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Interview with Jeb Bush; Bill Clinton Attacks Bernie Sanders; Sanders Campaign Fires Back At Bill Clinton; Kasich: "We Anticipate Doing Well" In New Hampshire; Interview With John Kasich. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired February 08, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm ready for the job. Senator Rubio is not.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to keep saying it over and over again. Barack Obama is trying to change America.

JEB BUSH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I'm president of the United States I will run to the fire to put it out. I won't blame my predecessor.

JOHN KASICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm doing this because I feel this is my mission.

BUSH: American heroes, calling them losers, Donald Trump, you are the loser.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to win and then we're going to beat Hillary or whoever the hell they put in front of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So pretty. Look at that beautiful, beautiful landscape. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, February 8, 8:00 in the east. Michaela is in New York. Chris and I are here in Manchester, New Hampshire, at the Waterworks Cafe. And the races and the rhetoric are heating up in the final critical hours before tomorrow's New Hampshire primary. Our new CNN poll of polls, meaning the average of all polls, has Donald Trump with the commanding lead at 31 percent in the GOP race. That's more than a two to one margin over his nearest rival Marco Rubio. The Florida senator trying to rebound from that shaky debate performance that had his rivals pouncing.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: But as we keep reminding you, the biggest number in any poll you're going to see right about the GOP is the undecided. As many as one-third of the electorate still trying to make up their minds. We saw how that played out in Iowa. What will it mean in New Hampshire.

Now, on the salvo side, Donald Trump, who just did a piece saying that he is the new gentler kinder one, not so much when it comes to Governor Jeb Bush. He just put out a tweet saying not nice things about the governor. We're going to talk to him about the impact of it. There's the tweet. What does this mean for Donald Trump? But does it matter to governor Jeb Bush? We have him with us right now, obviously the former Florida governor, presidential candidate. Governor, thank you very much.

JEB BUSH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good to be with you.

CUOMO: We will talk about your opponents in a second. I was with your people last night, some of them. There is a lot of energy and expectation around what happens in New Hampshire. Let's cut right to it. How big a deal is what happens to you here tomorrow?

BUSH: It's important because I've spent a lot of time here. And we have hundreds of volunteers from outside the state plus all of the army of people that are supporting me in state. So I expect to do well. I can't decide -- I'm not in charge of what well is, but we're going to do fine. I feel good about it. It's a great place for me to campaign because I do have communication skills. I actually can complete a sentence and complete a thought. The Twitter feed part of this is important in politics but it is also important to engage with real people, and these town hall meetings is a great format to do that.

CUOMO: Do you have a sense of urgency about tomorrow? Does this matter more than Iowa did?

BUSH: It does matter more because I have spent more time here. You can't deny that. But Wednesday morning I will be at Hill Head. And so we are planning to --

CUOMO: So you are moving on. This talk about there are only so many tickets for governors out of this, will you get one, you are saying I'm moving on, period.

BUSH: Absolutely.

CUOMO: So, there were big headlines, he's got a good game but not enough game. It is time for the new school. And yet Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl for the Denver Broncos last night.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: What did you take from that victory?

BUSH: Peyton, I'm so happy for him personally just because it is probably his last game. And good defense wins. And you never know what the outcome is going to be. Carolina was the favorite but they didn't win. What a surprise. It sounds like politics to me. This state more than any other state really focuses at the last minute, the last three or four days, to decide who they're going to support. CUOMO: That's interesting, a window into you. I set you up about the Super Bowl. You know Peyton Manning. Peyton Manning maxed out as a supporter for your campaign. You don't mention it. You are not in the Jeb Bush horn tooting business. Do you think that has been a little bit of a liability for you in this particular election?

BUSH: No. Look, I think Peyton probably wants to celebrate without having be associated with me. So he did support me. Financially he is a supporter. So is Eli, for that matter. And they are a great family and I appreciate their success.

CUOMO: You are a study in contrast from the man at the top of the polls, Donald Trump. He just put out a tweet saying this guy doesn't have communication skills. That's why he needed the Super Bowl commercial. What is your response to the latest attack?

