Return to Transcripts main page
New Day
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Debate; Donald Trump Criticizes Presidential Candidate Rivals; South Carolina Presidential Fight Getting Ugly. Aired 8-8:30a ET
Aired February 12, 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] ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: A chilly sunrise over Manhattan there. It's going to be a cold weekend. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Friday, February 12th, 8:00 in the each. Chris and Michaela are off today. John Berman joins me. Great to have you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You win the Berman primary.
CAMEROTA: I'm so lucky. Meanwhile, Clinton and Bernie Sanders fighting to woo voters in last night's debate. The showdown drawing some contrast on foreign policy and who can best lead our country. Clinton clashing with Sanders for criticizing President Obama instead of embracing him.
BERMAN: On the Republican side, Donald Trump not really playing so nice after promising to play nice. The Republican field getting ready for their next debate. That is tomorrow night. CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny is live in Milwaukee with the news from the Democratic debate. Jeff?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. This Democratic debate opened up the next phase of this primary campaign. Hillary Clinton tried to serve as a reality check to Bernie Sanders's aspirations. The third man on the field actually not present was President Obama. Hillary Clinton tried to hug him tighter than ever before. But in a possible sign of things to come as this race moves towards South Carolina, Bernie Sanders perhaps had one of the most memorable lines of the night. He said he's not the one who ran against him last time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Secretary Clinton, you're not in the White House yet.
ZELENY: A civil but contentious night for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, side-by-side onstage for the first time since Sanders commanding New Hampshire victor upended the Democratic primary fight. Again and again Clinton tried making one thing clear -- she is the rightful heir to President Obama. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today senator
Sanders said that President Obama failed the presidential leadership test, and this is not the first time that he has criticized President Obama. In the past he's called him weak, he's called him a disappointment.
ZELENY: It was a message for Democratic voters of South Carolina, more than half of whom are African-American and widely adore the president.
CLINTON: The kind of criticism that we've heard from Senator Sanders about our president I expect from Republicans. I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama.
SANDERS: That is -- madam secretary, that is a low blow. Last I heard a United States senator had the right to disagree with the president, including a president who's done such an extraordinary job.
One of us ran against Barack Obama. I was not that candidate.
Sanders had the final word, but it opened a new chapter in the Democratic duel that may be just beginning. That the PBS debate exposed deeper lines in their policy and political differences. On health care, immigration and Wall Street reform Clinton presented herself as the keeper of Obama legacy.
CLINTON: Before it was called Obama care it was called Hillary care.
ZELENY: If elected, Sanders said race relations would be better in his administration.
SANDERS: Absolutely because what we will do is instead of giving tax breaks to billionaires, we are going to create millions of jobs for low-income kids so they're not hanging out on street corners.
ZELENY: Another flashpoint, money in politics. Clinton, again, tied herself to Obama and rejected the suggestion she would be swayed by campaign donations.
CLINTON: So let's not in any way imply here that either President Obama or myself would in any way not take on any vested interest, whether it's Wall Street or drug companies or insurance companies or, frankly, the gun lobby --
SANDERS: Let's not insult the intelligence of the American people. People aren't dumb. Why in God's name does Wall Street make huge campaign contributions? I guess just for the fun of it. They want to throw money around.
ZELENY: Sanders ran strong among women in New Hampshire. Clinton was asked why.
CLINTON: I'm not asking people to support me because I'm a woman. I'm asking people to support me because I think I'm the most qualified, experienced, and ready person to be the president and the commander in chief.
(APPLAUSE)
ZELENY: On foreign policy, Sanders took a new approach in questioning Clinton's judgment, calling out her admiration for Henry Kissinger.
SANDERS: I am proud to say that Henry Kissinger is not my friend. I will not take advice from Henry Kissinger.
CLINTON: I know journalists have asked who you do listen to on foreign policy and we have yet to know who it is.
SANDERS: Well, it ain't Henry Kissinger. That's for sure.
