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RNC on GOP Candidates; Severe Storm Devastation; S.C. Town Hall Audience Reviews the Candidates. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 24, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:26] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump with a big win in the Nevada caucus, nearly doubling his closest competitor. Look at the numbers, 45.9 percent to Donald Trump. Marco Rubio in second place right now with 96 percent of the votes tableted at 23.9 percent. Is it time for the party to embrace a frontrunner? Let's ask Reince Priebus. He's the chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Good morning, Reince.

REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Hey, good morning.

CAMEROTA: Is it time for the entire GOP to embrace the frontrunner, Donald Trump?

PRIEBUS: I think it's pretty clear. We're going to embrace whoever the nominee is. I embrace all of these candidates. I embrace them all. So we're going to determine the delegates coming through March and whoever the nominee ends up becoming, they're going to inherent - or they're going to join, I should say, the biggest RNC operation that we've ever put together.

CAMEROTA: Yes, you say that your -

PRIEBUS: But just - I mean, let's keep in mind - you asked that question in a way that I think is a little bit -- it's - these folks are competing to join us. I mean that's what's happening, right? So they're competing to join the Republican Party as our nominee depending on what the delegates decide to do or who wins the requisite amount of delegates. And whoever that is, joins -

CAMEROTA: Well, sort of. I mean but they are competing -

PRIEBUS: Joins - that's what they're doing, though, they're competing to be the nominee of the Republican Party. That's what's happening.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but they're competing to become the president of the United States. And so they are looking for voters, all voters, to vote for them.

PRIEBUS: But to do that - right, but to - well -

CAMEROTA: I mean my point is this, Reince. PRIEBUS: No. No, they're not. They're - they're competing -

CAMEROTA: Is that look - listen - let me - let me make my point.

PRIEBUS: Well, I haven't been able to make my point.

CAMEROTA: All right, go ahead.

PRIEBUS: There have been - there are two, major political parties in America and each party has a nomination contest and people are running in that contest to be the nominee of each party. So in Cleveland they're going - we're going to vote on the floor for who that nominee is. That nominee joins the Republican Party. That's what's happening.

CAMEROTA: Yes. But you're making it sound simpler than in fact it is.

PRIEBUS: OK.

CAMEROTA: Because as we have heard time and again -

PRIEBUS: I think it's pretty simple.

CAMEROTA: Over the past few weeks, there is a whole chunk of the Republican establishment that is not embracing Donald Trump. In fact, they're rejecting him. We have heard about all of the big donors, all of the Republican Party elders, all of the people in Congress, who are basically saying, anyone but Trump. They're flocking to Marco Rubio now in droves, hoping that he can be the anti-Trump candidate. You can't pretend that there's not a large chunk of the Republican Party that doesn't want Donald Trump.

PRIEBUS: It's a big party. No, I can't. It's a big party. And - and - and it's a big party. And there are people, some of our major donors, that I saw standing behind Donald Trump yesterday. So, I mean, it's a big party. People are competing. And people are endorsing different candidates. I saw people going to John Kasich. I saw people going to Marco Rubio. I saw Steve Wynn with Donald Trump.

I mean, so, look, we are going to have a nominee. And our party is going to join in with that nominee to win a general election against a candidate that just yesterday is now seeing that her staff is going to be deposed under oath by the - by the FBI. So, I mean, we're in great shape to win in November. But, yes, we have drama. There's some intrigue going on in our party, but there's intrigue going on, on the other side too.

CAMEROTA: Sure.

PRIEBUS: That's what primaries are.

[08:35:00] CAMEROTA: They are a lot of intrigue, you're right. But let's talk about "The Washington Post." They ran an editorial on Monday calling you out specifically in relationship to Donald Trump. Let me just -

PRIEBUS: Yes. Yes, for not - CAMEROTA: Let me read it. Let me read a portion of it.

PRIEBUS: For not rejecting the frontrunner.

CAMEROTA: "Mr. Priebus has shown that he knows that Mr. Trump is a problem. He condemned Mr. Trump's plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States. But also, like many top Republicans, the party chairman has nevertheless given Mr. Trump a wide berth to run a flamboyant insult of a campaign. Mr. Priebus and everyone else leading the GOP are Americans before they are Republicans. They should act like it." Has Donald Trump run too toxic of a campaign?

PRIEBUS: That is the stupidest editorial that I've ever seen. That - that I am - I am called out for not beating up the frontrunner of the GOP. This is - it's ridiculous. Look, at times I've made statements - at times I've made -

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean they're saying not condemning some of his more vitriolic statements.

PRIEBUS: Come on. That's not my job. My job is to put forward the fairest process that we can put forward, to not put my hand on the scale, to allow our delegates to make the choices that they want to make and then accept the decision that the delegates make. Unlikely what's happening on the Democrat's side, when they have super delegates in their back pockets and could give a darn what their grassroots is telling the party, that's not how we operate our party on our side. And so -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PRIEBUS: It is - it's never going to happen.

