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President Obama to Speak on Gitmo Plan; GOP Rivals Geared Up for Nevada Showdown; Clinton, Sanders Battle for South Carolina; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired February 23, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump takes on protesters.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Smiling, laughing, like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you.

COSTELLO: Ted Cruz, immigration.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should enforce the law. Federal law requires that anyone here illegally that's apprehended should be deported.

COSTELLO: And today, they're all fighting each other for a win in Nevada.

Also, copy cat Clinton?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I saw a TV ad, I thought it was me.

COSTELLO: And that wasn't Sanders' only slam. Wall Street super PACs. Will ramp-up attacks get his backers to show up and vote?

Plus protesting for privacy. Nationwide rallies planned in support of Apple for refusing to unlock a terrorist's iPhone. Now Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg weigh in.

What do you think should happen? Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

It's not quite breaking news yet, but in 30 minutes from now, President Barack Obama will deliver a statement on his plan to close Guantanamo Bay. It's a promise seven years in the making, igniting backlash from Republicans and Democrats over the years. Gitmo is home to 91 detainees including this man, Khalid Sheikh

Mohammed, we'll see him there in a minute. He's the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon this morning with more. Good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The report going to Congress today a long time in the making. President Obama has been wanting to close Guantanamo of course since he took office. The claim that the administration makes is that they need to send as many detainees as they can back overseas to their home countries or -- pardon me, or to other countries who will look after them and then get it down to a very small number, perhaps 30 to 60, and transfer them to the United States.

So the Pentagon has been looking at 13 facilities state side, trying to develop a plan on how to do that. But the Congress very much opposed. There is legislative language, law, that says they -- the Pentagon cannot use funds to transfer detainees state side. So this is really the point at which the administration says it is trying to convince Congress to change that law and let them transfer people state side.

The Pentagon believes that they can keep these detainees secure, that there is no risk to the public and they say that Guantanamo continues after all these years to still be a propaganda tool, a recruitment tool for terrorists even in today's ISIS environment, seeing ISIS put people in those orange jump suits, they say that is a recruitment tool for additional terrorism that they want to see stopped. They believe bringing these people to the United States could do that. Many in Congress still very much opposed to having Guantanamo detainees in the United States -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr, reporting live from the Pentagon this morning.

It is the final push in Nevada. We're just hours away from caucus night and the Republican candidates are sweeping across the state. Next hour, Senator Marco Rubio holds the first campaign event of the day with a rally in Las Vegas. In the meantime, Donald Trump is ramping up his rhetoric. Even lashing out at a protester.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Do you know what I hate? There is a guy totally disruptive, throwing punches. We're not allowed to punch back anymore. I love the old days. Do you know what they used to do to guys like that when they are in a place like this? They'd be carried out on a stretcher, folks.

Here's a guy throwing punches, nasty as hell. Screaming at everything else when we're talking. I mean, walk it out, and we're not allowed, you know, the guards are very gentle with him. He's walking out, like, with big high fives, smiling, laughing. Like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And Ted Cruz deals with a major campaign shakeup. Firing his campaign's national spokesman for sharing a false story about Marco Rubio dismissing the bible. The video -- there we see it. It claims Rubio said there are not many answers in the bible. What he actually said was the bible has all the answers.

Let's talk about this with CNN political reporter Sara Murray. She's live in Las Vegas this morning. Hi, Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

I think Ted Cruz is just really finding it hard to shake this narrative that he has lied about things, that his campaign is up to dirty tricks, and Donald Trump was sure to keep hammering that point home at a Las Vegas rally last night. He even called Ted Cruz sick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's not a subject I know anything about. It's a hell of an ad, but this has a Cruz ad. This guy is sick. There's something wrong with this guy.

On Saturday when we had the vote, I mean, when we had the vote in South Carolina Saturday, I wake up, I figure there's going to be a nice, easy day. So I get hit with --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:05:08] MURRAY: Now you mentioned that Ted Cruz did go through this campaign shakeup. He fired his communications director. Donald Trump is now weighing in on that on Twitter. He said, "Wow, was Ted Cruz disloyal to his very capable director of communication? He used him as a scapegoat, fired like a dog. Ted panicked."

As you can there, the Cruz campaign was sort of hoping to put this issue to bed, but Donald Trump and even Marco Rubio are not willing to let this drop, still going after Cruz even in the wake of this shakeup -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Well, Ben Carson is making some headlines this morning. Is he even campaigning anywhere?