BUSH: If I was so unimportant why does he focus on me? Maybe it's because I'm the only candidate running for president that takes him on.

CUOMO: You called him a loser the other day.

BUSH: Yes. He has gone bankrupt four times. That's being a loser. Taking on an elderly woman to take her property so you could create a parking lot for your limo drivers for your failed casino, I don't consider that a victory.

[08:05:00] He measures strength by how he insults people. I measure strength on how you try to lift people up, how to try to create policies to give them a chance.

CUOMO: You have increased your attacks. Early on you didn't want to go at him in that way. You were saying, look, I'm not going to be like him. Was that a mistake?

BUSH: I have been confronting him. I called him a jerk. I probably shouldn't have done that. But he has called people far worse than that. When you call John McCain a loser because you got caught and you are in a POW camp, that is just outrageous. Or when you mock the disabled. Can you imagine the president of the United States doing what he did as a candidate? It would be devastating for a country. People are hurting. People are struggling. More than half the people are living from paycheck to paycheck. And to have a president that pushes people down the way he does to make himself look good would be an absolute disaster.

CUOMO: What do you say to the people who support him to get their support? They say I like that he is unvarnished. I like that he says how it is. He is different than the other guys. What do you say to them to make them support you?

BUSH: Look, I respect the fact that people are supporting him because they are looking for someone to go solve the problems. But the reality is Donald Trump won't solve the problems. That's the disappointment will be should he be in a position he won't even be able to deliver. But people are hurting. I get why people are latched on to him,

because he is the big guy on the stage. But there is nothing in his record that would suggest he could forge consensus to deal with our taxes or regulation, the entitlement challenges. The questions I get out there are how are you going to preserve and protect Social Security and allow it to exist for my children? What are you going to do about the drug epidemic? And just big, grandiose talk isn't going to solve that problem.

CUOMO: How big a deal was what happened Saturday night specifically for Senator Rubio?

BUSH: You know, in politics, as you know, Chris when there is a -- when it is a validation of what the perception is, it is bad news. In Marco's case he is not as scripted as he came across in that debate. He is a gifted speaker. He is a gifted person. But he has nothing in his background to suggest that he could make a tough decision. It's possible he could, but there is nothing -- he has never had a job where he has had to tell people no. He's never had a job where he's has to force consensus. And so that became apparent I think on Saturday night.

CUOMO: You took your shot at the debate, but you didn't go after him the way Governor Christie did. I was looking at your face during it. What were you feeling for Marco Rubio? He is not just an opponent. This is your mentee.

BUSH: He is a friend.

CUOMO: This is someone who is a close friend of yours. What did you feel for him when you were watching it happen?

BUSH: It is not comfortable for me to attack Marco Rubio. But I do think that everybody needs to be challenged because, I'll tell you what, whoever is the Republican nominee, they better fasten their seatbelts because the Clinton hit machine is coming straight at you. And so this is beanbag compared to what is going to happen. And being tested is an important part of why New Hampshire is important.

CUOMO: When you have to deal with perception and reality in elections all the time, he was someone you helped raise politically. For him to be getting more attention, to be seen in the polls and media as a better choice than you at a certain point in time, how do you handle it?

BUSH: First of all, he has got to earn it. There's no coronation here. He is not going to get a layup. The whole Washington establishment can't just say part the waters, Marco is coming. And the debate on Saturday proved why that is important that all of us get challenged. We have a long way to go. Not a single delegate has been selected. Some are likely to be selected out of Iowa. But tomorrow is the first day where delegates are selected. There is no coronation necessary yet. Let's have a couple of skirmishes here.

CUOMO: Your mother and your brother came out. I sensed when I was watching that you seemed different. You have been dealing with who your family is. I'm familiar with it, governor.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: I know how it works. But it's a big name. It's a big, respected brand, Bush. You were different with your mother there and your brother there. Your chest seemed bigger. You seemed more demonstrative. Does it matter to you to be a Bush? Is it something that is not a liability if you are to be honest about it, but that you feel a responsibility to it?

