Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

CNN Town Hall: Trump, Bush & Kasich; Trump Calls Pope's Slam "Disgraceful"; Syria Truce Set for Today Delayed? Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 19, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:22] MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Republicans making a run for the White House taking tough questions from the voters. Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and John Kasich on the CNN town hall stage. We are breaking down the big moments for you.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Miguel Marquez.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Cristina Alesci. It's about half past the hour.

Breaking overnight: Republican presidential candidates taking on tough questions from South Carolina voters, in a CNN live town hall. Bush on whether he still has a chance to win. Kasich on whether his upbeat message works for an angry electorate. And Trump challenged on his fight with the pope after the pontiff criticized Trump's stance on immigration.

CNN's Phil Mattingly has more from South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Miguel and Cristina.

A day filled with political clashes. Ted Cruz versus Marco Rubio. Jeb Bush versus Marco Rubio. Ted Cruz versus Donald Trump. Donald Trump versus the pope.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't like fighting with the pope. I don't think this is a fight. I think he said something much softer that it was originally reported by the media.

I think he is doing a very good job. He's a lot of energy. But I would say that I think he was very much misinterpreted. And I also think he was given false information.

If he would have heard our side, the side from people that live in the United States --

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Would you like to meet with him and talk to him about it?

TRUMP: I'll do it anytime he wants. I mean, I think it would be very interesting. No, I like him.

MATTINGLY: Trump, just one day after sending a cease-and-desist letter to Ted Cruz's campaign saying he would do much the same with other countries if he's in the Oval Office.

COOPER: So, as president, would you be sending cease-and-desist letters?

MATTINGLY: Yes, maybe to China. Oh, I would be -- I would be sending them to China to stop ripping us off. I would be sending them to other countries to stop ripping us off. I'd send them to Mexico. And when I say cease and desist, maybe it's equivalent, OK? Maybe I'd do it with my mouth.

MATTINGLY: Jeb Bush saying the talk of his campaign failing is premature.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I do have momentum if you look at the polls and you'd look the crowd sizes of our town hall meetings and the enthusiasm that exists.

MATTINGLY: And taking on criticism of being an introvert.

BUSH: You'll know this. You'll appreciate this because introverts set goals and grind.

COOPER: Yes, yes.

BUSH: And they're just like arr, they just go at it, you know? Which is a pretty good thing to be when you are running for president, when you've been written off over and over and over again.

MATTINGLY: John Kasich just hours after his poignant moment on the campaign trail continuing to push his message of community and positive campaigning.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have to celebrate other people's wins and sometimes you've got to sit with them and cry, because that's what we need in this country.

MATTINGLY: All three have one more day of campaigning in South Carolina. For Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner, all things look like they're on the glide path.

But the moment is now urgent, especially Jeb Bush, who stake much of the future of his campaign on a big performance in this state. For John Kasich, it's about proving the momentum following that second place finish in New Hampshire is for real -- Cristina and Miguel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Thank you, Phil Mattingly.

Joining us this morning to dig into this political buffet and the town hall, and all the political goings on, CNN reporter and all nighter puller Tom LoBianco -- the zombie, we're going to call you. Thank you for staying up to watch the debate and come around and talk to us about all of this.

Pretty -- it's amazing to see them in this situation. You get a lot more out of the individuals. There was one moment where in a question from a voter to Trump about the Iraq war, and it got a little testy there. We want to talk -- let's show that and we'll talk to you when we come back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I literally was handed this. There is a report now out tonight on "BuzzFeed" that include -- I have not heard it -- includes an audio clip of what appears to be you on Howard Stern talking in the radio on September 11th, 2002. He asked you, "Are you for invading Iraq?" You said, "Yes, I guess so. You know, I wish the first time it was done correctly."

Is that accurate? Do you remember saying that?

TRUMP: No, but I mean, I could -- I could have said that. Nobody asked me. I wasn't a politician. It was probably the first time anybody asked me that question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: That was the wrong sound bite. But there was one part where Anderson and Trump went back and forth based on a voter's question whether or not Bush lied back and forth. And Trump would not go there. He wouldn't call Bush a liar again.

What's going on here?

TOM LOBIANCO, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Isn't it interesting he is getting tangled up in the Iraq war, too.

What's happening is South Carolina has a huge military voter presence there. If you are running in the Republican primary, you've got to play to the military vote. For Trump, who often times sounded like a Democrat when talking about the Iraq war, he really tamped down yesterday. He was not as hard as he usually is on George W. Bush.

