Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Bleacher Report; Leaders Head to Flint; Rubio Slams Clinton; Marco Rubio Interview; GOP Debate. Aired 6:30-7:00a ET

Aired March 04, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Ooh, those Golden State Warriors, they're etching their name into the record books again. This time tying the longest home winning streak in league history. Andy Scholes has more on this seemingly unstoppable team.

What's going on in "The Bleacher Report"?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: And good morning, Michaela.

You know, the Warriors, they're really on their way to just becoming the greatest team in NBA history. Last night they won their 44th straight game at home, tying the all-time record set by Michael Jordan's Bulls. And, you know, after sitting out that game with an injured ankle, Steph Curry was back. And hey, I'll tell you what, that ankle looked just fine. Here he dances around Kevin Durant and then goes in for the floater. We fast forward to the fourth quarter. Curry would end up putting this one away with a step back three from way down town. The Warriors would win 121-106. They are now 55-5 on the season.

All right, we have exclusive video from last night's GOP debate. Just kidding. It was actually yesterday's UFC 196 prefight presser which was way more civil. That's UFC's golden boy, outspoken Irishman Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz nearly coming to blows ahead of their big fight on Saturday night. Also on this card (ph) is going to be Holly Holm, who's defending her title for the first time since upsetting Ronda Rousey back in November.

And, Chris, I know you're a big UFC fan. You think Diaz has any chance of beating McGregor Saturday night?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: In a word, yes, and I'll explain more to you off line.

SCHOLES: All right.

CUOMO: All right, we're going to take a little break here. There are big developments in the Hillary Clinton e-mail controversy. Security logs from her private server have now been turned over to the FBI. What this probably does and does not mean, ahead.

Plus, presidential candidate Marco Rubio live about the debate, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:35:48] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The other one is under FBI investigation. And not only is she under FBI investigation, she lied to the families of the victims of Benghazi. And anyone who lies to the families of victims who have lost their lives in the service of our country can never be a commander in chief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Marco Rubio getting the easy applause, going after Hillary Clinton on e-mail and Benghazi, issues surrounding her campaign. The Republican rivals ramping up their heated attacks, mostly against Trump, but the Democratic frontrunner took a beating as well.

Let's bring in Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. She's endorsed Hillary Clinton.

Congresswoman, I want to talk to you about where you are. What was glossed over in the debate last night was Flint, Michigan, and the situation there right now. What can you tell us about what is being done to help those people, many of whom are still living in the same desperate need as they were a month ago?

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D), MICHIGAN: Well, I'm glad to see everybody come to Michigan. You know, I'm one of the people that thinks we shouldn't be politicizing this. We've got - had to do three things when I learned of this, and some of it is being accomplished. Find out what the people need, what the people of Flint need so that we keep them safe. We get them safe drinking water, clean filters. And now you're listening to the reports of the - there are 80 or 90 fabulous medical people in Flint working. Ninety-nine percent of the water in the homes now appears to be safe.

The next thing we have to do is figure out what it's going to take to fix those pipes, to fix and also make sure that the children that have been damaged by the lead water, what are the resources that are going to be needed, from replacing the pipes, to Head Start, WIC programs, educational programs.

And then we need to hold the people accountable and make sure this never happens in another country, in America again.

CUOMO: Well, obviously, you're right, there's certainly a lot of needs on the table. One of them is also trust, right? That will be the lubricant to make all these other parts move smoothly. People do not believe that 99 percent of the water is OK. They are still living out of bottles and they're worried about the long-range effects on their kids especially that are already past the point of helping.

DINGELL: Chris, you know, you - I've been up there every week now for a couple of months. Government at every level failed the people of Flint. And that - what you just talked about is the biggest problem. It is trust. They trust nobody. So as things are getting fixed, they don't know who they can trust. I mean they don't even know if their water is safe to bathe in or not. You've got a governor who said it is and an attorney general who's going to run for governor that said it isn't. You've got a team now from the CDC studying the water. They - I was not told definitively until my trip two weeks ago, lead does not cause rashes, and yet there's a serious concern in Flint about rashes. There is a lot of stress, misinformation. We've got to make sure we've got credible people -

CUOMO: Right.

