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Ted Cruz Endorsed by Texas Governor; Harry Reid Endorses Hillary Clinton; Clinton Courts African-American Votes in S.C. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired February 24, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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

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(CHEERING)

[14:32:12] SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I have got to tell you, today is one of the greatest honors of my life. You know, I think back to November 2002, when I got on a plane and flew to Austin, Texas, to interview for a job with the newly elected attorney general of Texas, Greg Abbott. We didn't know each other. And I was about 31 years old and had no business at all even interviewing for the job, much less doing the job. And I sat down and had a long, long interview that I thought went pretty well. I didn't know. And I left, and a couple of weeks later, Heidi and I are with our family early in the morning, and I get a phone call that I was offered the job, that I was going to be appointed the solicitor general of the state of Texas.

(CHEERING)

CRUZ: Now let me share a little personal background. Heidi and I were both in D.C. serving in the Bush administration. Heidi, very kindly when I asked should I put my name in for this, she said, absolutely, sweetheart, definitely. She didn't think there was a chance on earth I would get the job.

(LAUGHTER)

She thought it was the easiest thing --

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Ted Cruz getting the endorsement of his home state's governor, Governor Greg Abbott. He just got that endorsement, the governor introduced him. Ted Cruz speaking live. We'll continue monitoring that.

Our Sunlen Serfaty is live at the event.

Talk to me how much this endorsement matters. There is a lot of talk in this election cycle, Sunlen, that these endorsements aren't what they were?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy, but this for Ted Cruz is a key endorsement, especially for him and his campaign right now. Governor Abbott is a Republican governor of one of the biggest states of the nation. That goes a long way. Also going forward, you know he is very high-profile, most certainly will be used as a surrogate for the campaign going forward. And his endorsement is the highest-profile endorsement the Cruz campaign has received so far. That goes a long way. Also don't discount the boost of momentum this has the potential to give Ted Cruz on the ground here in Texas sick days before Super Tuesday. Of course, Texas is a part of Super Tuesday.

Very clear that Senator Cruz is feeling very good, as you hear the crowd and him speaking behind me. He said this is one of the greatest honors of his life. Very jubilant. A much different tone than last night in Las Vegas. A more some better tone coming out of his third- place finish in Nevada -- Poppy?

[14:35:02] HARLOW: No question. A big deal to lock this in, in Texas, a must-win for him on Super Tuesday.

Sunlen, at the Cruz campaign, thank you so much.

Coming up next, the Senate's Democratic leader, Harry Reid, revealing who he is backing in the race for president. Hear the candidate he says who is best for the entire party.

Also, Hillary Clinton right now speaking at a sorority luncheon in South Carolina, trying to lock in that critical women's vote. We'll take you live there, next.

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[14:39:53] HARLOW: Just days before the South Carolina Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton picking up a major endorsement this afternoon from the Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, backing her, also saying she is the right candidate to be the first female, president. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: I think the middle class would be better served by Hillary. I think that my work with her over the years has been something that I've looked upon with awe. When she was the first lady, she started the trend toward doing something about health care. She understood the issue well. She was the front on health care during that administration. I also think that she's the woman to be the first president of the United States that's a female.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let's talk more about this with Susan Page, "USA Today" Washington bureau chief.

Thank you for being with me.

(CROSSTALK)

SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, USA TODAY: Great to be with you.

HARLOW: Your reaction to him getting behind her and specifically what he said to Manu.

PAGE: This is a real scoop, so congratulations to CNN for that. We had no idea that he would endorse. This is a sign of the Democratic establishment saying we don't want to have an extended contest here. We're going to line up behind Hillary Clinton.

It's significant also because Harry Reid has good relations with Bernie Sanders. Historically, they have been -- although, Bernie Sanders hasn't technically been a Democrat, he has been a part of the caucus. It's not as though it's someone we knew would be anti-Sanders endorsing Hillary Clinton. He is someone -- Democrats now are looking at this race and the Republican race and seeing Donald Trump on a path to win the nomination. They don't want a Democratic contest that is going on and on and all the way to the convention if the Republicans are on a path to wrap up their nomination battle much sooner than we thought they might.