And you can see there that, you know, even with the 2002 question where he seemed to flip-flop on his stances on the Iraq war, he didn't disavow it, you know? Maybe that sounds good for the South Carolina electorate. Maybe they do like somebody who was with George W. Bush in the first go around.

MARQUEZ: Clearly taking a hit.

ALESCI: All right. We have to talk about someone other than Trump. Kasich -- continued his emotional appeal to voters. Here's what he had to say about his parents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASICH: At the age of 35, I got a phone call that they wouldn't be able to get home. I went into a black hole with just a little pinprick of light, but I had people come to me. I don't care -- you know, you don't have to agree with me or like it or whatever, but it's really where I found the Lord.

I spent 29 years of my life working on that. I am here to tell people that -- and, look, life is -- it's so rocky. It's so fragile. We have to build our homes, our lives, our homes on solid granite. Not on sand.

And I have found that even though the pain still comes, there's where I have to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: He has such a strong personal story.

ALESCI: Exactly. His parents were killed by a drunk driver.

And does this wear well, though, Tom, on a presidential candidate? The emotional appeal talking about how he dealt with the difficult period in his life? How do you think this is really resonating at this point?

LOBIANCO: What a touching story there. You know, that really plays to Kasich's wheelhouse. That's what he has been doing a lot of. Earlier in the day, again, he had an emotional embrace with a supporter earlier yesterday just before the town hall. That's -- that's his style. That's who he is.

He has been that way in the more than 100 town halls they did up there in New Hampshire. That's his narrative. That's what he's built out. He's played into it.

You know, he has built himself as the off-beat candidate, the off-beat Republican. You know, his people like to say he's not in the establishment lane per se. But, you know, here's the guy who expanded Medicaid in Ohio. He has taken heat from it on the Republican side. He is not afraid to go to the, I guess, more compassionate conservatism side of the electorate there.

MARQUEZ: Yes, it will be interesting to see if that plays in rough and tumble South Carolina.

On the other side of the political spectrum, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton were at a rival network doing their own little town hall. A voter got up and asked about Sanders criticism of Bill and Hillary, and here is what Hillary had to say, and then what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just don't know where all this comes from, because maybe it's that Senator Sanders wasn't really a Democrat until he decided to run for president. Maybe he doesn't know what the last two Democratic presidents did.

Well, it's true. You know it's true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALESCI: It is a fight between the boos and claps.

MARQUEZ: A smattering of claps and a lot of booing. Is that bad for Hillary Clinton in Nevada?

LOBIANCO: Boy, you know, you hardly ever see that. It's such a direct attack on that side of the aisle, and then the boos there.

That goes to show this split in the Democratic Party that is happening right now, that Sanders has been exploiting. You never saw too much before. Open boos on something like that. That was a -- that was a sharp attack from Clinton and clearly one of the biggest vulnerabilities.

There you have people who don't necessarily identify with the Democratic Party. You know, they may be left of center, they might be liberal, but you have a lot of independent support for him. You have a lot of people who feel that Sanders is an outsider candidate.

So, it's not necessarily something that will win her back support from those people who like outsider candidates.

ALESCI: It seems to be working for him so far.

MARQUEZ: I think we get rid of the word establishment.

[04:40:00] No one is establishment anymore. It doesn't exist.

Thanks, Tom.

LOBIANCO: Not this cycle. Don't use that word.

ALESCI: Thanks, Tom.

LOBIANCO: Thank you.

ALESCI: The White House says there's no plan for President Obama to meet with Fidel Castro on his trip to Cuba, but he will sit down with Cuban leader Raul Castro and raise concerns about human rights and freedoms for the Cuban people.

The president and first lady will travel to Cuba next month. He will be sitting -- it's the first sitting U.S. president to visit the communist island nation in almost seven decades.

Mr. Obama also plans to meet with Cuban dissidents and interact with entrepreneurs and members of the Cuba's civil society.

MARQUEZ: Now, today, President Obama and the first lady will pay their respects to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. His body will lie in repose in the court's great hall.

In just a few hours, Scalia's loved ones and eight remaining justices will attend a private ceremony, followed by a public viewing from 10:30 until 8:00 p.m. tonight.

Critics have slammed the president for deciding to skip Scalia's funeral mass on Saturday. The White House defending the move, citing security as a major factor.

ALESCI: And it is time for an early start on your money. The Dow snapping its three-day winning streak yesterday. But futures are up now despite a drop in oil prices. Stocks in Europe are turning higher. Asian markets closed lower.

