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Attacks, Insults Fly at GOP Debate; Donald Trump Holds Post- Debate Rally in Michigan; 242,000 Jobs Added in February; Bernie Sanders Steps up Attacks on Hillary Clinton; Lawmakers to Visit Flint, Michigan. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired March 04, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:02:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
The venomous GOP race for the White House now getting downright dirty. Donald Trump defending the size of his manhood, onstage, at the GOP debate, and now he's about to hold a rally in Warren, Michigan, not far from the site of last night's throwdown. And seriously became a Motor City meltdown, attacks, angry and personal as the four surviving candidates go for the knockout punch, the frontrunner, Donald Trump wears the bull's eye and proves once again he is willing to hit below the belt. Quite literally.
His jaw-dropping comment in just a minute but first a sampling of the more G-rated jabs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If there's anyone who's ever deserve to be attacked that way it's been Donald Trump.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This little guy has lied so much.
RUBIO: Here we go.
TRUMP: About my record.
RUBIO: Here we go. The personal attacks.
TRUMP: He has lied so much.
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have never tried to go and get into these kind of scrums that we're seeing here on the stage and people say everywhere I go, you seem to be the adult on the stage.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Breathe. Breathe.
TRUMP: Lying Ted. Right.
CRUZ: Breathe. You can do it. You can breathe. I know it's hard. I know it's hard, but just --
RUBIO: When they're done with the yoga, can I answer a question?
CRUZ: You cannot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Oh, my. MJ Lee is in Warren, Michigan, for the big Trump rally, but I want to begin with CNN's Phil Mattingly. You were at the debate last night. Give us more.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Carol. Coming at the end of a day that really laid bare the fractures that are tearing at the Republican Party, the debate surfaced an exclamation point of sorts to say the least, a ruckus and somewhat juvenile affair. But also one that really underscored the urgency for the three candidates not named Donald Trump the moment is now or the moment is never.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Off-color.
TRUMP: He hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I've never heard this one. Look at those hands. Are they small hands? And he referred to my hands, "If they're small, something else must be small." I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee it.
MATTINGLY: Then off the rails.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I have a policy question for you, sir.
RUBIO: Let's see if he answers it.
WALLACE: Your --
TRUMP: I will. Don't worry about it, Marco. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, Little Marco. I will.
RUBIO: All right, well, let's hear it, Big Don. Big Donald.
TRUMP: Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, Little Marco.
MATTINGLY: In mere minutes, Thursday night's Republican debate turned into a personal affair and stayed that way all night.
CRUZ: Count to 10, Donald. Count to 10.
MATTINGLY: Three candidates desperate to stop one, Donald Trump. Florida Senator Marco Rubio on full attack, just trying to stay alive with a big March 15th win in his home state of Florida.
RUBIO: And he's asking us to make him the president of the United States of America. This is not a game.
MATTINGLY: Texas Senator Ted Cruz joining the fight, pushing for a one-on-one match-up with Trump.
CRUZ: But if, in fact, you went to Manhattan and said, "I'm lying to the American people," then the voters have a right to know.
TRUMP: No, no. You're the liar. You're the lying guy up here. You're the one.
CRUZ: You've lied too many times. Why don't you release the tapes? Release the tapes.
TRUMP: You're the one. Now let me just tell you.
(CROSSTALK)
[09:05:04] TRUMP: Excuse me, I've given my answer, lying Ted.
MATTINGLY: Ohio Governor John Kasich continuing to believe his lower volume pitch will get him through his own must-win March 15th contest in his home state.
KASICH: I have never tried to go and get into these kind of scrums that we're seeing here on the stage. And people say everywhere I go, "You seem to be the adult on the stage."
MATTINGLY: Time running out for all of Trump's challengers, attacking in an effort to stop his momentum, targeting his political donations.
CRUZ: Donald Trump has written checks to Hillary Clinton not once, not twice, not three times. Ten times. Donald Trump, in 2008 wrote four checks to elect Hillary Clinton as president.
MATTINGLY: His business practices.
RUBIO: Ever heard of Trump Steaks? You ever heard of Trump Vodka?