MURRAY: Ben Carson is making some headlines. I think a lot of people are still sort of wondering what he is doing in the race. And he made some comments that might make people second guess him a little bit further. Take a listen to what he had to say about President Obama today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Like most Americans, I was proud that we broke the color barrier when he was elected. But I also recognize that his experience and my experience are night and day different. He didn't grow up like I grew up by any stretch of the imagination. Not even close.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's an African-American, as opposed to an African-American.

CARSON: He's an African-American. He was, you know, raised white. Many of his formative years he spent it in Indonesia so for him to, you know, claim that, you know, he identifies with the experience of black Americans I think is a bit of a stretch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: So you see Ben Carson there essentially questioning President Obama. The first black president's black experience that already has some people weighing in this morning saying it's these kinds of loose talk, these kinds of off-the-cuff remarks that make Ben Carson disqualified to be the Republican nominee. But like you said, he's still in the race and he says he has no plans to drop out any time soon -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Sara Murray reporting live from Las Vegas.

Mr. Trump, well, he calls Senator Cruz a liar, but some might say Trump lies, too. So why is Trump viewed as someone who tells it like it is and Cruz forced to fire his communication director?

With me now, CNN political commentator and op-ed columnist for the "New York Times" Ross Douthat and CNN political commentator SE Cupp.

Welcome.

SE CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hello.

ROSS DOUTHAT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. I want both of you to take a look at this exit poll from South Carolina. It shows GOP voters believe Trump ran the most unfair campaign in the state. You see Trump there at 41 percent. Cruz comes in second at 32 percent. Rubio has 8 percent.

So, SE Cupp, I don't -- I don't quite get it. I do in a way, but when you get right down to it, I don't. So why is Cruz a liar and Donald Trump not?

CUPP: Right. Well, none of the rules apply to Donald Trump. He's really running a campaign in a vacuum, defying, you know, the laws of gravity and the laws of politics. Defying conventional wisdom, defying, you know, tradition. And so none of the things that he does which would be disqualifying for anyone else really seem to have an impact on him. In fact, it's what his supporters seem to appreciate most. That he's able to buck the -- you know, the rigid confines of traditional campaigning that every other candidate has to abide by.

Ted Cruz's, you know, communications director got him in a little trouble. He was fired. That's normal. That's what generally happens, and yet Donald Trump has turned that into some kind of act of disloyalty. It's really -- it's amazing. This is an amazing year.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I have -- I have this theory, Ross. You know, Donald Trump doesn't really set himself up as this like, you know, totally moral religious guy. He's just Donald Trump. He is who he is. Whereas Ted Cruz is running on a campaign that says trust me, I'm very trustworthy, and yet these dirty campaign tactics happen. So is that the difference, really?

DOUTHAT: I think that's part of it, yes. I mean, you know, as SE says, Cruz, like Rubio, like the others, the ones that remain, have been running sort of normal, conventional campaigns, it's trying to appeal to voters in fairly conventional ways and so they're tripped up by rules of conduct that Trump simply ignores. But it's -- yes, it's also the case that Trump's pitch is not, I'm, you know, one of you.

His pitch is, you know, I'm a rich guy who is completely different from you, but I'm going to fight for you. I mean, Trump has that line, you know, where he's been -- he says I've been greedy my whole life, and now I'm going to be greedy for America. Right? And that I think is sort of the essence of his pitch. He's not saying, I'm a nice guy. He's not really saying I'm a good Christian. Nobody seriously believes that he's a serious Christian, including, I imagine, the evangelical Christians voting for him.

So he is being a creep, a jerk, an insult artist, it's all baked into the appeal. The people who really like Trump like that he's a jerk and think that he's going to be a jerk to, you know, the political class, newspaper columnists, CNN talking heads, everybody that they -- you know, everybody that's --

COSTELLO: So --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: So -- no, I'm hearing Trump just tweeted again. So I'm going to wait a second to see what he tweeted. I have my e-mail --

DOUTHAT: That's part of it. Trump will tweet. And we'll read, and then we'll act shocked and appalled or something by whatever he says but --

COSTELLO: I'm not sure I'll get appalled anymore. OK. So we have the tweet. We put it on screen. "Ted Cruz does not have the right temperament to be president. Look at the way he totally panicked in firing his director of communications. Bad."

