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Super Tuesday #3. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired March 15, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: That's it for me. I'll be back, 5:00 p.m. Eastern in "The Situation Room." The start of our special coverage of Super Tuesday here in the United States. The news continues next on CNN.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. You are watching CNN's special coverage of Super Tuesday elections round three.

We are in the midst of the most consequential day in the presidential election thus far. After the tallies come in tonight, there could be fewer Republicans running for president. And one Republican, Donald Trump, may become the undisputed presumed nominee if he wins Ohio and Florida. Mr. Trump has already gotten off to a winning start, taking all nine delegates in the Northern Marianas, a U.S. Territory in the South Pacific.

As for the Democrats here, any win by Bernie Sanders keeps Hillary Clinton's focus in the primary fight, taking time, taking resources from where many thought it would be by now the general election.

So let's get straight to the voters. CNN's Kyung Lah is with voters just outside there in Miami. CNN's Dan Simon is at a polling place outside of Cleveland.

So, Dan, to you first. What's the turnout been like thus far?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Brooke.

Turnout throughout the whole state has been solid all day long. We are here in North Olmstead, Ohio, again, just outside of Cleveland. This is Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. And you can see a number of people in line right here.

You know, the most pressing thing or the predominant question is whether voters here in Ohio, who have twice elected John Kasich to statewide office will give him a lifeline. And I want to show you something that's really important with respect to that. You see when voters come up to the desk, they can either request a Republican ballot or a Democratic ballot. Meaning, if you're a Democrat and you want to vote for Donald Trump or you want to vote for John Kasich, you are free to do so. So that crossover vote could be critical. I've talked to a number of voters who are traditionally Democratic voters who instead voted for John Kasich today. So what that vote ultimately ends up being could be very important. We should also point out that Ohio is an early voting state. You had a

number of voters cast their ballots early. At this point, things leaning towards Republicans in terms of the ballots that have already been cast. It will be interesting to see if that trend stays here at the polls as well.

Brooke, we'll send it back to you.

BALDWIN: Dan, thank you, in all important Ohio.

And then to all important Florida. Kyung Lah is in Hialeah. And I'm curious how many times you've been talking to voters and they say the name Marco Rubio?

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are saying it frequently. We've asked a number of voters, are you voting for Marco Rubio. Almost always they say, yes.

But here's something interesting that I'm hearing from a couple of voters. There was one woman in particular. She said, I'm voting for Marco Rubio, but I don't like the guy. She's voting for him because she called Donald Trump, quote, "a clown" that she doesn't want in office. So that's the lay of the land here.

But this is a Marco Rubio stronghold. This county, Miami-Dade. And here is potentially something that could be problematic for Marco Rubio. I want you to look over my right shoulder. That's something we've seen all day. I can't tell you what that means. It's been a slow trickle of people coming out. It has not been lines. It has not been a lot of people.

Statewide, though, the Florida Department of State says there has been very good turnout. Very good turnout. Just not necessarily right here in the Rubio stronghold that we can see with our eyes.

BALDWIN: Kyung Lah, thank you very much, in Hialeah.

Much more to discuss here on this Super Tuesday part three. Let me turn now to Steve Deace, a syndicated radio talk show host and supporter of Senator Ted Cruz, CNN political commentator Van Jones, who was an adviser in the Obama White House, Clay Aiken, a former Democratic candidate for Congress in the state of North Carolina, who now officially supports Bernie Sanders, and Adriana Cohen, a columnist for "The Boston Herald" and radio host who is backing Donald Trump.

So welcome to all of you on this all-important Tuesday here. And before we get going, we have to begin in Ohio, and John Kasich. And he said a little bit more this morning that I think surprised some folks. So let's take a listen to what the Ohio governor said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will be, however forced, going forward, to talk about some of the deep concerns I have about the way this campaign has been run by some others. By one other in particular. But I just saw a commercial, I guess it was last night, of these comments that were made about women. I have two daughters. They see this stuff. What do you think they think? We'll have more to say about that.

If any of you ever seen me - and I - I had apologized to somebody here just the other day because I wasn't - didn't respond as appropriately as I should have. If any of you ever see me getting out of control, I want you to take me aside, and I want you to say, remember what you told us at that press conference, OK, because I just want to be a good guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:05:00] BALDWIN: So, Steve, let me just begin with you. On that first beat where he said, you know, forced to talk about things. I mean we've talked to Governor Kasich. He said time and time again, I'm the adult in the room. I'm staying above the fray. But - but what is he really saying there? Do you think we'll see a change in strategy post-Ohio against, specifically, Trump?

