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Rubio's Super Tuesday Chances; Gas Prices and Election; Flint Water Crisis; Trump Supporters on Super Tuesday Contests. Aired 8:30- 9a ET

Aired March 01, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:32:03] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It is happening. Super Tuesday underway in 11 of the 12 Super Tuesday states. Voting is already going on. Alaska, obviously, starts later tonight. Many suggesting the Republicans will rally around Marco Rubio as an anecdote to Donald Trump, who's seen as an anecdote to what's wrong with the party. But what if Rubio comes up empty again? Can he press on? What does this mean for the party?

Big questions. Here to answer them, Republican Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, a Rubio supporter, a member of the Judiciary Committee and recently returned from a trip to Africa to examine animal poaching. I want to talk to him about that as well, but let's start with the race.

Senator, when you look at the map of what's going on today on Super Tuesday, many of the polls show that Marco Rubio is not at the top of any of them. If he doesn't win any state today, is he still a viable choice for nominee in your estimation?

SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: Well, what the pollsters stay is there's still - still a scenario but it becomes increasingly difficult if he doesn't win something tonight. I would think that Virginia is where he has a decent chance and he'll poll strong everywhere else and I - I hope that people are realizing that, you know, the latest CNN poll showing that Donald Trump does poorly against Hillary Clinton in the general and that more Republicans will take that seriously as well.

CUOMO: There's no question that in our latest CNN/ORC poll, Rubio and Cruz both over performed Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton. So doesn't that speak to what's really going on here, which, it isn't just Trump versus Rubio and Cruz, it's this party. This party is in a race against itself right now. You have sitting Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse who says, I can't vote for Donald Trump. He's a Republican. We had Tom Coburn on, former Oklahoma senator, a Republican, saying, I think there's going to be a third party if Trump wins. What is going on within the GOP? Is this a fight for itself?

FLAKE: Well, I think a lot of us who have watched this campaign unfold and have seen Mr. Trump say the things that he said and basically offend just about every group out there, just realize how impossible it seems for him to win a general, and would you want him to win a general? It just - it's beyond belief in my view and so a lot of us have had this problem of seeing him to the end. CUOMO: But you know who hasn't been having the problem? Your voters.

Conservative, moderate, even self-described centrists are all going for Trump again and again. And today we'll see the biggest test. If he wins 10 of the 11 states, what does that mean about the future of the GOP?

FLAKE: We have a lot of delegates yet to award, about 95 percent of them in fact. It starts tonight. And I'm just hopeful that we aren't faced with a possibility of having Mr. Trump as our nominee. I think that any of us relish that.

CUOMO: Would you support him? Would you support him?

FLAKE: No, I - I think we have a long way to go before that and I'm holding out hope that I don't have to.

[08:35:00] CUOMO: You're holding out hope you don't have to, but a third of the delegates are going to be awarded today. He could be far down that road. You're going to have to make that decision of whether or not, if he's the nominee, how do you not back him?

FLAKE: Like I say, I've - we have a long way to go and I think as we get closer, voters become more serious.

CUOMO: So there is probably - well, I don't know if it's going to be more serious. They may go a different way, but they seem pretty serious in their intentions so far.

There's probably no better demonstration than the trouble within the GOP right now is that when a respected Republican senator like yourself is literally getting chased by elephants, the mascot of the GOP. I want to go to that video of what happened when Senator Flake was in Africa recently. Here are our elephants. You're seen because you're running for your life, off camera, being chased by elephants. Why were you in Africa and why was the namesake of your party hate you?

FLAKE: Well, we've introduced legislation called the End Wildlife Trafficking Act. The countries particularly in southern Africa need our help to save these iconic creatures, the elephant and the rhino in particular. So we were looking at ways that we could help these countries. We were in Mozambique and in the Gorongosa National Park and these elephants took exception to us getting a little too close and they came after us. So it was a - it was a pretty tense 25 seconds.

