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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Big Super Tuesday Wins for Clinton and Trump; Rubio Blasts Trump As He Quits Race; U.S. Student Sentenced to Hard Labor in North Korea. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired March 16, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We know we will add to our delegate lead to roughly 300 with over 2 million votes nationwide.
[05:00:04] We are moving closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in November.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Joining us to break down the winners and the losers, CNN politics reporter Eric Bradner live this morning from Columbus, Ohio.
Fair to say, the big winners, the front-runners.
ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: That's right. It was a great night for the front-runners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
On the Republican side, Trump didn't quite score the double knockout that he had in mind, but he did defeat Marco Rubio in Florida, knocking Rubio out of the race and dealing a big blow to the Republican establishment that had pinned his hopes on Rubio as the long-term sort of anti-Trump candidate. He also won in Illinois and North Carolina, but he lost in Ohio to Governor John Kasich, who's able to defend his home turf and pick up all 66 delegates in the winner-take-all state.
Now, let's look at the delegate math right now. Trump has 640 delegates while Ted Cruz is in second with 405 and Kasich is third with 138. What that means is that Trump still has a long way to go. He needs to pick up about 60 percent of the delegates to win the nomination outright and keep this from going to a contested convention.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton ran the table. She won in Florida and North Carolina finishing off a sweep of the south but she also won in Illinois where she was sort of able to vanquish the ghosts of Michigan just a week ago and prove that she can win in the industrial Midwest in swing states.
So, now, she has a big delegate lead over Bernie Sanders, and the two front-runners, Trump and Clinton, look more likely than ever to win their party's nominations.
BERMAN: All right. Eric Bradner, stay with us.
I want to bring in our panel right now. Senior correspondent for CNNPolitics.com, Chris Moody, CNN senior reporter for media and politics, Dylan Byers, and CNN political analyst and "Bloomberg View" columnist Josh Rogin.
Josh, the never trump, or stop Trump movement, some of these super PACs, they dumped a ton of money into Florida. They spent big in Missouri and Illinois and they don't have anything to show for it this morning. They did win Ohio. John Kasich won Ohio.
But is that enough to stop Donald Trump at this point?
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. The never Trump movement as it were really spent in all of the states. Weren't just spending in Florida where Rubio, their favorite candidate, was competitive. But they weren't really planning past today and they really don't know what they're going to do next.
They're talking to people who are involved in that program last night. They told me, listen, we're going to have to get behind Ted Cruz, but it's not clear where the money is going to come from and what the strategy is going to be. They'll probably sleep it off today and figure that out in a meeting tomorrow.
So, there will be a number of Republicans both in the establishment and around the country who can just never vote for Trump. They just can't reconcile it. They're not going to come around. So, that movement will continue. But as we get later and later in the primary season, their effectiveness is probably diminishing.
ROMANS: If they have been effective, because, Dylan Byers, you look at the ad spending in these states leading up to Super Tuesday, part three. Half of the money was against Trump. Hiss poll numbers were always strong, never wavered, and these numbers last night showed he carried these states by almost 20 points.
DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER FOR MEDIA AND POLITICS: Yes, absolutely. Mine this is what we've been saying about Donald Trump since long before the primaries and caucuses even began. He's Teflon Don. Nothing sticks.
And there's a lot there that should stick. There's a lot there that certainly would stick to any candidate running in any previous race or even this race. Somehow, it doesn't stick to Donald Trump.
And so, the question becomes especially for Hillary Clinton and the Democrats looking ahead to the general election, how you do make it stick? What does a concerted anti-Trump effort look like? What kind of ads are effective? How hard do you go? What is the right messaging?
That is a question that the entire Republican establishment, that well-funded campaigns like those of Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, they haven't be able to crack that. You know, the Democrats spend a lot of time looking at what's going on on the Republican side and they're preparing for it in the general election.
I think it's going to be really interesting to see what sort of tack they take and what ultimately if anything can sink Donald Trump.
BERMAN: So, Chris Moody, after Michigan on the Democratic side, big upset in Michigan for Bernie Sanders. There are all these questions, can he replicate it in some of these Midwestern states, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois.
[05:05:02] The answer this morning is a definitive no. I think people wish -- they were certainly surprised Bernie Sanders upstaged that win in Michigan last week, but I think there might be equal surprise that Hillary Clinton appears to have run the table. We're still waiting on final results from Missouri. But she's leading there. She might have gone five for five.
CHRIS MOODY, CNN SENIOR DIGITAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: You're right. After Michigan, the big test for Bernie Sanders was to pull it off again because you have to win one more than one state. That's something that's going to -- obviously, Bernie Sanders has won more than one state, but you've got to be able to repeat it over and over and that's something John Kasich on the Republican side is going to have to prove as well.