BUSH: That's a great question. It's not a burden. It is a blessing. It complicates my life on level because there is a higher expectation for me. You have experienced that, I'm sure. But at the same time it is something I'm proud of. Maybe I am showing off for my mom. Who knows? George hasn't campaigned with me personally, but the fact he has been helpful is fantastic.

CUOMO: What goes through your heart when you look at your brother and you see him there saying my brother is the guy, and you see your mother saying this man has the right stuff? Do you feel a responsibility to them like I have to deliver for my people, I have to deliver for the country, but I have to step it up?

[08:10:03] BUSH: I have to -- what I sense is when I'm with my family unconditional love first and foremost. And I don't want to let anybody down to be honest with you. But the expectations on me are higher for me. I put much more of a burden on me.

The hardest part of campaigning is when you are the brother of a candidate or the son of a candidate rather than being candidate yourself. It is much harder to be my wife, for example, watching us or for me when I was campaigning for my dad.

CUOMO: You would rather take the hit than watch your family take it?

BUSH: Absolutely. I completely agree. It's part of this process. It resonates in the crowd and the talking about my family, for sure. People love my mom and love my dad, particularly here in New Hampshire. The stories that I hear are just phenomenal. It has been more than one election cycle. And George W. has a strong following as well. In fact George is probably the most popular Republican in the country.

CUOMO: When is the last time the Republicans won the White House without a Bush on the ticket?

BUSH: Ronald Reagan. You had to go back to another generation.

CUOMO: And that matters to you, carrying on the name?

BUSH: It does matter. But more importantly what matters to me most is that 50 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. And we are changing as a country and we better get back in the game to allow people to rise up again.

CUOMO: What is the one thing you want everybody to know about you as a man that they don't know right now?

BUSH: That I have a heart for people, that my motivation isn't about me. It's about service. And I have the skills to fix the mess that exists in Washington because I got to do it in a big, complex state.

CUOMO: New Hampshire, lots of issues face this place, but there is one that nobody knows enough about. The drug problem here is off the charts. They lost 400 people in the most recent calculation of it. They only have a million people come out to vote, 400 people lost to drugs. When you're at these town meetings and your hearing it, this is not a policy discussion for you. It's personal. When you are hearing these stories, you had your wife there at some of these. You lived it with your daughter, and, let's be honest, the family always lives it. What does it mean for you to hear these stories? What does it do to your heart?

BUSH: It is so powerful when people talk about this. And the last town hall meeting was the first time Columba heard me talk about our daughter. And for families it is just devastating, just sucks the life out of you, because you love your child with your heart and soul. And to see, in my case, to see my daughter spiral out of control and in a public way because I was governor at the time was really hard on Columba and hard on me and really hard on Noelle. And the fact that she is drug free for the last decade now is the success story. But it's painful.

You can look in the crowds and see people crying, see people just hurting. I can look at people's eyes and know they have gone through this. And in New Hampshire it is extraordinary how many people are going through this. Alcohol addiction, pain killer addiction, and now the supplanting of opiates with heroin, it is devastating. And in Florida we created a strategy and also a policy. We had some effect. I think they are going to get their act together up here, as well.

CUOMO: Well, the momentum seems to be there. There was a shift in recent polls. In one of them your number tripled. So let's see what happens here in New Hampshire.

BUSH: Thank you.

CUOMO: Best of luck to you governor. Thank you for being on NEW DAY.

CUOMO: Thanks for the conversation.

BUSH: Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: On the Democratic side Bill Clinton accusing Bernie Sanders and his supporters of sexist attacks. The former president unloading on the Vermont senator, saying he is living in a, quote, "hermetically sealed box." CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Manchester with more on that. Hi, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Alisyn. Not exactly on message there, but that is what we have come to expect from Bill Clinton. He is trying to shake some sense into the voters of New Hampshire in one friend's words there. He's trying to get them to look a little bit closer at Bernie Sanders' record. But it is a sign that this race is closer than he ever would have imagined.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you are making a revolution you can't be too careful about the facts.