CLINTON: That's fine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Let's bring in senior advisor to the Bernie Sanders campaign, Tad Devine. Tad, thanks so much for being with us. The last time I saw you was the morning of the New Hampshire primary. You were hoping for a big night. You got it. So congratulations there.
TAD DEVINE, SENIOR ADVISER, BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN: Thank you, John. Great to be with you.
BERMAN: One word answer. I take it you think you won last night's debate?
DEVINE: Well, every campaign always says they won. But listen, I thought Bernie had a great night. He got his message out.
[08:05:00] Remember, we're still introducing him to a big part of this country. He hasn't run for president before. He is new to the national stage. So to have these opportunities for people to hear him and hear his message is just great for us.
BERMAN: Hillary Clinton was talking a lot about President Obama last night and who the best candidate to carry on the Obama legacy would be. How does Bernie Sanders convince voters that he is the most Obama-like candidate running right now?
DEVINE: Well, you know, I don't know if that's going to be the in thrust of our campaign. Bernie strongly supports the president, thinks the president and the vice president did a tremendous job coming in when our nation was losing 800,000 job a month on the day he was inaugurated, involved in two foreign wars. A war in Iraq that Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama both opposed but that Barack Obama had to deal with.
So he's very supportive of the president, very supporting of his policies. But we're not running for a third Obama term. Hillary Clinton sounds like she is, and that's fine. She has got every right to. I think the president is very popular. But what Bernie Sanders wants to do is deal with a rigged economy that sends almost all the new wealth to the top that's held in place by a corrupt system of campaign finance. That's going to require new policies.
BERMAN: You said it's clear Hillary Clinton is running for a third Obama term. Do you concede, then, the case that she is making, that she has the most direct connection to the Obama administration?
DEVINE: She served in the Obama administration, so that's a very strong connection. But Bernie Sanders has strongly supported the president, but they have differences on policies. For example, on trade policies, Bernie has opposed not just the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. Hillary supported it, now in this campaign she turned against it. But he's also opposed a number of trade policies going back to NAFTA, permanent normal relationships with China. Bernie Sanders believes that these trade agreements have been written by corporate America, that they lose American jobs, they shut down factory all across the country. So he does disagreements on some policies. But as to supporting the president, as to suggesting as Hillary does that Bernie has been opposed to the president and worked against him, that's simply not true.
BERMAN: The last question on this, you do not even think the question who would do more to continue the Obama legacy, you don't think that's what this election is about?
DEVINE: No. What we think the election is about is dealing with the problem that's been holding back the middle class and destroying the middle class of America for decades, which is the fact that this economy is rigged. The economic system in America is making a few people extremely wealthy, and it's causing millions of people to fall behind.
Bernie Sanders has offered a series of proposals, whether it's universal college education, health care for all, a massive investment in infrastructure to create 13 million jobs that will revitalize our economy and rebuild the middle class. It's just a different set of policies.
The only reason he can make such an ambitious agenda available to the American people is because Barack Obama has cleaned up the mess of the last Republican administration. Now we can look forward and have a much bolder set of policies. Unfortunately Hillary Clinton's policies are much more limited in scope. And I think the American people want were big change and that's why they're coming to Bernie in such large numbers.
BERMAN: Let me ask you about a moment yesterday that was not on the debate stage. Hillary Clinton won the endorsement of the political action committee of the Congressional Black Caucus, and there was a member of Congress, John Lewis, congressman from Georgia, civil rights icon, who spoke and talked about Bernie Sanders and Bernie Sanders' connection, perhaps, to the civil rights legacy in pretty stark language. Listen to what the congressman said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN LEWIS, (D) GEORGIA: I never saw him. I never met him. I was a chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for three years, from 1963 to 1966. I was involved in the sit-ins, the freedom ride, the march on Washington, the march from Selma to Montgomery, directed the voter education project for six years. But I met Hillary Clinton. I met President Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: What's your reaction to that? That's a pretty blunt statement from a guy who has got serious credentials in the civil rights community, says of Bernie Sanders, I never met him but I did meet Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton?