STEVE DEACE, SUPPORTER OF SENATOR TED CRUZ: They're probably trying to call us, that's why it's busy.

BALDWIN: Oh, OK, let me try Adrianna. We'll work on Steve. Technology schmecnology (ph) sometimes.

Adriana, to you. Do you know what I'm talking about, when Governor Kasich specifically was talking about perhaps a change in strategy, he stayed above the fray thus far, not - no low blows. Do you think that might change depending on how well he fares in his home state?

ADRIANA COHEN, COLUMNIST, "BOSTON HERALD": I think it could. I think what he's - why he brought that up, that statement you played, is that maybe he will go after Trump for some of his comments he's made about women. But it's not going to move the needle one way or the another. You know, Donald Trump has very strong support from women. We've seen that at his rallies. We've seen that in the poll results in past primaries and caucuses because a lot of Republican women are very strong. They don't get freaked out by a few words or a little micro- aggression. We have thick skin, many of us, throughout this country. And we also know that our country is facing much more graver problems in the world such as Iran testing nuclear, you know, testing ballistic missiles. Iran's on the march. We have 94 million Americans out of work. So our - our country has much greater problems than a couple of words that Donald Trump may have tossed out.

BALDWIN: Let me - let me - let me - let me stop you there because I know exactly what you're talking about because also John Kasich was alluding to this commercial where, you know, a lot of words against women, vulgarities that Mr. Trump has used, are being used against him. And so let me just stay with you. As a woman, how do you defend Mr. Trump given what is inarguably vulgar?

COHEN: I think it's much to-do about nothing. I mean when I was in fifth grade my mother taught me, sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never harm you. And so I can't believe we live in such an ultrasensitive society where a few words just really get people's, you know, panties in a twist. I mean it's ridiculous. Iran -

BALDWIN: Wow!

COHEN: Excuse me, ISIS - ISIS is beheading people. Isn't that a graver threat to our nation. I mean look at - look at -

BALDWIN: Aren't we talking about - Van Jones - let me - I want your voice in here because we are talking about someone who is trying to be president, thus would like to be presidential. Jump in, Van.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, my parents taught me the same thing, but they also taught me that words matter. And one of the things that is happening and I think a lot of people, just regular people, not political people, have been really hurt and shook up - shaken up by this entire process, especially these past several days, it seems like what's on the ballot now isn't just about policy. It's not just about, are you going to raise taxes or lower taxes. It's something about the character of America. Who we are as a people suddenly feels like it's up for grabs. And I think Democrats and Republicans are having to take a different look.

And some people are saying, hey, listen, we don't mind this sort of circus clown culture, this kind of wrestling federation culture, this reality TV shock culture. But some of us do mind. And that's a bipartisan feeling that we want to - we want to be the kind of country where standards matter. Where your kids can watch the news and see our leaders and you actually don't have to tell your kids not to act like the leaders of the country. And so I do think this stuff matters.

BALDWIN: I know - I've heard you talk about, of course, the -

COHEN: I -

BALDWIN: With regard to your boys and - hang on a second because, exactly, Van, what you're talking about hits upon what we heard from President Obama. This is what he said earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have heard vulgar and divisive rhetoric aimed at women and minorities and Americans who don't look like us or pray like us or vote like we do. We've seen misguided attempts to shut down that speech. In response to those attempts, we've seen actual violence. And we've heard silence from too many of our leaders. Too often, we've accepted this as somehow the new normal. And it's worth asking ourselves what each of us may have done to contribute to this kind of vicious atmosphere in our politics.

And this is also about the American brand. Who are we? How are we perceived around the world? There's a reason that America's always attracted the greatest talent from every corner of the globe. There's a reason that made in America mean something. It's because we're creative and dynamic and diverse and inclusive and open. Why would we want to see that brand tarnished? The world pays attention to what we say and what we do. [14:10:07] And this is also about what we are teaching our children.

We should not have to explain to them this darker side of politics. We should not be afraid to take them to a political rally or let them watch political debates. We should be teaching them that this democracy is a vibrant and precious thing and it's going to be theirs some day. And we want them to elevate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, a couple of notes there. I mean we talked about, you know, the darker side of politics and kids. Van, I know you've talked about that, you just said a moment ago. He talked about the brand America and we don't want our brand tarnished.

But, Clay, let me - let me go to you because one note that the president mentioned was, we all need to ask ourselves, you know, our role in all of this. And do you think there is a piece of the president that is saying, yes, perhaps I too own some of that?

