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Trump Takes South Carolina, Nevada to Hold GOP Caucuses Tomorrow; Polls: Clinton Holds Commanding Lead in South Carolina. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 22, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We won with everything. Tall people, short people, fat people, skinny people.

[05:59:03] SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald sees our campaign as the only campaign that can beat him.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will bring this party together faster than anybody else in this race.

TRUMP: I'll win states that aren't in play.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think we are a single-issue country, and I am certainly not a single-issue candidate.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are talking about dozens of issues. I'm not quite sure where Secretary Clinton is coming from.

CLINTON: We want to make progress in our country.

SANDERS: Hillary Clinton is echoing much of what we are saying.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The horrifying weekend killing spree in Kalamazoo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy was not on anybody's radar.

BERMAN: Did this Uber driver pick up new passengers between murders?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He started driving really erratically. He was running stop signs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These were very deliberate killings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Monday, February 22, 6 a.m. in the east. Are the primaries over? Is Trump unstoppable? Clinton now in a position to run away? Those are the big hyped questions you'll be hearing a lot in the beginning of this week. But they're going to be answered quickly.

Sixteen states head to the polls in the next two weeks, with Super Tuesday just over a week away. All of the presidential hopefuls will be on stage on CNN. So tomorrow night, we've got Clinton and Bernie Sanders who are going to take the stage in the state that will make a statement, South Carolina. I'm going to moderate a town hall where voters drive the debate, just ahead of Saturday's Democratic primary there.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Can't wait to watch that.

Meanwhile, the Republicans down to five candidates. Rubio and Cruz battling for who will become top rival heading into tomorrow's Nevada caucuses. Where will Jeb Bush's supporters and financial backers go now?

The last GOP showdown before Super Tuesday takes place Thursday night in a CNN debate in Houston.

So we have complete coverage for you this morning. Let's begin with CNN's Chris Frates. He's live in Las Vegas. What's the latest, Chris?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning from Sin City, Alisyn, where we're getting ready for this next round in the bruising GOP primaries, the top three finishers in South Carolina bringing their message to voters here in Nevada.

Donald Trump trying to cement his lead atop the field, Ted Cruz arguing he's the only true conservative in the race. And Marco Rubio saying he's the only candidate who can unite Republicans to defeat Democrats in November.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRATES (voice-over): A reordered Republican field was barnstorming across the country ahead of the Nevada caucuses Tuesday. Trump's sweeping victory in South Carolina over the weekend still sinking in.

TRUMP: It is crunch time. We have to go out and vote.

FRATES: Trump is looking to build on his momentum after back-to- back victories, with his sights set on Super Tuesday, one week after Nevada's showdown.

TRUMP: I'll tell you what. We're just going one after another. Are we going to win Georgia?

FRATES: Meanwhile, the GOP front-runner was stirring up controversy over the weekend by retweeting this message, claiming both Cruz and Rubio are ineligible to be POTUS, and defending the retweet on ABC's "This Week." TRUMP: I never looked at it. Somebody said he's not. And I

retweeted it. I retweet things, and we start dialogue, and it's very interesting.

RUBIO: I'm going to spend zero time on his interpretation of the Constitution with regards to eligibility. And I'm going to spend all my time talking about what this campaign should be about.

FRATES: Questioning opponents' eligibility for the presidency is a favorite Trump attack.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, meanwhile, is sharpening his counterattack.

CRUZ: For folks who are concerned that Donald Trump is not the best candidate to go head to head with Hillary Clinton in November, it is becoming clearer and clearer that we are the one campaign that can beat Donald Trump. Indeed, we're the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump.

FRATES: And Marco Rubio is making the case in Las Vegas that he is the new face of the conservative moment.

RUBIO: Of the people left in this race, no one can unite this movement or this party faster than I can. We will unite the Republican Party and the conservative movement.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRATES: One candidate missing from action here in the Silver State, Jeb Bush. He dropped out after a disappointing finish in South Carolina. The once enormous Republican field down to just five candidates going into tomorrow's caucuses.

Alisyn, Chris, back to you guys.

CUOMO: Chris Frates looking good for a man who's been playing Craps the last 17 hours straight. There's always time to quit, Chris. Always time to quit.

All right. Let's put our minds to what matters. Senior political analyst and senior editor at "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein. And of "Meet the Press," David Gregory is here with us now. And CNN Politics executive editor Mark "Never Smile" Preston.

