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New Day
Republican Presidential Candidate Debate Reviewed; Interview with Trump Supporter Jeff DeWit; Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Campaigning Hard with Four States Up for Grabs this Weekend. Aired 8- 8:30a ET
Aired March 04, 2016 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00] SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- over the conservative movement to someone who thinks the nuclear triad is a rock band from the 1980s.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Referred to my hands. If they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there's no problem.
BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My opponent said, well, Bernie's a nice guy but he's not electable.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The stakes in this election have never been higher.
SANDERS: We're in this race to win it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, March 4th, 8:00 in the east. Presidential politics venturing where it has never gone before, and probably for good reason. Donald Trump boasting about the size of his manhood in response to an attack about the size of his hands, and that was just the beginning of a fiery debate in Detroit, Michigan, before fending off hostile fire from Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio all night long. John Kasich was trying to stay above the fray.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The four Republicans onstage did agree all on one thing. They all vowed to back the party's eventual nominee despite the establishment efforts to stop Trump. We are covering this story the way only CNN can starting with Phil Mattingly in Motor City with debate highlights. Hi, Phil.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. That one moment of agreement followed about an hour and 55 minutes of disagreement, schoolyard taunts, and just about anything else but comity for the four candidates onstage, really laying bare a day showing a fractured political party and the urgency required by the three non-Donald Trump candidates trying to just keep themselves in this race. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: Off-color.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: And he referred to my hands, if they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there's no problem. I guarantee it.
(LAUGHTER)
MATTINGLY: Then off the rails.
CHRIS WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: I have a policy question for you, sir.
TRUMP: Yes.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's see if he answers it.
TRUMP: I will. Don't worry about it, Marco. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it, little Marco, I will.
RUBIO: Let's hear big Donald --
TRUMP: Don't worry about it, little Marco.
MATTINGLY: In mere minutes, Thursday night's Republican debate turned into a personal affair and stayed that way all night.
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Count to 10, Donald. Count to 10.
MATTINGLY: Three candidates desperate to stop one -- Donald Trump. Florida Senator Marco Rubio on full attack, just trying to stay alive with a big march 15th win in his home state of Florida.
RUBIO: And he's asking us to make him the president of the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
RUBIO: This is not a game.
MATTINGLY: Texas senator Ted Cruz joining the fight pushing for a one-on-one matchup with Trump.
CRUZ: But if, in fact, you went to Manhattan and says, I'm lying to the American people, then the voters have a right to know.
TRUMP: Oh, no. You're the lying guy up here.
CRUZ: Why don't you release the tape.
TRUMP: You're the one.
CRUZ: Release the tape.
TRUMP: You're the one. Excuse me. I've given my answer, lying Ted.
MATTINGLY: Ohio Governor John Kasich continuing to believe his lower volume pitch will get him through his own must-win March 15th contest in his home state.
GOV. JOHN KASICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have never tried to go and into these kinds of scrums that we're seeing on this stage and people say wherever I go, you seem to be the adult on the stage.
MATTINGLY: Time running out for all of Trump's challengers, attacking in an effort to stop his momentum, targeting his political donations.
CRUZ: Donald Trump has written checks to Hillary Clinton not once, twice, three times -- 10 times. Donald Trump in 2008 wrote four checks to elect Hillary Clinton as president.
MATTINGLY: His business practices.
RUBIO: Ever heard of Trump steaks? Trump vodka?
TRUMP: You know what --
MATTINGLY: And even his character.
CRUZ: He has spent a career of convincing Americans he's something that he's not in exchange for their money, and now he is trying to do the same in exchange for their country.
MATTINGLY: Everyone from candidates to moderators attempting to pin Trump down, citing two interviews, CNN's NEW DAY where Trump appeared to flip-flop.
CUOMO: What about Afghanistan? Do you believe American boots should stay on the ground in Afghanistan to stabilize the situation?
TRUMP: We made a terrible mistake getting involved in the first place. That thing will collapse about two seconds after they leave, just as I said that Iraq was going to collapse after we leave.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: About Afghanistan, you said we made a terrible mistake getting involved there in the first place.