CLAY AIKEN (D), FORMER NORTH CAROLINA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think the - I think he's recognizing, obviously, that - that as a leader in the country right now, he's the person who needs to speak up and really jump into this conversation. I think he's been a little bit quiet about it since - until - up until today and I think he recognizes that his role is to try to make sure that he's the - he's the voice of reason. And I think he does that. You look - you see how does - you look at him and contrast him with what you're seeing from Donald Trump.

And, listen, I have to - I'm going to take a little bit of responsibility myself. I've been on this show for months here talking about how Donald Trump has been nice to me and implying that he was a good guy because he was nice to me when I was on his show, but I'm done with that myself, you know. We've spent the past five days listening to him excuse violence. We've listened to him tell people to punch somebody at his rallies. And to do that and then to deny that there's violence at his rallies, to pretend that this is not a problem, to pretend that he's not responsible for it, that's not just irresponsible, it's delusional. And so, you know, I'm kind of done with defending him myself. And I - I'm kind of ashamed that I've done it up until now.

BALDWIN: Wow. Steve, I want your voice as well since we're hearing from you. You know, if you want to respond to some of what Clay shared and also your thoughts on what President Obama said.

DEACE: I thought what happened Friday night in Chicago, Brooke, was shameful. It looked like the nationalists and the communists crashing in the streets of Berlin in the 1920s. And what happens when you have a government that has become corrupt and a lot of people feel failed by it, that it hasn't delivered on a lot of its promises, is it adds a tendency - a group of people have a tendency to - or to revert back to tribalism, to follow megalomaniacs who promise they have all the answers, whether it's hope and change or make America great again.

And what Donald Trump is doing here - listen, we have seen all over the country - if you've been to conservative events all over the country, you have seen sort of this leftist mobocracy - like what we saw in Wisconsin with Scott Walker - follow conservatives and conservative events around. It is clear they think they have some sort of moral standing to shut down free speech or political dissent and I find it shameful and un-American. But the response to it is not to create a robocracy (ph) of their own.

BALDWIN: Hold on a second but let me make sure I'm hearing you correctly. You talk about hope and change. Are you blaming President Obama for that rally being shut down Friday night? Let's just be clear, what did Obama have -

DEACE: No, what' I'm - what I'm saying is - what I'm saying is, Donald Trump is simply a reflection of the last megalomaniac with empty slogans that ran eight years ago and he's trying the exact same game plan. So -

JONES: That's - that's not fair. That's not fair.

DEACE: Instead of one group of potential victims out in the streets, now we're going to have another group of potential phony victims out in the streets.

JONES: Oh, that's (INAUDIBLE) -

AIKEN: There's a major difference - there's a major difference in running on -

DEACE: There's a major clash and that's what you saw on Friday night.

AIKEN: There's a big difference between running on hope and change and inspiring people in this country -

COHEN: It's moveon.org that's -

AIKEN: Which is what Obama did eight years ago, than running on hate and -

DEACE: Those people, Clay, looked really inspired in the streets of Chicago. Those leftists on Friday night, they looked really inspired.

COHEN: They were thugs. A lot of them were thugs. They were thugs.

DEACE: They looked the exact opposite of inspired, as a matter of fact.

JONES: (INAUDIBLE).

AIKEN: But the anger - the anger that you saw in the streets is a reflection of the anger that's coming out of those - the inside of the walls of those rallies. The stuff that Donald Trump is talking about, the hate that he's, in a way, preaching and the hate that's in those rooms. The only reason there's anger outside is because there are people in the streets who do believe in this country, who do believe in the hope and the change that Barack Obama talked about. BALDWIN: And, by the way, let's be fair, I mean there is a lot of anger in this country and I think a lot of it is justified. A lot of it is economic based. And I think that, folks, it's not only Donald Trump who's really tapped into that, Bernie Sanders has as well.

COHEN: Right.

AIKEN: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Van, I know you wanted to jump in.

COHEN: That's right.

JONES: Well, let me just say a few things. I want to acknowledge, I feel uncomfortable with the disruptions of the Donald Trump protests as they have developed. I also, though, remember, when that Muslim woman went there silently, just wearing a shirt that said "we are hear in peace" and she stood up and she was ejected so forcefully and subjected to so much vile vitriol, even a silent witness at a Donald Trump rally can be met with violence. I think that's something I'm very concerned about.

