CROSSTALK)
JEB BUSH, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: But the simple fact is --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Excuse me. One second.
BUSH: No. The simple fact is, Donald, they --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: More energy tonight. I like that.
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: They have sponsored terrorist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah, and they've threatened the very essence of Western civilization.
SEN. RAND PAUL, (R), KENTUCKY & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every time we've toppled a secular dictator, we've gotten chaos, the rise of radical Islam, and we're more at risk. So I think we need to think before we act and know that most interventions if not a lot of them in the Middle East have actually backfired on us.
HUCKABEE: I thought that everybody here passed ninth grade civics. The courts cannot legislate.
CARLY FIORINA, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER CEO, HEWLETT- PACKARD: I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said. (APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I think she's got a beautiful face, and I think she's a beautiful woman.
CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's ask Hillary Clinton. She believes in the systematic murder of children in the womb to preserve their body parts in a way that maximizes their value for sale for profit.
FIORINA: Iran and Planned Parenthood, one has something to do with the defense of the security of this nation, the other has something to do with the defense of the character of this nation.
TRUMP: I want to build a wall, a wall that works.
FIORINA: Immigration did not come up in 2016 because Mr. Trump brought it up. We have been talking about it for 25 years.
TRUMP: This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish.
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: Well, I've been speaking English here tonight.
JOHN KASICH, (R), OHIO GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's just stop for a second. There's one person on this stage that does have a record.
FIORINA: Mrs. Clinton is going to have to defend her track record, her track record of lying about her e-mails, about lying about her servers.
TRUMP: I am the only person on this dais, the only person that fought very, very hard against us, and I wasn't a sitting politician, going into Iraq.
BUSH: As it relates to my brother, there's one thing I know for sure. He kept us safe. I don't know if you remember --
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: -- Donald --
GIGOT: We can see how many people smoked pot in high school.
(LAUGHTER)
JAKE TAPPER, DEBATE MODERATOR: Is there somebody you were specifically thinking of?
TRUMP: Well, the thing is --
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: He was talking about me. GIGOT: Yeah.
BUSH: 40 years ago, I smoked marijuana. And I admit it. I'm sure that other people might have done it and may not want to say it in front of 25 million people. My mom's not happy that I just did.
TAPPER: Dr. Carson, you just heard his medical take.
(LAUGHTER)
CARSON: He's an OK doctor.
(APPLAUSE)
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Want to bring in Sean Spicer, the chief strategist and communications director for the Republican National Committee.
Sean, thank you so much for being with us.
SEAN SPICER, CHIEF STRATEGIST & CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Thanks for having me.
BERMAN: We'll give you the first indication of what the TV ratings are. Football-level ratings right now. A lot of people watched this. So, I imagine very successful for the Republican National Committee. What did you think watching last night?
SPICER: Look, like you said, the ratings are coming in. We're hearing over 20 million people watched, highest event in CNN history. There were over 1 million people that were watching this live on the Internet. The interest, enthusiasm and intensity we're seeing around this field is unbelievable. It speaks volumes to the quality and diversity of the candidates we have on that stage.
BOLDUAN: Did Carly Fiorina win the main stage, Sean?
(LAUGHTER)
SPICER: Great question. Not one I'm going to answer. I think Carly had a great night. I look at all those candidates. Each of them had their moment. That was the beauty of last night. They had the time to articulate something about themselves, a position they had, a vision they wanted to get around. And it's up ultimately to the voters out there that watched last night, the 20 million plus people to say, hey, I like what I heard there. I don't like what I heard there. And help move the process along. This was a really, really good night for both the Republican Party and I think for CNN.
[11:05:27] BERMAN: Now, next debate is when, October 26th?
SPICER: October 28th.
BERMAN: October 28th.
SPICER: In Colorado. In Boulder. It's going to be a CNBC debate. We look forward to that.
BERMAN: 11 candidates on the main stage last night, 4 candidates on the undercard debate. Will there be that many candidates on October 28th?
SPICER: I doubt there will be an undercard. I think the criteria will still be going forward. CNBC has yet to publish it. We'll be talking to them in the coming days.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: What does that mean? We won't have an undercard?
BERMAN: Yeah, what does that mean?
SPICER: Well, we've got to look at see where we are six weeks from now. You saw Governor Perry drop out. The undercard turns into an interview. I think we need to see where the race stands in a couple weeks and make a decision what's best for the party, what's best for the candidates and go forward.