TRUMP: We made a mistake going into Iraq. I never said we made a mistake going into Afghanistan.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Our question was about Afghanistan. That day on October --
TRUMP: I never said that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is any of this telling it like it is?
TRUMP: Well, in Afghanistan I did mean Iraq. In that one if you noticed I corrected it in the second day.
MATTINGLY: In fact, CNN reporting was prevalent in the debate.
TRUMP: CNN just came out with a poll -- excuse me, a national poll where he's at 15, he's at 14, and I'm at 49. Are you at 15 in the new CNN poll? Do you believe in CNN?
CRUZ: I watched a CNN interview Donald did.
MATTINGLY: This network brought up a dozen times. The clock is now ticking for Trump's competitors to stop him before he moves on to the next battle.
[08:05:03] TRUMP: I beat Hillary Clinton in many polls. The poll just came out, I beat Hillary Clinton in a recent FOX poll. I beat Hillary Clinton in "USA Today." I beat her today in a poll in Ohio. I'm the only one that beats Hillary Clinton. And I haven't -- I have not started on Hillary yet. Believe me, I will start soon. I haven't even started.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: Alisyn, the first test whether those attacks will actually have an effect on Donald Trump comes tomorrow night, super Saturday primaries here in Michigan on Tuesday, March 8th. But for everybody pointing to what could happen next, it's all about March 15th. Winner take all states, Ohio and Florida, that could determine whether or not the Republican establishment can stop or at least slow down Donald Trump, or whether Donald Trump really will turn his entire focus to Hillary Clinton, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Things are getting even more interesting, if that's possible, Phil. Thanks so much for all of that background.
Earlier I spoke with Florida senator Marco Rubio who takes plenty of issue with Donald Trump and says he is prepared to go the distance in what he calls the most unusual campaign of his lifetime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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 -- I don't, not perhaps. The most vulgar person ever to aspire to the presidency in terms of how he's carried out his candidacy, and it's cut into a lot of these debate and what is asked about.
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 have something to do with he said or he said. I would love to have a policy debate. I think that's important. We're talking about the presidency of the United States here, and if 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 become a point now voters deserve better than what they're getting out of these debates and out of this campaign.
CAMEROTA: Of course you've taken a page from Donald Trump playbook. You've talked 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. Hold on. Let me just play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He's really not that much of a lightweight. 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?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: And he referred to my hands, if they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there's no problem. I guarantee it.
(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. He's injected a level of vulgarity into the political discourse we've never seen. As far as what I said -- 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's no one 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, outlying 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 about, 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 ridiculousness and rally the party and offer a clear alternative to the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: All right, let's get some more perspective from the other side of the race. Joining us this morning, Jeff DeWit, Arizona chairman for Donald Trump, also the Arizona state treasurer. Good to see you again, sir.
JEFF DEWIT, ARIZONA CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN FOR DONALD TRUMP: Chris, great to be here. Thank you. CUOMO: All right, so just as a guilty pleasure I want to replay the
high/low point of the night, certainly the line of the night, and it came from the GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, your man. Here it is. Don't have it. Good. Probably better. Why would he say -- take the bait, any way you want to qualify it, why would he make such a base comment about his hands and by extension something else?
DEWIT: Well -- Marco Rubio has been, he turned into Marco Rickles doing his best Don Rickles impression for the last few weeks. And so he went from Marco Robot to Marco Rickles, and he's made the comment. And I think Donald Trump just wanted to bring it up and show America that Marco Rubio should be held accountable for the comment. And I think it was just more of a way, and to shine light on it. It was kind of a funny comment at the same time. And so just to shine light on Marco Rubio has gone against everything he had said before and turned into the person now, really, taking it to a new level. It wasn't just the hands. He also made comments about Donald Trump peeing his pants. He made a lot of comments in the last few weeks that really took everything to a new low.
[08:10:00] CUOMO: It is a useful defense for you to this question to say what else was happening on that stage. There's no question that Donald Trump was not alone last night, and certainly he was alone in one way, which was in the middle of those two men. He did seem to be getting tag teamed all night. Is that your perspective as well?