TRUMP: You know what? You know what?
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: You know what? Take a look at Trump Steaks.
RUBIO: All of these companies that he's ruined.
MATTINGLY: And even his character.
RUBIO: He has spent a career of convincing Americans that he's something that he's not in exchange for their money. Now he's trying to do the same in exchange for their country.
MATTINGLY: Everyone from candidates to moderators attempting to pin Trump down citing two interviews, CNN's "NEW DAY" where Trump appeared to flip-flop.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: What about Afghanistan? Do you believe that American boots should stay on the ground in Afghanistan to stabilize the situation? TRUMP: We've made a terrible mistake getting involved in there in the
first place. That thing will collapse about two seconds after they leave, just as I said that Iraq was going to collapse after we leave.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: About Afghanistan you said we made a terrible mistake getting involved there in the first place.
TRUMP: We made a mistake going into Iraq. I've never said we've made a mistake going into Afghanistan.
CAMEROTA: These are question was about Afghanistan. That day when our --
TRUMP: OK. I never said that.
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS DEBATE MODERATOR: How is any of this telling it like it is?
TRUMP: Well, on Afghanistan, I did mean Iraq, and that one, if you noticed, I corrected it the second day.
MATTINGLY: The clock is now ticking for Trump's competitors, to stop him before he moves on to the next battle.
TRUMP: I beat Hillary Clinton in many polls. The Pew poll just came out. I beat Hillary Clinton in a recent FOX poll. I beat Hillary Clinton in "USA Today." I beat her today in a poll in Ohio. I'm the only one that beats Hillary Clinton. And I haven't -- I have not started on Hillary yet. Believe me, I will start, too. I haven't even started.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: Now, Carol, after about two hours of that, a rather jarring moment, all four candidates on stage pledging to support the Republican nominee no matter who he is. That's very interesting, given the never Trump movement that has really sprung out online over the last week or so. Marco Rubio and his team really promoting that movement, a movement that basically says you will never vote for Donald Trump no matter what his position is, as the nominee of the party. Marco Rubio not subscribing to that last night -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Phil Mattingly reporting live from in Detroit. Thank you.
Now let's turn to Donald Trump on the morning after. You can bet this hour's rally will be a victory lap for the billionaire who gave his supporters the smash mouth politics they apparently crave.
CNN Politics reporter MJ Lee is in Warren, Michigan, where Trump is about to hold a rally. Good morning.
MJ LEE, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Hi, Carol. Just when we thought the 2016 presidential election could not get more bizarre, Donald Trump proving us all wrong last night. Even by Trump standards, the debate last night was incredibly colorful and personally charged and there was not a lack for name-calling on the debate stage last night. Trump calling Marco Rubio Little Marco, calling Ted Cruz Lying Ted and really John Kasich seemed to be the only candidate on stage who managed to stay above the fray.
Now, as you mentioned, Trump is expected to take the stage behind me in just a few minutes in his first post-debate campaign rally and if the last 24 hours, Carol, offer any indication, we are expecting Donald Trump to be extremely fired up and very much on the defense and all of this comes, as Phil just reported, the GOP establishment is really starting to revolt against Donald Trump, because he has won 10 states and is starting to rack up those delegates.
All of these attacks, Carol, I can tell you are only emboldening Donald Trump and certainly his supporters as well and it is clear that he has his sights now set on the general election and taking on Hillary Clinton -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. MJ Lee, reporting live from Warren, Michigan.
Last night's debate may go down in history as the most crass ever. Donald Trump talked about the size of his manhood. The "New York Post" headline, there you see it. "Size Matters."
Kind of hard to believe. Right? Imagine having to be the reporter who had to ask Mr. Trump if such remarks were appropriate.
CNN's Dana Bash gave it a go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you realize that you're probably the first person in American history, maybe even world history, to make a joke about your you know what on a debate stage?
TRUMP: No, I only made a joke about my hands. I have very powerful hands.
BASH: Yes. You went a little further than that.