But Hillary Clinton really showed her strength tonight, not just in one region of the country, but she's already shown she can do it in the south, she can do it in the Midwest, and as we head further west this week, if she does well, you're going to see her grow stronger and stronger and have speeches kind of like the one she had last night in West Palm Beach in which she was speaking almost as if there was no primary anymore. She was looking ahead to the primary and general and talking more about the candidate she think she'll face than the candidate she's actually facing right now.
ROMANS: Chris, let's listen to a little bit of that speech last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Our next president has to be ready to face three big tests. First, can you make positive differences in people's lives? Second, can you keep us safe? Third, can you bring our country together again?
Our next president has to bring our country together, so we can all share in the promise of America. We should be breaking down barriers, not building walls. We're not going to succeed by dividing this country between us and them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Eric Bradner, she did not say the words "Donald Trump" there, but you could tell she has brushed off this economic populism message from a week ago, this worry about trade, this worry about the economy and is moving right -- looking forward here.
BRADNER: That's absolutely right. Hillary Clinton pivoted to general election, and then Bernie Sanders made her pivot back to the primary and now, she's pivoting again to the general election.
She's not going to say she's done dealing with Bernie Sanders, but effectively with a big delegate lead right now, that's sort of where she is. The race is heading west. Bernie Sanders is probably going to win more state, especially the caucus states that we have coming up.
But Hillary Clinton is squarely focused on Donald Trump. She's starting to work on some of the problem areas that she's had in the Democratic race. By winning Ohio and Illinois, she proved that that sort of populist anti-trade message is not going to sink her in the industrial Midwest. That was key. That was big.
She needed to prove after Michigan that the entire region wasn't going to be a problem. Clinton seems do best with her back against the wall when she's facing a real challenge. I mean, even 2008 in New Hampshire now after losing Michigan she had a big night. So, it looks like she's going to start to focus on Trump and try not to have what happened in Michigan happen again where she sort of dragged back into this race with Sanders who's going to keep harping on this message, but now it looks like a really tough road to get delegates he needs to seriously threaten.
BERMAN: All right. Guys, stand by.
When we come back, we're going to talk about the Republican race. So many question: what happens now to John Kasich? What happened to Marco Rubio? And Donald Trump, is there a way now to stop him?
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[05:13:01] SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: America needs a vibrant conservative movement, but one that's built on principles and on ideas, not on fear, not on anger, not on preying on people's frustrations. While it is not God's plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever, and while today my campaign is suspended, the fact that I've even come this far is evidence of how special America truly is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And then there were three. Marco Rubio suspending his campaign after a big loss -- look at that -- crushed by Donald Trump in his home state. Marco Rubio the hope of so many in the establishment now gone from the race. You see John Kasich did manage to win his home state.
Let's talk about this with our panel. Joining us again, Chris Moody, Dylan Byers, Josh Rogin, Eric Bradner.
Chris Moody, the map in Florida is stunning. Marco Rubio, the sitting senator from the state of Florida, won one single county, his home county, Dade. So, he won basically his friends and family and lost everywhere else in state this he's rented for nearly six years.
MOODY: Can we employ a little choose your own adventure here and look at Florida, who thought what Florida was supposed to be? It was supposed to be this epic matchup between Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, the master and the apprentice after this each other this crucial, crucial state.
And it turned into something completely different. As has this entire campaign. I think you can look in Florida as a microcosm of how nothing has come to fruition as planned, as people thought it would come, Donald Trump coming in and just annihilating him. I can't imagine people seeing that map for the first time and seeing that little speck for Marco Rubio. He's the sitting senator of a state.
We talk about John Kasich for Ohio. Well, of course, he won Ohio, of course. Well, Marco Rubio should have done something similar or at least won a few more counties, but Donald Trump's power there in strength have reflected in the rest of the country as well and I think that that is a real sign, a real scary sign for the establishment, certainly for people that are part of this never Trump movement knowing that the momentum seems to be with Donald Trump right now.
[05:15:12] ROMANS: Yes, Donald Trump with the happy guy. You know, he had a press conference. They said it would be, but it was a victory speech in Florida last night. He was surrounded by his management, his campaign management, he was surrounded by family. And this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Sit down, everybody, please? I mean, this is Mar-a-Lago. We give you seats. You don't have to stand. Look at all these people.
Corey, good job, Corey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The backdrop story here, Dylan Byers, is long and convoluted. But the thanking -- the public thanking of Corey Lewandowski, his campaign manager, is significant this week, a week in which Donald Trump has been fighting with the press. He has been fighting with the perception that there's violence breaking out at he's -- who's at fault for that at some of his campaign rallies, and because of Corey Lewandowski's tough situation with the mainstream media.
