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New Day

Appointing a New Supreme Court Justice; Friday Bump for U.S. Markets; George W. Bush Hitting Campaign Trail for Jeb. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 15, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] KATRINA PIERSON, DONALD TRUMP SPOKESWOMAN: Talking about a candidate that's outside the echo chamber and is talking about the things that all Americans consider very important, particularly moving forward when we're still having struggles in the Middle East.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Katrina Pierson, thanks for coming on with us this morning. We really appreciate it.

We should note, Rick Tyler of the Cruz campaign was supposed to be here. We had some pretty big technical glitches. We're going to get Rick Tyler back on as soon as we can.

Meanwhile, a quick programing note. We have a unique two night event on CNN for you this week. All six Republican candidates answering questions directly from South Carolina voters. This is really the very first time this has happened in this campaign. Two separate televised town halls Wednesday and Thursday night moderated by Anderson Cooper. Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz on Wednesday night. John Kasich, Jeb Bush and Donald Trump on Thursday night. Days before the South Carolina primary. This could turn everything around. It all starts airing Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. only on CNN.

Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Very strong, JB. It will be great to watch that.

So, the clock is ticking for President Obama to make his choice for a nomination for the Supreme Court. Where is his head in terms of how serious this is a responsibility? What he would want in a justice, and the idea of the politics surrounding it? We have one man who is excellent to answer all of these questions. David Axelrod, ahead.

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[08:35:16] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: Does that mean that you're going to filibuster anyone -- anyone that President Obama nominates?

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Absolutely. This should be a decision for the people, George.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CUOMO: People don't pick the nomination, the president does. Ted Cruz knows that. He's playing politics and he's not alone. Here's what we know, President Obama has every right under the Constitution and responsibility as the commander in chief to give us a nomination. So, what do we think he's thinking about it? What kind of person do you think he would want? What would be the timing? What does it mean that there's all this political mishiga (ph) surrounding it? David Axelrod is the man to ask these questions, CNN's senior political commentator, of course former Obama senior advisor.

Ax, good to have you here. We know that this, the court --

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Mishigas -- mishigas, Chris.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You like that? You like that?

CUOMO: What did I say? What did I say?

AXELROD: You -- you're signifying to me -- you're signifying here. I'm feeling you. Go ahead.

CUOMO: Don't do the Rubio saying signifying three times to me. what did I say, mishigas? What did I put an "h" on the end of it?

BALDWIN: Cuomo.

CUOMO: I put an "s" on it. So --

BALDWIN: Gentlemen, let's --

AXELROD: No, it's good, it's good, it's good, it's good.

CUOMO: Thanks, Ax. When it comes to President Obama, we know he takes the court very seriously. He takes the law very seriously. Where do you think he's going to be in terms of timing to put forward a nominee -- he already said he will -- and what kind of person we may be looking at?

AXELROD: Well, I think he'll move very swiftly because the shorter the period for contemplation here and the short -- and the quicker the nomination, the more he can make the case that we have plenty of time to confirm a nominee and that -- and that we don't want to leave a year's gap on the Supreme Court where you have a 4-4 split. And I suspect that he's going to choose from that pool of judges who have already been confirmed by the Senate, some of them unanimously, to make the case that they were perfectly fine the last time you guys examined them and now you won't give them a hearing. So those are the two things -- quickly and someone who's already been vetted by the United States Senate.

BALDWIN: So you know how this works. You were involved with the nomination processes of, what, Justices Sotomayor and Kagan.

AXELROD: Two of them, yes. BALDWIN: And I'm just wondering, lift the veil for us, David Axelrod, I mean what is the president weighing? What does this process really look like on the inside?

AXELROD: Well, you know, he does take it very seriously. I remember his -- his deliberation on the previous appointments. And he does think very hard about the court and what -- what he can add to the court about the future and the kind of personality that he's going to put on there in addition to their legal scholarship. And you're right, he -- you know, he talked constitutional law at the University of Chicago. He takes this very, very seriously. But -- so I think all of those things will be in play. But I think he'll be working with a -- a group of people who he's already been familiarized with because they've been previously -- and he'll probably call them all in for discussions, which you won't see. They'll use the back door and not the front door. And then he'll make a decision rather quickly.

CUOMO: All this hand wringing about, oh, the Republicans aren't going to allow the nomination. They're going to block.

BALDWIN: Right.

CUOMO: How's it different than what Schumer did in 2007?

