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Clinton Admits She's Not a Natural Politician; Rubio Regrets Digs at Trump; Luther Campbell Gets Political. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired March 10, 2016 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:30:13] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we're going to come up on live pictures here, our beautiful set -- thank you CNN crew -- here outside of the campus here, University of Miami, in Miami, Florida, just a couple hours away from the big debate tonight. Four men remain here in the Republican race for president, for the nomination for president.
But on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is admitting to a huge political shortcoming, especially for someone aiming to be the next president of the United States. Secretary Clinton admitting last night during the debate that she is not a natural politician. That moment happened during the debate here in Miami. Here she was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I am not a natural politician, in case you haven't noticed, like my husband or President Obama. So I have a view that I just have to do the best I can, get the results I can, make a difference in people's lives, and hope that people see that I'm fighting for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And her candor echoes another moment she had on the eve of the 2008 New Hampshire primary when she ran against Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: This is very personal for me. It's not just politics. It's not just public. I see what's happening. I have to reverse it. And some people think elections are a game. They think it's like who's up or who's down. But it's about our country. It's about our kid's future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And it was that moment when you talked to, you know, Clinton supporters who say it was that sort of dropping of the veil, helping propel her to victory in the New Hampshire primary. Will what she said in Miami perhaps help her when it comes to the Florida primary.
Joining me, "Miami Herald" political reporter, Patricia Mazzei, is back with us. You were in the debate hall last night. You wrote about, and a lot of
people have, on her moment, where she said she's not a natural politician. Was that just a real true glimmer of authenticity that really resonated in a way that we don't often see in most politicians?
PATRICIA MAZZEI, POLITICAL REPORTER, MIAMI HERALD: I think what you want in a debate is catch a candidate in a moment where they look like a real person and not just spouting there --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Talking points.
MAZZEI: Yes, that sounded like a genuine answer. It wasn't emotional. She wasn't crying. It was not that level of perm. But it really seemed like something that people have said about her that she knows, and she was asked a tough question, right, about how she's not considered honest and trustworthy in polls and she said that was painful as opposed and trustworthy.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: A question she's been asked a lot.
MAZZEI: She hadn't really answered in that way, which is to compare herself to her husband, which I'm sure she doesn't like to do on a regular basis and to the current president.
BALDWIN: Sure. What about immigration coming up? Here we are in Florida. It was Univision, a lot of Spanish being spoken. A lot of Hispanic people in the audience. And how she really has -- she, Hillary Clinton, has moved further left, broken with President Obama on the issue of deportation. Maybe this is a result of her rival being Bernie Sanders. But I marvel at really the far spectrum when you look at the Democrats and Republicans and the crevasse in between is immigration.
(CROSSTALK)
MAZZEI: Well, and to me it was interesting, you know, with Univision they always ask you to really get specific on immigration. Obama went through that experience of, like, making a promise and breaking a promise that he made on Univision and here they were being asked to make another promise about not deporting children and they made it. It wasn't even a contentious subject. You know that's going to come back to whoever the nominee is if they win the presidency. That if they don't follow through this is going to be reverberating for them for years to come.
BALDWIN: 30 seconds, what most surprised you, what one moment?
MAZZEI: Well, I was surprised the audience was so into Sanders. It was a college, Miami-Dade College, so maybe there's a lot of students there. He got a pretty warm reception. I thought Clinton got the tougher questions.
BALDWIN: Patricia Mazzei, thank you so much for coming by.
MAZZEI: Thanks for having me again.
BALDWIN: Coming up next, Senator Rubio, in his own words. What he says is his biggest regret of his campaign, something he says actually embarrassed his own children.
Plus, we'll speak live with Luther Campbell, rap icon and the unofficial mayor here in Miami about his experiences with Donald Trump, including a visit to his mansion with Mike Tyson and Eddie Murphy.