Wall Street is closing books on the worst quarter for corporate profits since 2009. The 500 largest publicly traded companies saw a drop of 4 percent last quarter. Sales were bad, too, down 2.5 percent. Energy companies were hit the hardest as crude oil started crashing.

Now, besides oil, what's behind the bad results? Well, weak global economic demand is a big challenge and strong dollar hurt. When the dollar gains, U.S. products become more expensive overseas, and they become harder to sell.

I know. This is very disappointing to you.

MARQUEZ: That's right.

ALESCI: Donald Trump versus the pope. The new reaction to the controversy live from Rome, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:52] MARQUEZ: Well, a few minutes ago, you heard Donald Trump firing back at the pope for criticizing him. Flying from Mexico back to Rome, Pope Francis was asked about Trump's plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and build the wall along the entire border with Mexico.

Here is the pope's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS (through translator): A person who thinks only about building walls wherever they may be located and not building bridges is not Christian. This is not in the gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not a Christian if he has said things like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Amazingly enough, Trump immediately slammed the pontiff's reaction as disgraceful, saying no religious leader, quote, "should have the right to question another man's religion or faith."

So, following the town hall, where do things stand with the Vatican this morning?

CNN's Rosa Flores is in Rome for us.

Rosa, the pope never a shrinking violet when it comes to injecting himself in situations like this. You were on the plane with him back to Rome.

What was your sense of what he said? Did he mean -- did he mean to say this? Did he know what he was saying when he said those words?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miguel, good morning.

I think the context is important here, and the framing of the question as well.

So, here's the question that was asked of Pope Francis. It was something along the lines of, you know, Pope Francis you have been speaking eloquently about immigration in Mexico. But right across the border, there is the election for the White House. The frontrunner is saying, for the GOP, is saying that he vows to build a wall. He vows to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants back to Mexico and other countries.

So, the question was this, Pope Francis would you recommend for American Catholics to vote for this man? And, then, of course, you just heard his answer, Miguel, in that sound bite.

That's why he says, you know, I can't tell you to vote or not to vote. That, of course, is not his role as pope. But he does speak with moral authority as we know.

And, Miguel, you and I have been following his visit through Mexico. You know he had been speaking very ill about drug violence and drug cartels and he had been speaking about immigration as well, how it's difficult for Mexicans and other people in Latin America to find opportunity in their countries. And so, they move so and try to go to the United States.

So, all of that is in the back drop as Pope Francis responded to the question. He just spent six days in Mexico speaking to the youth and telling them, you know, we want a Mexico where people don't have to cross the border to achieve dreams. So, they can dream in Mexico as well.

Miguel, that just kind of gives you a little background as to how the question was framed and how Pope Francis responded. And we got, you know, we also have to say this, Pope Francis never uttered Donald Trump's name. Donald Trump's name was in the question. So, interesting -- interesting, you know, to kind of look at it the nuance there.

MARQUEZ: Pope Francis certainly understands where he stands in this world. In a pope v. Trump world, my money on pope.

Rosa Flores in live for us, thank you very much.

ALESCI: Well, Pope Francis also weighing in on the spread of the Zika virus. He says using contraception to avoid pregnancy could be seen as the lesser of two evils during the Zika outbreak. If women are concerned about having children with birth defects, microcephaly, the pope says abortion is a, quote, "absolute evil" and should not be considered, even if there is a chance the baby would be born with brain damage.

MARQUEZ: Now, help is on the way for the people of Flint, Michigan. The Michigan House of Representatives approving $30 million to help residents and businesses in the city pay the bills for their contaminated water. Also Thursday, Governor Rick Snyder who has been criticized for not acting fast enough has said Flint is getting additional $2 million in state funds.

[04:50:01] The money would go toward a plan to begin replacing lead contaminated pipes as early as next week.

ALESCI: California officials say an underground gas well near Porter Ranch has been leaking since October is now permanently sealed and it is safe for displaced residents to return. The well at the SoCal Gas storage facility has been taking out of service. Utilities still hasn't determined what caused the leak.

The flow of natural gas leaking from the well was stopped last week. Last month, California governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in the area.

MARQUEZ: And the trials for the five Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray are now on hold. Maryland's Court of Appeals postponing the proceedings to consider whether one of the Baltimore cops can be compelled to testify against all the others. The trial of William Porter, the first of the six officers charged in the case ended in mistrial. Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury while in police custody last year.