DEVINE: My reaction is that John Lewis is a hero in the civil rights movement, and I'm not surprised that Bernie Sanders and he did not meet. Bernie Sanders was very active in the Congress for racial quality at the University of Chicago. He led sit-ins there. He was arrested protesting the housing policy of his own university. He came to Washington when Dr. King was there. Yes, they didn't meet, but I don't think that in any way diminishes the effort of Bernie Sanders, and by the way, hundreds of thousands of other young people who participated in the civil rights movements in the '60s. They didn't meet, but Bernie's life I think and the direction of his life and commitment to the fight against inequality was shaped during those college years.
So we're very proud of Bernie's record not just as a college student but everything he did in this political career to advance the cause of civil rights and equal rights.
BERMAN: Do you think it was a fair comment from Congressman Lewis? A cheap shot?
[08:10:00] DEVINE: Listen, I'm not going -- I think Congressman Lewis has the right to say whatever he wants. He's certainly earned that. I think Bernie Sanders is someone who's also earned a place in the struggle for equality in America. And the policies he's advancing today to promote racial justice in America I think are on the cutting edge of the fight. He's made it very clear of that. And as a result we've won support from a lot of people, including Erica Garner who is the daughter of Eric Garner who was murdered.
There's a lot of people, Harry Belafonte, Danny Glover, a number of people who are very well-known in the African-American community. Great people, state representatives in South Carolina who have endorsed him. Listen, John Lewis has a right to express his opinions, he's earned that, but Bernie Sanders has also has, I think, very strong views to move the cause of equality forward in America. That's a big part of what this campaign is about. That's a big reason that he ran for president.
BERMAN: All right, Tad Devine in Milwaukee, on to Nevada, on to South Carolina. Great to see you this morning. Thanks so much.
DEVINE: Thank you, John.
BERMAN: Alisyn? CAMEROTA: Donald Trump not yet embracing that new positive
campaign promise. The GOP frontrunner slamming rivals Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush on Twitter and at his latest rally. CNN political reporter Sara Murray is live in New Orleans with all the very latest. Hi, Sara.
SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. Look, the Trump campaign said that they were ready to play nice. They pulled down a negative ad against Ted Cruz in South Carolina and instead they put up a more positive spot that they thought helped boost them in New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came for Donald Trump's business plan for America.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really cool to hear him speak the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tells it like it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make America great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump is speaking the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wants to make America great. That's what I want, too.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Now, as soon as the Trump campaign pulled this ad, put up the new one, they said, look, we're not promising we're not going negative at all. And apparently that positivity was brief because at his rally here in Louisiana last night, Trump went after a number of rivals who have been attacking him in recent days, and he kept it up on Twitter, particularly going after Ted Cruz. He said, "Lying Cruz put out a statement, Trump and Rubio are with Obama on gay marriage. Cruz is the worst liar, crazy or very dishonest, perhaps all three." So it's clear, at least, this positivity message was short-lived for Donald Trump.
But there are still other candidates who are trying to keep a sunny message on the campaign trail, and one of them is John Kasich, who, of course, came in second in New Hampshire, and now he is up with two new ads in South Carolina, including one about his faith, making a pitch right to the South Carolina evangelical voters. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOHN KASICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My father was a postman that told me, Johnny, you stand on your own two feet, you go out there and you change the world. My parents were killed by a drunk driver, but my parents did not die in vain. I was transformed. I discovered my purpose by discovering the Lord. I believe the Lord put us on this earth to use the gifts that we've been given to bring about a healing, and that's the motivation for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Now, as the race shifts to South Carolina, this has been a jam-packed week already, and next week is shaping up to be just as busy. George W. Bush is expected to join Jeb Bush on the campaign trail. Donald Trump has already had some snarky comments to make about that. But we'll see how that all plays out on Monday. Back to you, John.
BERMAN: Sara, thanks so much.
Sobering reminder this morning about the dangers in the line of duty after five police officers killed across the nation in just one week. Two of those officers killed Thursday near Atlanta. Major Greg Barney was shot while serving a warrant. Barney was a 25-year veteran of the police department. Just a few hours earlier in Fargo, North Dakota, Officer Jason Moszer was killed during a standoff with a domestic violence suspect. Moszer leaves behind a wife and two children. Our thoughts of with them this morning.