All right. So let's put up the graphic of what happened in South Carolina. And I have a question for you, Ron. Put up the standings that we have there. Otherwise, I'll do it in my head from memory. OK, I'll do it from memory. There you go.

This idea you have been one of the fathers of: there will be this coalescing around one; and that -- and only that -- will allow you to go after Trump. I don't see the math in favor of that any more. If you take Rubio, Bush, Kasich, you add them together, you cannot beat Trump. I'm not giving you Cruz, because I don't think those people go to the -- to the candidate that you're saying would be the establishment.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's not clear there's going to be a coalescing. Look, I think you look at the first there contests, we have some pretty clear patterns.

Donald Trump is transcending most of the usual divides that have governed previous Republican races. He's strong across ideological lines, strong across gender lines. Most importantly, he's running about as well with evangelicals as he is with non-evangelicals.

The one divide that remains is the class divide. Donald Trump in South Carolina won 42 percent of voters without a college education. That is a remarkable number. The same number as he got in New Hampshire. And in South Carolina, it was as much as Cruz and Rubio combined.

On the other hand, if you look at those college-educated voters, who are less receptive to his message on immigration, on trade, on the Muslim ban, more dubious of his personality, he was only 25 percent, Chris. Much less imposing. Rubio actually beat him among college- educated voters. He beat him among college-educated voters in Iowa, but he only beat him narrowly.

[06:05:05] And so what you've got is this disproportionate kind of a pattern where Trump is absolutely consolidating and dominating the blue-collar wing of the party, and the white-collar wing remains fragmented. If it becomes more unified, it will get more competitive. Right now, you have to say Donald Trump is clearly in the driver's seat, because neither Cruz nor Rubio have shown the ability, I think, to get big enough to truly challenge him. For different reasons.

CAMEROTA: OK. So Mark, he's in the driver's seat. Is that -- is that the same thing as unstoppable? How do you see the math?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, I mean, right now, I mean, Ron is absolutely right. I don't think the Republican establishment has a plan right now to try to defeat Donald Trump.

I mean, as Chris goes through the numbers, you can't assume that all of Jeb Bush's supporters are going to go to Marco Rubio. You can't assume that when Chris Christie got out, that all his supporters are going to go to Marco Rubio. I mean, there was a big rift between Chris Christie and Marco Rubio.

If John Kasich were to get out, you can't assume that they all go to Marco Rubio.

So it really does become a math game at this point. And Donald Trump, I mean, you have to give the guy credit in the sense that he's been able to run a campaign that has been so unorthodox, and so unwieldy and so unpredictable. But yet, he keeps on winning.

And as we head down into these SEC states, such as Arkansas, and Alabama, and Tennessee, he is going to do well. And I've got to tell you, here in Washington, just talking to some of the Republican establishment types here who might have to do business with Donald Trump, they're starting to come to the realization that they might have to start to convince us with Donald Trump.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And does that -- I mean, we've read all of the punditry, David. Does that panic then in, or are they, you know, beginning to sort of surrender to this?

DAVID GREGORY, FORMER MODERATOR, NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": The freak-out factor within the party establishment is quite high. And it's real. And within the Republican Party, it's not just hand- wringing. It's kind of panic mode. And they're doing so much analysis about how Marco Rubio can ascend, can actually start winning. And they're trying to move out of this momentum story, this momentum narrative for Trump into actually rolling up some delegates. And is there a path for Marco Rubio?

The big concern this morning is John Kasich. If John Kasich stays in the race, does that hurt Rubio? Does that, at least, make it more difficult for him, if not completely derail him? That Rubio also has to show that he can win someplace and not just have a path that's theoretical.

But that's the real focus right now, is getting as much establishment and donor support behind Rubio as possible and finding a way for him, not just a path toward the nomination, but how does he take on Donald Trump? How does he take on his supporters? How does he disqualify Trump? That has to be done soon if the party's going to really get realistic about whether he has a chance of winning.

CUOMO: Isn't it the party's mistake? This idea of "They're afraid. They have to come to grips with. They're worried about." Why not embrace what is obvious in front of your face?

Donald Trump is not doing well despite how he says, despite how he makes moderates feel. He's winning because of those things, and it is spreading. Look at the graph that we made up of who you are and how you feel about Trump. Moderate, conservative, centrist. We have it made up there. He's split. Almost a third, a third, third in the recent primary in terms of who likes him.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, right. He's in a Republican primary. Right? So that is the problem, that Donald Trump, the ideas that Donald Trump are proposing...

CUOMO: Well, this isn't -- this is something different. This shows -- this will take us in a different direction of who's got a chance and why. But he's a third, a third, a third.

