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New Day

Supreme Court Nomination; Trump and Cruz Battle; Big Winners at the Grammy Awards. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 16, 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] SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Majority on the court and the Republicans are -- doesn't want them together.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I mean, the GOP doesn't want it. That's right. Look, the politics are fair -- are fair and obvious. The only thing I would add, senator, for your --

HATCH: I think they are.

CUOMO: For your observation is, you say there's no reason to do it right now. A 4-4 court is not a good thing for the Supreme Court. It's functioned that way before, but we --

HATCH: Now, wait a minute. Wait -- you're talking -- you're -- you're talking to Orrin Hatch. A 4-4 court functions. It's functioned in the past. It will function this time. It's just that on the really controversial issues, they'll probably put them off for a year.

Look, it's not a -- it's not the end of the world. As a matter of fact, it's a smart thing to do rather than be in the middle of a -- of a presidential election that is so complicated and aggressive as this one and -- and to -- and to have all that politics surround the picking of a Supreme Court justice when literally that shouldn't be done. If I was Hillary, I'd want the right to pick that judge. If I was Bernie, I'd want the right to pick that judge. And now they're not going to say that because they think, you know, they're -- they've got an advantage right now. Well, let's give neither side an advantage. Let's be fair to both sides and let's wait until this election is over and then the next president, whether Democrat or Republican, will have a right to nominate whoever that person -- that president wants and then we'll have the obligation to confirm or not to confirm.

CUOMO: Well, I'm just saying, the Constitution doesn't make any distinctions like that. While he's president, he's supposed to do this. And, yes, the politics plays both ways. We're watching it in real time.

Senator Hatch, if you --

HATCH: Well, let me just say -- let me say one thing.

CUOMO: Yes, sir.

HATCH: The Constitution doesn't say that you have to do this in a certain time constraint. In fact, the Constitution gives you every right to defer this and to make sure that it's done in the best of ways so that both sides have an opportunity to have their person in the presidency and then, you know, if the Democrats win, we'll go through this process the way it ought to be gone through.

CUOMO: Senator, last word to you. And thank you very much for being on NEW DAY.

HATCH: OK.

CUOMO: It's good to see you, sir.

HATCH: Nice to be with you. God bless.

CUOMO: You as well. You as well.

So, President Obama is going to hold a news conference this afternoon. He's expected to be asked about this brewing battle over his ability, his right, his timing on a Supreme Court nominee. We will cover this conference. It starts at 4:30 Eastern. That's when it's expected.

JB.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's going to be very interesting to see that.

All right, Donald Trump versus Ted Cruz. The pair unleashing attacks on each other in South Carolina and that is an understatement. What are they trying to do? How far will they go? The national spokesperson for Ted Cruz joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:40] BERMAN: A war of words breaking out on several fronts within the Republican Party, especially between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Just four days now until a South Carolina primary. It's downright nasty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have never ever met a person that lies more than Ted Cruz. And I think he's an unstable person.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Truth matters. And we're not in grade school where you just get to say liar, liar, pants on fire and not respond to the substance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: "Unstable," "liar, liar, pants on fire." Joining us now to talk about the race to be president of the United States, the national spokesman for the Ted Cruz campaign, Rick Tyler.

Rick, thanks so much for being with us.

RICK TYLER, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT: Good morning.

BERMAN: In case you did not get the point from what we just played from Donald Trump or what he said over the weekend, let me play for you what he just said on "Good Morning America" about Ted Cruz, your boss, being a liar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): I've dealt with many people over my lifetime. And I've been very successful and I've dealt with some people a lot tougher than him, but I've never dealt with anybody that lied like him. Even Rubio, Marco Rubio, the other day, (INAUDIBLE) to do. He called him a liar (ph). I said, wow, that's amazing. I've never heard that from a politician where they actually called each other liars.

