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Protester who Rushed Donald Trump's Stage in Ohio Interviewed; Interview with Marco Rubio Campaign Communications Direction Alex Conant; Clinton And Sanders Make Their Cases In CNN Town Hall; Trump Looms Large Over CNN Democratic Town Hall. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 14, 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] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: -- into Donald Trump during a CNN town hall in Ohio. All this as voters head to polls tomorrow in five states, including huge winner-take-all contests for the Republicans in Florida and Ohio that really could reshape this race, could end this race for at least one candidate if not more. We have complete coverage. Let's begin with CNN's Jason Carroll in Tampa, Florida. Good morning, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. One of the big questions facing the Trump campaign, will all of that controversy on Friday and over the weekend have any effect on his momentum? A new poll released out this morning shows that Trump is still on track for big wins tomorrow night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We had some, I would say, let's be nice, protesters.

CARROLL: After a turbulent weekend on the trail, a defiant Donald Trump pointing fingers.

TRUMP: Send him back to Bernie. Bernie, get your people in line.

CARROLL: The billionaire trying to shift blame to Bernie Sanders.

TRUMP: A lot of them come from Bernie Sanders whether he wants to say it or not. And if he says know then he is lying.

CARROLL: But at Sunday night's CNN town hall both Democratic candidates turned it around, calling out Trump for his incendiary statements.

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is saying if you go out and beat somebody up, that's OK. I'll pay the legal fees. That is an outrage.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is the person who has for months now been not just inciting violence but applauding violence.

CARROLL: The GOP frontrunner canceling his event in Chicago Friday night after the rally erupted in chaos.

On Saturday in Ohio this man tried to rush the stage. The Secret Service quickly tackled the protester as Trump supporters cheered. On Sunday more protesters crashed the party.

TRUMP: Get them out now.

CARROLL: With over 350 delegates on the line in five states this Tuesday --

TRUMP: I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you.

CARROLL: Trump is doubling down, claiming his heated words are not to blame for the violence, like this supporter sucker punching a supporter last week.

TRUMP: I don't accept responsibility. I do not condone violence in any shape. And I will tell you from what I saw the young man stuck his finger up in the air and the other man sort of just had it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And John, a little bit more about the poll released this morning. Let me give you some of the results. It shows right here in the state of Florida Trump at 46 percent followed by Rubio at 22, Cruz at 14, Kasich at 10. The bigger story there, in Ohio Trump and Kasich virtually in a dead heat, both at 38 percent followed by Cruz at 16 percent and Rubio at three. That poll was completed last night, so once again it seems to show despite everything that's happening on Friday and over the weekend Trump supporters are stronger than ever. John?

BERMAN: All right, Jason Carroll for us in Tampa. Thanks a lot, Jason.

So the protester who jumped on the stage at a Donald Trump rally in Ohio over the weekend, he insists he was not trying to hurt the Republican frontrunner. It's a pretty scary right there whenever you see a presidential candidate rushed on the stage. This protester says he just wanted to send a message. CNN's Martin Savidge spoke to him exclusively. He joins us now from Columbus, Ohio. And Martin, as you said, this guy is lucky. You jump on a stage with a presidential candidate with Secret Service there, he is lucky he is doing OK today.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He is very lucky, indeed. Good morning to you, John. That was one of the things that really struck me. This was a demonstration, a protest, that Thomas DiMassimo says that he was conducting there. But to run towards the stage was different than anything we had seen before. So I wanted to really talk to him and find out what was he thinking? And one of the things we began talking about is that this wasn't a spontaneous thing. He had been planning this for a while.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THOMAS DIMASSIMO, TRUMP BARRICADE JUMPER: For some time since even back in November I watched Donald Trump rallies and was terrified. And I was like, this man is basically having a Klan rally light. And I said this is going to become a problem that these people have a safe haven to be as boldly racist and violent as they want to be. And as time went on I was right. Things have gotten more and more violent to the point where his people are attacking protesters, using violence and threatening their lives. It was in North Carolina that a man attacked another man, a black man, and then said he might have to kill him. So it's gotten to a point where I said I have watched it and I thought about what I want to do and the sort of image I want to create. And he's in Dayton. It's time for me to go do this.

SAVIDGE: You knew in advance you were going to do something like this.

DIMASSIMO: Of course, yes. And I tweeted about it.

SAVIDGE: Now, he has rights, too. Those who are there to listen to him have rights.