CUOMO: Is it true that the elephants overheard you with their big ears saying disparaging things about Trump and then charged?

FLAKE: That could have been. I just don't know. Elephants have long memories and probably pretty astute as well. But -

CUOMO: This is a very serious issue when it comes to saving the wildlife over there. I know you take it very seriously. That's why you made the commitment to go over there. How much do you think the U.S. can help and how dire is the situation? FLAKE: We are helping. USAID has programs in Mozambique and Zimbabwe

and Namibia and Botswana to help these countries that have a conservation plan. Botswana, for example, has about 200,000 elephants still left. That's about 40 percent of the elephants left on the continent. Each of these countries are doing something and - but they're going to need more of our help. And I just think that, you know, we - when we see sights like this that our kids and our grandkids deserve to see these kind of sights as well and not just have to see an elephant in a zoo or in a national park, they ought to roam wild at least somewhere.

CUOMO: Appreciate you taking the time to bring this to our attention. One last election question. Recently Senator Rubio has been returning fire to Donald Trump saying - making fun of his spray tan, small hands, all that type of stuff. Sounds like Donald Trump himself. Do you recommend that style of campaigning for Marco Rubio?

FLAKE: Well, I hate to see it get to this. You've got to respond in some fashion, I suppose. But if you look at 99 percent of what Marco Rubio is talking about, it's serious - serious subjects and substance. And so that's why I'm pleased to support him. He's a good candidate.

CUOMO: What do you think about holding hearings on the replacements or Justice Antonin Scalia? Do you think there should be at least a hearing if President Obama puts forth a nominee, which, of course, he will?

FLAKE: Well, it's been, you know, more than a century since the party - the minority party in the White House, different from the majority in the Senate, had nominated a candidate and had that candidate approved in an election year. So the precedent really is for us to wait and let the new president nominate this candidate.

CUOMO: Do you think any amount of pressure will change that?

FLAKE: I don't think so.

CUOMO: Senator Flake, thank you very much for raising our awareness of what's going on with endangered specious in Africa and making the case for Senator Rubio. Good luck with your decision if Trump is the nominee.

FLAKE: Thank you.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris.

Plummeting gas prices are good news for drivers, but how could they impact the 2016 race? We take a look at that on this Super Tuesday. That's next.

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[08:42:50] CAMEROTA: Welcome back. It's time for "CNN Money Now." Chief business correspondent Christine Romans is in our Money Center. Hi, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Happy Super Tuesday.

The key to winning the presidential election? Gas prices. Moody's Analytics says low gas prices favor the Democrats right now. Why? Americans are saving every time they fill up. That has drivers feeling good about their personal economy. Moody says price swings - prices in swing states are critical, Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, Colorado all have prices pretty close to the national average of $1.75. And get this, you guys, gas prices today are $2 -- $2 cheaper than they were the last presidential election year. The advantage swings to Republicans if wages, jobs or housing sours in the months ahead.

Chris and Alisyn.

CUOMO: All right, Christine, thank you very much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CUOMO: You tie everything to gas prices, but I respect it.

All right, now we continue to report on Flint, Michigan, for on obvious reason, the people there are still in crisis. Long term concerns for children there now include lead poisoning stemming from the Flint water crisis. That's part of their reality. So, in our latest "Impact Your World," we look at how one organization is mobilizing to get help and hope to that Michigan community.

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CUOMO (voice-over): While her three-year-old daughter Malia (ph) plays, Shia Morgan (ph) worries about the consequences the lead in Flint, Michigan's water supply will have on her child.

SHIA MORGAN: Can you drink that water though?

MALIA: No.

MORGAN: It's very scary as a parent, you know, to think she could come down with a deficit later in life.

CUOMO: For kids, there is no level of lead expose that is safe.