BERMAN: Is it possible, though, if candidates don't drop out, that you will not invite as many candidates to a single debate?
SPICER: I think part of this comes down to, I think the chairman and the folks at CNBC will have a discussion in the coming weeks about, you know, what we want it to look like. CNBC's going to talk to us about criteria. Then we'll have a discussion --
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Could there be more than 11, then?
SPICER: In theory, when you set a criteria, you say, this is what it takes to get into a debate. I think it looked like a pretty crowded stage last night.
BOLDUAN: Sure did.
SPICER: But we had plenty of time for everyone to get their position across. That was good. I think 11 was -- you know, there was lack of elbow room at the table.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: It's hard to throw that elbow jab.
SPICER: It was.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: It sounds like Sean is making news saying maybe only one debate next time. I don't want to put words in your mouth. Deny it if I'm wrong.
SPICER: No, I think we have to look at where the race is going. I'm not saying yes or no. The chairman of the party, Reince Priebus, will talk to the folks at CNBC. We sat down with both FOX and CNN early in this process and said, because we have such an historic number of folks on stage, we think that we would like to see a larger debate night, where we had two segments. Quiet as we head into November, right before the Iowa caucuses, is that still the case? Are there that number of candidates that justify a second debate on debate night? We'll have to have that conversation.
BOLDUAN: Each debate is that more consequential. We'll see every single debate we've been at, CNN's debate, unbiased opinion here, very good.
BERMAN: Yeah, best ever.
BOLDUAN: Unbiased.
BERMAN: Objectively speaking, the best ever, you'd agree?
SPICER: I'd say I'm very pleased with all the debates, all the candidates. I really enjoy the process right now. I think the American people are the big winners. They're tuning in and seeing the diversity of this field. The quality of people that we're putting out there and all the way down from the undercard all the way up to the main stage. You're talking about real serious people with real serious solutions for this --
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Yeah. Not just one-liners. The amount of time talking about the Iran deal in the main stage debate, I think speaks volumes about where the important issues are.
BERMAN: Sean Spicer, none of us have slept much. Thanks for coming in.
SPICER: Thanks for having me.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Your face looks great.
SPICER: Thank you. Your persona is fantastic.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: That speaks volumes in and of itself right there.
We'll pick up the discussion about the winners and losers, the best and worst moments.
Also, we're going to speak with the man a lot of people thought won what may be the last undercard debate of this campaign cycle. Lindsey Graham will join us live AT THIS HOUR.
BOLDUAN: And also coming up, Carly Fiorina praised by the pundits but one of her opponents, Chris Christie, taking her on, taking on her performance, criticizing it, even this morning. We'll hear what he's jumping on today.
We're live from the Reagan Presidential Library. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:12:24] BERMAN: We are live at the Reagan presidential debate. The smoke is still clearing. This debate was all of four minutes long before there was a very personal, not so nice exchange between Senator Rand Paul and Donald Trump. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: I think really there's a sophomoric quality that is entertaining about Mr. Trump, but I am worried. I'm very concerned about him -- having him in charge of the nuclear weapons because I think his response, his visceral response to attack people on their appearance, short, tall, fat, ugly, my goodness, that happened in junior high. Are we not way above that and would we not all be worried to have someone like that in charge of the nuclear arsenal?
TAPPER: Mr. Trump?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I never attacked him on his look. And, believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Boom. The hammer falls.
BOLDUAN: Drop the mic. But it only began there.
Here to discuss all the winners and losers, CNN national political reporter, Maeve Reston; Brett O'Donnell, the president of O'Donnell & Associates, who has also helped Lindsey Graham with his debate prep; and CBN chief political correspondent, Dave Brody.
A lot to discuss, guys.
David, first to you.
You interviewed -- you sat down and interviewed Donald Trump many times. Very recently. We just talked about that yesterday. I want to get your take on Trump's performance. One thing a lot of folks noted, the more they weeded into in-depth policy talk, the quieter Donald Trump seemed to get.
DAVID BRODY, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING NETWORK: I think that's true. Having said that, I thought it was a decent performance. You got not ten people attacking him, because Huckabee and Cruz didn't, but majority did, and if you're still standing, and you'll probably see an uptick in his supporters, that's a good night for a front-runner who leaves relatively unscathed. He'll put out a tax proposal, the key for Trump. Start changing, shifting the conversation to what he wants to talk about. He'll be on economic terms. Come the next debate when they'll talk tax policy, and that's going to help him.
MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Right. Great point.
