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Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Prepare for Upcoming Democratic Presidential Candidates Debate; Donald Trump Celebrates Win in New Hampshire; ISIS as Global Threat Examined; Why Does the GOP Struggle with Trump as the Frontrunner? Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 11, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: -- in the east. Alisyn is off after a snake charming mishap, but she is fine. John Berman joins us this morning. And we turn to what is certainly a big night for Hillary Clinton. She's going to be face to face in a debate with Bernie Sanders who is now seen as the legitimate contender for the nomination. Senator Sanders, fresh off dominance in New Hampshire, anticipates a different Clinton tonight. But what will that mean?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, nine days to the Republicans primary in South Carolina. The candidates are blanketing the state. But how does the race shift now with two White House hopefuls calling it quits after a poor showing in New Hampshire? We begin our coverage with senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns joins us now with a look at the high stakes Democratic race. Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, all eyes on Milwaukee this morning as the Democratic candidates prepare to go head to head for the first time after the first in the nation primary. Bernie Sanders will be looking to maintain his momentum and show he's not just a one-state wonder. And for Hillary Clinton it will be a chance to try to change the narrative.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Bernie Sanders raising over $6 million in the 24 hours after polls closed in New Hampshire, gaining momentum before tonight's crucial PBS Democratic presidential debate. Descending on New York City in a victory lap celebrating his sweeping win in Tuesday's primary, bringing his antiestablishment message to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert."

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our campaign finance system, our election system, and our economy is essentially owned and controlled by a relatively small number of people who's greed, in my view, is really wrecking havoc with the middle class of this country.

JOHNS: And the daytime talker, "The View."

SANDERS: This country is supposed to be a nation of fairness, and we're not seeing that fairness.

JOHNS: Meanwhile Hillary Clinton laying comparatively low after her crushing defeat. No longer the undisputed Democratic frontrunner, tonight's critical debate could help her get back on track. The former secretary of state already making changes, promising a more aggressive edge. The challenge for Sanders going forward will be capturing the African-American vote, a key piece of the Democratic electorate and the pivotal South Carolina primary later this month. Courting the African-American vote, Sanders took his campaign to Harlem Tuesday, meeting with civil rights leader Al Sharpton.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: And important to say the former secretary of state continues to poll very well with minorities, and underscoring that, almost immediately after the debate in Milwaukee tonight she is expected to turn her attention back to the palmetto state and the issue of schooling in some of the South's poorest communities. So a lot of reasons tonight's debate is a potential turning point for both of the candidates, Chris.

CUOMO: Too true, Joe. Thank you very much. Let's talk Bernie Sanders to Bernie Sanders' campaign. We have the national press secretary for Bernie Sanders campaign Symone Sanders with us right now. Symone, good to see you again. Let's start with the meeting with Al Sharpton. Why him? He's a controversial person in the media to be sure, and beyond. Why meet with him, and what was the outcome?

SYMONE SANDERS, NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY, BERNIE 2016: Chris, thanks for having me this morning. And I think it was important to meet with Reverend Sharpton because the conversation centered around issues that are important to the African-American community. And we will shy away from the opportunity to have a robust conversation about issues. And so Senator Sanders and Reverend Sharpton talked about Flint. Reverend Sharpton challenged Senator Sanders and if he can actually attract and retain African-American voters, and if Senator Sanders is really committed to holding up the mantle of our issue, African-American issues. And I think Senator Sanders held his own in that conversation. It went very well, and we were happy to be there with him yesterday morning.

CUOMO: All right, Symone, so we have a sense of what we think the new tact of contrast will be coming out of the Clinton camp. Do you want to take a test on it?

SYMONE SANDERS: Let's take a test.

CUOMO: The first one is the super delegates. They're coming out saying you have party officials and you know how the process works. You have a lot of super delegates, over 400, already backing Hillary Clinton. They are not going move, very tough to overcome that type of advantage what. What do you say?

SYMONE SANDERS: You know, I say that super delegates still have the chance to change their mind. And we are actively working for the support of the American people. So it is no secret that the establishment is behind Secretary Clinton, but we think that we can make a very good showing. We can close these gaps and hopefully win some other folks over. CUOMO: OK, now, you are not in the GOP. You are on the

Democratic side. The word "establishment" is going to play differently on the left. They don't like being called the establishment like the machine on the Democratic side is a bad thing, and they are criticizing Senator Sanders for being a newfound Democrat. Yes, he caucused with the Democrats, but you didn't have the skin in the game on the big votes. You never risked anything for what you say you believe in now as the Democrat. Fair criticism?