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Well --

CUPP: The temperament is in air quotes, it's like alleged temperament.

(CROSSTALK) COSTELLO: But as far as --

DOUTHAT: But this is -- but I think that this is part of it, too, right? Trump is -- temperament can mean lots of different things and, you know, by lots of measurements, Trump clearly doesn't have a temperament that you'd want in a president, but Trump is playing the alpha male at all times. That's what he means by temperament. He means being tough and never backing down. And whether it was fighting Jeb Bush or fighting Cruz or eventually fighting Rubio, that's when he says temperament, he means I'm tougher than Cruz. Cruz panicked, I don't panic. I just dish it out.

COSTELLO: Well, SE, here's the irony. So we always hear that nobody in Washington likes Ted Cruz because he's a jerk. That's what a lot of people say. So why doesn't Ted Cruz just embrace that as Donald Trump has and run with it?

CUPP: Well, I mean, Ted Cruz is running a campaign outside of Washington. What Congress people say about Ted Cruz, I think, you know, is probably -- probably bolsters him among the kinds of voters that he's courting, and frankly what I hear in D.C. and I've met Ted Cruz, he's perfectly nice, isn't that people hate him because he's a jerk. It's that he's difficult. You know, he's not going to go along to get along. He's going to deliver on promises he made to Texas voters back home, and that has somehow, sometimes rubbed a lot of lawmakers the wrong way.

But again, his race, his election is in the heartland. His election is in South Carolina and Nevada. It's not in the halls of Congress. So being bashed by other Congress members I think he thinks probably makes him all the more likable to voters.

COSTELLO: And I think he's probably right about that for the most part. I have to leave it there, though. SE Cupp, Ross Douthat, thanks to both of you.

The five remaining Republican candidates meet head-to-head in the next GOP debate. That'll happen this Thursday night in Houston, Texas. Wolf Blitzer is the moderator. Starts at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Thursday night only on CNN.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Sanders and Clinton ramping up attacks on the campaign trail and tonight they will share the same stage at a CNN town hall. Better buckle up for this one.

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[10:17:03] COSTELLO: Bernie Sanders says he's under attack by his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: When the campaign began, as I recall, Secretary Clinton and her people were saying, well, yes, we have super PACs, but that money is going to be used against Republicans. Well, guess what? It turns out not to be the case. Millions of dollars in super PAC money is now being used against me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: For his part, Sanders is vowing not to take those jabs lying down. Instead the Vermont senator is ramping up his own rhetoric on everything from Clinton's ties to Wall Street to what he says is Clinton's increasing use of his ideas on the campaign trail.

Senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny live in Columbia, South Carolina, with more. Good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. And that right there sets the stage for tonight's town hall meeting where South Carolina voters are going to have the chance to ask about these issues and others. But there's no doubt about it that the whole super PAC idea has been one of the driving forces of the Sanders campaign. He does not have a super PAC. He does not get money from a super PAC. But he's gotten a lot of support and traction and mileage off of the fact that he is being attacked by a super PAC.

Campaign finance is one of the central issues of his campaign. He thinks that politics are too close to Wall Street. So that has provided a very easy entree into attacking his rival, the Clinton campaign. Well, the Sanders campaign this morning has a new supporter out and it's Spike Lee. Listen to this new advertisement that is going to be on the air here in South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPIKE LEE, FILMMAKER: Wake up. Wake up, South Carolina. This is your dude, Spike Lee, and I know that you know the system is rigged. I'm officially endorsing my brother, Bernie Sanders. Bernie takes no money from corporations. Nada. Which means he is not on the take. And when Bernie gets in the White House, he will do the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So a bit of an upbeat ad there, Carol, but again, campaign finance money and politics at the center of many, many conversations here in this heated Democratic presidential race -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jeff Zeleny reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Sanders and Clinton have been in a highly publicized battle for the African-American vote. But another key group has also been at the center of the Democrats' debate. I'm talking about young people, a section of voters that's backed Sanders overwhelmingly. Clinton making a direct appeal to the group after winning the Nevada caucuses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: And I want to say this to all the young people out there. I know what you're up against. If you left college with a ton of loans, it's not enough just to make college more affordable. You need help right now with the debt you already have. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. So my next guest have heard the candidates loud and clear and are ready to cast their votes.