ZELENY: Former president Bill Clinton unleashing a blistering, no holds barred attack on his wife's rival Bernie Sanders, going after Sanders' health care plan.

BILL CLINTON: Is it good for America? I don't think so. Is it good for New Hampshire? I don't think so.

ZELENY: Labeling Sanders as dishonest and hypocritical in his criticism of the financial sector he so often rails against.

BILL CLINTON: Anyone who takes money from Goldman Sachs couldn't be president. He may have to tweak that answer a little bit. Either that or we're going to have to get us a write-in candidate.

ZELENY: The former president's words were stinging, blasting the Vermont senator and his supporters for what he called inaccurate and sexist attacks, including "Bernie bros," the mobs of Sanders supporters who use crude language to attack Hillary Clinton backers online.

[08:15:02] FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: People who have gone online to defend Hillary and explain why they supported her have been subject to attacks that are literally too profane often, not to mention, sexist to repeat.

ZELENY: Sanders disavowing such tactics.

SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Anybody who is supporting me is doing sexist things, we don't want them. I don't want them. That is not what this campaign is about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Now a senior adviser to the Sanders campaign tells me this morning that they are disappointed by these comments from the former president and Bernie Sanders is going to stay on message here.

But this just shows how tight this race is going into final day of campaigning. Both Sanders and Hillary Clinton will be campaigning across New Hampshire.

Sanders has a commanding lead here, but the Clinton campaign has deep history in the state and they are calling on all those former Clinton supporters to come out and vote for her tomorrow -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Jeff, thanks so much for all of that. Coming up on NEW DAY, we will speak to another candidate live here in New Hampshire, John Kasich, on his strategy to win. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:00]

CAMEROTA: In just hours the first votes will be cast in the New Hampshire primary. So let's hear from one Republican candidate putting it all on the line in the granite state. Governor John Kasich joins us now. Good morning, governor.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Look, you are the person who has said -- with all six votes there, right, I know. And you have said that you're putting all your eggs in the New Hampshire basket. It is a harbinger (ph). How are you spending your next 24 hours to win over all of the undecideds that are still in New Hampshire?

KASICH: Well, it's sort of like that Pink Floyd song, "Run Like Hell." That's what we are doing except we'll be in a bus. We are going all over the state. We are not -- we don't have the windows open on our bus so we can't wave, but we will be cruising.

We have three or four town hall meetings. Lots of interviews. My wife is here so I'm excited about that. And then we've already have plans for the bus to head to South Carolina. You got people on the ground there. So we anticipate doing well here and moving on.

CAMEROTA: I love the Pink Floyd reference. You know that that always works on me. The national chair of your campaign, former Senator John Sununu said, quote, "The people that are choosing in the last week are breaking for Kasich." How does he know that when half of New Hampshire voters say that they are not fully decided yet?

KASICH: Because he is a very wise man. He graduated from M.I.T. and they tell me that people who graduate from M.I.T. have minds meld. So that is how he knows how they are going to vote. He has had a lot of experience (inaudible). He was raised on his daddy's lap. The fact is that he is pretty shrewd. And he's really called just about everything, although I think he went for Carolina yesterday. But you know, everybody misses once in a while.

CAMEROTA: Do you feel that something has shifted after Saturday night's debate? You know, there was this feeling that it was sort of the governors against the senators and the governors won in that debate.

Let me just pull up one headline for you revealing how some people felt about it. "Kasich and Bush should send Christie roses." That is what "The Washington Post" says because of how Chris Christie went after Marco Rubio. Do you feel that the whole dynamic has shifted?

KASICH: Not really. I don't overemphasize the impact of those debates. Alisyn, we felt all along we were rising and going into that debate we were in second place in most of the polls. And it's built on an amazing thing we have here and that is a grassroots organization you just can't believe. Hundreds, hundreds of people knocking doors. And I don't mean like 200. I mean more than that.

People have flown in and driven in from all over the country. We have a great team in New Hampshire. You win elections with the ground game in a state like this.