AXELROD: Well, look, I don't think there is -- you know, and I don't want to -- just as a clinical matter, the case for the president here is that I don't think there is a historical precedent for a 13 month gap on the Supreme Court. I think that's unusual. Now, you know, you hear people on the other side keep saying, well, you know, we really haven't confirmed a justice in the election year, one appointed and confirmed, you know, since FDR. But we've only had two justices who have died in office in like the last 60 years because generally the justices control the terms of their own retirement. This is completely different. So he's got a case to be made there.

And, you know what, because you have a closely divided court where you're going to have a number of decisions that come up on weighty matters that -- that not -- are not at 4-4 and the lower court ruling will stand and this will go on for quite a while spanning over two sessions of the court. So that's the case -- that's the case for the president and for this nomination. I think it's important for him to nominate someone who has drawn broad support from the Senate before so that he can isolate that so they can't, you know.

Now, one thing you have to consider here is, if the Senate isn't going to move, and I take Mitch McConnell at his word that he's just not going to move, he's not going to give him a hearing, he's just going to leave the Supreme Court seat empty, do you want to throw a promising jurist to have -- to be shot full of holes for the next year who might be an excellent Supreme Court justice in the future? So that has -- that may enter into the contemplation as well. You know, who do we want to sacrifice, who would be an excellent justice but -- but may not make it and is going to have to stand up to a lot of -- a lot of brickbats (ph) over the next year.

[08:40:22] BALDWIN: Quickly, 30 seconds, David Axelrod. You know, seven years ago you sat around the table at the White House Correspondents Dinner with Justice Scalia and there was a -- there was an opening. Tell me what he told you.

AXELROD: Well, it was kind of shocking. He -- we had -- Justice Suitor had just retired. We -- we were having a great old time and then he said, say, I hope whoever your guy sends me, I know it's not going to be someone who lines up with me, but I hope you send us someone smart. And I said, well -- I didn't realize -- I couldn't believe we were talking about this. I said, sure, we're going to send you someone smart. He said, no, let me -- let me put a finer point on this. Send us Elena Kagan.

BALDWIN: Wow.

AXELROD: Which was really shocking because Elena was on a -- from a different, you know, philosophical posture. She had been -- she was dean of the Harvard Law School. She was solicitor general for us for a few months. But he knew her. He was a friend. It was kind of interesting because it said to me, I want someone I respect on this court, even if I don't agree with them. And he ultimately got her, not on that appointment, but the next appointment, and they became even closer friends on the court. Kind of an interesting dynamic.

CUOMO: Well, he may have come through the Nixon and Ford administrations, but he prized intelligence above all else and he was often friends with people who didn't share his politics. So, clearly --

BALDWIN: Ginsburg.

CUOMO: We're not seeing -- yes.

BALDWIN: Buddies, right?

CUOMO: We're not seeing that example being followed yet. Let's see if people can catch on going forward.

David Axelrod, thank you very much and for the Yiddish lesson.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

CUOMO: Appreciate it, as always.

AXELROD: OK, guys. Have a good day.

CUOMO: JB.

BERMAN: All right, Jeb Bush hoping his big brother can give his White House hopes a boost. We're going to ask former RNC chair, former Florida senator, former friend of all the Bushs, Mel Martinez, if W. helps, and, if so, how he helps in this campaign.

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[08:46:11] BALDWIN: It is time for CNN Money now. CNN Money business correspondent Alison Kosik is here with more. Alison, good morning. ALISON KOSIK, CNN MONEY BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brooke.

Happy Presidents Day. Markets in the U.S. are closed for the holiday. But Friday was a great day for Wall Street. The Dow snapped its five- day losing streak, jumping 314 points. Wall Street's better mood was fueled by surging oil prices. We saw oil prices jump 12 percent Friday to more than $29 a barrel. It is the biggest one-day spike that we have seen since February 2009. Right know a barrel of crude sitting at just below $30.

Let's put that Friday bump in perspective. The U.S. stock market is off to one of its worst starts in years. The Dow and the S&P 500 both down more than 8 percent and the NASDAQ down more than 13 percent. It is flirting with bear market territory.

All right. What about this week? Investors, they are going to be keeping a close eye on bank stocks because the sector has been the worst performer of the year. Too many red arrows to speak of, John.

BERMAN: Way too many red arrows. All right, Alison. Thanks to much.

KOSIK: You got it.

BERMAN: Former President George W. Bush going somewhere where he has not gone since 2004, hitting campaign trail tonight for his brother, Jeb. So is this an asset days just before the key South Carolina primary? A very prominent Bush supporter joins us next.