TRUMP: Look at these hands. Aren't they beautiful? I have very powerful hands and large hands, relatively large hands. And a politician said, I didn't have large hands. It's the first time anyone has ever said that one. So no, I think it was a very -- I think it was a good moment.
[09:10:07] BASH: Mrs. Trump, what did you think of that moment?
(LAUGHTER)
MELANIA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S WIFE: It was a great moment to say. OK. No, it was fine. You know, he was attacked. And Marco Rubio attacked him, and he responded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Jamie Johnson is the Republican who advised Governor Rick Perry. He actually tweeted out this morning, quote, "My party is committing suicide on national television."
Let's talk about this. I want to bring in CNN political commentator and political anchor of time Warner Cable News, Errol Louis. I'm also joined by Republican strategist and Marco Rubio supporter Brian Morgenstern.
Welcome to both of you.
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Errol, seriously?
LOUIS: It is what it is. When you see -- I mean, an interesting piece in the "Washington Post," Carol, where a group of Trump supporters were asked, you know, why do you support this guy? And one of them said, something that I think I've heard many, many times, probably 100 times, really. They said he says what I'm thinking. And if that's the basis on which people are going to cast votes for president, all of the logic in the world, all of the manners in the world, all of the horror, it will really do nothing.
What people are looking for is somebody to tell body jokes and sort of slam what you perceive to be your enemies, then Trump is your guy. You know? I mean, there used to be a lot more that went into picking a president. This is a very unusual season.
COSTELLO: Very unusual.
Brian, your candidate Marco Rubio told us, quote, he said on "NEW DAY," "Donald Trump has been the most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency." But Senator Rubio is getting down in the dirt, too. Isn't he?
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, MARCO RUBIO SUPPORTER: Well, he's shown that this kind of thing can drive a press cycle and last night when Donald, the short-fingered vulgarian, as he's been called in the past, was pressed on substance, he fails. So he tries to distract and deflect the cycle in a different direction with a joke like this. And he's done it in the past. He did it remember with the comment about menstruation in Megyn Kelly, and then he denied it. The comments with Jake Tapper about the Klan, and then basically repeated the question back, and then said, I didn't hear the question.
Now in the debate, he's pressed by the moderators with his own quotes and then his response is, I didn't say that. And then with the joke, and then he -- does an interview with Dana Bash, and says, oh, I didn't make that joke. This is the pattern. This is what he does. But the other candidates are going to continue to focus on the issues.
COSTELLO: I think Brian's right, Errol. I think the FOX moderators did a good job at pinning Trump --
LOUIS: Great job.
COSTELLO: They did.. They put his feet to the fire. The question is, were any of his supporters really listening and do they care? LOUIS: Well, that is -- that's an important question. At some point,
though, look, all the work that we do, you know, it depends on a certain base level of frankly intelligence. I hate to use that, people get offended, I get all of the negative tweets. But the reality is, if somebody says to your face, I don't know what I'm talking about. If he says, you know, he's going to say, I'm going to balance a $544 billion deficit by getting rid of the Department of Education, they put up the graphic. They're saying the entire Department of Education is a mere fraction of that.
And if that doesn't -- if that doesn't get you, if the Trump mortgage scam doesn't get you, if the Trump University fraud case doesn't get you, if watching people get violently assaulted at his rallies as the candidate shouts encouragement from the podium, if that doesn't get you, you know, I mean, I would encourage everybody to look at the bill of particular in Mitt Romney. Put aside that it's Mitt Romney saying it. The bill of particulars that he laid out yesterday is really quite comprehensive about what is seriously wrong and troubling about this candidate and this candidacy. If all of that is fine with you, Trump supporters, you know, we'll see you at the polls. Good luck.
COSTELLO: Well, here's the thing, Brian. I think what Trump supporters really want is they want someone to fight for them.
MORGENSTERN: Yes.
COSTELLO: And Donald Trump is demonstrating to them that he's a fighter. He'll take on anyone. He'll say anything for you.
MORGENSTERN: Right.
COSTELLO: How can Senator Marco Rubio fight back against that?