BERMAN: It's interesting. The first debate, for better or worse, was a Trump debate.
Maeve, this one, even if you accept David's premise Trump wasn't bad, it was more of a Carly Fiorina debate.
RESTON: I thought Trump was actually pretty flat for the second half of the debate. He got his zingers in the first hour and then seemed to lose energy, in his own words, right? I think what was so interesting is that Fiorina had a great debate. Jeb had some strong moments. And a lot of the times, what was so fascinating, is they were keying off insults Donald Trump had hurled weeks ago and finally got their lines down on that front. I think it gave voters a lot to consider. And I think that many voters are waiting to hear a little bit more from Donald Trump on the policy front. He keeps saying, couple weeks, couple weeks. It's coming. My policies are coming. But so far that hasn't hurt him in the polls. We'll see whether that changes after last night.
[11:15:35] BOLDUAN: Another person everyone is talking about, your man, Lindsey Graham, in the undercard debate, saying he absolutely shined. You're the man who helped prep him.
Let's listen to one of his highlight moments from last night. I want to get your insight on how that all went down. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R), SOUTH CAROLINA & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ronald Reagan did a couple of really big things that we should all remember. He sat down with Tip O'Neill, the most liberal guy in the entire House. They started drinking together. That's the first thing I'm going to do as president, we're going to drink more.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Everyone on this set whole-heartedly supports that move.
(LAUGHTER)
Despite that, Brett, you helped pretty him. What was so different for prep between debate one and debate two. Everyone calls him vintage Lindsey Graham. BRETT O'DONNELL, PRESIDENT, O'DONNELL & ASSOCIATES: I said, go be
yourself, the person we know and love, and show that to the American people. That's what he did. He's affable, funny, serious on foreign policy --
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: But what changed him? I'm sure you gave him the same advice in debate one.
O'DONNELL: Having an audience was a big help for him. There was no audience for the first debate. And I think that hurt everyone on that stage. I think having the audience, being here in this beautiful setting at the Reagan Library, I think that really turned the juices on.
BERMAN: Brett's too modest to say because he listened to me this time around.
(LAUGHTER)
Let me ask quickly about Carly Fiorina, because one of the questions is, how will she play now that more since the country has seen the types of things she's done on the stump for some time. Can Carly Fiorina draw from Ben Carson support, from the outside support? Do you expect, David, to see a rise in her numbers?
BRODY: No question about it. A lot of people talk about -- when they talk about the evangelical vote, they talk about Huckabee. Let's remember Carly Fiorina. There's three types of evangelical voters. There's the "I'm sick of the evangelical voters." As an outsider, Carly Fiorina plays there. The "solutions-oriented evangelical voter," Carly Fiorina playing in that bracket, too. And then the "wear it on your sleeve Christian," wants the best Christian candidate, Carly Fiorina -- and we've had many conversations about that -- talking about Jesus very personally. We have interviews of her talking about how she gave her life to Christ. She plays in all three brackets. I think that will be a story line to watch.
RESTON: And she did that here in California, of all places, when she was running for Senate, which was interesting. You know, she ended up getting Sarah Palin's endorsement, galvanized evangelicals in that race. So we'll see how that plays.
BERMAN: Of course, they were able to undercut her with her business record, which is something we'll discuss in a bit. We'll hear more about that in the coming days.
Maeve Reston, David Brody, Brett O'Donnell, great to have you with us.
BOLDUAN: Great to see you.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, guys. Coming up for us, we're going to speak live with Jeb Bush's campaign
about his marijuana admission and the line that got one of the biggest applauses of the night.
BERMAN: Plus, Hillary Clinton sits down with Donald Trump. Sort of. Hear what she is going to do tonight. A possible new strategy coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:22:29] BOLDUAN: Well, Jeb Bush needed to bring it during last night's presidential debate, bring the fire, bring the punch, bring the fight and try to take down front-runner, Donald Trump. So, did he? Bush Drew big applause last night when he defended his brother in this moment, this exchange that he had with Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Your brother and your brother's administration gave us Barack Obama because it was such a disaster those last three months that Abraham Lincoln couldn't have been elected.
BUSH: You know what, as it relates to my brother, there's one thing I know for sure. He kept us safe. I don't know if you remember --
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: -- Donald --
(APPLAUSE)
BUSH: You remember the rubble? Do you remember the firefighter with his arms around him? He sent a clear signal that the United States would be strong and fight Islamic terrorism, and he did keep us safe.