[14:15:07] I also think it would be important for us to acknowledge that Donald Trump has so much opportunity to speak that some people feel like the fairness doctrine is out the window and there's an attempt, possibly misguided, to try to impose a kind of almost a people's fairness doctrine to say, listen, you get to talk too much, what about the rest of us. I don't think it's being handled in the right way. I agree with you on that, sir. But I think to equate the kind of whipping up of violence that you saw from a Donald Trump with anything that President Obama has ever said, I just don't think is fair, sir.

BALDWIN: Steve, respond to that.

COHEN: Yes, but I have to say we can't have -

DEACE: I think - I think what -

BALDWIN: Steve and then Adriana.

DEACE: I would - I would be happy to - I would - I would love to respond to that. What Donald Trump is doing in response to this is despicable. It's unprofessional. It's unpresidential. It's way I'm not supporting him. It's why I'm #nevertrump. And it's why I'm doing everything I possibly can to not have this guy be the Republican nominee because the response to the failures of the Obama era is not white nationalism. That's not conservatism. I agree, the behavior you're seeing at his rallies is reprehensible.

COHEN: Oh, that's not sewing white nationalism. That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous. It's not white nationalism supporting Trump.

DEACE: Hold on a second. Let me finish and then you can finish. I watch CNN a lot. I watch CNN a lot. I think they're more than fair in the coverage they give to Donald Trump, so let's let another candidate's side speak for just a moment.

What Trump is doing, the record speaks for itself. I'm going to pay for your legal battles if you punch a guy. Then I'm not the next day. That speaks for itself.

But, Brooke, you know what also speaks for itself? The mobocracy of the radical left that you've seen in places like Wisconsin, that I see at almost every conservative event around the country I go to, that I've seen at Ted Cruz events, where they stand up and think they're entitled to scream and shout and shout you down. Now, the reaction you're getting from Trump and some of his minions in response to this is reprehensible. But the people on the other side that are helping to spark it aren't any more innocent than he is.

BALDWIN: I - I hear you on both sides.

COHEN: I want to make this point. You know -

BALDWIN: Adriana, I do want to hear from you, because you're the person who supports Trump. So many people have come forward and said, listen, why doesn't he - if he wants to be president, act presidential? Why not tone down the temperature? Jake Tapper asked Mr. Trump that himself on Sunday and he essentially was saying, you know, listen, all the other candidates are saying that it's violent, it's not violent. He's not - he's not acknowledging the injuries when he was talking to Wolf yesterday. How do you wrap your head around that?

COHEN: Well, first off, I want to say that I've been to one of Trump's rallies with 8,000 people there and there were no problems whatsoever. Donald Trump has had hundreds of rallies and so to cherry pick, you know, three events where a mob shows up and tries to throw punches and fights and provoke violence, you're going to have a negative response. That's just the reality.

BALDWIN: Adriana it's a lot more than three. Let's just be accurate, it's more than three.

COHEN: Well, right, but the majority of his events, the majority of his events have been peaceful.

But I want to say this. I see an extreme double standard here. You know the left, including Hillary Clinton, wants to attack Donald Trump for divisive rhetoric, yet she called half this country her enemies during her first CNN debate with Anderson Cooper. They asked Hillary Clinton, who is your enemies, and she said, the Republicans. That's half this nation. If that is a partisan insulting -

JONES: She was laughing when she said that.

COHEN: Well, you know what, she also called - compared Republicans and pro-life Americans to terrorists last August. You know, that's despicable. That is insulting rhetoric, yet you don't see, you know, tens of thousands -

JONES: You think it's violent? COHEN: You don't see thousands of Republican protesters showing up at

her events and shutting them down because she called half this country terrorist because they don't support abortion. So Hillary Clinton knows how to dish it out, but she live in a glass house and a lot of Republicans are fed up with the double standards.

BALDWIN: Let me go to Steve on - I want to just - let me move past this and get to tomorrow morning. When we wake up, a possibility is that Trump wins huge. He could take both Iowa - or rather Ohio and he could take Florida. And when he does and when he wakes up, do you think his focus is on Hillary Clinton and he moves straightforward to attacking her?

JONES: Well, I think obviously he's -

DEACE: I think tonight's going to go very well - pardon me.

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Steve.

JONES: I'm sorry.

DEACE: I think tonight's going to go very well - I think tonight's going to go very well for Ted Cruz. I think when we wake up tomorrow I think there's a better chance Trump will only win one state than he will win them all. I think that we'll likely have a delegate - he'll have a delegate lead slightly larger than the one he has now.

