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Polls Open in Super Tuesday States; Donald Trump Criticized for Violent Rhetoric; Interview with Congressman Chris Collins. Late Night Hosts Target Presidential Politics; Anger and Unemployment Fueling Ohio Crossover Voters; Interview with Sen. Sherrod Brown. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired March 15, 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] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: That's how I roll.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I know, and I like that, interesting literary references.

On the Democratic side, 691 delegates at stake today. Hillary Clinton looking to build on her delegate lead, Bernie Sanders looking to pull off another upset. Either way the 2016 race will change tonight. We're covering Super Tuesday from every angle the way only CNN can. Let's get to Phil Mattingly, he is live in Columbus, Ohio, for us. Phil, how is it this hour?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. Voters already heading to the polls here in Ohio and four other states as well with the opportunity to answer a series of questions that could end up defining the Republican race. Tops among them, is this the day Donald Trump puts a hammer lock on the Republican nomination? And also, is this the day two other candidates drop out?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to have a great day. I think we're going to have a phenomenal day.

MATTINGLY: Donald Trump looking for another Super Tuesday sweep.

TRUMP: Florida is looking fantastic.

MATTINGLY: A big day at the polls for the frontrunner could mean the end of presidential bids for Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Ohio governor John Kasich.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to shock the country. And we're going to do what needs to be done.

MATTINGLY: On this do or die day Rubio and Kasich both fight footwork victories and hoping to just stay alive on their home turf.

GOV. JOHN KASICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ohio should send a message to the country. Everybody is watching us now. Do you know that? And they are not just watching us in the country. They are watching us in the world.

MATTINGLY: As Ted Cruz with a handful of wins pushes Republicans to unify to the only alternative to Trump.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: After tomorrow it will be officially a two man race because no other candidate has any plausible path to 1,237.

MATTINGLY: Trump still dealing with the fallout from days of raucous protesting at his events.

TRUMP: Do you know how many people have been hurt at our rallies? I think like basically none other than I guess maybe somebody got hit once, but there is no violence.

MATTINGLY: His rivals response to their own protestors, a blatant a jab at the front runner.

RUBIO: Oh, look at Bernie Sanders sign. Don't worry. You are not going to get beat up at my rallies.

CRUZ: One difference between this and a Donald Trump rally is I'm not asking anyone to punch you in the face.

MATTINGLY: But Trump supporters New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Sarah Palin join forces with Trump for his final push to today's big contest, Palin with choice words for disrupters.

SARAH PALIN, (R) FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: What we don't have time for is all that petty, punk-ass little thuggery stuff that's been going on.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Now, after a series of polls showed Marco Rubio trailing Florida by as much as 20 points, all eyes for those who are trying to strop Donald Trump really turn here to Ohio. John Kasich with some serious structural advantages in the state over Donald Trump -- a big organization, a large data operation, obviously a ton of supporters, not to mention a 77 percent approval rating amongst Republicans. Still Donald Trump really going all in on Ohio, holding a number of rallies, including a late edition yesterday going up on TV with advertisements, and of course nonstop attacks on Kasich on Twitter. Kasich aides know this will be a close race no matter what, really a toss-up going into this last day. If Kasich can win really the first opportunity maybe to stop Trump from getting to those requisite delegates to win the nomination, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Phil, thank you so much, looking at what's going on the GOP side.

Meanwhile the pressure is on the Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton tonight. Polls show her rival Bernie Sanders is closing the gap in some key states on the heels of that surprise win for him in Michigan. Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar is live in Charlotte with more for us. Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. This could be a pivotal day on the Democratic side. It could keep Bernie Sanders more viably in this race if he does very well. And if Hillary Clinton does very well, she could see her status as the presumptive Democratic nominee cemented today. Both candidates in their final push to this big Tuesday, positioning themselves as alternatives to Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to stand up to hateful, divisive rhetoric that is pitting different groups of Americans against each other.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: I believe that is what Americans will do. I believe we are better than what we are hearing every night on television.