You're watching CNN special live coverage here from Florida.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:39:20] BALDWIN: Welcome back here. We are in Miami. We are hours away from a Republican debate that could very well be the last. At the very least, this is the final debate for the four men left standing before next Tuesday's winner take all crucial primaries here in the state of Florida and in the state of Ohio.
Of course, right where Marco Rubio is really betting on, promising tonight, you will not see the Rubio of the past two weeks. That means no more personal digs at Trump's spray tan, the size of his hands.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R), FLORIDA & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In terms of things that have to do with personal stuff, yes, you know, at the end of the day, that's not something I'm entirely proud of. My kids were embarrassed by it. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[14:40:07] BALDWIN: Joining me now, Ed O'Keefe, "The Washington Post" political reporter; and Jamie Weinstein, senior editor of "The Daily Caller."
Gentlemen, great to have you with us on this beautiful set.
JAMIE WEINSTEIN, SENIOR EDITOR, THE DAILY CALLER: Good to see you.
ED O'KEEFE, POLITICAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Good to be here.
BALDWIN: To you, did you write -- what did you say, a crowd of fatalism hangs over Rubio? Where do you think it started going wrong?
WEINSTEIN: I think the last debate where he started taunting Trump. You saw over the course of four days, he raised questions about his spray tan, his hair, his business practices. He started reading the mean tweets Jimmy Kimmel-style to crowds of supporters across the country.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Where did that come from?
WEINSTEIN: Well, our understanding they sort of presented the Senator with some sense of Trump's background, especially when it comes to Trump University. He himself was upset by it all, and said we need to start going after him. I think they also wanted to prove a point which is perhaps somewhat valid. If they started using Trump-like tactics, they would get more attention. If you look back over those four or five days, suddenly, all of the rallies were being broadcast start to finish. That hadn't happened for him before
BALDWIN: He got attention.
O'KEEFE: He did. But --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Maybe not the good kind of attention he really perhaps wanted.
O'KEEFE: I have a little bit different view of it. I think that might have hurt him. Especially some of the attacks went a little too far. You can make fun of his stubby fingers without tying it to something else.
BALDWIN: Totally went there.
O'KEEFE: But the truth is he wasn't doing very well before then. He wasn't on the path to winning the nomination. There might have been a strategic calculation that I might as well go out on my sword, attacking Donald Trump as a con man on the way out. At least try that, try something new to see if we can change the dynamic of this race.
BALDWIN: You say it's time for Rubio to stand down?
O'KEEFE: I think at this point they should go to Ted Cruz.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: What do you mean go to Ted Cruz?
O'KEEFE: I mean after tonight's debate, they should go to Prime 101, that famous steakhouse, sit in the back room and say, our chance is over. We don't have a path to the nomination. You still do. We don't think Donald Trump is good for this country. Do you want us to stay in this race until Florida to try to deny Trump the delegates and get out afterwards? Would you prefer us to get out now so you have a shot? We put it in your hands. Now, this probably won't happen.
BALDWIN: I don't see that happening.
O'KEEFE: This is what you should do if you really want to stop Trump getting the nomination.
BALDWIN: That's not going to happen.
WEINSTEIN: That's not going to happen.
BALDWIN: Not going to happen.
WEINSTEIN: We'll wait until results Tuesday night and we'll see.
BALDWIN: I'm wondering, when you see them all on stage, I'm reminded of the most recent Republican debate where it was, you know, one after the other, kind of ganging up on Donald Trump. They were fighting to be that anti-Trump candidate. Tonight, do you think we'll see those personal attacks against one another and Trump will watch the whole ping pong match?
WEINSTEIN: You have to be careful tonight because if you're of the establishment and you want this to go to -- at least slow Trump over the next few weeks. You need Rubio to win here. You need Cruz to be accruing delegates --
BALDWIN: So you're saying play nicely tonight?
WEINSTEIN: -- so they all have to play nice and potentially gang up on Trump. There's also the risk of what he might do.