CAMEROTA: The World Health Organization announcing a timetable in a race to find a vaccine for the Zika virus. And 15 groups are already at work finding that, but the WHO says any large-scale trial for a vaccine remains at least 18 months away. WHO also saying a firm link between the mosquito borne virus and a birth defect in newborns is looking more probable. Definitive proof remains anywhere from weeks to a few months away.
BERMAN: All right, we need to laugh this morning. While Democrats faced tough questions at the debate, Republican candidates were roasted on late night. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": A new poll released this week shows that two-thirds of Canadians fear a Donald Trump presidency, especially one Canadian in particular. And --
(LAUGHTER)
CONAN O'BRIEN, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: Ben Carson in the news. Ben Carson said he's open to being Donald Trump's vice president. Open to it. Yes. Yes. Yes. Makes sense. Carson could deliver Trump the black Republican vote, which consists of Ben Carson.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marco Rubio has revealed he cracked his molar eating a Twix bar. Twix, of course, is Rubio's favorite candy bar because you get to eat the same thing twice.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: What did we used to laugh about before the presidential race? I can't remember.
BERMAN: We can never go back to that way.
CAMEROTA: I guess not. I don't remember what the material used to be.
All right. Well, meanwhile, George W. Bush heading to South Carolina to shore up votes for his brother Jeb. Will Donald Trump go after the former president? Here's a hint -- yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: South Carolina is renowned for being a ruthless primary state, as you recall from years' past, John, leading Republican candidates are already accusing each other of dirty tricks there. The top five GOP hopefuls out of the New Hampshire primary will face-off in a debate tomorrow night.
And former President George W. Bush is set to hit the campaign trail with his brother next week.
So, there's a lot to talk about and here to discuss it all, CNN political commentator and host of "SMERCONISH", Michael Smerconish.
Hi, Michael.
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: Let's look forward. Shall we?
SMERCONISH: Sure.
CAMEROTA: OK. What are you paying attention to today ahead of tomorrow night's debate?
SMERCONISH: Well, I'm paying attention to the whole W factor. I find it fascinating and there's a debate that's playing itself as to do, does this help or hurt Jeb secure the nomination?
CAMEROTA: That's a big debate.
SMERCONISH: To me, it's a no-brainer. Here's how I get there. Take Jeb out of the equation and leave in the race Rubio and Kasich, and now offer each of them the endorsement of W. Do they want it? I think they want it in South Carolina because South Carolina has a variety of constituencies.
[08:20:04] They've got a Tea Party constituency, an evangelical constituency, a retiree constituency. There's a military constituency.
And as I look at it, W. gives you a couple ticket punches, particularly among the military community and the evangelical community. So, yes, you take it.
BERMAN: You know, the one guy who actually worked for George W. Bush was Ted Cruz and he wouldn't want it in South Carolina and Donald Trump is already talking about what he's going to do after George W. Bush, you know, gets out there for Jeb.
Let's listen to what Donald Trump is saying about W. lately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, he's bringing in his brother. I won't say anything. I'm going to save that for after his brother makes a statement, because there's plenty to say what happened especially that last three months.
I don't want Jeb Bush to say, my brother kept us safe, because September 11th was one of the worst days in the history of this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: You know, it could be a win-win for both people. It could be a win for Donald Trump, because it gives him something to beat up on and he could be a win that lane in South Carolina, and it could be a win for Jeb Bush, and a lot of it depend, Michael, on what George W. Bush we see, because we just don't know who's going to come out Monday night.
SMERCONISH: And he hasn't been out on the trail for a while, right? I remember the whole Bernie/Hillary thing. Well, Bernie really doesn't pose a threat to her but she needs a tune-up. I don't know. Is W. in fighting shape to play politics in South Carolina?