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[08:51:07] CUOMO: Jeb Bush bringing out the big guns. George W. Bush emerging from the shadows headlining a campaign rally for his brother Jeb today in South Carolina. No Bush has ever lost in South Carolina when on the ballot. What will this mean for brother Jeb?

Let's ask Mel Martinez, former Republican National Committee chairman and former senator from Florida. He is a Jeb Bush supporter. Hello. Good morning, Mel. It's good to have you here with us. What do you think the plus/minus is on having the former president by his brother's side?

MEL MARTINEZ, FORMER RNC CHAIRMAN: Chris, good to be with you. But it's a plus/plus in my book. Anytime you can get the former president, the commander in chief, in a state like South Carolina, I think it is a plus. I was there just a few days ago doing a little campaigning for Jeb . It's remarkable the number of retired military folks that are in that state that live there, the military presence is huge and they love George W. Bush. They know what a great commander in chief he was. I think for the president to validate the steady hand of a Jeb Bush as the next commander in chief and the need for someone with his steady hand, I think, is a terrific positive thing.

CUOMO: Mel Martinez, I have grown up around you and know your head fairly well. I believe there is a reason that are you are mentioning among all groups that like George W. Bush in South Carolina, military people. Does it have anything to do with what Donald Trump said at the debate, where he openly in a non-Republican fashion bashed not only the decision to go to war in Iraq, but made it sound as if George W. Bush knew there were no weapons of mass destruction and did it anyway?

MARTINEZ: As someone who sat in the cabinet during those days and in those debates, it really -- nothing infuriates me more than when people say that President Bush lied because it is such a dangerous and remarkable lie. For Donald Trump to join with the likes of Michael Moore in professing that kind of a belief, I think it's remarkable. I just can't believe that he is putting himself out there as a Republican to run a Republican primary in the state of South Carolina and using that kind of language.

I mean, you would have to say that not only was President Bush a liar, but also Colin Powell, Condi Rice, a lot of people that are well respected in our country, Tony Blair, the entire British intelligence apparatus, all of our allies around the world who were of the belief. There was no dispute at the time about the weapons of mass destruction or the belief, which was erroneous, but it was that belief of all the intelligence services. So for him to take that position, to put himself to the left of Hillary Clinton, is really rather unbelievable.

CUOMO: But we know what Donald Trump is best at. He is best at putting his finger on something that bothers people. Certainly that war bothers people and there being no WMDs bothers people. Is this his attempt to grow the following, to build a bigger house?

MARTINEZ: Well, the truth is, in my view, it is not a particularly positive thing for Republicans to be rehashing the Iraq war during a presidential campaign. That is not smart. So for him to continue to harp on that is really foolish.

But you know, Chris, he even suggested that it was President Bush's fault that 9/11 happened. I mean, come on. Give me a break. That is really pretty remarkable. I mean, I think those are positions that are really frankly totally out of the mainstream of Republican thought, which is why I think to draw a contrast today to someone who led us and kept us safe during his time in office and then to validate his belief that Jeb Bush is the best person to be our next president, I think, is a very positive day for us.

CUOMO: All right. Put your head on two different things, that I believe are the two biggest missed opportunities in that debate. The first one involves your man, Jeb Bush. When he looked at the moderator and said I'm sick of this guy talking about my family to -- about Donald Trump -- should he have said it right to Trump's face and shut him up on that once and for all? And the second big missed opportunity, why didn't Marco Rubio go back at Ted Cruz in Spanish?

[08:55:13] MARTINEZ: I think Marco really blew it. I think he should have. I can remember the first time that I think at anytime, it certainly made history that I spoke Spanish on the Senate floor and it sort of took everybody by surprise. But the fact is that Marco had a great opening to have come back with a Spanish phrase in much better Spanish pronunciation than what Ted Cruz showed, which would have been a real positive, I thought. In terms of the governor, I got to tell you, man. Those debates go

back and forth so fast. He made his point. Whether he should have made it to Trump directly or not, I just think Jeb is polite and he's trying to deflect a little and not just get into the shouting match directly. But I thought he had a great debate, frankly. So I'm not going to give him any minor points on that. I think he did a terrific job Saturday night. Marco surely could have went ahead and said something in much better Spanish than Ted Cruz showed, I think.

CUOMO: All right. Mel Martinez, appreciate your take, as always.

MARTINEZ: Good to talk to you, Chris.

CUOMO: Always. Always.

All right. There is a lot of news this morning. What will President Obama do to make up the hole that Nino Scalia has left in the Supreme Court with his passing? CNN has full coverage beginning right after the break with Carol Costello in the "NEWSROOM." Stay with us.

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