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This campaign is telling Donald Trump and others that we will not -- we will not accept for one second their bigotry and xenophobia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: If Sanders wins states today that will certainly put wind in his sails. But he's trailing Hillary Clinton considerably in the delegate math, and because these states are not winner take all unlike on the Republican side, it is difficult to see how he really narrows this gap with Hillary Clinton, let alone closes it and catches up with her. Nonetheless aides to Sanders say he is in this for the long haul. No matter what happens today he is going all the way to the convention in July. Guys?

[08:05:04] CUOMO: Brianna Keilar, thank you very much for the reporting. We can tell you the polls are now open in all five states voting today. Voters heading to the polls, Florida and Ohio the big ones. Other key states including North Carolina, which, by the way, has the second highest number of delegates available, 72 delegates. CNN's Polo Sandoval is live for us in Charlotte. Good morning, Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Chris. Those high numbers mean those stakes are also high as you mentioned here in North Carolina. Polling has been happening for about an hour and a half now. We have seen this steady trickle of people coming in to cast their ballots as well. There has been plenty of interest here in North Carolina, much of that due to several local and state key races, so there are plenty of people who want to get involved. In fact the North Carolina state board of elections is saying early and absentee ballot voting has actually surpassed the primaries in 2008 and 2012. So that could be a sign that we could see a fairly significant turnout.

Hillary Clinton at this point poised to do very well at this primary as well as on the Republican side. We are expecting at least this to be the final opportunity for Republicans dead set on stopping Trump. But again, we are seeing those numbers slowly rise here as those voters continue to come in here in the state of North Carolina, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Polo, keep it posted there as to what happens.

Meanwhile, voting is already under way in Illinois as well. polls showing tight races on both sides of the aisle there, and that's where we find Ryan Young live from Chicago. How's it looking there, Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. Of course, we've seen a steady flow of people already. That 6:00 a.m. rush when the polls opened, we saw that happen. People have been going inside here to cast their vote. We do know there has been increased interest in this compared to 2008 because there are over 100,000 people doing absentee ballots so far.

Going all the way back down the street we're going to show you the video that we shot just yesterday afternoon because the line around this building was going all the way down to the stoplight as people were trying to come out and do their early voting. We do know there will be some rush voting later in the afternoon here. We've been told they believe the increased interest in the election will cause people to rush out after rush hours, which is something way may be watching throughout the day and giving you live reports, Chris.

CUOMO: Ryan, what did you scare away all the voters? What are you doing over there? What's going on behind you?

(LAUGHTER)

YOUNG: That morning rush. Nothing right now apparently.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: Stay on it, Ryan. We'll be back to you later.

All right, here this morning the first member of Congress to back Donald Trump, New York Republican Chris Collins. Congressman, it's good to have you this morning.

REP. CHRIS COLLINS, (R-NY) ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE: Yes, good morning, Chris.

CUOMO: So take me through the thinking of making the shift from Jeb Bush who you were supporting earlier to Donald Trump.

COLLINS: To me it is easy. Jeb Bush, the chief executive of the state of Florida has the executive experience needed in the White House. We've got Donald Trump, the chief executive of a very complex organization that he's been the head of for over 40 yes. And, frankly, Chris the last thing we need in the White House is another legislator without that executive experience. So my switch from Jeb Bush to Donald Trump was really one of recognizing the need for a chief executive, not a chief politician in the White House with all of the issues that this country is facing today. CUOMO: So what are you hearing from your brothers and sisters about

your support now? Is there any trending and a favorable position? Because there is still a lot of speculation that Trump would not make it out of a convention.

COLLINS: Well, obviously today is going to be a very important day with Florida and Ohio. So as this day comes to an end, if Donald Trump wins both Florida and Ohio we will have our presumptive nominee. Now, if John Kasich stays alive in Ohio, we're going to keep marching forward.