[08:05:05] SYMONE SANDERS: Not a fair criticism at all, Chris. Yes, Senator Sanders, he not only caucused with the Democrats. He was in leadership. He is the former chair of the Veterans Affairs committee. He is the ranking member on the Senate budget committee. Senator Sanders definitely has skin in the game, skin in this Democratic game.

And I'll go further to say, you know, where Senator Sanders is where a lot of people in the Democratic Party are currently and where the party is going. And issues of economic inequality, when we're talking about climate change, criminal justice reform, ending mass incarceration, these are all things that Senator Sanders is not knew to these issues, he's not new to talking about. So I would push back on that and say I disagree.

CUOMO: If he was so tied to his passion and his authenticity, why did het not run as an independent?

SYMONE SANDERS: Senator Sanders has talked about this at length. And he's noted that if he was going to run he wanted to give the party -- he wanted to give America its best chance. And its best chance is not running as a third party candidate. Again, Senator Sanders has caucused with the Democrats. He's been in line with the Democrats on overwhelmingly a number of issues, and he wanted to run as the Democrat in this election. Senator Sanders is a Democrat, he's running as a Democrat, and he is not going to seek a third party nomination because that is not what's best for America, that's not what's best for the party.

And so we are interested in literally transforming the landscape of American politics. We're in it for the American people here, Chris. And so this is what's best for the American people.

CUOMO: I hear you, Symone, but a little bit of a catch 22. You're saying I want to give the best chance, I want to be part of the party. But at the same time when a big part of the party apparatus and leadership seems to be behind his opponent, he's saying that's the establishment. I don't count that part. Which is it? Are you into the party, or do you not care what the party says?

SYMONE SANDERS: Well, we're into the party, Chris. But, I mean, the party is not one dimensional. There is a robust progressive conversation happening all across America right within the Democratic Party. And what Senator Sanders is doing, what his candidacy is doing is bringing these new people into the party.

We saw record voter turnout in New Hampshire, Chris. We saw the second highest voter turnout in the Iowa caucuses in its history when we were in Iowa. These are folks that were disengaged, that did not see themselves as a part of the Democratic Party. Senator Sanders is bringing those people back into the party. We are building a new coalition which Democrats will need if we want to retain and keep the White House in 2016.

So I would say what Senator Sanders is doing is the best chance for the Democratic Party. Senator Sanders is the best chance for Democrats to keep the White House and he's the best chance to ignite the base and bring new people into the party that we need, progressives, young people, even some folks that have been voting against their own interests for years. So we are committed to building that coalition, and we are happy that these folks are now getting engaged and involved and are not only joining the political revolution but joining the Democratic Party.

CUOMO: Fair point, record turnout in Iowa, almost a record turnout in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire that eclipsed it was with then Senator Barack Obama running for president. And that is the last line of attack that we're hearing new this morning, which is that Senator Sanders is not embracing enough of what President Obama has done. He's been connected to some books that were critical of President Obama. He's making it seem like Obamacare isn't the landmark achievement that it is. He's not supportive enough of what the president has done.

SYMONE SANDERS: And Chris, you know, I disagree. So Senator Sanders is supportive of President Obama. And he's spoken about it at length. He's talked about President Obama came in and totally took the country to another level. He had to clean up the mess that the Republicans left for us. And he has done an amazing job.

But what we are saying is that the next president of the United States, and I think the Clinton campaign would agree, has to build on that success and has to take America to the next level. That is what Senator Sanders is talking about. So when we talk about a Medicare for all single payer system, we're talking about universal healthcare, we're not talking about doing away with Obamacare, with the Affordable Healthcare Act. We are talking about building on its enormous success.

Look, 29 million Americans in this country are still uninsured. That is a fact we have to address. Millions more are still underinsured. So the Affordable Healthcare Act did great and amazing things. Senator Sanders was on the committee to help write the Affordable Healthcare Act. But it is time to take it to the next level, and that is what the next president of the United States will have to do.

CUOMO: Symone Sanders, thank you very much for making the case for the senator from Vermont, appreciate it.