HARLOW: Right. Well that's a good point, juxtaposing it with that. During the town hall last night, hosted by our Chris Cuomo, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both spoke about this call that Sanders has made for Clinton to release those transcripts from the paid speeches she has made especially from front of Wall Street banks. Listen.

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I), VERMONT & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am very happy to release all of my paid speeches to Wall Street. Here it is, Chris. There ain't none.

(LAUGHTER)

SANDERS: I don't do that. I don't get --

(APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: I don't get speaker's fees from Goldman Sachs. It's not there. So I'm happy to do my best in releasing any of the speeches. Won't be very shocking.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Will you agree to release these transcripts? They have become an issue.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Sure, if everybody does it, and that includes the Republicans. Because we know they have made a lot of speeches.

But, look, what is this about? This is about whether I have the best plan to go after Wall Street, whether I have a record that already demonstrates my willingness to take on Wall Street and financial interests. And there's no question about that. I did it before the '08 crash. I have done it since. In this campaign, I have been absolutely clear. And a lot of people have said I have the most effective comprehensive plan to make sure that Wall Street never wrecks Main Street again.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: It's interesting because you have sort of seen her evolve on this issue. She's also saying, even though my competitor is asking for it, I want all the Republicans to do the same. What do you think? Does this really resonate with voters?

PAGE: You know, this is one of Bernie Sanders's best issues. It's an issue that keeps on giving to portray her as being captured by wall street, taking lots of money from wall street at a time when the concern about income inequality and weather rich people are getting richer while the middle class gets squeeze is his fundamental core message. So this is an issue I think is his most damaging issue with Hillary Clinton.

(CROSSTALK)

PAGE: And you see that she is playing defense, saying if the Republicans put out their transcripts I'll put out mine. I don't think that's a defensible position. I think before this campaign is over she will be forced to put out those transcripts.

HARLOW: Here's what else she said, Susan. You didn't hear it there but it's important in terms of context. She pointed to President Obama who she has been embracing much more closely, and said, look, President Obama got the most in terms of financial contributions to his campaign in 2008 than pretty much anyone else. I think perhaps Mitt Romney topped him. And she said look he has been the hardest on Wall Street and Wall Street reform. She has a point there.

PAGE: Yeah, well, that's true. But look at the change in time from then. That was in 2008. Barack Obama was running for that nomination at a time before the crash of the financial markets, before Americans saw their own financial underpinnings brushed aside under the Great Recession, and before we saw this incredibly growing concern about income inequality. I'm not sure the situations in 2008 and 2016 are analogous. Again, this is really playing -- she is playing more effective defense on this issue than she was before, but she is still on defense.

HARLOW: Interesting point.

Susan Page, nice to have you on. Thank you so much.

PAGE: Hey, thank you.

[14:45:54] HARLOW: More on our breaking news, next, President Obama right now in the White House vetting a Republican. You heard it right, a Republican. You see him right there. The governor of Nevada. Potentially, the replacement for Justice Scalia's empty seat on the nation's highest court. Despite Republicans vowing not to even consider who the president pick, this fight erupting and it's taking a brand-new turn right now. That's next.

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HARLOW: Hillary Clinton heavily courting young African-American female voters right now in South Carolina. This in final days before Saturday's Democratic primary there. She is addressing the oldest black sorority in the country. Listen.

CLINTON: I've been traveling around our country speaking about how we can knock down barriers, all the barriers, that hold including the barrier of systemic racism. I've emphasized that any view of black America that focuses exclusively as the press sometimes has a tendency to do on crime or poverty or other challenges is really missing the big picture. It's missing this event. It's missing the rise of the African-American middle class. It's missing the vibrancy of the black church. And it's definitely missing the power, strength, and sacredness of black sisterhood.

[14:50:29] HARLOW: Let's talk about all of this with Jay Newton- Small, Washington correspondent for "Time," and also the author of a brand-new book, "Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works."

I love that title. Congratulations on the book.