DINGELL: That they ultimately trust. Dr. Mound (ph) is one of them. And restore that trust to the people.

CUOMO: Well, look, it's no coincidence that the CNN debate coming up is in Flint, Michigan, not elsewhere within that state. And I can promise you, it will not be glossed over at all. It's going to be a focus of that because it is a great test of leadership and failure of it.

DINGELL: But -

CUOMO: But let me ask you something about last night's debate as well because we're going to have a lot of time. We know your caucus is meeting there in Michigan. We're going to look for the reporting on that.

The woman that you're endorsing for president, Hillary Clinton, took a big blow last night from Senator Marco Rubio, as we just played it. Did she lie to the families of the Benghazi victims by going with alternate theories of how it happened, from terrorism to an unplanned event?

DINGELL: You know, I think - I do not believe she ever intentionally lied, therefore I'm not going to say that she lied. She told the families the information she had at the time and she believed.

We know what Rubio's talking points are going to be and what are going to turn in to Trump talking points through the November election. The faster we get these issues dealt with, the faster we get the e-mails issues dealt with - you know, the reports last week in "The New York Times" that they're going to try to expeditiously bring this to closure. She's offered to testify since last August. They may be moving to finally getting that done. I believe that this is going to be something that Republicans are going to constantly try to fan because they're trying to build a sense of distrust.

[06:40:10] I know Hillary Clinton. I know how effective she is. She would never deliberately lie to anybody. She is someone who is seasoned. And what has happened on these e-mails is something that happened to Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. Let's get the facts out there. Let's get the investigation closed. And then let's get on to talking about the issues that we all care about in the next president of the United States.

CUOMO: And to be sure, Congressman Dingell, where you are right now matters as much as anything going on in this country right now. The situation in Flint, Michigan will not be unnoticed, certainly at CNN.

Thank you for being with us. We'll be talking to you more about this in the days ahead. Thanks for being with us on NEW DAY this morning.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, as I was just saying, they're going to square off in their next debate Sunday night in Flint, Michigan. Anderson Cooper is going to moderate. It's Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Chris.

Up next, Marco Rubio live on NEW DAY. The Florida senator going toe to toe with Donald Trump last night. We'll ask Rubio how he plans to overtake the frontrunner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:07] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX ANCHOR: I have a policy question for you, sir.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's see if he answers it.

WALLACE: Your -

TRUMP: I will. Don't worry about it, Marco. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, little Marco, I will.

RUBIO: All right, well let's hear it, big - big Donald. Big Donald.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was just one moment of Senator Marco Rubio and Donald Trump sparring during last night's Republican debate. Let's talk about it all with presidential candidate, Senator Marco Rubio.

Good morning, senator.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. So pundits have a lot of different descriptions about last night. Some are calling it rowdy, some raucous, some say it was at times raunchy. How do you describe what happened last night?

RUBIO: Well, I think it's par for the course in this very unusual election. Look, I go into these debates and I hope every question is a policy question. It hasn't been that way because Donald Trump has been perhaps the most vulgar - no, I don't think perhaps, the most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency in terms of how he carried out his candidacy and it's cut into a lot of these debates and some of the thing that are asked about. I mean - and that's fine. I'm not complaining. It is what it is about what we get asked in these debates. But the majority of the questions had something to do with, he said or she said. I would love to have a policy debate and I think that's important.

We're talking about the president of the United States here. And as you saw in that exchange, Donald Trump did not give a policy answer. He immediately retorted to attacking me personally. And I think it's come a point now, voters deserve better than what they're getting out of these debates and out of this campaign.

CAMEROTA: I mean, of course, you've taken a page from Donald Trump's playbook. You've talked about his little hands. And last night that came up. He talked about his endowment. And I don't mean to his alma mater. So let me play that moment for you.

RUBIO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Hold on. Let me just play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's really not that much of a lightweight. And as far as - and I have to say this, I have to say this, he hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I've never heard of this one. Look at those hands. Are they small hands? And he referred to my hands. If they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there's no problem. I guarantee you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Senator, what was going through your head at that moment?