All right, so big night today. You are going to not hear the proxies anymore. It is about the main people. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, face to face in the PBS News Hour Democratic presidential debate. You can watch the simulcast right here on CNN or your local PBS station tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern, John.

[08:10:04] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris, there are now seven Republicans left standing in the race for the White House. Six of them, all the ones not named Donald Trump, have nine days to knock him off his perch in the South Carolina primary. CNN's senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta live in Greenville, South Carolina, on the Republican race. Good morning Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. It is a figure of speech for candidates to do a victory lap, but we saw Donald Trump do that exact thing onstage last night here in South Carolina. He is now firmly the frontrunner in this race for the White House on the GOP side. But the rest of the Republican field is as determined as ever to bring him down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you have victory you don't need sleep, right?

ACOSTA: Only one candidate is clearly leading a shrinking field of GOP contenders marching on to South Carolina.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now it's up to South Carolina to pick a president.

ACOSTA: Donald Trump riding high after his huge New Hampshire win seemed to switch his campaign tactics Wednesday night, choosing not to go after most of his GOP rivals, this time hitting his Democratic opponents hard, Trump sounding more like a general election candidate.

TRUMP: This guy Sanders is up ranting and raving like a lunatic. You think Hillary Clinton, who is terrible, you think Hillary, look at the damage she did.

ACOSTA: But the frontrunner couldn't resist taking a jab at his most vocal GOP attacker, Jeb Bush.

TRUMP: He's a low energy person. I said he's a stiff and I said that if he was in the private sector he wouldn't be able to get a job.

ACOSTA: What's left of the GOP field now has a target squarely on the brash billionaire's back.

JEB BUSH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can you imagine Donald Trump as president of United States? We will be worse off than we are now.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The hard thing about Donald in the short-term is he doesn't have any policy positions.

CRUZ: The only way to beat Donald Trump is to highlight the simple truth of his record. It is not conservative. ACOSTA: Senator Marco Rubio is taking the high road, addressing

Chris Christie's decision to drop out of the race less than a week after the debate spat.

RUBIO: I think Chris was someone who somehow concluded that attacking me would help his campaign and. Obviously it didn't work. I think he's very talented, very likable. I think he has a future in public service beyond what he's doing now in New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Now getting back to Donald Trump sounding like a general election candidate, you should have heard him last night here in South Carolina, Michaela. He was predicting if he's the Republican nominee he will win traditionally Democratic states like Michigan and New York. He is feeling very confident right now in that frontrunner position, Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Jim, thanks so much for that.

Top U.S. security officials say ISIS is plotting a possible attack on American soil sometime this year. This as we learn Russian air strikes in Syria are actually helping the terror group. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is live in Washington with more for us. Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. Defense Secretary Ash Carter at NATO headquarters in Brussels today talking to the allies, trying to get more help from them in that fight against ISIS. But in the meantime ISIS adapting on its own, very much now looking at what the U.S. calls external attacks, ISIS attacking in Europe, even here in the United States. The military director of the Defense Intelligence Agency gave a very chilling assessment about all of this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LT. GEN. VINCENT STEWART, USMC, DIRECTOR OF DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: As the Paris attacks demonstrated, ISIL has become the most significant terrorist threats the United States and our allies. ISIL will probably attempt to conduct additional attacks in Europe and attempt to direct attacks on the U.S. homeland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Direct attacks on the U.S. homeland in 2016. What General Stewart is talking about is the possibility that ISIS will inspire or directly order potentially an attack here in the United States. ISIS now active in eight countries far beyond Syria and Iraq now, now very firmly a global threat. Chris?

CUOMO: One of those situations, Barbara, where we all know it's possible, but when you hear it laid out like that it makes it that much more daunting. Thank you for the reporting. Appreciate it.

Also breaking this morning, NATO taking a bigger role to try and slow the migrant crisis. Warships under German command will be sent to intercept smugglers on the Mediterranean. Coast guards in Greece and Turkey are cooperating with this mission. Remember, nearly a million men, women, children made the voyage by sea to Europe last year to escape humanitarian crises in the Middle East and North Africa.

BERMAN: This is a pretty crazy video to show you. A wild elephant on a rampage in India destroying homes and cars and sending villagers into a panic. Officials eventually stopped the elephant with four tranquilizer darts. It is believed the elephant strayed from a local forest. After this it was taken to a park for elephants. It was caught after it was tranquilized and taken to this park. Luckily no injuries reported in this.