O'KEEFE: There's the argument if Trump wins Ohio and Florida that would force Kasich and Rubio out of the race. According to the delegate map, then we'll test the preposition whether Trump can get over 50 percent in states going forward. If he can, he'll be not nominee. If he can't, the math shows he can go to the convention with a delegate lead and then maybe win it on the second ballot. It all depends on whether Trump can get over 50 percent in a one-on-one race in the number of states against Cruz.
BALDWIN: Just sitting here in Miami, sitting in Florida, I'm so mindful of Marco Rubio, the all-important winner-take-all primary next week. Here he is now admitting regretting saying what he did, saying he embarrassed his own children. Do you think he will take on more of a moderate tone this evening?
WEINSTEIN: I think he has to.
BALDWIN: Why?
WEINSTEIN: He's heard from supporters or donors that have flown in for meetings that was sort of unbecoming of him, it was totally against the image and the sort of tone he was trying to set not only with his persona but his vision of what the country should be. I think you're right, he has to pull back to some extent tonight, because for this simple fact, the other method didn't work.
BALDWIN: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: -- now the poll in Ohio, and how Kasich is apparently, this most recent poll, Kasich beating Trump. If Kasich remains, you know, standing as the final adult in the room or if he does a little of this. (CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: I don't know.
Ed O'Keefe, Jamie Weinstein, thank you both.
(CROSSTALK)
[14:44:40] BALDWIN: A reminder, so much at stake in tonight's CNN Republican presidential debate. You can watch Jake Tapper moderate this massive event, at the University of Miami, 9:00 eastern. Pre- game starts at 8:30 p.m.
Next, he is a local legend here in the city of Miami, dialed in to anything and everything in this south Florida city. So what does Luther Campbell think about the four Republicans set to debate in his city tonight? The former 2 Live Crew frontman is about to get political. Stay here.
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BALDWIN: Welcome back. We are live here at the beautiful University of Miami. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. We're hours away from tonight's CNN Republican debate.
My next guest -- fair to call you a legend. You like that? Miami legend?
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: He says it's OK. The unpredictability of Florida politics actually better than most. He ran for mayor here in Miami in 2011, finished fourth. But back in the '90s, he was best known for this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Miami. He's 2 Live Crew frontman, Luther Campbell, Uncle Luke, Luke Skywalker. He famously invented the parental advisory label after fighting Tipper Gore in his censorship battle. He won a copyright case that went to the Supreme Court. He has been a leader in the Miami-Dade community. He also writes a column for the "Miami New Times."
Luke, so nice to meet you.
[14:50:19] LUTHER CAMPBELL, 2 LIVE CREW FRONTMAN: Nice to meet you, too.
BALDWIN: Thanks for having me in this beautiful city.
CAMPBELL: No problem.
BALDWIN: My mom's from here. I feel like I'm at home.
CAMPBELL: Really? OK.
BALDWIN: So before you became who you became, 2 Live Crew and everything like that, when you were a kid, you weren't allowed to watch cartoons?
CAMPBELL: No, we had to look at the news.
BALDWIN: You had to look at the news?
CAMPBELL: When your dad is Jamaican and your mom is Bohemian, it's all politics in the house consistently all day.
BALDWIN: Did that begin an interest in you with, you know, politics, civil events, what's going on in the world?
CAMPBELL: Yes, I did because, you know, my mom when she named me Luther, I was like, hey, you name me Luther? Great name, Martin Luther King. So between being named Luther and named after Martin Luther King and, at the same time, going over to my uncle's house and him telling me about politics, you need to know the news, because they'll put invisible chains on your legs. That's what they used to tell us. I got heavily involved in politics.
BALDWIN: You ran for, as a celebrity, ran for the mayor of Miami. You didn't get it. Looking at the 20,000 view celebrity Donald Trump running for office, can you relate in any way?
CAMPBELL: No doubt about it. I can relate.
BALDWIN: How?
CAMPBELL: Because me being entertainer, you know, I didn't have to spend a lot of money, you know, on creating this image of me. People already knew who I was. You know, saying what people already knew who Donald Trump is. He doesn't have to spend millions of millions of dollars, you know, OK promoting himself, as an individual. So, you know, automatically, you know, people already know who he is. So it makes it easier for him.