RUBIO: Well, I mean nothing surprises us anymore. This man is - as I told you, I mean he's - he's injected a level of vulgarity into the political discourse that we've never seen. And as far as, you know, what I - I said something - first of all, I didn't say what he's saying and I said it one time. He's personally attacked a disabled journalist. I mean everyone basically. There is no one who he has not personally attacked, sometimes in the most vulgar ways.

But again, that's not what I want my campaign to be about. It's not what my campaign is about. I'm out there every day talking about the future of America, outlining real plans. And by the way, an optimistic vision of the future. My campaign is not doom and gloom. It is about how things can be better if we do a certain set of things. And that's what I want the Republican Party to be out, the conservative movement to be about, and ultimately what our next president should be about. And I'm asking everyone to join our efforts at marcorubio.com so we can put a stop to this ridiculous and rally the party and offer a clear alternative for the American - to the American people.

CAMEROTA: And, yet, senator, at the end of the night last night, you reiterated a pledge to support the GOP nominee whoever that person is. So this man, Donald Trump, whom you've called vulgar, a con artist, a liar, bad for American workers, among other things, how can you support - if he is all those things that you say -

RUBIO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: How could you support him for president?

RUBIO: No, I get it. And that's the quandary we find ourselves in because the alternative is Hillary Clinton, from who - from a policy perspective, I believe is completely unqualified and would be bad for the country. And that is - that is the - you know, that's the quandary I'm trying to avoid the Republican Party having to face. I don't want us to have a nominee that people have to make up an excuse why they're voting for or hold their nose and vote for. I want us to have a nominee that we're excited about.

If Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, we are going to have a party that's divided. We're going to have a party that has to somehow, you know, justify to itself why it's voting for this man. I think it's hard to win an election with a nominee like that. The fact that people even ask that question should be indicative of how bad his nomination would be.

Luckily, I believe I'm going to be the nominee. It is a tough road. I am most certainly an underdog. I'll have to fight hard, like I have my whole life, to move ahead and be successful. But I think if people want to avoid having to make that awful choice of whether you, you know, hold your nose and vote for someone because you can't vote for Hillary Clinton. You want to avoid that? Then rally around our campaign. I am the only one that can unite this party and grow it. Go to marcorubio.com and join our efforts.

CAMEROTA: Senator, let's talk about the road ahead for you and exactly how you see it playing out because more and more analysts are saying that the possibility of a brokered convention is real. I know that you're putting a lot of stock and energy into your home state of Florida. So let's say that you win Florida. Let's say John Kasich wins Ohio, where he's putting a lot of energy. Ted Cruz has already won three or four states. Donald Trump has obviously won more than a handful. Is - are you planning on a brokered convention? Is that the scenario?

[06:50:10] RUBIO: No. I don't think that needs to be the scenario. First of all, a brokered convention implies some back room deal where someone who's not even on the ballot gets pushed in. And I don't think that's going to happen at all. It is possible that no one, no single candidate, has 1,237 delegates, which is what you need to be the nominee. I think that's true for Donald Trump. His road to that number is hard. Ted Cruz's is hard. Mine is hard. But we'll see how this plays out. It's been a very unusual election. We're going to continue to work hard. We - our goal is to be the nominee outright and there's a path to that, although a difficult one.

CAMEROTA: But what is the path?

RUBIO: And this will take some twists and turns along the way.

CAMEROTA: I mean what is - other - explain - just explain the math to us, senator. What is the path to that for you to be the nominee, if not for a brokered convention?

RUBIO: Well, our path, obviously, is to go into the convention with the most number of delegates of anybody on the ballot. And we have a path to doing that. And it will take a while. And it may take all 50 states, as I said that, to get to that point. And I hope that will be over 1,237. It won't be easy, but it won't be easy for anyone at this point.

And, you know, I'm not a political analyst. Other people have done the numbers on this and they can show it to you. But not even Donald Trump has a clear path to 1,237.