DEWIT: Oh, absolutely. Everybody was throwing everything they had at him. Obviously there's desperation there as Donald Trump keeps climbing in the polls, and Marco Rubio now falling especially. Yes, there was serious desperation there. But I think Donald Trump was the clear, clear winner of the debate last night, and the clear second place by far absolutely has to be Ben Carson. He did a wonderful, wonderful job of avoiding that mess altogether. And so I think Ben Carson takes second place, but Donald Trump clearly won the debate, hands down.
CUOMO: Not John Kasich.
DEWIT: No pun intended with the hands comment.
CUOMO: I heard you. So let's talk about the inconsistency argument that was made about him last night. Not just last night. Let's play you something that he said about something that matters, his role as commander in chief dealing with interrogation, dealing with tactics that are considered torture. Here's the sound.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This really started with Ted. A question asked of Ted last two debates ago about waterboarding. And Ted was having a hard time with that question to be totally honest with you. They then came to me. What do you think of waterboarding. I said it's fine. If we want to go stronger, I'd go stronger, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CUOMO: Now, tell me why that's OK as an answer given what has come out about waterboarding, how it's been found to not be acceptable behavior for the United States?
DEWIT: Well, you know, war is war. I think that's basically the point that Donald Trump is trying to make is that war is war. And we keep sending our military overseas and tying one of their hands behind their back. And we have to finally wake up and say, if we're going to put our brave men and women in harm's way, we have to let them do their job. Part of war is worse than that. It's killing people. That's the bottom line. It's kill or be killed. And we have people overseas that are chopping heads off, and we can't -- we can't treat them with, you know, kid gloves if we're going into battle with them.
CUOMO: Understood.
DEWIT: I think it's more making the point we have to fight fire with fire and make sure we're protecting our men and women first.
CUOMO: Understood. But one of the things that makes America a leader in these areas is that what it does and doesn't do in the name of fairness even in war certainly not to torture. The issue then gets presented by military leaders, as you know. They came out with a letter, they've been on the TV shows saying nobody's waterboarding anybody. Donald Trump would have to bring his own bucket. That's considered torture. We won't do it. So Donald Trump then responded to that last night. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm a leader. I'm a leader. I've always been a leader. I've never had any problem leading people. If I say do it, they're going to do it. That's what leadership is all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: This was in reference to Donald Trump saying, by the way, you shouldn't just go after terrorist. You should target their families, which military leaders have said that's illegal and it sounds like a mob tactic. And by the way, even if a commander in chief told us to do that, we wouldn't because of those two reasons I just told you. Can you imagine a situation like that? Would Donald Trump really try to be in a showdown with the military?
DEWIT: The good news is it's bringing to light issues that our Congress needs to deal with. These are things that need to be talked about, and we need to finally get clear and hard lines drawn on what should and should not be done. And so these are conversations that need to be had, and Donald Trump is always the candidate that has the courage and the vision to at least get the topics out there that need to be discussed.
CUOMO: Jeff --
DEWIT: But truly, this is something we have to get to the bottom of. CUOMO: Jeff, if this goes to convention and Donald doesn't get the
1,237 delegates, and then doesn't get the nomination even though he has the most delegates, I'm assuming that, at convention, will he hold to the pledge that he made last night that, yes, I'll support the eventual nominee even if it's not him if he has the most delegates the at the convention?
DEWIT: Let me backtrack one second into Mitt Romney's speech yesterday. And the question that needs to be asked right now is not what he said but it's why he said it. And when you really drill down into what Mitt Romney was saying, it seemed that he was sending a message to the establishment that as long as we keep Donald Trump from getting the number of delegates, we will broker the convention.
And I'll tell you who is the biggest loser in that speech besides Mitt Romney was Marco Rubio because we're hearing a lot of stories about donors abandoned ship with Marco Rubio's campaign and with the GOP establishment looking for an alternative. That speech, to me, was Mitt Romney throwing his hat in the ring, and somebody, and I hope you do, Chris, somebody needs to get Mitt Romney on the phone and ask him the question -- are you trying to be the nominee? And get him to really pin down if he will accept that nomination, because it sure looks to me he wants another bite of the apple and he's trying to throw himself back in there.