But Ted Cruz is a liar. I mean he really just outright lies. He said like my whole thing is Obamacare, we're going to repeal it and replace it. He said I love Obamacare. He said I'm going to keep Obamacare. My (INAUDIBLE) in every single speech. You've heard numerous (ph) of my speeches. On the Second Amendment, there's nobody stronger on the Second Amendment than I am and (INAUDIBLE) said, oh, Donald Trump wants to get rid of the Second Amendment.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: So are you going to follow --

TRUMP: He'll say whatever -- George, he'll say whatever he wants to say. I actually think he's a very unstable person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Rick, go ahead, your reaction?

TYLER: Well, first of all, Donald Trump says he doesn't like guns, he doesn't like the concept of guns. He was against the -- he was for the assault weapons ban. He supported Mayor Bloomberg, who's the leading pro-gun control activist in the country. Look, Donald Trump doesn't like that Ted Cruz says what he has said. What he said about Obamacare, by the way, wasn't actually Obamacare, it was single payer, which he said on "60 Minutes." He said it's not a very Republican thing to do, but I would pay for everybody's Obamacare. Well, who would pay for it? He said the government will pay for it.

So, look, Donald Trump has inconsistent positions. But to be fair to Donald, he doesn't actually know what he believes, so he can't defend himself with logic and reason from day to day. So -- but, no, Marco Rubio does actually know what he believes. His problem is he doesn't want the voters to know what he believes, so he's not defending himself anymore and trying to explain his position on amnesty and his past positions on, you know, in Florida for bidding -- having concealed carries in state parks, while at the same time the NRA won a victory in national parks.

BERMAN: So --

TYLER: So he's just decided to do what Donald Trump does and just scream liar, liar. But I just don't think it -- it really works. It's really childish. And we should have a debate about substance. And if you can't defend your record, then get out of the race. But going around calling people liars because they call out your record --

BERMAN: On -- on his record -- on -- on Donald Trump's record, which you're now calling out, this was all his record before he jumped into the race.

TYLER: Yes.

BERMAN: And in that time --

TYLER: That's right.

BERMAN: Let me give you a dramatic reading of some of the things that Ted Cruz has said about Donald Trump. "When it comes to Donald Trump, I like Donald Trump. I think he's terrific. I think he's brash. I think he speaks the truth." "His experience as a successful businessman, job creator will prove crucial to ensuring the eventual GOP nominee is not only well-equipped to defeat Hillary Clinton in November, but also to make America great again." "I like Donald Trump. He's a friend of mine and I am grateful he is in the race."

[08:40:09] That was then. This is now.

TYLER: So what --

BERMAN: I mean I don't understand what happened.

TYLER: Right.

BERMAN: Ted Cruz seemed to love Donald Trump?

TYLER: Right. Yes. No, what happened to Donald Trump, when he was saying all of those things, when he was talking about immigration and all these things. But, look, he's been very inconsistent and, you know, he's -- he's actually the one that's pretty unstable. You're not sure what he's -- he's unpredictable. Everybody's called him that. You know, he's called himself that. You don't know what he's going to do from day to day and you really don't know what positions he's going to have from day to day.

Look, in the past two days he talked -- he has uttered the things that the -- that the radical left utters, like 9/11 conspiracies about the president lying about weapons of mass destruction. These are the things that Code Pink talks about. He's talked about socialized medicine. He called -- he actually called Senator Cruz a liar on the debate stage because Senator Cruz pointed out that -- that Donald Trump had supported and said good things about Planned Parenthood. And then he calls him a liar and then he goes on to say Planned Parenthood does wonderful thing in the same debate. I mean it's just remarkable that he --

BERMAN: You're absolutely right, on September 11th, Donald Trump did say that. You are right, he said that on Planned Parenthood. But when you call Donald Trump inconsistent, all I'm trying to understand is how is it consistent that Ted Cruz seemed to like Donald Trump and be OK with all of that in August, September, October and November but now not so?