To your initial point about, does it benefit Trump at the same time -- it probably does, because there are two primaries within the Republican GOP primary in South Carolina. There's Cruz, and there's the Donald. I really think that Ben Carson is a non-entity at this stage and there are the three establishment candidates.
And a Trump falter does not necessarily benefit one of the establishment candidates. It benefits Cruz. So, I'm constantly analyzing what's going on in the stage and looking at it in distinctly different lanes.
CAMEROTA: To your point, there's a reshuffling of the decks since the New Hampshire primary.
So, now, in tomorrow night's debate, who should we keep an eye on? Rubio or John Kasich or Jeb Bush? I mean, there's a lot of people have changed their personality a little since the last one.
SMERCONISH: I was just chatting with Bob Beckel in the green room about this issue. Rubio, and the debate among all the pundits is, is he done? What's the extent of the damage here? Because I think there's going to be such a microscopic analysis of everything that he says, scrutinizing of the transcripts if he repeats -- it's probably unfair to him, at some stage, but if he rebates something, well, there he goes again.
It's going to follow him. That issue.
BERMAN: It will, but he -- up until last Saturday, he was seen as such a great debater. You would think he can go out there and --
SMERCONISH: John, I have to tell you -- I've heard from an increasing number of radio callers recently that they admire his family's story, but now they're at the point of saying, we've heard it too many times and what does it really have to do with his credentials to be president?
Makes you feel good about being an American, right? The whole Horatio Alger bootstrap thing, but what really does it say about his fitness for office? Not much.
CAMEROTA: Let's talk about John Kasich. He's siphoned off a big donor from Chris Christie. So, Ken Langone, who's a co-founder of Home Depot now endorsing John Kasich, big deal? Not big deal?
SMERCONISH: I don't know if he's necessarily known for writing big checks himself, but he is known for helping other donors. You'd sure as heck rather have him than not have him.
But I think what it really says is that Kasich came out of New Hampshire with what Bush would have called big mo. He's got momentum now at his back. Interesting, this Planned Parenthood issue, playing out with him this week in defunding them, because I think all of a sudden that's going to rattle the cage of independents and moderates who think, Kasich could be one of us.
So, that will be --
CAMEROTA: That will play, the fact he's fighting Planned Parenthood totally helps --
SMERCONISH: Totally helps him in the short-term in South Carolina. But, you know, looking for to Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, eventually Pennsylvania, all states I know he's got lined up in that win column, I'm not sure how it plays there.
BERMAN: It also gives him confidence. He knows he's going to stick around a long time and funded theoretically a long time now. Do you think Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio look at them on that debate stage and say, he's an easy target in South Carolina? Let's score some points?
SMERCONISH: Well, I think they look at him and try and go after him. I beg to disagree he's an easy target. I'm a sucker for the type of pitch that he is making, that my cards are on the table. I find that that compassionate conservatism plays and that his tone distinguishes himself from the rest of that pack.
This is a guy who can win a general election. If practicality sets in and Republicans get over their anger issues and start to try and figure who could win the White House against Hillary or Bernie, he's the one.
BERMAN: But the charge against him, the kind of Republican liberals like or the kind moderates like in your case, not the kind of Republican that conservatives like?
[08:25:01] SMERCONISH: He's got issues, you know, with the angry talk community. There's no doubt about that. He's a Republican who has governed as a conservative and he's from Ohio. What more do you need to know?
CAMEROTA: Michael Smerconish, on that note -- thank you for telling us everything we need to know today. Have a great weekend.
All right. Turn to the Democrats: Hillary Clinton referenced President Obama 21 times during the debate last night. What's that strategy about? Is there a risk behind it? We'll break that down.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am a staunch supporter of President Obama's principle accomplishment, namely, the Affordable Care Act. I think under President Obama we have seen a lot of advances.
I strongly support the president's executive actions.
I understand what President Obama inherited. I don't think he gets the credit he deserves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: That was Hillary Clinton embracing President Obama during the Democratic debate last night, saying his name 21 times throughout the night. Will this strategy work?
Let's bring in CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Bob Beckel.
Hi, Bob.
BOB BECKEL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hey.