DR. MONA HANNA-ATTISHA, PEDIATRICIAN: Lead exposure has been known - or has been called a silent pediatric epidemic. The neurotoxins, so it affects your brain, it impacts your cognition and your behavior. So it actually drops your IQ. And we won't see these symptoms for years to come. It is a problem of tomorrow.

CUOMO: That's why the Flint Child Health and Development Fund is focusing on the future. The fund is helping families get aid and resources.

HANNA-ATTISHA: It spans many domains. Education is huge. So early literacy programs, universal preschools, getting these kids great nutrition access right now, boosting up their levels of iron and vitamin c and calcium, all these things limit the absorption of lead.

[08:45:08] CUOMO: For Shia and her daughter, the fund is providing hope.

MORGAN: A lot of people have posed the question, is it as bad as it seems? It is worse than what you could ever imagine and just keep the support coming and keep the prayers coming.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Prayers and a lot more. The reality is going to be bad in Flint for a long time. So for more ways that you can support the families that are being impacted by that crisis in Flint, go to CNN.com/impact.

CAMEROTA: Okay. Donald Trump may sweep most states on this Super Tuesday, but new polls show that he faced a tough time against a Democrat in November. Next we ask some Trump supporters why they think he's the best Republican to re-take the White House.

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CAMEROTA: All polls point to a big Super Tuesday for Donald Trump. But that could cost Republicans in November. A new CNN poll shows Trump trailing Hillary Clinton by 8 points in a hypothetical matchup. Bernie Sanders also beats Donald Trump.

So is Trump the strongest candidate to take on the Democrats?

[08:50:01] Joining me now are some Trump supporters. We have Randy Powell, Pax Hart and Terra Grant. Great to have all of you with us on this Super Tuesday.

Pax, let me --

TERRA GRANT, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Good morning. Great to have you. Let's start with you, Pax. First let's just look at Super Tuesday. While we're here let's look at the delegates that are up for grabs on Super Tuesday because there's a lot of them. 595. Do you think that Donald Trump is going to win every one of these red states on our screen right now?

PAX HART, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well there is three that Marco Rubio is leading in. There's four that Ted Cruz is leading in.

CAMEROTA: Or close.

HART: Yeah -- They're close.

CAMEROTA: They're putting up a fighting chance.

HART: They're very close. Yeah, I think it is kind of a shoo-in that Donald Trump is going to sweep up the delegates today. CAMEROTA: Okay. Terra, what about what we just said? That when you

look at the polls -- and I mean these are polls just out less than three hours ago by CNN -- that he actually is not in that strong of a position to beat either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton in the general.

GRANT: I think it is very early in the game as far as really deciding all of that. And there is that margin of error. So of course, yes, I was listening to the statistics this morning and the polls. Does it give us worry? Absolutely. However, do I think that he would be able to beat either Hillary or Bernie at the end of this? Absolutely. I do.

CAMEROTA: Randy, what do you make of what happened over this weekend with Donald Trump and the questions about David Duke, white supremacists and the KKK, in which our own Jake Tapper asked him about it and he wasn't willing to disavow the politics of David Duke and the policies of the KKK. He had previously done so, but for whatever reason on Sunday he wasn't willing to.

So let me just play for you what he said back in 2000 and then what he said this weekend and get your response. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know anything about David Duke. Okay? I don't know anything about what you are even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You've got David Duke just joined. A bigot, a racist, a problem. I mean, this is not exactly the people you want in your party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Randy, what do you make of that shift, that in 2000 he said he wouldn't want him in his party and then this weekend he wasn't willing to go that far?

RANDY POWELL, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I don't make anything of it. First off at the rally in Forth Worth he was asked the question, he disavowed it immediately without any hesitation. Secondly, it is amusing to me that every presidential candidate David Duke has brought up supposedly endorsing a Republican candidate, this election is no different than any other time, and yet when I Google it I can't find the actual endorsement from David Duke. I just hear allegations of it. I don't actually see it anywhere on Google that -- could I find where David Duke specifically endorsed Donald Trump this week anywhere.

