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Breaking Down Super Tuesday Exit Polls; Trump, Clinton Win Big on Super Tuesday; Sanders Remains Behind Clinton Despite Four Wins; Possible Part of MH-370 Washes Up Off of Coast of Africa. Aired 9:30- 10a ET

Aired March 02, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:32:13] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

We know Trump and Clinton were big winners on Tuesday but who was voting and why? Our exit polls revealing a stark difference between the parties.

Christine Romans is following that. She joins me this morning to explain.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They really do and what you see I think most vividly in the Republican electorate, Carol, is this anger. A real, visceral anger about the establishment and about the federal government.

Let's just, for example, take Georgia and what people leaving the polls in Georgia told us. Of those who were angry about the federal government and it was, you know, more than half of them were angry at the federal government. More than 2-1 they chose Donald Trump as their candidate. He has the mad-as-hell electorate behind him. And these exit polls certainly showed hit.

But let's go up to Massachusetts, very different kind of state from Georgia. Massachusetts a more moderate state. Moderates and conservatives both voted for him there and when asked who would you like to be president? And those who said not from the political establishment. Look at how far and away they went for Donald Trump. In Massachusetts -- moderate Massachusetts, the Republicans there who want someone from outside chose Trump. By that kind of a margin.

You go to Virginia. Here is something interesting, though. If you're looking for cracks and there are not many, but you're looking for cracks in the Donald Trump dominance of last night in these polls. In Virginia we asked people, well, would you be satisfied if Trump wins the nomination? Look at that. 54 percent said no. So Virginia voted for him. Almost every demographic Virginia, a battle ground state, voted for him, Carol, but when it came down to whether he should be the nominee 54 percent said no.

COSTELLO: I'm actually not surprised by that because you hear that all the time. We're going to vote for the -- you know, the lowest common denominator because I got to vote for someone. ROMANS: Another thing that broke -- that broke for Rubio, not for

him, but the late deciders. That's another little crack in the domination and it was a domination of Donald Trump last night. The late deciders tended to break for Marco Rubio. That was another crack in Donald Trump.

COSTELLO: What about the Democratic side?

ROMANS: The Democrats really interesting there because you basically saw most Democrats, they could take Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. Look at Virginia. Satisfied if Clinton wins the nomination? 80 percent said yes. But then if you asked satisfied if Bernie Sanders, it was 65 percent. So they would take either of them.

Where I saw the big difference there was age and minority breakdown. In Arkansas, look at that. This is her home state. Young people went for Bernie Sanders. No matter where you looked. If you go down the age spectrum, the older they were, they liked Hillary Clinton. The younger they were they liked Bernie Sanders. In terms of race, the more diverse the state, those people tended to go for Hillary Clinton, not for Bernie Sanders.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Very -- and thank you.

ROMANS: Isn't it?

COSTELLO: It's really fascinating. And you're right. We're talking in the break. She said this is an election like no other in our lifetime and you are so right about that, Christine Romans. Thank you.

So if Super Tuesday is -- is any indication of what's to come it is this.

[09:30:05] The ultimate insider versus the ultimate outsider. One, Hillary Clinton who thinks America's great and one, Donald Trump, who thinks America is not so great, although oddly both view themselves as uniters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now it might be unusual as I've said before for a presidential candidate to say this but I'm going to keep saying it. I believe what we need in America today is more love and kindness.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a unifier. I know people are going to find that a little bit hard to believe but believe me. I am a unifier. Once we get all of this finished, I'm going after one person, that's Hillary Clinton, on the assumption she's allowed to run which is a big assumption.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. But we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. Right? So first a list of winners and losers as of March 2nd, 2016 post Super Tuesday. So our winners, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz. On the loser side, Marco Rubio, the GOP establishment, and John Kasich.

So let's talk about that and more. I'm joined by the "Daily Beast" editor-in-chief John Avlon. He's also a CNN political analyst. Along with McKay Coppins, he's a senior writer for BuzzFeed and author of "The Wilderness." That's about the Republican struggle to win the White House after the 2012 election.

Welcome to both of you. So --

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: I know. I think we all agree who the winners were last night, right? All right. Yes. So let's concentrate on --

AVLON: And people who win.

COSTELLO: People who win were the winners. Let's concentrate on the losers, and I want to specifically concentrate on Marco Rubio. So he's won one state out of 15. And he thinks he still has a chance.

McKay, is he delusional or does he have a chance?