[08:05:00] In other words, free speech, they have a right to assemble and a right to listen in and share ideas. You may not like the ideas, and clearly you don't, but he does have rights.

DIMASSIMO: And I also have the right to heckler's veto. I have the right to nonviolence civil disobedience.

SAVIDGE: But was it nonviolent? That's the point. For a fraction of a second it was a scary moment to see someone making a move to the stage.

DIMASSIMO: I have to disagree with you there. They live in a constant state of fear, him and his followers. That's all he does. He gets them to be afraid of this person, the Mexicans, Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders, socialism, establishment Republicans, Mexican, whoever. He has gotten his followers afraid of pretty much everyone that isn't him. So he has all the power. So it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I hop the fence, if I stand there with a sign. They are ready to attack at any moment. They are ready to defend themselves, because he has them legitimately believing that their entire way of life, their bank accounts, their homes, their country are all under attack.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: DiMassimo, as you saw was never able to make it to the stage. He was arrested and he was escorted out. One of the issues was that quickly started to come to the fore was that there were some conservative bloggers that began saying that he was an ISIS sympathizer. And at one point Donald Trump seemed to tweet something very similar, saying he was attacked by what appeared to be an ISIS sympathizer. So I asked DiMassimo, where in the world did all of that talk come from? Here's his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIMASSIMO: So I did a protest about a year ago, and because of my actions somebody made a false video on YouTube stealing footage of me from one video and then replacing it with some sort of ISIS fight themed music, and was essentially saying I was in ISIS.

SAVIDGE: Somebody over a previous protest took video that you had posted --

DIMASSIMO: Yes. And then someone got it to Donald Trump.

SAVIDGE: And altered it.

DIMASSIMO: Yes. And then someone got it to Donald Trump. And without doing the things that a good leader must do, without checking the facts, without verifying the information or without verifying the source of the information, with just saying, oh, this is something good that I can throw to the animals, because that is what he treats his followers like. He doesn't treat them like humans who have minds and deserved to be reasoned with. He treats them like animals, and he beats them and he beats them. And he fed that to them because he knew that would get them angry and riled up and more excited about being one of his followers. And so he made a calculated decision to lie. What is his proof that I have ties to ISIS? There is absolutely none.

SAVIDGE: Maybe the fact that you charged stage there when he was standing there.

DIMASSIMO: That has nothing to do with being in ISIS. Go look at the typical member of is. It's not a white Christian, 22-year-old guy who has never left the United States and only speaks English. It's not someone like me who believes in Planned Parenthood and women's rights. It's not someone like me who believes in freedom from fundamental religion having power over people. It's not someone like me who believes in nonviolence as a means to change. It is someone like Donald Trump. He is much more like ISIS than I am. And maybe that is reason he was able to so quickly make a comparison, because it is so close to his heart and mind.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: And there you can see in that conversation how hate on one side can lead to hate on another side. Tommy DiMassimo has been charged with disturbing the peace and inciting a panic. He also says he has received thousands of death threats via social media as has his family, as well. Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Martin, that was a fascinating conversation, really interesting to hear what motivated him. Thank you for that.

Joining us now, the communications director for Marco Rubio's campaign Alex Conant. Hi, Alex.

ALEX CONANT, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, RUBIO FOR PRESIDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's start here. Let's start here with the violence that has erupted at some of Donald Trump's rallies. Donald Trump was asked this weekend what his role is in this. And I just want to play it for you and get you to comment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't accept responsibility. I do not condone violence in any shape, and I will tell you, from what I saw the young man stuck his finger up in the air and the other man sort of just had it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: What he is talking about is that moment where the 78-year- old Donald Trump coldcocked with his elbow the protester. Do you think that Donald Trump is responsible for what protesters or even his supporters do at his rallies?

[08:10:02] CONANT: Well, look, clearly the protesters are to ones that are primarily responsible for coming to his events and trying to disrupt the events. Donald Trump has a right to speak. He has a right to have events that aren't protested.

At the same time I think everyone bears some responsibility here, including Donald Trump, for not condemning that sort of violence first, offering to pay legal fees for his supporters who beat up protesters, encouraging the same, that the next time someone is a protester they should be carried out on a stretcher.

And I think media bears some culpability here. See, that guy jumped a fence and rushed a stage. And then CNN rewarded him by giving him a primetime interview on your network and then replaying it this morning. I think that kind of behavior by CNN is only going to encourage future actions of civil disobedience like that. So I think everybody deserves some blame here. And it's very unfortunate because there is a lot at stake in this election. The future of our nation hangs in the balance. And instead we are distracted by this sort of violence. It is not productive to electing the next leader of the free world.