So I think the debate helped me because people got to see a little bit more of my personality, like they do in a town hall, and like they are seeing with this interview. But at the end of the day, I put my trust in the people there on the ground.

So we have just been like that little engine that can and we are going to just roll through the tape and we are going to kind of duplicate this going forward.

CAMEROTA: Well let's talk about that because let's say that things all do go your way here in New Hampshire. Let's even say that you win New Hampshire. You don't have the infrastructure in the next states that you do here, the ground game that you do here. So what would you do?

KASICH: Not listen to pundits. They haven't been right about anything. They weren't right about Iowa, they haven't been right about me from the beginning. Remember they said he wouldn't get in. He wouldn't have the money. He wouldn't be able to make the debates. He will have to drop out before New Hampshire.

Now it's that he doesn't have the infrastructure in South Carolina. Yes, I do. Yes, I do. We will do well in South Carolina. We're going to do a lot of work down there in the next few days.

You know, we will be raising lots of money and we're going to spend a lot of time in Michigan. We think that is a very important state for us.

And you know, we can chew gum and walk at the same time. A lot of the people who were here will be shifted. In fact, one of our key -- our stars from Iowa is now in South Carolina.

We have people there. We have been working there. We are fine. We are fine. This will give me -- a good performance in New Hampshire will give me the name identification, the resources we need.

And it's upward and onward, and I just don't -- you know, I haven't even watched -- the other thing I watch on television is the Golf Channel. I don't even -- I love you, but I'm not watching all that news.

[08:25:04]CAMEROTA: Well, you are missing a great show with NEW DAY. But do you think, Governor, that all --

KASICH: (Inaudible). I'm taping it.

CAMEROTA: I like that. But do you think, Governor, that all three governors can make it out of New Hampshire alive? Or is the windowing process here that just one governor -- I know you hope it's you -- goes on or do you think that there could be many winners out of New Hampshire, unlike past years?

KASICH: I don't know. We know that we are going to be able to assess how we do. I don't worry about anybody else. I mention I watch the Golf Channel. It's how I play golf. I don't look at leader boards.

I just go out and play the best game I can, get into the clubhouse and assess whether -- you know, how well I did in the golf tournament.

The same is true in elections. I'm not worried about anybody else. My daughter is a runner and I tell her -- and she's a better runner than I am -- but I tell her from what I understand, if you look sideways, OK, you are losing.

You run straight ahead and get your mind focused on that finish line, not on anybody else.

CAMEROTA: Governor, I know that you pride yourself on, you say, having run a positive campaign, that you are not engaging in name calling. But during the course of this, haven't you ever just wanted to call one of your opponents a dummy?

KASICH: No, not really. I mean, look, Alisyn, you know, there is a sort of a fraternity. Maybe that's the wrong word because of Carly.

But look, there's -- anybody that wants to stand on that stage under those lights with all those people yelling and screaming, working day and night, being away from their family, having the anxiety of having to raise money and 50,000 polls come out and all of that.

Anybody that goes through that, why would you want to call them a name? There are some people you might want to call a name, too, but they are not the people that are competing against you. And I'm not telling you who it is.

No, I mean, I have been very happy with this. I have had a great time. It's been a great life lesson. And look, I'm really happy about keeping our integrity and our heads up high, and we'll just see what happens tomorrow night.

CAMEROTA: We sure will. Governor John Kasich, we always appreciate you taking time for NEW DAY. Thanks so much.

KASICH: Hey, and my new band, I want y'all to pay attention, 21 Pilots, they're graduates of Worthington Christian where my daughters go to school, 21 Pilots. And they are stressed out, but in this Kasich campaign we are not.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Wow. That's amazing. So I know that they can't beat Pink Floyd in your mind, but 21 Pilots, OK. We will keep an ear out for them.

KASICH: All right. Thank you. CAMEROTA: OK. Talk to you soon.

Coming up, we will break down our interviews with Governors Kasich and Bush.

Plus Bill Clinton breaking his restraint and blasting Bernie Sanders speaking out against what he calls sexist attacks on Hillary's campaign. David Gregory is here to help us understand how all of this could play out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)