MORGENSTERN: Well, fighting back that while people may appreciate the way Donald says things, what he says is nonsense, and that is something that as Errol just said with the bill of particulars that Governor Romney laid out. I mean, it is an indisputable case that Donald Trump is a fraud. And that a lot of what he has to say is just -- is not backed up by reality, and that's something that the candidates have only recently been pointing out because, I think, a lot of people didn't take him seriously and they thought that everybody was going to view him as a joke.
And now that his personality has carried him this far the other candidates are saying, all right. Enough is enough. He has been full of it for his whole career and it's time voters found out about that and I think that we haven't had enough primaries with that information baked into this cake, and now that it is, I think they're going to look at Senator Rubio as a real alternative.
COSTELLO: All right. Well, we have a couple more debates to go.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Errol Louis, Brian Morgenstern, thanks to you both. I appreciate it. All right. And in 15 minutes I will talk to a Trump supporter, former
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to get her take on all of this.
[09:15:04] It is March Madness starting this weekend right here on CNN. The kind of March Madness that involves politics. We'll have a big Democratic debate that takes place in Flint, Michigan, on Sunday. That's followed by the premiere of the new CNN series "RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE," and next Tuesday another Super Tuesday with four states holding primaries. On Wednesday it's another Democratic debate in Miami. And on Thursday a Republican debate in Miami. A week of political events all right here on CNN.
We're following breaking news on the economy right now. New numbers from the government showed 242,000 jobs were added last month. While the jobless rate holds steady at 4.9 percent that is an eight-year low.
Christine Romans is following the story. Christine, tell us more.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Carol, a very strong job report. Those nervous nellies in February who were concerned about whispers of a recession in the U.S. were just dead wrong. You had hiring across the spectrum here and a jobless rate that stayed there as you said, near the low of eight years.
Let's look at the job growth over these past months. You can see -- it's actually 242,000 net new jobs, that first number is wrong there. But let's move on to what it looks like over the past year. Look at that. Even the end of last year, very strong, Carol. So companies have been hiring. Construction jobs in particular, about a quarter of a million new construction jobs over the past year. That's because of some strength in housing.
The only place you're going to find some weakness, energy jobs. Those have been -- you know, another 19,000 of those gone this year, or this month, rather. That's for obvious reasons. The crash in oil prices. Everything else, pretty steady. Health care, some good job gains there. You have some well-paying jobs in health care. Retail, restaurants and bars, and wages have been rising there in part because companies like Costco and Wal-Mart and also some states have been forcing companies to raise their starting wages.
Carol, this is a number that really defies what you're hearing on the campaign trail about a rigged economy, about people who can't get by. About a job market that's not working for everyone. The labor market grew, more people came into the labor market last month and has been doing so over the past six months or so. There are more than five million jobs open right now in America. So there's really this two -- two-speed narrative here, what people are saying they feel about the economy, very different than what some of these numbers are showing, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Christine Romans reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Hillary Clinton, one of the Republican debate's biggest winners? The Democratic frontrunner taking a jab at all of the GO infighting last night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:21:40] COSTELLO: All right. This crowd is awaiting Donald Trump, this is taking place in Warren, Michigan. Donald Trump was supposed to take the stage at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. He's a little late but we're monitoring this for you. We'll get back to Warren when Donald starts talking.
Let's talk about Bernie Sanders now on the Democrats. Bernie Sanders is stepping up his attacks against Hillary Clinton. He's slamming his rival over her support for trade agreements like NAFTA and the Trans- Pacific Partnership, the TPP, which he says have hurt American workers. Sanders tells Jeff Zeleny there is no plan to hold back on the rhetoric despite calls from some of his own colleagues to tone down the attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, in many ways Democrats can say what they want. We're in this race to win it. We just won four states, three of them with landslide votes. We lost Massachusetts, taking on the entire political establishment but only by one point and we end up with one delegate less than Secretary Clinton.
We're in this race to win. We're doing the best that we can do. I think -- I don't run negative campaign ads but I do think it is appropriate that in a campaign you distinguish your differences with your opponents. Otherwise why run?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Joe Johns is following the Sanders campaign. Hi, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. He's also, by the way, really, really focusing on the notion that he would be a better general election candidate than Hillary Clinton, though we have to say, the focus right now is on Michigan. A whole slew of states will vote Saturday and Sunday and over the next couple weeks or 10 days, including Mississippi, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, Kansas and Louisiana.