CAMEROTA: Alex, I'm wondering, do you think that Marco Rubio bears responsibility for this in that when he had his opportunity he talked about more frivolous, trivial things about Donald Trump. He talked about him being orange colored. He talked about his small hands. Why didn't he talk about his violent rhetoric?

CONANT: Again, Marco said that he regretted some of those comments because he wants the election to be more about the issues. And we've spent more time talking about the issues in this campaign than any other candidate.

CAMEROTA: Why not just highlighting the violence? Why didn't he seize that moment and highlight that that kind of rhetoric doesn't stand?

CONANT: Well, I think violence just emerged in the last few weeks, and Marco has always condemned violence. Of course he has. But we've also talked about the issues more than any other campaign. And as I was about to say, if you go to our website, MarcoRubio.com, you will find more detailed policies there than any other candidate has offered.

But the media doesn't focus on that. The media focuses on these clashes that we're seeing at the rallies. The media focuses on the frivolous. As Marco told Jake Tapper yesterday when he was on "State of the Union," when we talk about the policy the media doesn't care about that. When we attack Donald Trump, then CNN and other networks break in live to our speeches because they want to cover that sort of frivolous conflict. I think that is a sad state of media and I think it's a sad state of the campaign that that's what you have to talk about to get noticed.

CAMEROTA: Alex, I reject that outright. We have had 12 debates about policy at CNN. We have had 12 debates. We've had town hall meetings with voters asking the candidates direct questions. We do focus on policy. But to say the violence is frivolous stuff, the violence might be emblematic of what is going on in this campaign. And I think that it is very fair to talk about the violence. And to say the violence is just erupted, people have been getting hurt at Donald Trump's rallies since October. It has been there.

So the question is, here is the deal. It sounds like Marco Rubio has finally said enough is enough. In fact he is now talking about it and talking about what a mistake he feels it would be for people to vote for Donald Trump. Let me play for you a moment of Marco Rubio this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that significant number of Republicans will not vote for Donald Trump at the voting booth no matter what I say or anybody else tells them. They just won't do it. They will abstain. And I have never argued that anyone should abstain in an election. I need to lead by example.

But I will be frank, it is getting harder every day to justify that answer. And I'm not prepared to say something different today other than to tell you that I hope we can avoid that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: What does Marco Rubio mean there that people should abstain? They should not vote, he's saying, tomorrow?

CONANT: No, no. He is not saying that at all. He said he would never recommend that somebody abstain from an election, certainly not a primary. Look, we can still defeat Donald Trump. If voters in Florida go to the polls and vote for Marco Rubio tomorrow we can defeat Donald Trump in Florida and he will not be the Republican nominee. This is not a foregone conclusion by any stretch of the imagination.

Donald Trump is not on a current trajectory to gaining the 1,237 delegates that he needs to win the nomination. He was virtually shut out this weekend. Marco won 11 delegates in contests on Saturday. We won delegates last weekend in Puerto Rico. I believe firmly that we will win 99 delegates in Florida tomorrow. Donald Trump will not be the Republican nominee.

What Marco was saying is if somehow Donald Trump does emerge as the Republican nominee at the convention in Cleveland, it's going to be very tough for Republicans to win this fall because there are a lot of Republicans around the country who will not ever vote for Donald Trump in a general election, and they are in a tough spot because we don't want Hillary Clinton to be our nominee. That is why it is important that Republicans turn out tomorrow and vote against Donald Trump in Florida and vote for Marco Rubio because we can still stop him.

CAMEROTA: Let's just look at the latest poll. It's a Quinnipiac poll. It was just released an hour or so ago. And it shows the numbers today in Florida. Trump is getting 46 percent. Marco Rubio is getting half that, 22 percent, Cruz 14, Kasich 10. Does this jive with what your internals are showing you?

[08:15:02] CONANT: No, not at all. In fact, the Quinnipiac poll, I feel like every election they've got some explaining to do. Before the Iowa caucuses, the day of the Iowa caucuses, the Quinnipiac poll predicted that Donald Trump would win that contest by 14 points.

Of course, Marco ended up virtually tying Donald Trump in Iowa. Our internal data shows us doing very well in Florida tomorrow. The early vote is at historic levels and favorable for us.