MCKAY COPPINS, SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER, BUZZFEED: Well, I was at his rally last night here in Miami and it was pretty clear that he is making Florida his Alamo. I don't know what the Florida equivalent of the Alamo is. But that is what he is staking his campaign on. That primary is in two weeks. He was very clear about setting the expectation that he was going to win Florida. He told a very boisterous and excited crowd, his hometown fans that they were going to send a message that a con artist like Donald Trump -- those are his words -- was not going to be able to take over the party of Lincoln.

Now that's a big expectation to set because Marco Rubio currently trails Donald Trump, according to some polls, by double digits. So he has a lot of ground to make up in two weeks. Yes, he's going need a lot of money. His campaign is. He's going to need a lot of door knockers, canvassers, volunteers spreading out across the state. It's unclear whether he's going to be able to catch up but I think that they basically have made the calculation that the only way for them to win is to win Florida. This is going to be the race to watch for him.

COSTELLO: OK, so, John, let's talk about John Kasich because he also thinks that he can win. But seriously? He hasn't won anything. And in the states where he's competed, he's like -- he's in the single digits.

AVLON: Well god, and you are a Buckeye State native and you are just dishing on your governor like that.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Sorry, I'm a realist.

AVLON: I mean, look. (LAUGHTER)

AVLON: Look, I mean, John Kasich had a strong second in New Hampshire, which he believed would punch his ticket as the candidate of the sane center right. The sane center right has been out of fashion for some time in the Republican Party. But I think both Rubio and Kasich and really all the candidates in the field, the sell by date to make a convincing case and stop the delegate count march of Donald Trump is March 15th. And winning your home state as Ted Cruz did last night in Texas, and I will add by winning the Latino vote there as well, which is significant, that is a -- that is absolutely necessary.

You can't make a case about electability if the people who know you best don't pull the lever for your name next to president. But this is going to be the intense sprint of two weeks. This is the two weeks that count more than any others. Marco Rubio could take some comfort that he finally has one win by his name. But an argument based on electability, you know, needs to be followed by actually showing you can win states and swing states.

So this is the crucial two weeks, there's no question Donald Trump is in the pole position as Hillary Clinton is on the Democratic side. But this is going to be a wild March and people are going to be throwing money at trying to see if they can delay Donald Trump's march and probably the Hail Mary pass you're going to see some folks in the center right putting their hope it is a brokered convention. But that is more of a fantasy than reality.

COSTELLO: So, McKay, you know.

COPPINS: Yes.

COSTELLO: Marco Rubio stated to run that very negative campaign where he made -- I won't repeat what he said but you get my gist. When you look at the results from Super Tuesday, was that effective?

COPPINS: You know, that's a good question. It remains to be seen. I think that -- the Marco Rubio strategy of just constantly bashing and insulting Donald Trump was really threefold.

[09:40:04] Part of it was about making himself look tough and casting himself as the anti-Trump candidate. Part of it was trying to get inside Donald Trump's head, which there was evidence that that worked. You saw Donald Trump spend entire days in the past week just talking about Trump University and defending himself there.

COSTELLO: About the size of his hands. Right.

COPPINS: Right. The size of his hands, saying he has beautiful hands, which I mean, look, like -- when Donald Trump is saying that he has beautiful hands you have a good case to be made you have trolled him effectively. But the third thing -- the third thing here is that, you know, Marco Rubio needed media. The oxygen, right? Donald Trump has sucked up so much media oxygen by being the showman that he is. Rubio was hoping that by getting in on the game, playing Donald Trump's game, he would be able to get media attention. He did. It worked. It only translated to one actual win. He also did not meet the 20 percent threshold in Texas, which means he got no delegates in Texas. He came very close to winning Virginia but I think everyone agrees John Kasich was a spoiler there and lost Virginia.

So look, you know, it might have worked in terms of getting him media coverage but Rubio going forward is going to have to find a way to win his home state and probably a few other states. I think he'll probably keep taking on Trump.

AVLON: But Carol --

COPPINS: But I don't know if it'll be the same --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: John. John, last word.