ALESCI: Somewhat of a lighter story now. Beyonce's controversial Super Bowl performance prompting Miami Police Union to call for law enforcement nationwide to boycott her world tour. In a statement, Miami's police union accused the singer of using her halftime to, quote, "divide Americans by promoting the Blank Panthers and anti-American message." Beyonce's world tour is set to kick off April 27th at the Marlins Stadium in Miami.

The stock market winning streak is over, but it's looking like a positive end to the week. We'll get an early start on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARQUEZ: The cessation of hostilities that was supposed to go into effect in Syria today probably won't. That's because the international diplomats and experts have apparently not yet met to work out the final details of the truce.

[04:55:00] Meantime, tens of thousands of new refugees fleeing the fighting and Russian bombing in northern Syria are now stuck at the border which Turkey recently sealed.

Monitoring this increasingly desperate, desperate situation for us from London, international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson.

Nic, the violence has been so great in recent days, cross border and from the air with the Russian airstrikes. Is there any sense that at least that possibility that was because they were doing that ahead of this possible cessation? Is there any sense that at least the violence will abate?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's really not clear, Miguel. The expectation is from the Munich agreement last week that within a week there would be a meeting headed by the United States and Russia jointly co-chairing a military task force that would include diplomats and military experts from the international Syria support group. That was 17 countries that agreed to this Munich agreement, all players with a stake of what happens in Syria.

The reality is that we have not heard on the surface of any sort of major talks between the United States and Russia and any of these other cease-fire. On the ground, it appears there's been an escalation in hostilities. And, yes, I mean, you can certainly look at that and say, look, the government backed by Russia and the Iranians know that there is a deadline approaching. They may want to get ahead of the strategic gains they think they're making on the ground ahead of that deadline.

I think at the moment, the way that it looks and the expectation is, it's going to be hard to slow down the momentum of the Syrian government and those Russian air strikes in time for the deadline, which is in theory, today for a cessation, the talks are supposed to play a wider cease-fire agreement. We don't have the diplomats I talked to don't have a time for the meeting today.

It is expected to happen. The U.N. would play a role in it. But the reality is the violence, as you say, is just getting worse. That's despite saying in a week it should stop.

MARQUEZ: Just when you think it cannot get anymore bleak in Syria, it does.

Nic Robertson for us -- thank you.

ALESCI: Turning to Wall Street. Let's get an early start on your money.

Dow futures up after snapping that three-day winning streak yesterday, but oil is down. So, we'll see if those gains actually hold. Europe is higher and Asia finished with losses.

And great news for workers. Two developments on the job front that have workers making more money. Last night, Oregon lawmakers voted to raise the minimum wage statewide. It's currently $9.25 an hour, already much higher than the federal rate, of course, it is, $7.25.

Over the next five years, wages will rise to $14.75 for workers in Portland and other counties and rural areas will get nice increases as well. Regardless of location, many Walmart workers are getting a raise of their own. This weekend, 1 million of them, the world's largest retailer will hike wages for almost all of its employees on Saturday. That will cost the company quite a bit, $1.5 billion this year.

And if you haven't refinanced your mortgage or you're thinking about buying a new home, now is the time. The average for a 15-year fixed rate mortgage is 2.9 percent nationwide. The 30-year fixed is 3.65 percent.

We haven't seen numbers that low in more than a year. Mortgage rates are tied to ten-year treasury bonds, which have been a popular safe haven investment during the recent market downtown. But as stocks stage a recovery, investors could move out of those investments, that will likely send mortgage rates higher.

Plus, the Fed will eventually raise rates again, though, that might not happen until later this year or even next.

MARQUEZ: I find a great refrigerator box near the Hudson for $1.2 million, I'm buying it.

ALESCI: Done.

MARQUEZ: Hey, EARLY START continues now.

(MUSIC)

MARQUEZ: Republicans running for president on the CNN town hall stage. Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and John Kasich taking tough questions from voters. We are breaking down the big moment.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Miguel Marquez.

ALESCI: And I'm Cristina Alesci. It is Friday, February 19th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Breaking overnight: Republican presidential candidates taking tough questions from South Carolina voters in a CNN live town hall. Bush on whether he still has a chance to win. Kasich on whether his upbeat message works for an angry electorate. And Trump challenged on his fight with the pope after the pontiff criticized his stance on immigration.

CNN's Phil Mattingly has more from South Carolina -- Phil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Miguel and Cristina.

A day filled with political clashes. Ted Cruz versus Marco Rubio. Jeb Bush versus Marco Rubio. Ted Cruz versus Donald Trump. Donald Trump versus the pope.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't like fighting with the pope. I don't think this is a fight. I think he said something much softer that it was originally reported by the media.