[08:15:02] CUOMO: No injuries, nobody hurt.

BERMAN: But one pissed off elephant.

CUOMO: What is the chance that the elephant was being chased by a mouse?

PEREIRA: Pretty unlikely.

All right. The candidates just can't seem to escape the late spotlight, getting the most laughs, so-called outsiders. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders after their victories in New Hampshire, take a gander.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, COMEDIAN: Donald Trump right now is on Cloud Nine, which he owns by the way. He bought it from the Chinese.

STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: If these guys manage to make it all the way to the general election, it will make for some great debates. "Donald Trump is a billionaire, he's going to give our country to the 1 percent". "Bernie Sanders is a clown. He's going give our country to China."

Donald Trump is a great negotiator and at this point, I can't tell if I'm doing Trump or Bernie, I can't tell. Honestly, the difference is not huge.

JIMMY FALLON, COMEDIAN: I want to say congratulations to Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump on winning for each of their parties. In his speech, Bernie said he couldn't have done it without the support of millions of Americans. While Trump was like "this was all me." You losers did nothing."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: You losers did nothing. That's funny.

CUOMO: You know it is hard to get a sense of what he really feels though sometimes with Donald Trump. You know? He's playing this misdirection game all the time.

BERMAN: A lot of different stuff about the same thing sometimes.

CUOMO: Here is one thing that he says that is 100 percent true. He is dominating the race on the GOP side right now. But if he's so popular, why are there so many in the Republican Party, especially the leadership not happy about that?

We're going bring in two experts who both worked in a Republican White House to discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:47] BERMAN: There are some people inside the Republican Party this morning reeling over the fact that Donald Trump won New Hampshire, won it big. And they are frustrated that the so-called establishment failed to zero in on that one candidate and compete with Donald Trump.

Is that about the change?

CNN political commentator, former political director for Ronald Reagan, Jeffrey Lord joins us right now. He's a Donald Trump supporter.

And CNN political commentator and former George W. Bush White House staffer, Margaret Hoover is here as well. Thanks to both of you for being here.

Margaret, you know, after the debate, why is Christie Chris going after poor Marco Rubio. Then he heard on Tuesday, why is Jeb Bush putting out a negative ad about John Kasich? What don't they all start talking about Donald Trump? He's the frontrunner, go after him.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, history has proven that doesn't work, John. I mean, they all started to gang up on Trump early on and Trump systematically was able to put them all in their box and continue to lead in the polls.

So I think they are frankly afraid to do it, which is why they have reverted to this circular firing squad.

Look, Trump has a third of the GOP primary electorate. Ted Cruz has a third and then the other third is divide willed rightfully between Kasich, Jeb and Marco Rubio. This is why people talking about the bloodbath going into the South Carolina.

But what would be better instead of a Rubio, Bush, Kasich bloodbath in South Carolina is that the three of them compete and turn their fire on Cruz and Trump. The person who should win the establishment lane is the person most successful at taking down the other two.

BERMAN: That's the case that Jeb Bush has been trying to make clearly. He's been trying to do that for a few weeks right now, saying I'm the guy who has been fighting against Trump. You know, pick me.

Jeffrey Lord, I'm going to quibble one point Margaret made. Margaret said that no one has gone after Donald Trump. That's not true. Ted Cruz took him on pretty scarily leading into the Iowa and do you know who won Iowa? Ted Cruz.

Now, I know in Jeffrey Lord's world, everything comes up Trump, but it did seem to work for Ted Cruz. So, can it work in South Carolina if Ted Cruz goes after Donald Trump here, could he do well there?

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure, it's possible. I believe we have presidential primaries for a reason. You are supposed to go after your opponent. This is normal. This is what you are supposed to do. So if you don't do it, you are more or less rolling over in your own campaign.

So, I mean, I expect Ted Cruz to go after Donald Trump. I expect Donald Trump to go after Ted Cruz. This primary is on February 20th. There is a lot time left here. I believe we're going to have a lot more of this.

And I think we should because it does highlight the differences. When it is over, when all is done, you have to kiss and make up and get on the same team and go out and win. But, yes, this is what this is about.

BERMAN: Yes, I know you don't want to give advice to Ted Cruz about how best to go after Donald Trump, but social issues --

LORD: No.