TYLER: Well, he's said -- he still says he likes Donald Trump. Donald Trump, you know, is an entertaining guy and, you know, he's like a reality TV star in reality. But he's not a presidential candidate. He doesn't act presidential. He doesn't really know a lot of substantive issues. He has no intellectual and ideological core which is why he can't keep track of anything he's said in the past because he doesn't actually know what he believes. So we'll just continue to be entertained, but I don't think it's very -- I don't -- I don't think this is the direction we want to go in. And in particular when you've got a 4-4 Supreme Court with a vacancy, we have no idea what kind of judge he would pick. And by the way, Senator Cruz only pointed out that his sister, who's a leading pro-abortion judge activist --

BERMAN: Well --

TYLER: He said -- he said his sister would make a wonderful Supreme Court justice. So he points that out and says he's lying about it.

BERMAN: She made a ruling -- she made a ruling and, you know, she made a ruling, you know, on a court that had to do with partial birth abortion. I think she would quibble with the fact that she's a leading pro-abortion activist.

TYLER: That's right. She --

BERMAN: But, Rick Tyler, I got to cut it off here.

TYLER: But she was deciding the case. You bet.

BERMAN: She was a judge.

TYLER: Thank you.

BERMAN: Whether she's an activist I think is open for interpretation.

Rick, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate it.

Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're going to talk Grammys. Some cool moments to talk about. Taylor Swift making history. Lady Gaga's stunning tribute to a rock icon. So much more. We'll talk about it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:46:37] CUOMO: It is time for CNN Money now. CNN business correspondent Alison Kosik in the Money Center. What do you have, my friend?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Looks like investors are back from a long holiday weekend and stocks are ready to jump. Dow futures are up more than 150 points at the moment, markets in Europe started higher, they've lost some momentum, but a big rally in Shanghai overnight. Oil prices are behind the positive numbers. Crude is back near $30 a barrel and oil prices were much higher but they've retreated after Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Venezuela tentatively agreed to freeze oil production at current levels. And many analysts were hoping for a cut to production which could push prices higher after the dramatic crash over the past several months.

So, it is safe to say that our lower gas prices, I think, John, they are going to be sticking around.

PEREIRA: I'll - I'll take it here, Alison.

KOSIK: Okay, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Thanks so much, I appreciate it.

While the music industry honored its best, the Grammy broadcast had its share of glitches. We're going to break all of that down. And some of the good moments, too, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

[08:51:11] TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER: There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame. Someday when you get where you're going you will look around and you will know that it was you and the people who love you who put you there.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA: T. Swift with a not so subtle swipe at Kanye West at the Grammys, hitting back at the rapper's claims that he made her famous. Taylor Swift taking home Album of the Year. We're going to walk through all of the highs and lows with Nischelle Turner, Entertainment Tonight host, my girlfriend and CNN contributor, and Brian Stelter, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" and senior media correspondent. You're my boo, too, don't worry.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: I was about to ask.

PEREIRA: I know, I know.

All right, so big night last night. I think we have to talk about Taylor right off the bat. Congratulations to her, Album of the Year. Some people thought she stole that from Kendrick. But she handled that, do you think she handled it well, the whole Kanye West business, Nischelle?

NISCHELLE TURNER, HOST, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT: Well, Michaela, you said it was a swipe. I think it was a right jab. I mean, I think she went right at him because, you know, seriously because, you know, he came out and said, you know, in the song I made you famous and she came back and talked about you know what? No, I made myself famous and look at me, I'm standing on here with Album of the Year. That's how you know I made myself famous.

So, yes, you know, I thought -- we were waiting to see if Taylor would respond to any of the back and forth. I mean, she put out that statement saying she never approved the line in the song.

PEREIRA: Right.

TURNER: That I made that B famous, and that she thought it was misogynistic, but we hadn't really heard her speak about it and I think she did in a very classy way last night.

PEREIRA: In a really graceful way.

TURNER: And I really think (ph) she took the high road.

PEREIRA: She absolutely handled it like a lady. It was really -- with such dignity.

TURNER: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: All right, another situation that came up last night.

STELTER: Yes.

PEREIRA: Brian, you could address this, a lot of technical glitches. and it really hampered an otherwise, what I think a lot of people were anticipating, was a big performance from Adele.