Let's get to the numbers here. You saw Clinton lose 82 percent of the young female vote in New Hampshire to Sanders. He got 82 percent of the young female vote there. You just wrote this article in "Time," perfect timing, titled, "The Speech Hillary Clinton Should Give to Young Women." You just heard a minute of it. What's your reaction? Is this the way you want to hear her speaking if you are a Clinton supporter?

JAY NEWTON-SMALL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, TIME & AUTHOR: Certainly, there is a distinction between African-American young women and Millennials in general. In general, Hillary polls incredibly well with African-Americans of any age, whether Millennials or older. She is, indeed, talking a little bit about, you know, what I mentioned in the article for "Time." And that is talking about sisterhood, talking a little bit about her history. She was talking earlier on, about her roots from the community and the women she has known and the activism she has done. That's what I have always argued she needs to do. Most Millennial women weren't alive when she was first lady. Most Millennial women don't remember that women couldn't wear pants in the workforce or it was frowned upon until she wore pants as the first lady in the White House. Just to talk about her experiences and connect the dots about why she would represent them better and why she would be a good president to represent them rather that dictating to them, you should vote for me because I'm a woman.

HARLOW: There is a famous statement about women's rights that Hillary Clinton made back in 1995. It was in Beijing, and it's very short, to the point, but it has stuck with her throughout. Let's play that.

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CLINTON: Women's rights are human rights, once and for all.

(CHEERING)

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HARLOW: One of the key points that you make is that Millennials don't remember living through that. If they did, they were very young. And that's the crux of the problem as you see it for her.

NEWTON-SMALL: As I was writing my book I was teaching a class at Harvard University where I had Millennials. None of them didn't know about this speech. What they don't understand is how ground breaking that statement was at that time and how much things have changed since then.

HARLOW: One of the things that you also write about is what you call this sort of unsung successes of the third wave of feminism. And you call that the Quiet Revolution. What is that? And how can she better tap into it?

NEWTON-SMALL: So the Quiet Revolution is really the revolution of the last 30 years where women have permeated the work force, increasingly. So my book looks at how we're getting to critical mass, a sort of a tipping point between 20 and 30 percent of any institution, how women really begin to change the way things are done. And if you look at this Quiet Revolution over the last 30 years where women have come into the workforce more and more, as we get to the tipping point, you hear their voices more strongly. I think you see that with Millennial women today. You have Taylor Swift saying, I want recognition for my work, and you better reward me for it, and Jennifer Lawrence demanding equal play. That Quiet Revolution is bursting into a not-so-Quiet Revolution anymore.

HARLOW: Yeah.

NEWTON-SMALL: So there is this movement that Hillary and all this energy that she could tap, she could easily say I've been at the forefront of this for 30 years, you just don't know this. She never makes the connections doesn't make the connection and draw the dots.

HARLOW: Jay, thank you so much for pointing that out. I appreciate you being on. Congrats on your new book.

You should read her top "Time" column on this.

As we do, Jay, let's listen in to more of Hillary Clinton speaking live in South Carolina.

CLINTON: -- if we don't exercise the right to vote. There is a lot at stake in this election. I think it's one of the most consequential that we've had in time. All you have to do is listen to the other side. They want to turn back all of our rights, women's rights, civil rights, gay rights, voting rights. They want to just turn the clock back. Go back to a time that most of us were glad to see in the rearview mirror. We can't let that happen. But we have to do more than just stop bad things from happening. We have to make good things happen, too. We have to make those jobs and those rising incomes the centerpiece of economic growth. We've got to break down all the barriers that stand in the way of any American fulfilling his or her God-given potential. We need to reassert --

[14:55:27] HARLOW: Hillary Clinton speaking there live in South Carolina. We'll continue to monitor. Coming up next, much more on our breaking news, the battle to replace

the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. CNN now getting word that the White House is vetting a Republican, a Republican, to possibly nominate to potentially fill that seat. Much more on that.

Also, I will speak live with a police officer representing a police union that is questioning whether officers should work to secure Beyonce's upcoming show after her Super Bowl performance and her latest video. We'll talk about the controversy over that, next.

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