BERMAN: -- social issues could be one way to do it and he's already started. He's said Trump is not a real conservative. He's late to the game on all of these issues that care to you evangelicals in South Carolina. Can it work in South Carolina?

LORD: I don't really think so. The stumbling block here is Ronald Reagan. Because Ronald Reagan was quote/unquote, "late to the game". As governor of California, he signed a pro-abortion bill. I mean you could play this game all day long and it just really not to any effect. People can have conversions along the way and Donald Trump had his. Ronald Reagan has his.

And to be perfectly candid, lots of American have had it. I was a big Kennedy fan and now I'm a Reaganite and a Trumper. So what do you say?

HOOVER: You know, what Jeffrey is point out here is that Donald Trump -- I don't know if you mean to make this point but Donald Trump is going to need to have some conversions if he's going to be birth palatable to a general electorate.

Ted Cruz is making the case to the South and the SEC primary state that he's the conservative candidate. But Trump's emergence has demonstrated is the declining of the movement within the Republican Party.

And while Trump is leading in his lane, if he's going to have to win the nomination and be of rival to Hillary Clinton, he's going to have to do something to fix those unfavorables with Latinos, African- Americans, and frankly, a large swaths of Democratic groups he's going to need to win, which means, ding, ding, ding, he's going to have to have some conversions.

[08:25:00] He's going to have to become likable in some ways and broaden the strict sort of angry portion of the GOP electorate that likes him now.

BERMAN: Let's talk about Marco Rubio, because throughout the campaign I thought he's had the toughest task. He's tried to thread the smallest needle here in the race and for a while it was working. Now, it's not. He has his foot in the conservative lane. He has his foot in the establishment lane.

Who does he go after Saturday night? Who does he go after in South Carolina in general? Does he for the first time try to take on Donald Trump?

HOOVER: Look, I think he goes after, the answer is C, all of the above. Marco's strategy has never been pigeonhole one element of the electorate. It's take a little from each.

And that's how he's trying to, as you say, thread the needle, win some in Iowa, he was trying to do better in New Hampshire and probably would have had if he not stumbled. Then his plan always was to win in South Carolina. That is not looking like it is going to be feasible but he may do second, third, well, he's going to probably do second or third.

So, he's trying to get everybody. He's not trying to have a strict narrow but deep segment of the GOP electorate.

BERMAN: Jeffrey, for Trump here he's been like a hamlet here. Do I be the mean Donald Trump? Do I be the nice Donald Trump? He's flirted with both.

You know, he's been saying the last day or two he can be nice. He knows he has to be nice. Do you think he benefits from trying to stay above the fray as much as he can for the next nine days?

LORD: Sure, sure. I'm sure he'll go after folks on occasion.

But, you know, Donald Trump is a nice guy. I know Donald Trump. He is a nice guy.

But let me just say I think Margaret is right about Marco Rubio. You know, he was doing fine until this debate and now he's sort of got a problem on his hands, more than sort of got a problem on his hands. So he's going to have to go after everybody -- Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. He's got a real problem on his hands. I don't think he's going to make the grade here.

BERMAN: Do you know who's not on the stage with him or in South Carolina is Chris Christie so that's a good news for Marco Rubio. The question is, Margaret, will any of the other candidates go directly after Marco Rubio?

HOOVER: Jeb probably will a bit. I think Jeb is fighting for his life in South Carolina. I think he has his brother campaigning with him, former president of the United States, who did very well in South Carolina. Actually, South Carolina made George W. Bush's candidacy in 2000. He also has Lindsey Graham, senior senator of the state of South Carolina, and a pretty big Republican establishment lined up behind him.

He's going to be fighting against Marco Rubio probably and by the way he's got a personal -- it's not a vendetta but, you know --

BERMAN: I would call it a vendetta. I would call it a vendetta.

HOOVER: There is really animus between the two of them right now.

BERMAN: A grudge. Things like that, words like that all work. Jeffrey Lord, thanks so much. Margaret Hoover, thanks so much. Great to have you here with us.

Michaela?

PEREIRA: All right. This was quite a story. Thousands of cruise ship passengers are back on dry land this morning, haunted by memories of the vacation from hell. Ahead, we're going to speak with two passengers from that storm-battered ship about that harrowing hours, several hours at sea.

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