AVLON: Yes, look, late deciders ended up seem to be breaking for Rubio. So that indicates that the strategy had some effectiveness and the reality is that in life bullies only stand up to strength and Marco Rubio, by playing the happy warrior and taking the fight to Trump, not only increased his earned media but showed ability to punch back which have been lacking. And of course Trump prides himself as a counterpuncher but, you know, the Trump defenders who are decrying the decline in our civil discourse are of course -- I mean, it couldn't be more ironic. They're responsible for it. But, you know, it's just one more sign of this surreal circus of a president campaign that it's turned into a Palmolive commercial about who's got better hands. I mean, what the -- this is the weirdest campaign of all time.

COSTELLO: I know. I -- I can't wait to hear what's next.

John Avlon --

COPPINS: I want to say I have --

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: We all have beautiful hands? We got to go.

COPPINS: I have great hands right here if you want to check that out.

COSTELLO: You do, McKay. McKay Coppins, thanks so much. John Avlon, thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a surge in black support boosts Hillary Clinton in Super Tuesday. But is that all the support she needs to beat Donald Trump?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:28] COSTELLO: Bernie Sanders did notch four more wins in his bid to become the Democratic nominee for president, but the Vermont senator is far, far, far behind Hillary Clinton when it comes to delegates. I bring you Stephen Colbert. (BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE LATE SHOW: On the Democratic side, while Hillary looks poised for big victories tonight, Bernie Sanders has promised to stay in the race for all 50 states, or 51 if you count the state of denial.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, that was a big ouch. Part of what propelled Hillary Clinton's success last night was her appeal among African American voters. In southern states she took at least 80 percent of the black vote. When you look at the numbers in Alabama it was even higher. 93 percent went to Hillary Clinton. In Arkansas, Clinton trounced Sanders with black voters, 91 percent to 9 percent.

So, let's talk about that with Michael Nutter, he's a Hillary Clinton supporter and the former mayor of Philadelphia. Nomiki Konst is a Bernie Sanders supporter and a former at large member of the DNC Council and former national co-chair of Gen44. Welcome to both of you.

So, Nomiki, I'll start with you since, you know, Stephen Colbert just kind of slammed Bernie Sanders. Is -- is he in a state of denial?

NOMIKI KONST, BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER: Not at all. I mean, if we look at the map moving forward, we have 50 states right here. The Super Tuesday strategy that was built in the 80s was built for the more conservative candidates because our country was more conservative. And the Democratic party wanted to design it so that they'd stack the conservative southern states at the front so that a more conservative candidate could move forward, which was more appealing to the general election.

The country's changed a lot since then. You know, yes there is a large African American vote in the south and Bernie Sanders undoubtedly needs to work on getting his message out to African Americans. But let's not forget that Hillary Clinton has run several campaigns - the Clintons have run several campaigns in the south. They're are a known name. They have relationships with all of the party chairs, and the leaders and the congressional members, and those things matter in the African American community which still operates in old school machine political sort of way.

So, voters respond to endorsements, African American voters respond to endorsements. But without that African American vote in the south, Hillary Clinton would not have won. So, let's keep that in mind. We have 50 states moving forward, not all of them look the same way that the south does, and Bernie Sanders will do very well in those states.

COSTELLO: Yes, but Michael, Bernie Sanders, if he doesn't have African American support, and I mean major league support, he can't win against Donald Trump. He needs support of African Americans badly, doesn't he? So is he in a state of denial?

MICHAEL NUTTER, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Well, I certainly don't think that either. Senator Sanders has raised some very serious issues which I think are overall are good for the Democratic party. And it was a great night for the party. Commend Senator Sanders for his victories, and certainly was a great night for Secretary Clinton as well.

I think what both candidates demonstrated last night is the great diversity of the United States of America, the appeal that both of them have to a variety of constituencies. And it is important to be able to speak to the broad diversity of the American public, whether in Democratic primaries or in a general election. I think, as Nomiki pointed out...

COSTELLO: But Michael, I mean, you really do need -- don't you need major league support among all minority groups in order to beat Donald Trump in a general election? That is true, right?

NUTTER: Well, of course, minority groups, majority groups. I mean, you know, I think both the senator and the secretary are trying to appeal to the broad diversity of the Democratic party. Secretary Clinton clearly does have a long-standing relationship with the African-American community, not just in the south but the breadth and width of the United States of America.

[09:50:14] But that doesn't, you know, put to the side, you know, the relationship she has with white Americans, or Latino Americans or Asian Americans. So, I mean, she is board, diverse candidate, appealing to the entire country, and again, a great night for the Democratic party versus the...

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: See, Michael - Nomiki, Michael was being very gracious.

(CROSSTALK)

NUTTER: ... that we're seeing on this Republican side.