BYERS: Yes, that's absolutely right. And as you said, the backstory here is someone convoluted, and there's a great deal about a dispute over just what exactly happened in terms of this allegation that he assaulted a news reporter.
But, look, there's no ambiguity how Lewandowski, Trump, and the campaign tried to undermine that reporter's credibility or threw her integrity into question. There's no ambiguity about the fact that last night, Donald Trump's campaign kept a political reporter out of the rally because they didn't like something critical that he had written about Lewandowski, and that's something that they've done to reporters from several news outlets, including "The New York Times," "The Des Moines Register," "The Huffington Post", "BuzzFeed" and others.
And there's absolutely no ambiguity about the language Trump uses when he refers to reporters. He calls them scum. He says they're the most dishonest people, and the language that some of his supporters used toward those reporters which are words I can't repeat on cable television.
And for Trump to bring out this guy who has become a symbol of that aggressive tone towards the media and to say, "Good job, Corey", is to stick a thumb in the eye of all of these reporters who really feel offended and troubled by the Trump campaign's tactics. And, you know, of course, at the end of the day, it probably doesn't matter because, you know, the truth is that the vast majority of the country doesn't hold the mainstream media in very high regard anyway.
BERMAN: Josh Rogin, you've got about 45 seconds to explain to me how John Kasich or Ted Cruz could win the nomination.
ROGIN: Right. So, Ted Cruz is going to head to the next states that have the next primaries, that's Arizona, Utah and Wisconsin, try to win some more states. John Kasich in his interview with Wolf Blitzer said he's going to Colorado, Maryland, and Florida. Two states that vote months from now and one state that's not voting for president at all.
So, what it is now is a gain to secure up delegates, prevent Donald Trump from getting to 1,237 and make a strong case as possible heading into a contested convention. It's a long shot for Ted Cruz. It's a much longer shot for John Kasich, but it's really the only option they both have.
BERMAN: Hmm. Interesting to see.
ROMANS: It really is.
BERMAN: You know, John Kasich says, you know, that he can still do this, but it does absolutely include a contested convention. Ted Cruz told me that he doesn't like the idea of an outsider, a not Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. If he's one of the people contesting in a contested convention, he's OK with it.
ROMANS: All right. Happening right now, a manhunt for two terrorists linked to the paris attack. We've got more information next.
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[05:23:09] ROMANS: Breaking news this morning, North Korea sentencing a 21-year-old American student to 15 years of hard labor. Otto Warmbier, an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia, was convicted of subversion in a one-hour trial earlier this morning. He was arrested in January. He broke down last month at a press conference, apologizing for allegedly stealing a political banner. Warmbier is one of three North Americans currently being held by Pyongyang.
BERMAN: A manhunt underway right now in Brussels. Authorities are searching for two suspects who fired on police during a raid in an apartment that was tied to last year's Paris terror attacks. One suspect was killed and four officers wounded when the operation was interrupted by gunfire. Now, police are not saying just how the raid was connected to the Paris attacks.
ROMANS: Secretary of State John Kerry travels to Russia next week to press for an end to the civil war in Syria. Kerry says Russia's decision to withdraw most of the forces from Syria along with the peace talks in Geneva provided the best opportunity to end the conflict since it began five years ago. The secretary will leave for Moscow after returning from a trip to Cuba on Tuesday.
BERMAN: A lot of finger-pointing in the Flint water contamination hearing on Capitol Hill, when lawmakers asked former EPA official Susan Headman why she did not act more forcefully last year after learning a crucial protective chemical was added to the drinking water. She insisted the agency did nothing wrong and blamed limited enforcement options.
The House Oversight Committee hearing continues on Thursday with Michigan's Governor Rick Snyder scheduled to testify.
ROMANS: Nearly $55 million was spent by candidates and super PACs on TV ads in the five states that voted Tuesday. More than half of that was spent on attack ads slamming Donald Trump. The biggest overall spender, pro-Marco Rubio's Conservative Solutions super PAC. It unloaded a staggering $13 million total among the five states, including $9 million in Florida alone. The American Future Fund, which supports John Kasich, was the second highest spending group.
Of all the money spent, Florida topped the list on Super Tuesday three, $22 million, the fourth highest state total this primary season. Illinois came in next at $14.9 million and then Ohio and Missouri.
Democrats have the biggest ad buy, more than $9 million by Bernie Sanders followed by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
BERMAN: All right. Big wins for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. The race for president, though, a lot new developments overnight. We'll cover them all, next.
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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, March 16th, 5:30 in the East.
And we could not wait until 6:00 to tell you all the news that went down. Your headline: front-runners for real. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton with statement wins. Trump winning big in three states, while Ohio Governor John Kasich does stay alive with his first win at home in Ohio, a big win for him.