BROWNSTEIN: Within the Republican -- within the Republican context, he is appealing across ideological lines. He's appealing across, as I said, religious lines. He won 44 percent of evangelicals without a college degree in New Hampshire. That is the key to -- I'm sorry, in South Carolina. That is a success there. That is the key to success in the South. If he keeps doing that, Ted Cruz simply will not have enough votes.

CUOMO: Where are Cruz's voters, though? Are Cruz people, Trump people of a different flavor, or do you think they could become Rubio people?

BROWNSTEIN: I think they'll splinter. But I think the reason that Republicans are nervous is because there's a whole big country out there, Chris. And many of these ideas that Trump is proposing -- deporting 12 million undocumented immigrants, banning Muslim -- temporarily banning Muslims from entering the country -- they are much less popular with the overall country. His numbers -- his favorability ratings among Republicans are up 20 points since he started the race. They have not improved at all among independents and Democrats. He's still looking at 60 percent or more of those groups of the country overall viewing him unfavorably.

And I think, particularly in many of the swing states, if you're Kelly Ayotte and you want to answer the question all day this fall, "Are you going to provide the decisive vote to allow Donald Trump to set the balance of the Supreme Court for the next 20 years?," I don't think you do.

So that is why they are still nervous, but they don't really have a horse at the moment to stop him, because Cruz is too narrow in his support, and I think Rubio is too shallow.

CAMEROTA: David, I want to get back to what you were saying about John Kasich for a second. He's not going anywhere before the Ohio primary, right? That's March 15.

GREGORY: Well, even March 8, I believe, with Michigan is something that he's got his eye on. He wants to get this to the industrial Midwest. He's spending time in northeastern states like Massachusetts that will vote on March 1. And he thinks he has a real contrast to some of the others that you're seeing in the race. And as long as he can keep raising the money, I think that's important right now. As we get into this delegate stage, where we start counting numbers, you've got to be a more regional candidate. You've got to be able to -- to get up on television, to use the paid advertising to really get your message out. And so Kasich can exist a little bit out there.

But again, bigger field better for Trump. You know, all of these factors that we're talking about don't really show up until the party has a stark choice, which is Trump and a more establishment view of how to lead the Republican Party. Because it will get down to a case of can you win in November, or is this just a huge protest vote?

You know, Ron has talked a lot about the potential ceiling for Donald Trump. We don't know yet if it's not a smaller field. What he has right now appears to be unstoppable lanes, an unstoppable way forward, because he keeps winning.

CAMEROTA: All right, panel, stick around. We want to talk about the Democratic side in a second.

And stay with CNN all day tomorrow for coverage of the Nevada Republican caucuses. Join us also Thursday night as the remaining five Republican candidates square off in the final debate before Super Tuesday. Wolf Blitzer moderates, live from Houston. That's Thursday night, 8:30 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, meanwhile, the Democratic race is heating up, as well. That race shifts to South Carolina. Brand-new CNN poll of polls shows that Hillary Clinton has a commanding lead over Bernie Sanders in the Palmetto State. Learned that this morning. Add that to her big win in Nevada over the weekend. Big question, can Bernie Sanders win again?

Our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is live in Charleston this morning with more.

Hi, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Michaela.

Hillary Clinton is going to return to south Carolina this week with a new spring in her step, with good reason now. So she now controls the opening three contests. She won in Iowa and in Nevada. He, of course, won in New Hampshire. And this was a big confidence- building moment for the Clinton campaign. They've been back on their heels a little bit.

But she's not done trying to define Bernie Sanders. Take a listen to what she said over the weekend in Houston.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I don't think it's right to look a person in the eye who's hurting and needs help and tell them that, if they vote for you, you will get $5,000 in health care but only have to pay $500 for it. You shouldn't say that unless you can really deliver that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So Hillary Clinton there is trying to suggest that Bernie Sanders is promising more than he can actually deliver. That is going to be a central message as she brings her campaign back here to South Carolina.

But Bernie Sanders is not giving up at all. He's going to be campaigning in South Carolina with an eye toward those Super Tuesday states in just a week's time.

But we saw him yesterday campaigning in Greenville. So he is going to have one eye on here, but he will be campaigning in Massachusetts later this afternoon. That is a key Super Tuesday state here.

So I flew to South Carolina with Bernie Sanders over the weekend. And he said that he is going to keep fighting until the end of this nominating fight in June. So this is not over by a long stretch.