STELTER: Yes, I think you're right. Of all the glitches the Adele one was the biggest. It wasn't her best performance and she afterwards blamed a microphone that was inside the piano that actually fell down onto the piano strings. Happened early in the performance, said it kind of messed up the audio.

PEREIRA: Why don't we listen to it.

STELTER: Maybe put her off her game a bit. Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PEREIRA: Sounds like they're having audio issues there.

STELTER: You can tell there.

PEREIRA: It's live TV, it's a live performance.

STELTER: Yes, I mean, the academy president said overnight, you know, listen, 99 percent of the time we get it right, this was an unfortunate one. You know, Taylor Swift mentioned she was the first artist -- woman artist to win Album of the Year twice.

PEREIRA: Right. STELTER: Well, Adele could be the second one to do that next year.

PEREIRA: Next year.

STELTER: This time next year we'll probably be talking about her album winning a number of Grammys, so we'll see how she does, but makes it even more interesting to see how she does next year.

PEREIRA: Likely going to be a sweep next year unless we see some big things come down the pike. We have to talk about Best Rap Album, Kendrick Lamar and that performance last night, literally lighting things on fire, Nischelle.

TURNER: Yes, absolutely. It did -- it got hot in there. Pauley Perrette from NCIS tweeted last night, "It literally got hot in here when Kendrick came out." You know, I thought this was a moment, a real moment. The Grammys tout themselves as the show that creates moments that people will be talking about, and I thought this was performance art.

I thought he went so hard you could see almost the veins popping out in his head and I thought that it was really beautiful. I kind of agree with you. I think he may have had Album of the Year stolen from him because "To Pimp a Butterfly" was a transformative album and I think that he's bringing a voice back to hip hop that hasn't been there for a very long time.

STELTER: Yes, five wins overall and I bet he found even more fans last night.

TURNER: Yes.

PEREIRA: Absolutely. Last but not least, we have to talk about Gaga. "Daily Beast" says, unapologetic...

STELTER: Gaga.

PEREIRA: ... "unapologetic weirdness and glee. It was perfect." David Bowie's son not necessarily agreeing.

STELTER: Yes.

PEREIRA: What do you think, Brian, of Gaga's tribute to David Bowie?

STELTER: I thought it was outstanding. I mean, was it ten songs in just a few minutes. Very impressive. We also saw a tribute to, of course, Glenn Frey, and to Lionel Richie...

PEREIRA: Maurice White.

STELTER: ... who was very much alive, there sitting in the crowd, enjoying it. It was wonderful to see that even though this night belonged to the youth, wonderful tributes to past artists.

[08:55:12] PEREIRA: There were some good nights -- good moments last night and there were some tough moments, too, but we got through them. The Grammys are done for this year. Nischelle, Brian, thanks so much. We've got your Good Stuff coming up next.

TURNER: All right, guys.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Got a good stuff, all right? It's an extra special birthday celebration. Jeremy Bordois (ph) of Lansing, Michigan, okay? So, turning 11, didn't want a party for himself. Instead, what does he do? Bakes some cookies, sold $10,000 worth of cookies.

PEREIRA: Wow.

CUOMO: Then threw a party for those he thought needed the recognition.

PEREIRA: What a kiddo.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

OFFICER GARY HALL, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPT.: Seeing a little boy that old with a heart like that, that he wants to support the police, means a lot.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CUOMO: Jeremy Bordois (ph), there he is.

PEREIRA: Wow.

CUOMO: He felt police officers don't get the gratitude they deserve. This was his way of showing appreciation.

PEREIRA: Wherever he is, we just send him big hugs and say way to go, kiddo. Nice work.

CUOMO: And to the brothers and sisters in blue as well, beautiful gesture.

PEREIRA: Absolutely. All right, time for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. Happy Tuesday, darling.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, happy Tuesday. That means we're closer to Friday, baby.

PEREIRA: Yes.

COSTELLO: You guys have a great day. "NEWSROOM" starts now.