CAMEROTA: Reince, I want to ask you about the after action report from 2012. After Mitt Romney lost, you commissioned a report to figure out how the GOP was going to move forward in a sort of more winning way. And one of the conclusions of that report after 2012 was that you were going to have to extend more open - a more open-arm approach to Latinos and make them feel welcome in the GOP party. Today, Donald Trump, last night, he won across the board with all sorts of different demographics, but it wasn't by being kinder and more open and more inclusive to Latinos. I mean one of the very first things he said in announcing that he wanted to be president was what many considered a slur to Mexicans. How do you explain his popularity with Latinos?

PRIEBUS: Well, I don't know how to explain anyone's popularity with any particular group because that would put me in the middle of advocating and slicing and dicing each individual's campaigns and I can't go there. But what I will tell you about is that we have been obviously working very hard in expanding the Republican Party in Hispanic communities. We've - we're in the middle of hiring 1,300 people right now, many of which are going to be in Hispanic neighborhoods. We won 46 percent of the Hispanic vote in Colorado. We spent over $7 million in Colorado in 2014 but we saturated Hispanic communities and it worked. We did much better than we did in 2012. But - CAMEROTA: But - but does Donald Trump's campaign - I mean but does Donald Trump's campaign and his rhetoric represent what you had in mind in 2012?

PRIEBUS: I'm not - I don't - look, what I have in mind is making sure that we've got a party that doesn't show up in Hispanic and black communities and Asian communities three months before an election and expect that the brand is going to sell. It won't. It will sell if we're there all the time with people at every corner with people from the community, in the community, advocating for Republican principles of equality, freedom and opportunity. That's how we're going to win. That's how we're going to do better. Mitt Romney lost by about 240,000 votes in four states. We're talking about clicks of the dial that our party needs to be better at and more precise at, and that's what a competent Republican National Committee is all about. And that's what we've changed at the RNC and that's why we're crushing the DNC across the country, both on money and in the field and with data. That's our job. That's what a compensate RNC does.

CAMEROTA: Reince Priebus, chair of the RNC, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

PRIEBUS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Michaela.

PRIEBUS: You bet.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're watching some breaking news, a deadly tornado outbreak tearing through the Gulf States. We know At this point at least three people have been killed.

CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray is live in one of the hard hit areas, Pensacola, Florida. She joins us now.

Jennifer.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Michaela, that's right. It was a horrible night across the south and the southeast. We had more than 20 tornadoes reported touched down between Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, as well as the Florida panhandle.

Pensacola, like you said, pretty hard hit. We are standing in front of an apartment complex that was hard hit. We have been pushed back just a little bit because they say it's dangerous from all the downed power lines, as well as possible natural gas leaks. But we did get in there before sunrise. We took some video. And you can see the damage. Three of the buildings completely destroyed. Complete concrete walls just tumbled onto the parking lot, crushed cars beneath, and so those are going to be a total loss. And about a mile or two from where we are standing, another town home subdivision has also been hit very, very hard. So the damage here was isolated, but where it did hit, it was devastating.

[08:40:19] These storms are now moving to the east and so folks along the East Coast need to be on the lookout this afternoon and evening, especially in portions of North Carolina and Virginia.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, that's a very good reminder. Jennifer, thanks so much for that.

Well, South Carolina voters getting an opportunity to question Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders directly. Three of those voters will tell us if they like the answers they got at CNN's town hall.

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PEREIRA: All right, here we go with the five things to know for your new day.

Donald Trump sweeping to victory in the Nevada caucuses. Trump now has three straight wins heading into Super Tuesday. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tackling race issues in their final pitch to South Carolina voters at a CNN town hall.

[08:45:08] Deadly twisters ripping through the Gulf Coast. In all, 27 reports of tornadoes. Three people have been killed in Louisiana and Mississippi.

The alleged shooter in the Kalamazoo massacre purchased his gun legally, however he did not have a license to carry it. He was captured on video at a gun store before the rampage.

In a new blog post, President Obama says his eventual Supreme Court nominee will be eminently qualified, independent and understands how the law impacts peoples' lives.

For more in the five things, be sure to visit newdayCNN.com.

All right. Time now for CNN Money now. Chief business correspondent Christine Romans in the Money Center.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

Bernie Sanders railing against the richest of the rich in last night's CNN Democratic town hall. He claims middle class wealth shrank over the past 30 years, while wealth for the top tenth of one percent doubled. Run the numbers, and that's true. For the very rich, their share of all U.S. wealth was 7 percent in 1978, by 2012 it had surged to 22 percent.

For Republican caucusgoers in Nevada, the top issue, the economy and jobs, according those entrance polls. More important than government spending, immigration, or terrorism. We've seen this in every primary and caucus state.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Okay. Thanks so much, Christine.

Well they came with questions. Are voters happy with the answers they got last night at CNN's Democratic town hall? We find out next.

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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ACHOR: We have the stars of last night's town hall with us as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were responding to questions from the people who really matter, the South Carolina voters. We have questioners. Were they satisfied with the responses that they got?

[08:50:03] We're going to discuss that right now. Let's ask three of them. We have Vidaul Futch, we have Jamie Rutkoski and we have Marjory Wentworth.

Now, I want to start with each of you by playing the questions first and then we'll talk about how you felt about the answers. Here they are.