We saw a lot of polls last week that put this race in single digits. Marco had a great debate on Thursday night on this network. That was very substantive. Thank you to CNN for focusing on the policy on Thursday.

And then we have been on the ground campaigning all weekend. Great crowds throughout Florida. We feel very optimistic and feel like we have the wind to our back as we head into tomorrow's primary in Florida.

CAMEROTA: OK, Alex Conant, thanks so much great to get your perspective. We'll be watching closely tomorrow, of course -- John.

BERMAN: All right, thanks, Alisyn. As for the Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they are doing all they can to shore up votes just one day before key votes all across America tomorrow.

They were in Ohio at a CNN town hall pointing out some differences between each other, but mostly differences with Donald Trump. CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny live in Chicago where Hillary Clinton is campaigning today. Good morning, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. The best way to show your strength as the Democratic presidential candidate now is to show how you would take on Donald Trump. That is what voters want to know. That's what Democrats want to know.

But before any of that happens, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are locked in a very tough race of their own.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whoever goes up against Donald Trump better be ready.

ZELENY (voice-over): Stopping the Republican frontrunner, a critical topic for Democrats ahead of yet another Super Tuesday.

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The way you beat Trump is to expose him. He can be exposed at many, many levels.

ZELENY: Hillary Clinton touting her experience in resilience.

CLINTON: The Republicans have been after me for 25 years.

ZELENY: But keeping some of her battle plan against Trump under wraps for now.

CLINTON: I'm not going to spill the beans right now but suffice it to say there are many arguments that we can use against him. I'm having foreign leaders ask if they can endorse me to stop Donald Trump. Some have done it publically. The Italian prime minister, for example.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: How about the ones that have done it privately?

CLINTON: No, Jake. We are holding that in reserve, too.

ZELENY: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders hitting his rival hard on trade which she believes helped him pull off an upset.

SANDERS: You are looking at a senator and a former congressman, who opposed every one of these disastrous trade agreements, which have cost American workers millions of jobs. One of the very strong differences between Secretary Clinton and myself she has supported almost all trade agreements.

ZELENY: And taking a dig at Trump along the way.

SANDERS: Everybody understands that trade is a positive thing. Nobody is talking about building a wall around the United States. Of course, we are going to trade. I beg your pardon. There is one guy talking about it. Let me rephrase it. No rational person is talking about it.

ZELENY: The most emotional moment of the night --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me. I'm sorry.

ZELENY: On the death penalty as Clinton was pressed by a man exonerated after nearly 40 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit.

RICKY JACKSON, FALSELY IMPRISONED FOR 30 YEARS: How can you still take your stance on the death penalty?

CLINTON: This is a profoundly difficult question, a very limited use of it in cases where there has been horrific mass killings. That's really the exception that I still am struggling with. It would only be in the federal system. But what happened to you was a travesty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: Now both Sanders and Clinton are campaigning very hard for tomorrow's primary. It will really test the strength of Sanders insurgency. Should he win in a state or two, he definitely has the argument to keep going longer.

He will be campaigning in North Carolina, Missouri as well as Ohio. Hillary Clinton is starting her day here in Chicago at this Union Hall. You may wonder why she is in Chicago, her native Illinois on the eve of the primary.

It's because this race is tighter than the campaign ever thought it would be so she is trying to shore up Illinois and then she'll be going on North Carolina later today -- John.

BERMAN: All right, Jeff Zeleny in Chicago with us. Thanks so much, Jeff. Be sure to stay with CNN for tomorrow's big final Super Tuesday. We have complete coverage of the day's activities and full results as they come in. Huge winner take all states on the Republican side. So much going on. Stay with CNN all day for that.

CAMEROTA: Well, the death toll in a car bombing in Turkey rising to 37 this morning. More than 120 others hurt after the blast near a transit hub in the capital of Ankara.

[08:20:09]Turkish jets responding with air strikes on Iraqi bases belonging to the PKK. That's the separatist group believed to be responsible. At least 29 people also rounded up in an anti-terror operation in Turkey this morning.

BERMAN: A Maryland police officer shot and killed in an unprovoked ambush right outside his station house in Landover. Undercover narcotics officer, Jekai Coleson (ph), a four-year police veteran was killed a day shy of his 29th birthday.

Fellow officers fired back at the suspect leaving him wounded. The suspect is in custody along with the possible accomplice. We don't have details as of now what a possible motive.