KONST: I know. Wow. Do you want to join our campaign?

COSTELLO: Because Hillary Clinton was very gracious last night, too, so it's just interesting to me because - but anyway, Nomiki, I just want to run this by you.

NUTTER: I'm a gracious guy.

COSTELLO: So, Bernie Sanders has a lot of money - you are a gracious guy, at least for now, anyway. Nomiki, Bernie Sanders has a lot of money so he can stay in the race. Is the major reason he wants to stay in the race to get his message across because he can keep talking about income inequality?

KONST: Well, I think the message has been key to this campaign and that message is - is really what the majority of Democratic voters and majority of Americans are really feeling right now is economic inequality.

So, I think he's in it to win it. I think that there is a very strong path forward. You know, I know that we like to focus on states, but it is about delegates and there's some very big states coming up with a lot of delegates that suit Bernie Sanders' support right now.

So, yes, the message is key and sending that message to the DNC - which, let's not forget, the DNC designs this process, they design how the caucuses are structured, and how the primaries are structured and the super delegates, of course. And we're getting really focused on these super delegates which haven't committed yet. So, as Bernie Sanders moves forward, I mean, he's - 6,000 people are showing up at these rallies. I mean, this is not a guy who is losing right now. This is a guy who has a clear path forward, and it's going to be a competitive race, and that's good for Democrats.

COSTELLO: Oh, okay, Nomiki.

NUTTER: Well, couple things, Nomiki.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: I have to...

NUTTER: First of all...

COSTELLO: I have to leave it here because - man, she's...

(CROSSTALK)

NUTTER: That was - that was - that - that - that was - that was pretty good.

COSTELLO: It was.

NUTTER: First of all, this is not a new process.

COSTELLO: I know, I...

NUTTER: Senator Sanders has been around for a while.

KONST: Since the 80s.

NUTTER: And...

COSTELLO: It's true.

NUTTER: And this has been the process for a while, so there's nothing new...

KONST: Much (ph) has changed.

NUTTER: ... here going on.

COSTELLO: Okay.

NUTTER: And many of the super delegates have committed, and that's why you see the large number of super delegates who have already committed... KONST: They committed in August, though, to be fair.

NUTTER: ... to Secretary Clinton. So, look...

COSTELLO: Okay, I...

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: See, now you guys get testy with each other. I have to end it.

NUTTER: It is highly unlikely that many of them...

COSTELLO: Will change their minds.

NUTTER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: All right, Michael Nutter, Nomiki Konst, thank you so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, breaking news off the coast of Africa. New plane debris washes ashore. Could it be - could it be a part of MH-370?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:57:12] COSTELLO: All right, breaking news to tell you about right now in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. A piece of wreckage from a Boeing 777, likely belonging to that Malaysian flight, has been found off the coast of Mozambique. A second aviation source is telling CNN there is now other record of a Boeing 777 missing that particular part other than MH-370.

You might remember, last year a different Boeing 777 part was found on Reunion Island. CNN's Rene Marsh now joins me to tell us more.

Hi, Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Good morning, Carol. We know from these aviation sources that essentially this piece of debris is being taken to Malaysia for further analysis. Again, you mentioned that it's the horizontal stabilizer. If you look at this aircraft here, this is the section of the plane that we're talking about. This would be the horizontal stabilizer. Essentially, it's part of the tail of the aircraft.

They believe this could - this debris found could belong to a 777. But again, once they do that analysis, they'll be able to confirm whether it is from a Boeing 777 and if it is from MH-370. As you know, the Australians say they plan on wrapping up the search for this aircraft by the middle of this year. Carol, if this is indeed a piece of MH-370, it will confirm what we already know, that this aircraft went down. But it still does not confirm exactly what went wrong, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, the piece of debris that was found on, you know, on Reunion Island, was that part of MH-370? Just remind our viewers. MARSH: Right, so that was the flaperon and that was a part --

essentially a part of the plane's wing. They were able to confirm that it did belong to a Boeing 777 and it was, indeed, a piece of MH- 370. That was the first piece that was found. And now we're talking about a second piece.

So you'd have two pieces of this aircraft. But again, you know, even looking at this piece, even analyzing it, does not tell investigators what happened to that aircraft on March 8th, 2014. In just a matter of days, it will be the two-year anniversary, Carol.

COSTELLO: Wow. All right, Rene Marsh, thanks so much. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)