CAMEROTA: Right, but your internal numbers -

RUBIO: I think it's important for us to realize that -

CAMEROTA: I mean, I'm sorry to interrupt, but beyond Florida, what state are you banking on?

RUBIO: You know, I think you can ask that of anyone in this race. We're going to compete everywhere we can. We have a national campaign. We have a campaign that's competing in Hawaii. We're competing in Idaho. We're competing in Kansas. We're competing in Florida and Louisiana. I mean we're - we are working everywhere in a multilevel - we're not a regionalized campaign. We haven't put all our eggs in one basket. Ted Cruz did that. He said he was going to sew up the nomination on Super Tuesday. I ended up beating him in Virginia, beating him in Georgia, you know, beating him across the south in a number of different places on Super Tuesday.

So we're not a campaign that's ever said, here's where we're going to wrap it up. We have prepared the entire time for the most unusual primary in my lifetime. And that's what we're going to continue towards working on, is ensuring that we're our nominee, no matter how long and how hard it is.

CAMEROTA: Senator Marco Rubio, we appreciate you taking the time this morning to be on NEW DAY. Great to talk to you.

RUBIO: Yes, great to talk to you.

CAMEROTA: Michaela.

PEREIRA: So we've been talking a lot about the debate last night that did on actually air on CNN. It sometimes sort of felt like it had, though. Ahead, take a look - or, actually, take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: CNN -

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: CNN -

TRUMP: CNN -

CRUZ: CNN -

TRUMP: CNN -

Do you believe in CNN?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: See what I'm talking about? We're going to take a closer look at that and some of the more fiery moments as Donald Trump faced Megyn Kelly once again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: CNN just came out with a poll -

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I watched a CNN interview -

TRUMP: CNN, he gets 15 -

CRUZ: He's told us to look to the CNN poll -

TRUMP: CNN (INAUDIBLE) a lot of money on a poll, just came out. Do you believe in CNN?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Wasn't that a great CNN debate last night?

The GOP debate actually last night aired on a different network, a rival network. But we heard our name come up so often that I think all of us were doing double takes. It was part of a larger rematch between Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly, who last face to face matchup kicked off what's been a spirited debated season.

Let's talk about it all with CNN's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter. Also with us, CNN media analyst and author Bill Carter.

Gentlemen, so many things to talk about.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

PEREIRA: But it was so fascinating to hear I think for all of us. I had to do a double take a couple times, Brian. Wait, which channel did I turn to?

[06:55:08] STELTER: What are we watching here?

PEREIRA: What are we watching here?

STELTER: I think it was good to see. I think what Fox was trying to do by showing all those CNN clips from here on NEW DAY was to show fact checking of these candidates.

PEREIRA: Yes.

STELTER: I think there's two kinds of people out there in the - in the - in the world. People that care about fact checking and those that don't. We know some people don't care. I mean they made up their mind. But a lot of us are hungry for more fact checking and more challenging of all the candidates on both sides. That's what - that's what these programs have done. That's what interviewers have done. That's what Alisyn and Chris have done in those clips they were shown last night. And I was glad Fox brought them back up because Megyn Kelly and the other moderators were doing the same thing, trying to challenge these candidates. I think viewers, a lot of viewers, want more of that, not less.

CUOMO: Now, this is self-indulgent, and I like it.

PEREIRA: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Bill Carter, here's what I took from it last night. It is no coincidence they had to mention CNN all the time because we test Donald Trump and the others more than others. We would never show clips of any other morning show unless we absolutely had to. That was the proof, Donald Trump not being on this show almost two months now. Is the price that you pay when you go after somebody who doesn't want to go after and can find safe harbors elsewhere. That was relevant last night. Maybe not to the voters, but hopefully on some level it shows that not all media is equal when it comes to covering this campaign.

BILL CARTER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Well, of course. And I think what's particularly evident is that this is a campaign like no other, so you almost have to make reference to other people's journalism here if you're going to be, you know, fair and get to the point. I mean we did, obviously, see Megyn Kelly on other networks when it happened previously when he had a confrontation with her. So this crossover is natural. But I also think using clips in the debate, you know, is a - is a good technique now and I think we're going to see more of that and I think CNN has some good clips to see -

CUOMO: That was about a personal fight, though. That was about a personal spat, him and Kelly. It wasn't about, you know, going back and forth on issues and consistency -

CARTER: True, not about substance, yes.