A new report is urging tougher mental checks for pilots in the wake of last year's German Wings crash. Officials now recommend confidentiality lifted for pilots with psychological disorders when mental health could affect public safety. Andreas Lubitz (ph) deliberately flew the jet into the French Alps after being treated for issues which were kept private.

CAMEROTA: Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton both taking on Donald Trump at CNN's town hall last night. How this will impact tomorrow's primaries? We will discuss it with Michael Smerconish next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SANDERS: Donald Trump is literally inciting violence with his supporters. He is saying if you go out and beat somebody up that is OK.

[08:25:06]CLINTON: What Trump has done is like a case of political arson. He has lit the fire and then he throws his hands up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Bernie Sanders calls Trump a pathological liar. Hillary Clinton says he is a political arsonist and they do not mean it in a nice way. Donald Trump overshadowing the CNN Town Hall event in Ohio with Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Quite an event.

Michael Smerconish, the host of CNN's "SMERCONISH" and a CNN political commentator. Michael, it was interesting to see Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have a lot to say about their own contest tomorrow and each other, but they simply cannot avoid the discussion over what is happening with Donald Trump and his events.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Those events Friday night in Chicago and then through the weekend, John, are political tests. It is amazing. I'm about to start my radio program and I'm sure I will see a continuation of this.

That people are looking at the exact same footage and coming to dramatically different conclusions. Donald Trump is showing absolutely no remorse. He lays it off on Bernie Sanders and on agitators, quote, "protesters."

The Democrats look at it and they say he has done the equivalent of shouting fire in a political theater. And so each side is using this to gin up their base.

It puts the Republicans, the non-Trump Republicans in a bit of an awkward position, right, because they don't want to antagonize the base of their party and by the same token they need those Trump supporters. They are the ones who are the odd men out.

CAMEROTA: But Michael, we just had Marco Rubio's communications director on. Even with the Republicans, do you get the sense that there is an enough is enough feeling? Something has shifted over the weekend? Maybe it was Friday night's cancelled rally, but something because of the violence people are using stronger language now against Trump.

SMERCONISH: I thought so, but the most recent polling information suggests not. There doesn't seem to be any give in particular in those Florida numbers that you have been discussing that have just come out and other data that has just come out.

You would think that Florida would be the barometer. It would be the test case where Marco Rubio would be able to give him a better run for his money than he appears to be doing.

BERMAN: Let's talk about the town hall, the non-Trump moments of the town hall. There was really a fascinating moment with a man who had been in prison for many years on death row but was released because he was incorrectly charged. He asked Hillary Clinton about the death penalty. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's OK, brother.

JACKSON: I came perilously close to my own execution. I would like to know how can you still take your stance on the death penalty?

CLINTON: At this point given the challenges we face from terrorist activities primarily in our country that end up under federal jurisdiction for very limited purposes, I think it can still be held in reserve for those.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It was a longer question and answer. On the one hand, you know, what I think that moment was a great town hall moment where you see a real person asking a very important question and you get to see a candidate thinking what you don't always get to see, Michael. But how do you think she handled it?

SMERCONISH: Well, interestingly, John, she kind of responded two different ways, right. She said that she would, I think the words were breathe a sigh of relief should the states or the Supreme Court of the United States decide that the death penalty is no longer appropriate on a state level.

Then she said but she would like to keep it on the books relative to federal cases of terror and she cited Timothy McVeigh, of course, one of the Oklahoma City bombers.

So it seemed to play well. For example, I noted that Roland Martin then said to that gentleman was that answer satisfactory to you and he said that it was. There was something in that reply for everybody I guess is what I'm trying to say.

CAMEROTA: But yet, it was almost vintage Clinton in that it was thoughtful and deliberate and explained her rationale. I thought there might be a missed opportunity. She could have gotten off the stage and just wrapped her arms around that guy.

I was welling up listening to his question. A lot of people were. There was a moment that maybe just called for an emotional response instead of a thoughtful response.

SMERCONISH: Alisyn, as I watched I said to myself this is the difference between a debate and a town hall. I think there is a lot to be said for the kind of forum that CNN held last night because you are not relegated to 45 seconds.

She was able to hear him out. He wasn't under a time constraint and she was able to provide a fairly lengthy response to it. So I thought it was pretty insightful frankly.

BERMAN: I had the candidates tell me how much they love the town halls because they get to talk at length.

CAMEROTA: It is fascinating to hear the questions from the voters as well. Michael, thank you. Great to see you. Check out "SMERCONISH" Saturdays, 9 a.m. Eastern here on CNN.