[08:15:10] Now, I think all the candidates would be upset if Mitt Romney comes in -- sweeps in and take that nomination without doing any of the work, spending any of the money, any of the time away from his family, and any of the vetting process through this dozen debates. I think everybody should be up in arms over that, and I think then -- as we hear, all heck is going to break loose with the Republican party.
CUOMO: Just so you know Mitt Romney said this morning on another morning show that the is not looking for the nomination. Of course, things can change, your campaign has been clear from the start. Jeff DeWitt, that if the Republican party doesn't play fair, all bets are off, so we'll see what happens if this does come to a convention.
Thank you as always.
DEWITT: Thank you, Chris.
PEREIRA: Alright. Meanwhile, the Democrats are counting down to the next round of caucuses and primaries. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigning hard with four states up for grabs this weekend. Let's bring in our Senior Washington Correspondent, Joe Johns, with more on the big weekend ahead.
JOHNS: Good Morning, Michaela. The focus is on Michigan this morning, though a whole slew of state will vote on Saturday and Sunday, and over the next couple weeks including Mississippi, Florida, Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, Kansas, Louisiana. But it is Michigan that's in the spotlight with its primary next week.
It's also front and center because of the Democratic debate over the weekend in Flint, Michigan. That Flint water crisis has caused both candidates to make the city's predicament part of their stump speeches, and both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have visited the city.
The Former Secretary of State though, continues to keep her focus on the Republicans. Last night chiming in on Twitter about the Republican Debate, tweeting, "How many more of these do we have to sit through asking for a friend?"
That Tweet included a little gif of Clinton rolling her eyes and rubbing her temples. A slightly different take from Senator Sanders, making the case he, not Clinton, would be a more formidable opponent against Donald Trump in a general election match up.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: Some people out there, including my opponent, say Bernie's a nice guy but he's not electable. Let me refer you to many, many national polls which have me beating Donald Trump and beating him badly.
Most of those polls I beat him with bigger margins than Secretary Clinton's.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: So, Bernie Sanders will be campaigning in Illinois today, then he's supposed to end up in Western Michigan.
Hillary Clinton giving a speech in Detroit.
Michaela?
PEREIRA: Joe, thanks much.
We're calling it March Madness, CNN-style. Tomorrow tune in for Super Saturday coverage anchored by this good looking fellow beside me.
Then, Sunday, the next Democratic Debate in Flint, Michigan. That would -- now, you two, don't fight.
Followed by the premiere of the new CNN series, "Race to the White House". Next Tuesday is the next Super Tuesday night. Wednesday will bring another Democratic debate in Miami, and Thursday, a Republican debate in Miami.
A full week of political events right here on CNN.
If I have to separate you two...
CAMEROTA: I know; we're sort of starting to act like the candidates.
PEREIRA: I know.
CUOMO: I don't even know I can do the man hands thing anymore. Such a charged environment. I don't even like hands, and I'm Italian.
PEREIRA: Sit on them.
CAMEROTA: Texas Senator Ted Cruz going after Trump last night, but also agreed to support him as the nominee. What is Senator Cruz's next strategy? We'll talk to the Cruz camp next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:22:17] CAMEROTA: Ted Cruz tried at last night's debate to blunt Donald Trump's momentum. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: That is not what you said.
CRUZ: Donald, please, I know it's hard not to interrupt.
TRUMP: It's not what you said in the Op-Ed.
CRUZ: Breathe, breathe...
TRUMP: ... Lying Ted.
CRUZ: You can do it. Breathe. I know it's hard, I know it's hard, but just.
RUBIO: When they're done with the yoga, can I answer the question?
CRUZ: You cannot.
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: I really hope that you don't see yoga on this stage.
RUBIO: Well, he's really flexible, so you never know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: That was the zinger of the night. So, what is Cruz's plan to overtake the Republican front-runner? Let's ask Ted Cruz's communications Director, Alice Stewart. Good morning, Alice.
STEWART: Great to be with you. Thank you, Alyson.
CAMEROTA: So, Alice, when you were backstage last night watching this debate, were you cheering, or cringing?
STEWART: Well, when Ted spoke we were cheering. He made some tremendous points. We had two candidates out there talking about things that aren't important to the American people, and Ted brought it home. He talked specifically about issues that people are concerned with.