STELTER: And (INAUDIBLE) was anti-climactic, you know, Kelly and Trump got along. This was really about the candidates fighting amongst each other and not with the moderators, which I was happy to see. The moderators were pressing for substance, pressing for policy. The candidates weren't always bringing it in that way.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

STELTER: But CNN - you know, CNN's had a lot more town halls, a lot more debates than other channels. There is something notable in this polarized media age where everybody's got their - their side. But CNN's still a middle of a road network where everybody comes. We see Rubio on the air this morning as an example of that. And so I think that's what we saw last night showing those clips on Trump on NEW DAY. CAMEROTA: But back to the point that Donald Trump - just so that our viewers know, we extend an invitation every day. Every day we ask for him to come on and for eight weeks now -

CUOMO: To all of them, by the way.

CAMEROTA: To all of them, absolutely. And most accept our invitation. And for eight weeks now he has not wanted to come on. And when you saw the spat with Megyn Kelly earlier, it was that he didn't like her question. And he hasn't liked some of our questions. And so that's - I mean it's interesting when presidential candidates can pick and choose, you know, what journalism they want to engage in. And that's what we've been seeing here, Brian.

STELTER: It was strange last night seeing Trump defend his speaking off the record to "The New York Times" and not wanting to share the tape, not wanting to allow the times to release the tape. He was standing up for the First Amendment, he said, which was odd.

CUOMO: Well, how do you feel about that? If it's off the record - but if it's off the record, why is it even an issue?

PEREIRA: Right.

STELTER: If it was off - you know, he says he - this - they should honor the arrangement to be off the record.

CAMEROTA: And shouldn't they?

STELTER: "The New York Times" should.

CARTER: I also think you have to point out something here, guys.

STELTER: But if Trump wants to - wants to get rid of this issue -

CAMEROTA: Hold on, Bill.

PEREIRA: Go ahead, Bill.

CARTER: I think you have to point out something. Most viewers don't understand that concept of off the record.

PEREIRA: Right.

CARTER: They don't even know what it is. And it's not really being explained. So kind of bringing it up makes it - put - puts Trump in a bad position because he's saying, well, I agreed to something off the record. Most of us know what that means. That means we don't use it no matter what happens, unless he frees it up. And I think "The Times" position is sort of -

PEREIRA: Yes.

CARTER: They can't go forward with it and they have - we all know that. PEREIRA: Well, listen, I was going to ask you about the fact that we

just - we're going to wrap it here, but the one last thing I want to say is that this was a - this was definitely a debate that you weren't necessarily going to say, hey, kids, let's all gather around the TV and watch it together.

CARTER: Well, I guess not.

PEREIRA: This thing - the political process. I think there's a few families that said earmuffs.

We'll have to leave it there. We'll discuss more of that coming up.

STELTER: I'm happy not to talk about it.

PEREIRA: Brian -

CARTER: (INAUDIBLE).

CAMEROTA: Hear no evil.

PEREIRA: Bill, thank you very much. They're both feeling a little relieved. Much more on our post Republican debate coverage. We're going to talk with a member of Trump's campaign. So let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nominating Donald would be a disaster.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are not going to turn over the conservative party -

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The real con artist is Senator Marco Rubio.

CRUZ: Donald has a tenuous relationship with the truth.

TRUMP: You're the liar. You're the lying guy up here.

RUBIO: They do not want you to be our nominee.

TRUMP: You failed miserably and it was an embarrassment.

CRUZ: Breathe, breathe, breathe.

MCDOWELL: Lying Ted.

RUBIO: When they're done with the yoga, can I answer a question?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Secretary Hillary Clinton and I have very, very different points of view.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will stand up and fight for you, no matter who the Republicans nominate.

[07:00:02] SANDERS: Doing something very radical. We're telling the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back.