BALDWIN: And you know him, you met him. Let's keep it P.G., P.G. 13, whatever.
(LAUGHTER)
You've been to his mega mansion in Palm Beach. Who were you rolling with?
CAMPBELL: That night, it was Mike Tyson.
BALDWIN: That night.
CAMPBELL: Eddie Murphy.
BALDWIN: That night. CAMPBELL: We didn't see you in there.
BALDWIN: Yeah, I missed that night. I probably was -- I don't know, 10 years old.
(LAUGHTER)
Anyway, but, no, tell me stories.
CAMPBELL: I mean, the P.G. version of the stories?
BALDWIN: I don't know.
CAMPBELL: Yes, that was a wild night. We got escorted in by these cars that picked us up. It was all kind of models, the girls that were in the pageant. It was a lot of different things going on at a lot of different rooms. At a certain point, I said, I got to go, because it's a little too heavy for me.
BALDWIN: Like, everything above board, it was just like having a good time?
CAMPBELL: Yeah, yeah. It was too much of a good time.
BALDWIN: Oh, my goodness. You had to turn around and leave.
CAMPBELL: Some things I don't indulge in. You would think I indulge in everything, but no.
BALDWIN: What do you remember about Mr. Trump in those times?
CAMPBELL: I remember him being a cool guy, you know, and most hip-hop Trump kind of framed up New York hip-hop where people don't, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: How?
CAMPBELL: How? I mean, you know, those guys wanted to be like Trump. Trump was big time, flying on jets. It was about Trump Towers, things like that. People want to be on that Trump level. But not me. All the other guys, the Russell Simmons and the Puff Daddies and all them the world. I just wanted to be me.
BALDWIN: Now fast forward to today. You're coaching high school football.
CAMPBELL: Yes.
BALDWIN: Miami-Dade. And I'm wondering, you know, beginning where we started with your uncle making you watch news, this isn't just about plays on the football field?
CAMPBELL: No.
BALDWIN: You're making these young men be aware of what's happening currently.
CAMPBELL: Exactly. I mean, that's the whole thing. It's about teaching them accountability and responsibility, you know, and I know 99. 1 percent of those kids are not going to make it to the NFL but at the end of the day, they're going to be young men and they're going to have to grow up. They're going to have to have families and they're going to have to be responsible. I tell them, you got to get a voter registration card. That is important.
BALDWIN: Good for you.
CAMPBELL: It's about life challenges, you know, and that's why I love working with the kids.
BALDWIN: What do they think of this presidential race?
CAMPBELL: Oh, man, they talk about it all the time. You know, like hey. They find Trump funny. They find Hillary interesting. A lot of -- we talked about it because, you know, there are times like last week, I had to deal with two kids. One brother had got shot and one brother got murdered. At the same time, on the same football team. These kids are like they don't talk about that in these debates, you know, and it's the same thing going on with this Miami, Chicago, any place else. I always say, you know, I told them the other day, my absentee ballot, I did not turn it in yet, because I'm still confused as to who I should vote for.
[14:55:17] BALDWIN: Wow. I have more for you but we'll take that after a commercial break. Luther Campbell, we're going to chat.
CAMPBELL: I have to cool you off. I have to fan you really quick.
BALDWIN: Seriously this is happening. This is my life.
Thank you, Luther Campbell.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: As he's fanning me, OK.
Coming up next -- OK, I love you, thank you.
Coming up next, backlash after Donald Trump says -- how could I have a straight face -- Donald Trump says Islam hates America. Do you see this with Anderson Cooper? This, as he gets ready to step up on the stage tonight and try to deliver a knockout punch to his rivals.
We'll be right back?
CAMPBELL: Yeah, we'll be right back.
BALDWIN: We'll be right back.
CAMPBELL: While I cool her off.
BALDWIN: Thank you. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