But Michigan is in the spotlight with its primary next week. Also front and center because of the Democratic debate over the weekend in Flint, Michigan. That Flint water crisis has caused both candidates to make the city's predicament part of their stump speeches and both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have visited the city.
The former secretary of state, though, continues to keep her focus on the Republicans last night chiming in on Twitter about the Republican debate, tweeting, "How many more of these do we have to sit through, asking for a friend." That tweet included a little gif of Clinton rolling her eyes and rubbing her temples. So it's quite clear that Hillary Clinton was having a very good time at this debate as the Republicans debated whether they'd be the best person to go up against her in November -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. There's the gif right there. Apparently it's gone viral. It's the most shared gif of the night. Interesting.
JOHNS: She tweeted another one, too, of her dancing in a rainbow when they started talking about marriage equality. So that was a big one also.
COSTELLO: There it is. All right. Joe Johns reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
In the meantime a delegation of 25 lawmakers from Washington including Nancy Pelosi, they're heading to Flint, Michigan, today where they'll get a firsthand look at the water crisis that has consumed that city.
My next guest knows the situation all too well. Melissa Mays says her family developed rashes because of the water. Their hair started falling out and that lead may be to blame for problems in her liver. Melissa Mays joins me now.
Good morning.
MELISSA MAYS, FLINT WATER ACTIVIST: Good morning.
COSTELLO: You've been speaking out about this crisis since the very beginning. Do you expect much from this delegation that's coming from Washington?
[09:25:05] MAYS: They've been pushing for us and they've been pushing to make a change. They've been pushing for the proper funding. It's kind of -- it's kind of a relief to see all of them coming. Well, so many people have avoided coming to Flint. So it's nice that they're here, you know, basically at ground zero to speak out and do what they need to do to help us because that's what we're waiting on. We've got the right plans. We know how to get these lead service lines out. We know what the children need. We just need the funding.
COSTELLO: Will you be meeting with any of them?
MAYS: Yes. That's actually where I'm headed after we're done today. That's I'm going over there because I feel like it's important that everybody get their story out and I want to make sure people feel comfortable speaking out. So the people that have talked to me, I want them to get their stories out to everyone.
COSTELLO: Last night, during the Republican debate, Senator Marco Rubio had this to say about the situation in Flint. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUBIO: The politicizing of it I think is unfair because I don't think that someone woke up one morning and said, let's figure out how to poison the water system to hurt someone. But accountability is important. I will say, I give the governor credit. He took responsibility for what happened and he's talked about people being held accountable and the need to change this. Governor Snyder. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Melissa, has the Flint water crisis become politicized?
MAYS: Well, unfortunately, it was caused by politicians. So there's going to be a political background and there is one politician right now that can actually fix this crisis, or at least get us help, our governor, and he's not. He's dragging his feet. He's doing everything he can to say, I apologized. Well, an apology doesn't make my water safe. It doesn't take the lead and copper out of my children's systems and we just want to see action instead of words.
And the fact that his party, you know, friends are agreeing with him and saying he's doing a good job, they need to come to Flint. They need to talk to the citizens who are suffering through this because no, a good job is not being done. People are still suffering and we're going to for a very long time and unfortunately we have to wait on politicians to help us.
COSTELLO: Have any of the Republican presidential candidates come to Flint?
MAYS: No. Not at all.
COSTELLO: Why do you think that is?
MAYS: I think that -- everybody called the governor toxic at this point. I don't think that they want his backing and I don't think they want to come put their toes in this because there's a huge, dark cloud that's following the Republican Party right now, and unfortunately they're making it worse by not speaking out for us, and for making more excuses for the governor and his actions. So unfortunately they're taking the wrong path with this.
COSTELLO: All right. Melissa Mays, thank you for joining me this morning.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM. You're welcome.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the face-off over the flip-flop. Donald Trump on immigration. Where does he really stand?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