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VIDAUL FUTCH, ASKED SANDERS QUESTION: You have a plan to make public college free. So where does historically black colleges, private historically black colleges, fall under this plan?

JAMIE RUTKOSKI, ASKED CLINTON QUESTION: What do you think has been causing this common generational gap that I see so many places between your supporters and Senator Sanders' supporters?

MARJORY WENTWORTH, ASKED CLINTON QUESTION: How could you, as president, harness the power of forgiveness in terms of helping heal all the division in our own country and beyond?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Those are the questions. Let's start with you, Mr. Futch. Let's play the answer that you got to your question and then see your level of satisfaction.

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We must sustain and strengthen the historically black colleges and universities who do a phenomenal job today educating a significant number of young African- Americans. You have my word that we will not only sustain, we will substantially increase funding for the historically black colleges and universities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: You were nodding there when he said it. A little bit of applause. What did you like and why?

FUTCH: I like the fact that he's saying that we -- he's going to fund HBCUs. But I was specifically talking about private HBCUs. Not public HBCUs. Private HBCUs are naturally not funded federally by the government. So I was nodding because of he wants to fund public HBCUs, but specifically what is he going to do for private HBCUs. CUOMO: So your assumption is the public ones would fit under his plan anyway.

FUTCH: Right.

CUOMO: It's what are you going to do with all the private colleges and specifically, in your case, the historically black ones. He said -- When he said we're going to boost them up, was that enough for you?

FUTCH: Yes.

CUOMO: That was?

FUTCH: Yeah.

CUOMO: So you feel like you got the answer, you're satisfied --

FUTCH: No, well -- I don't feel like I got the answer as far as --

CUOMO: Yes and you're no. What are you, a politician? Give me one straight answer, Futch.

FUTCH: No, I don't feel like I really got the answer. I wanted something more concrete as to what specific are you going to do for private historically black colleges, which are a majority of the historically black colleges in the United States of America.

CUOMO: Welcome to the frustration of being a reporter. You are asked a question with a specific. You got a general. But that is how it goes.

All right. So that is you. So then we had another question. Really interesting topic that you picked. The generational divide even among women and what that means for Hillary Clinton. Let's play the answer to the question.

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HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well I'm not sure, to be honest. I really don't know. But I want you to know that whether you end up sporting me or not, I will support you. And I will support the young people of this country because that has been my life's work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: First of all, what is it like to look at Hillary Clinton and say basically, I don't like you, but my mother does? What was it like to ask the question? How did you feel about the answer?

RUTKOSKI: Well, that is a little bit unfair. I didn't say I didn't like her. If she were to get the nomination, I would vote for her over any Republican candidate. Um, but it was awesome talking to her and --

CUOMO: Did it change your mind, by the way RUTKOSKI: It didn't. You know, I asked a pretty broad question about

a generational gap. And there is a lot of -- And I understand she has a short time to answer it -- But there are a lot of reasons why I think there is a generational gap and I think she clung on the fact that I mentioned student loan debt and answered it in student loan -- as if that is the main reason our generation isn't on board with her.

CUL What do you think the answer is?

RUTKOSKI: I don't know. And she was candid about it, too. She said she didn't know. That was her first answer. She doesn't know why. But I think there is -- specific reasons of the difference between the millennial generation and the baby boomers. There's a lot of cultural differences. Right, and I don't think that she's tapping into it -- or understanding where we stand on a lot of issues.

CUOMO: Tricky question. You know what, that's what made it a great one. That was great.

And then we have the poet laureate. She said she wasn't going to offer any poetry. Everybody was very depressed when she said that. But she did speak to something that was very poetical in its notion. What forgiveness has meant and what it could mean going forward. Listen to the response on that.

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CLINTON: I would very much consider if there were a formal way and if not what we could do to talk more about forgiveness and reconciliation to try to begin bringing people together from different backgrounds.

[08:55:00] Obviously different races, different ethnicities, every other of the wonderful mosaic that makes up our country, so that people could begin, once again, to kind of see themselves in the others' life. Maybe the old saying, walking in someone else's shoes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Deep. There are so many layers to this, Marjory. The power of forgiveness, on what it does for you, what it does for the people that you forgive. How did you feel about what the secretary had to offer?

WENTWORTH: Oh, I was really thrilled with her response. Because she started off responding about her own life and people she's forgiven, which we all know about, and people who have forgiven her. And then she gave the part of the answer that you just played and the she spoke about being in South Africa for the Truth and Reconciliation Committees where Nelson Mandela and Bishop Tutu, people like that were present and the power of that experience. So I loved the way she was able to answer in a personal way and really reach out into a global way, which is really what I asked her, which is a tough thing to answer, I think, on the spot.

CUOMO: Yeah. And we are all moved and remember, as the secretary was by Mandela, saying we forgive to release ourselves from this pain, not just the people we are forgiving. Marjory, Jamie and Vidaul, you asked questions that mattered so much and we got answers in a way that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Thanks to all of you.

And thanks to you for watching us here on NEW DAY. There's a lot of news breaking out of Nevada after the caucuses on the GOP side as well as the fallout from the Democratic town hall. You're going to get all of it right after the break in the "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

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