CAMEROTA: Right. So -- But Randy --

POWELL: I don't make anything of it.

CAMEROTA: Bus listen, if it's such a softball, if it comes up time and again and it's so easy to hit that one out of the parks, why didn't he?

POWELL: I don't have an answer for that. I mean, there are so many things at play here. I don't have an answer for that. I don't speak for Donald Trump. I speak for myself.

CAMEROTA: Pax, do you think it hurts him in the general election or even now on Super Tuesday?

HART: I think it -- I think what we saw is something that, as conservatives, we see this over and over and over again. We are kind of put into this thing of -- you have choice A, choice B, if you don't choose the choice that we're going to give you, we're going to call you a racist. This is what Republican candidates deal with constantly and I think the majority of the American voters see that. It's -- Racism has just become this way of character assassination.

CAMEROTA: But same question that I asked Randy. If it's that consistent and it happens all the time and it's an ever-going (ph) topic, why not just say it, plainly, I reject it outright?

HART: Well he did --

GRANT: He actually did that, Alisyn.

(CROSSTALK)

HART: He did.

CAMEROTA: He said it on Friday. You're right. You're both right. He said it on Friday and then he tweeted it hours after he didn't say it on Sunday.

HART: But right after Sunday, David Duke released a statement that said I never endorsed Donald Trump.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but isn't the larger issue whether or not you can just out-of-hand reject racism, reject white supremacy, reject the KKK?

HART: Well --

POWELL: How many times does he have do that?

CAMEROTA: Always. Forever.

POWELL: He's done it. Why are you bringing it up again --

GRANT: But why do you keep asking him?

CAMEROTA: Well -- I mean -- Only because there was that hiccup, Terra, on Sunday. I hear what you are saying. You are all tired of this, you're tired of this topic. But Terra, do you think that this has a residual effect on the party? Let's face it, the tone, the language on the GOP side, more than the Democratic side, has been really inflamed. Do you feel that it has an effect?

GRANT: I think, according to the debates the other night, I think they all look like a bunch of monkeys. Me, personally, I don't think that -- I don't think we left the GOP. I think the Republican Party left us. I think that is why we, as Trump supporters, we fall in line with his ideology, with what he thinks, the way he expresses himself. I think that is why we fall into line with that.

[08:55:09] Because, Alisyn, at the end of the day, we go to the polls, we cast our votes. We want these guys to go to Washington and do what they promise us that they're going to do. And at the end of the day, what these guys are doing is they're going to Washington and then the lobbyists get a hold of them, then the big money get a hold of them, and then guess what? Our candidates that we voted for, they disappear. And so Donald Trump, regardless if you like him or not, he stands by what he says.

If he said one day, hey, you know, I support Planned Parenthood or I support Hillary Clinton and then he wakes up the next day and he says, hey listen, okay, the veil has come off my eyes and now I'm running for Republican. Or I went through life situations that caused me to change the way I think about it. Isn't that what Americans -- that is the joys of being American, is that we can do that, Alisyn.

And at the end of the day, you know, yes, I, personally, if I thought that Donald Trump in the slightest was a racist, I would not vote for him. I mean, I think he loves America. I know that he loves America. And he wants to make America great again. I do think that. And -- he believes in the American Dream. That's why we support him.

CAMEROTA: Gotcha. Terra, I don't think that Randy or Pax could build on that any better than you just have.

GRANT: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Panel, thanks so much. Great to talk to you and we will obviously talk again after Super Tuesday.

HART: Great to be here.

CAMEROTA: CNN's comprehensive coverage of Super Tuesday is just getting started. We'll have the latest throughout the day for you as special beginning at 6:00 tonight as the votes are counted.

Also tomorrow morning, we'll analyze it right here on an early NEW DAY.

So time for "NEWSROOM" now with Carol Costello after a very short break. Stick around.

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