TRUMP: I don't know. You feel safe right now? I don't feel so safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So, how does the Bush campaign feel today? Was it his Ever Ready moment?
I want to bring in Tim Miller, from the Bush campaign, the communications director down in Miami.
So, Tim, instead of asking you about your boss, your candidate, a guy you are paid to say you think won this debate --
(CROSSTALK)
TIM MILLER, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, JEB BUSH CAMPAIGN: He brought it, John.
BERMAN: I want to know who you think came in second place.
(LAUGHTER) MILLER: Can Jeb come in first and second? You know, look, I think some other folks had a good night last night. I think, you know, obviously Carly had a good night. You know, really what happens was the moment that you guys just showed, that was the big moment of the debate. And what happened after Jeb stood up for his brother in a muscular foreign policy and American leadership and said that George W. Bush kept us safe, Donald Trump was stunned. He gave a very short three-word retort and then didn't speak again for 37 minutes in the last hour of that debate. I don't know if he's ever gone 37 minutes without speaking in his life before last night. And it's because Jeb knocked him on the mat.
BOLDUAN: Now, Tim, as you're talking about, he defended his brother in that moment we just saw. But also there was this other very big moment when Jeb came out and defended his wife in this exchange, again, with Donald Trump. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: You're proud of your family, just as I am.
TRUMP: Correct.
BUSH: To subject my wife into the middle of a raucous political conversation was completely inappropriate. And I hope you apologize for that, Donald.
TRUMP: Well, I have to hear you, I hear phenomenal things. I hear your wife is a lovely woman.
BUSH: She is. She is fantastic.
TRUMP: I don't know her. That was a total mischaracterization of what --
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: She's here.
TRUMP: Good. Good.
BUSH: Why don't you apologize?
TRUMP: No, I won't do that because I said nothing wrong. But I do hear she's a lovely woman.
BUSH: So here's -- so here's the deal. My wife is a Mexican- American. She's American by choice. She loves this country as much as anybody in this room. She wants a secure border but she wants to embrace the traditional American values that make us special and make us unique.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:25:28] BOLDUAN: Now, there you have it. Tim, that was a pretty big moment. Columba was the only wife called out in the middle of this debate. What did she think of being called out?
MILLER: Look, I think that the fact that twice before the debate Donald Trump called out "Columba," is just beyond the pale. She sent out a tweet saying, I am an American by choice. I'm proud to come to this country. Honestly, it ended up being a very nice moment for us. What we saw on Google was a huge spike and interest in wanting to learn about Jeb and Columba. It's an amazing love story. They met -- love at first sight in Mexico. They had a language barrier. But she decided she wanted to come to America and that's part of the American dream.
BOLDUAN: Absolutely. That's part of the story. But when you plan that moment, because Jeb took it to Trump on this issue, do you think that Trump was going to apologize?
MILLER: Well, no. Donald's never apologized. I think that was the point. We exposed him. You know, this is a guy that once said that he's never asked forgiveness from God. I mean, this is not the pipe of person over the long haul will win a Republican primary, and I think Jeb exposed that in the moment.
BERMAN: There is a flip side to this, Tim, because during the debate that was a moment when you saw a lot on Twitter -- I got a number of e-mails during that moment, which is, if you're going to force a guy to apologize or ask a guy to apologize to your wife, you have to push a little bit harder than that. I mean, it didn't happen. Trump emerged from that moment and kept on going. There are people who think that your boss, Jeb, still can look at moments awkward on that stage next to the other candidates.
MILLER: I don't know about that. I disagree with you, John. I think the moment you showed right before that, when it came to defending his brother, like we said, Trump was stunned. And I think that over the course of this debate, at every point where they disagreed, whether it was when Trump claimed he tried to buy politicians and Jeb said, you can't buy me when it came to casino gambling in Florida, when it came to defending his wife and legal immigration or a muscular foreign policy, Jeb won on the merits every time, and he's going to continue between now and the caucuses and primaries.
BERMAN: According to you, Jeb came in first and second.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: It's tough to do. So, I'm impressed.
BERMAN: We don't know if you can be trusted here.
(LAUGHTER)
Tim, thanks for coming on. Please come back. We'll talk about the record much, much more.
BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Tim.
MILLER: Thanks, John. Go Broncos. BERMAN: Coming up for us -- see, he gets that in at the end there.
Go Broncos.
Lady and the Trump. One of the many headlines after Carly Fiorina's debate performance last night. Did Donald Trump meet his match?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