But Hillary Clinton no doubt returning to South Carolina with a new boost of confidence -- Chris. CUOMO: Hey, Jeff, as you were reminding early on, as we got the

returns in South Carolina, he was down 25 a few weeks ago. Wound up losing by five. That's why he draws some strength from that. Thank you very much. I'll see you in South Carolina.

So in other news, the Uber driver accused of killing six people in a shooting spree in Michigan is facing formal charges today. A source close to the investigation saying Jason Brian Dalton picked up fares between his killings and was even looking for fares after the final shooting in the seven-hour rampage. A prosecutor describing Dalton as cooperative and showing no emotion. Investigators trying to figure out what led to the rampage. We're going to have a live report with much more on this story straight ahead.

CAMEROTA: All right. New momentum this morning towards a cease- fire to help slow the violence in war-torn Syria. The terms of a provisional agreement are in place. Secretary of State John Kerry says it could go into effect in a few days. But more deadly violence rocking the region on Sunday. Three suicide bombers left at least 122 people dead, ISIS claiming responsibility.

PEREIRA: The State Department is denying the U.S. initiated a push for secret peace talks with North Korea. "The Wall Street Journal" reporting the Obama administration approached Kim Jong-un's regime about a possible deal, even agreeing to drop the condition that Pyongyang slow its nuclear program before talks. However, U.S. officials tell CNN the North actually floated the idea, and the U.S. Pulled out when North Korea rejected a de-nuclearization.

CAMEROTA: OK. Hillary Clinton getting her mojo back in Nevada. We'll look at Clinton's campaign strategy. What worked for her in Nevada, and what to expect approaching Super Tuesday. That's next.

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[06:18:54] CAMEROTA: Hillary Clinton hoping her win over Bernie Sanders in the Nevada caucuses can help her campaign regain momentum. They fell flat after a loss in New Hampshire. So will -- with South Carolina five days away, what strategy can Clinton use to make it a winning streak?

Joining us again are Ron Brownstein, David Gregory and Mark Preston. Guys, thanks for being back with us.

Mark, let me start with you. So let's just look at the numbers. I mean, this is the new poll of polls. It's just out 19 minutes ago. This is what we're looking at for South Carolina. Hillary Clinton, 57 percent right now to Bernie Sanders' 32 percent. She's sitting pretty there. I mean, is it safe to say that she's now on a roll?

PRESTON: Well, first of all, I don't think Bernie Sanders is even playing South Carolina. I mean, if he is, he's only doing so in a cursory way.

In many ways his focus now is on states where he thinks he can do better. That's up in the northeast. And he's looking ahead to Super Tuesday. This is a strategy that the Sanders campaign had said that they were going to put in place well before Iowa. They knew going into South Carolina they didn't have the African-American vote. And they knew that she would clean up there.

So right now Bernie Sanders' plan right now is to try to stretch this out, make this a fight for delegates, try to stay in the game. Because as you go a little bit farther into March, you'll see states that could potentially be a little bit better for Bernie Sanders. The problem that he has, though, Alisyn, to your point, is that if Hillary Clinton comes in and just cleans up on Super Tuesday, that is going to be problematic for Bernie Sanders.

[06:20:24] CUOMO: No question.

David, I want to play a piece of sound for you. While I do that, guys, also get the blacks versus whites support in South Carolina ready, because we'll talk about that bouncing out of it.

But Hillary Clinton did something that people don't really give her any credit for, David Gregory, which is understanding what her problem is with voters. Let's play this piece of sound of Hillary Clinton defining what she thinks the problem is for some voters with her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I think there's an underlying question that maybe is really in the back of people's minds. And that is, you know, is she in it for us, or is she in it for herself? I think that's, you know, a question that people are trying to sort through. And I'm going to demonstrate that I've always been the same person, fighting for the same values, fighting to make a real difference in people's lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: This is what I called, David, a "Wow, wait." It's "Wow, she really gets that that is a fundamental question." Wait, why isn't she addressing it, David?

GREGORY: Right. Well, you know, acceptance is a -- is a piece of that. And being able to kind of reflect back to voters what some of her problems are, I think she sees as a potential strength.

Whether she's honest, whether she's trustworthy, whether she's authentic, certainly up against an opponent in Bernie Sanders who is ultimately seen as authentic, these are real problems for her. They're problems among Democrats. And part of why it's a problem among Democrats is that they worry that she'll face this kind of incoming fire from Republicans and won't be able to overcome it in the general election.