[10:20:03] They are Amanda Nagle, who is president of the College Democrats at the University of South Carolina, and you're going to see her with Secretary Clinton during a talk at another South Carolina College this past November. Also with me Megan Taylor, president of the University of South Carolina Students for the Bernie Sanders Group. She introduced Sanders at a South Carolina event last summer.

Welcome to both of you.

AMANDA NAGLE, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA COLLEGE DEMOCRATS: It's great to be here.

MEGAN TAYLOR, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA STUDENTS FOR THE BERNIE SANDERS GROUP: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Good. I'm glad. I was checking if you could hear me. I'm glad. So I'm glad you're here.

So, Megan, I want to start with you. When you hear Hillary Clinton say young people, I hear you, and I understand your pain, does that resonate -- resonate with you as a Bernie Sanders supporter?

TAYLOR: It definitely resonates with me. I very much respect Secretary Clinton, and I think she definitely does hear young people. She hears them. She understands what they're saying, but I think it's really more a matter of priority.

What really draws me to Bernie Sanders is that he not only hears young people and understands what they're saying but he's dedicated to making those things happen as, you know, top priority in his agenda.

COSTELLO: So, Amanda, is there anything that Bernie Sanders could say that would, you know, rest you away from Clinton?

NAGLE: Well, I wouldn't say that anything would whisk me away. But I have been a little disappointed. He does address many social issues that are very important to us, but I think that Secretary Clinton does a better job addressing the issues and they're not an afterthought for her. They're a foundation of why she, you know, wants to be the president and why young voters really can relate to her and feel that she does hear us.

COSTELLO: Of course, one of the resonating issues is a free college tuition.

And, Megan, I want to ask you about that because Hillary Clinton says, you know, that sounds nice, but impossible to achieve. Do you believe that?

TAYLOR: I really don't think it's impossible to achieve. We have in our country a beautifully diverse group of state-funded universities. You know, we have big state universities and pretty much every state in our country plus smaller publicly funded liberal arts universities. And I think it certainly is possible to have tuition be something that is paid for all students. And we all know that tuition isn't the only thing that is a cost for college.

So there will be plenty of other things that students will be paying for. You know, nobody should be despairing over students going to college for absolutely free. But if we can get to free tuition that cuts out a huge chunk of that cost and allows students to really focus on what they want to do in achieving their academic and career goals without having to worry about student debt later on.

COSTELLO: Amanda, should college be free?

NAGLE: Well, I think that college should be more affordable. And if one day we can get it to free, that would be great. But I think it takes baby steps and it needs practical goals that we can make happen and not, you know, wild promises. And I think Secretary Clinton can get things done in Congress more than Senator Sanders. She has a lot more support from people in Congress and other politicians, and I think that she has the best shot at making the most progress towards affordable education.

COSTELLO: OK. Since you're both young women, I got to ask you the woman question. You know that, right? So, Megan, why is Bernie Sanders resonating with you as a young woman rather than Hillary Clinton?

TAYLOR: For me, as a young woman, as much as I very much love Hillary Clinton as a politician, I think she's a great example for young women everywhere, what drew me to Bernie Sanders was that women have the same needs, economically, as everyone else, plus, you know, extra needs involving reproductive health care and if you're a single mother, child care, so all these different things, but it doesn't help to just address women's issues.

We have to address women's issues. That's not really an option anymore, but we also have to address the underlying causes of poverty in this country which involves lots of things like education and criminal justice reform, and income inequality, and without addressing those things, we can't help women bridge the gap, because it's just not possible without addressing those drivers of poverty and inequality in this country first.

COSTELLO: So, Amanda, are you voting for Hillary Clinton because she's a woman?

NAGLE: So -- yes, no, I'm not voting for Hillary Clinton just because she's a woman, but there is nothing wrong with understanding and admiring a politician because she relates to my life and she understands the struggles we go through in higher education and she has experienced sexism in a lot of ways, and that's something that women can relate to and we want to encourage and support her.

[10:25:09] And there's nothing wrong with taking that into account. But why I'm voting for Hillary Clinton is because of her experience and her goals and -- you know, it's all encompassing. Right? So, you know, it definitely helps, but it's not a black and white answer.

COSTELLO: All right. Thanks to both of you for being with me. Amanda Nagle and Megan Taylor, I appreciate it.

Tonight's Democratic town hall in South Carolina starts at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, just minutes from now President Obama details his plan to close Gitmo. Can he pull it off in the last month of his presidency? We'll talk about that, next.

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