Here in Detroit, a phenomenal, fantastic city, they've been decimated by 60 years of liberal, left-wing policies, and have really destroyed the economy here, and put them in a situation where they're fighting back economically.
And, Ted outlined for a town just like Detroit, and the cost to American that would help rebuild the economy, starting with his flat tax that would help to -- help businesses to grow, and doing away with the burdensome government regulations. Doing away with Obamacare. Repealing the IRS.
And, these are the kinds of things that people are concerned with. Serious talk on the debate stage in a presidential campaign is exactly what the people want to hear, and Ted Cruz delivered that in a phenomenal way.
CAMEROTA: Alisyn, some pundits have pointed out this morning that at times Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio seemed almost to be working in tandem. There wasn't a cross word exchanged between them as they both went after Donald Trump. Let me play a portion for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: You know, Marco's dad started as a bartender. My dad started washing dishes, and you know how many Americans wanted those jobs? Roughly...
(BELL RINGING)
CRUZ: ... 300 applied, Donald hired 17.
RUBIO: You argue that you're here to fight on behalf of the American worker, but when you have chances to help the American workers you're making your clothes overseas, and you're hiring your workers from overseas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: OK, that was both of them going after Donald Trump. Was that a deliberate strategy last night?
STEWART: I can tell you our debate strategy does not involve anything that Marco Rubio may say. It was Ted speaking directly to Donald Trump about his hiring foreign workers. And that's a concern.
[08:25:00] Here he is, someone who's claimed to have carried the mantle on immigration conversation in this debate process, and in this campaign, yet her has hired countless illegal immigrant at his business, and even more troubling, what we don't know.
What did he say to that New York Times reporter when he was talking about immigration off the record?
When she has claimed that he is saying that everything I'm talking about immigration here is just political speak, and it's not going to mean anything if I were to be elected.
Those are things that are concerning. Not just what we do know about Donald Trump, but it's what we don't know, and those conversations with the New York Times, as well as his tax returns that are hidden, are of grave concern, and that's what Ted pointed out last night.
He did it in a way that was focusing on the issues, focusing on policies, and that's why we're seeing tremendous momentum. That's why the headlines we're seeing is Donald Trump Questioned in the dentate in Detroit. Focusing on policies, and being the grown-up on the stage...
CAMEROTA: ... Alyson...
STEWART: ... That will resonate with people as we're seeing more and more people coalesce behind Ted Cruz.
CAMEROTA: Well, let's talk about that momentum. In fact, let's look at the calendar. So this weekend, there are five contests coming up, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine and Puerto Rico. They all offer lots of delegates. Where do you think Ted Cruz can win in these this weekend?
STEWART: Well, let's just take, for example, today. We're heading to Louisiana, going up to Washington to speak at CPAC, a tremendous gathering of conservatives across the country. We'll continue to many states. We're going to Kansas and Kentucky, and we're going to compete across all of these states that are in the near future. There's many states that are strong for Ted Cruz, will be certainly in Florida in the next few days.
We're looking at it from this standpoint, you have to 1,237 delegates in order to win. Right now we have Donald with a little over 300, us over 200, Marco Rubio far behind at 100. We have seen tremendous momentum gathering behind our campaign, and that will allow us to continue to do what we've been doing. We're right on strategy with our plan in order to rack up the delegates, and we have the finances to do it.
We've brought in $12 million dollars in the month of February, the biggest cash haul since our campaign started, and that's critical for us to continue to campaign, and to acquire delegates. And, we also made an announcement yesterday, we had several of the Jeb Bush former finance team members have joined our team to help us in that finance effort.
So, we're feeling very encourages that the delegates will be acquired by Ted Cruz far early enough so that we will not have a brokered convention.
CAMEROTA: OK, Alice Stewart, thank you so much for taking time to be on New Day this morning, we appreciate you, Alyson.
PEREIRA: Alright, Alyson. In what I think most will say was an ugly Republican debate, Hillary Clinton actually got a bit of a pass, however, will Bernie Sanders pounce on the latest email controversy in Sunday's Democratic showdown? We will discuss it all with former White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