Marco Rubio will be effectively eliminated. Kasich will win his home state but be mathematically eliminated. And we're going to have a two- man race. And we're going to have a race between what kind of party is the GOP going to be, a conservative party or a nationalist party. And there is no middle ground. Are we going to run on principle or are we going to run on division, just like Obama did in '08. And I think that's the debate we'll have between now and June the 7th when the primary calendar ends between Cruz and Trump.

BALDWIN: Let me ask all of you to standby. Looking ahead to tonight, Hillary Clinton, moments ago, saying Democrats need to hurry and focus on Trump, but is Bernie Sanders poised to stun everyone again? Remember what he did just a week ago in Michigan?

You're watching CNN's special live coverage. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:24:00] BALDWIN: We're back. You're watching CNN.

I was just talking to my panel and part of what came of the conversation was about some of the heated rhetoric, the violence at some of these Trump rallies. In fact we just learned during the commercial break that the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, actually had a phone call with Mr. Trump this morning. He said it was a good phone call but he specifically told Trump that no matter who may be triggering some of the violence at these rallies of his, it would be a good idea for Trump to discourage it. So we're waiting to get more on what Senator McConnell said to Donald Trump. Meantime, just a little while ago, Hillary Clinton said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it is important that we really do focus on the very dangerous path that Donald Trump has laid out here. The kind of bluster and bigotry and bullying that he's exemplifying on the campaign trail is disturbing to I think a majority of Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Back with me as we talk Dems, Clay Aikens and Van Jones.

[14:25:00] And so, Clay, to you first here. You know, there was Hillary Clinton talking about the vulgarity that we just heard the president speak about a moment ago. But again, her focus still, as she's fighting the good fight with Bernie Sanders, and I'm wondering if you think that Senator Sanders is distracting her from her real issue, assuming she's the presumed nominee?

AIKEN: No. I think, in fact, he's keep hearing on message in a way. He's obviously, as I said yesterday, he's sort of winning the message primary. He's pulling her into some of the issues that people in the Democratic Party want to talk about. But more importantly I think, you know, you look at both of the candidates on the Democratic side, both of the candidates on the Democratic side are better than anybody on the Republican side. And one of the reasons that they're better is all the debates have been about policy issues. All of the - all of the discussion has been about policy and not really about personality. And as long as Bernie sanders stays in the race, they continue to talk about their plans for America, instead of letting it devolve into an attack on Trump.

Yo know, the republicans are very good at running against something and Democrats have always been very good at running for something. And as long as Bernie Sanders remains in the race with Hillary Clinton, they're going to continue to talk about their plans, instead of turning the race into running against Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: Van, do you agree with that? Do you think that's a good thing for Secretary Clinton?

JONES: Well, there's some peril for her. First of all, you know, Bernie Sanders has opened up and exposed a real weakness in Hillary Clinton's armor in that in the rustbelt this message about trade against NAFTA, et cetera, seems to be resonating. Trump has that same message. If you wind up in a situation where it's Hillary versus Donald Trump, Donald Trump now can see a real pathway that Bernie Sanders has already laid out of how to go after her. He would do it anyway. But I do think there's some peril there. I think that Hillary Clinton is - has been improved, I agree with Clay, by having a tough, strong primary, she's gotten much better. She's improved as a candidate. She's much better on the stump. I think her issues have evolved to be much closer to the base. All that's good. But I'm telling you right now, there is a path for Donald Trump

through the rustbelt. If you look at Michigan, you look at Ohio, if you look at Pennsylvania, those are blue states, but they have republican governors. That anti-trade message from a Trump or from a Sanders resonates there. Hillary Clinton needs to use this time to figure out how she's going to defend herself on trade with Bernie, if she winds up as a nomination -

BALDWIN: Down the road.

JONES: She's going to have to pull out those same arguments against Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes. Van Jones, thank you very much. Grab some water, my friend.

JONES: Sorry.

BALDWIN: Clay Aiken, great to have you back as well.

And just a reminder, stay with us, stay with CNN for all day coverage here of Super Tuesday. We have extensive coverage all across five states today, including real-time results as the votes are counted this evening and the reaction from the candidates as well. Do not miss a minute only here on CNN.

Coming up, Marco Rubio has a lot, perhaps everything, riding on his home state of Florida here tonight. That's no secret. But how will he respond to the results? Might he stick around for the long game, win, lose or draw? We'll take you live to Miami coming up next.

Plus, he is the former mayor of Cincinnati and certainly no stranger to tabloid television. So what does Jerry Springer think about this race for president? He will join me live, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)