So I think your question is the important one, which is how does she address that? And maybe just being honest and accepting about it is part of it and part of how she can become a better candidate. But she's got to deal with 245 honest and trustworthy deficit. Certainly for the general election, because ultimately, Democrats are worrying whether she can win.

CAMEROTA: Ron, yes, I mean, it also felt as though her campaign was casting about for a message for a while. Once Bernie Sanders zeroed in on the income inequality, the deck is, you know, rigged, then she was looking for a message. And it seems that maybe they have sort of honed in on one.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: They've just uploaded a new ad to YouTube, in which Bill Clinton seems to have fastened on a slogan about his wife. So listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She said, "When I heard about it, I was sick. I contacted the mayor. He says, 'What do you want me to do?'" Her immediate instinct is, "What can I do to make it better?"

And she said, the mayor did, "What I want Hillary to do is go on national television and don't do an interview about politics or anything else. Just talk about why we need all this money so we can save these lies." She did. They got the money.

She is the "what can I do" candidate. She is a walking change- maker. You hire a president to make something happen for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: The "what can I do" candidate.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, not the most eloquent phrase, but it does get to a point. Right?

I mean, the problem she's had in Iowa and New Hampshire is she kind of wandered, as I said, into the same cul-de-sac she did in 2008, where her principle message was "No, we can't." I mean, it was like Bernie Sanders' ideas are great, maybe, but they're unrealistic.

This is a much more of a positive, kind of yes, we can get things done.

I also think, you know, the fact that she showed up at that shop floor at the Casino after midnight in Nevada was an indication of how she's trying to relate.

I disagree a little bit with David. I don't think she's ever going to solve the honest and trustworthy problem. I think that is with her for as long as she is a candidate. But Bill Clinton surmounted that by convincing people that he was, in fact, in it for them, that he cared about people like them. I think that is a more realistic goal for her and, really, a better way to deal with the larger problem. And that is -- and she really put the finger on it -- that people

don't have the same feeling necessarily about him, that he was in it for them, as they do about her. And that is, I think, where she really has to kind of make up the ground.

CUOMO: They may know this is incremental. Mark Preston, as you know, we've seen in 100 million campaigns, messaging is never about asking a question. It's always about answering a question for your voter base. So they're going to be moving in that direction.

Let me ask you something. If we have the numbers up now. She dominates with black voters in South Carolina. She is getting beaten handily with white voters in South Carolina. Yes, you're right, of course, brother Preston, that Bernie isn't going to focus on South Carolina. But this -- this relationship will continue forward. How do you see it playing out, come Super Tuesday?

PRESTON: Well, where it really hurts her, potentially, that if she wins the Democratic nomination, Chris, and then she has to go into November without the support of whites. Now, granted, she will get those Democratic white voters if she's the nominee.

But her focus right now is just trying to shut Bernie Sanders out. And so for instance, what we will see today, dovetailing off of that video that they've put out, the change maker video, that she can actually get things done, is we're going to see the mothers of five people who have died in police incidents or have died at gun violence down in South Carolina. Today, the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Dontre Hamilton, who are going to be talking about Hillary Clinton and how she can change things, as well as talking about Bernie Sanders' gun record.

So right now, I think the Clinton campaign is very focused on not trying to look too far down the road, Chris, but trying to say how do we shut Bernie Sanders out right now? And how they shut Bernie Sanders out is to try to just wipe her out -- wipe him out on Super Tuesday. And they do that through the African-American vote.

CAMEROTA: Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: Real quick -- real quick, in terms of that white deficit, if you look at the cumulative exit poll that was done in 2008, Alisyn, of all the states, Hillary Clinton beat Barack Obama by 15 points among whites, 25 points among Hispanics and still lost, because he beat her 4-1 among African-Americans. So it's a big hill for Bernie Sanders, if she can retain that advantage among black voters.

CAMEROTA: Ron, David, Mark, thank you. There's so much more to talk about, and we will get to it. Thanks, guys. Great to see you.

CUOMO: All right. We're seeing a real tightening now in terms of what they believe will distinguish one from the other when it comes from Clinton and Sanders. And they're going to get to make that case directly to South Carolina voters. I'll be along for the ride for the CNN town hall tomorrow night at 8 Eastern right here, of course. We're also taking NEW DAY on the road. We'll be in South

Carolina tomorrow and Wednesday. And then we'll head off to Texas -- Mick.

PEREIRA: All right. Meanwhile, there's stunning new details emerging about that deadly shooting rampage in Kalamazoo, Michigan, that killed six people. The suspect is due to appear in court today. We'll bring you a live report ahead.

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