There is no question tonight is going to be a great night for Donald Trump. He's going to get a lot of delegates. Whether he wins both Florida and Ohio is yet to be seen, but truly with my brothers and sisters as you call them in Congress, they are going to support the Republican nominee. Hillary is the great uniter of our party, so there's no question that we're going to support the nominee come convention teim, and I fully expect it is going to be Donald Trump.

CUOMO: Talk about uniting, what do you make of what's been going on at the Trump rallies? Do you think he should calm down his rhetoric when there are violence things going on in the crowd?

COLLINS: Chris, what you are seeing is chapter two in the Democrat playbook. These are paid protesters. These are not spontaneous groups of people that have a pressing issue showing up at these rallies. Sure, there are a few of those what. But we are really seeing is the Democrats understanding the one person they know will beat Hillary Clinton is Donald Trump. And so they are going to pull out the stops. And these paid protesters showing up to disrupt Donald Trump's rallies, to me it is chapter two in the Democrat playbook. It is a sad day of affairs for what we'll call dirty politics. But that's what we have.

[08:10:06] CUOMO: Is the right response to say "punch them in the face" and other threatening comments? Do you think that is what you would do if it were your rally?

COLLINS: It comes to, one thing we know about Donald Trump. If you punch him, he is going to punch back. We all have our own personalities, if you will. Donald Trump is going to stand there and not take anything that somebody quite literally throws at them.

But again, what you have got is the Democrats with paid organizers, paid protesters going to these rallies to disrupt the rallies. And I'm sure that the frustration that goes with knowing the types of folks that are there will elicit some kind of comment. Donald Trump has now called for people to stand down. Let's be peaceful. So Donald Trump realizes his words literally carry a lot of weight, and I think he has shifted his rhetoric here in the last few days. No one likes to see what is going on. So I would ask the Democrats to stop paying these protesters to disrupt Mr. Trump's rallies.

CUOMO: Do you think you can you prove that this is an organized effort by Democrats to disrupt Trump's rallies and not individual groups doing what they do often in different settings, even Hillary Clinton?

COLLINS: Yes. I think Chris it's very well-known now that these are paid protesters, that the exact source of the funds, we all have our inclinations of where that money is coming from. But there is no question these are paid protesters. These are not a bunch of college kids showing up because, you know, they have an issue here or there.

CUOMO: Same people paying them to go to the Hillary Clinton event?

COLLINS: No, I'm saying these are paid protesters.

CUOMO: I know, but you had some of the same groups showing up at Hillary Clinton events. Do you think she's paying people to come to her own events and make her look bad?

COLLINS: Who know what Hillary Clinton is going to do? We know from her playbook she'll do anything she can to be president of the United States. Everyone knows Hillary Clinton can't be trusted as far as you can throw her, whether it's her comments on Benghazi, whether it's her comments on e-mails, whether the money she's raised as secretary of state for the Clinton Foundation. I go up and down the line. You can't trust a thing that Hillary Clinton says.

And that's why people know Donald Trump will beat Hillary Clinton head to head and the Democrats are in outright panic mode. They know the one candidate they can't beat is Donald Trump. So you're seeing them pull out all the stops. They need to stop him today.

CUOMO: What do you think about the polls or how do you explain the polls that say the opposite, and you are hearing it from your fellow GOPers saying you got to vote for me. I'm Marco Rubio, I'm Kasich, I'm Cruz. We all do better than Trump does against Hillary.

COLLINS: Well, the Republican, if you will, messaging against Hillary, hasn't even begun. You had 17 Republicans fighting each other tooth and nail. It's been a slug fest. It's been noisy, it's been messy. It continues today. Where all you have on Democrat side are the two people trying to out-progressive each other. Hillary saying I'm more than you, Bernie. Bernie saying, no, I'm more progressive than you. And poor Bill de Blasio saying, heck, I'm the most progressive of all. Why am I not in this conversation?

So you had a different discourse between the Republican and Democrats. And when all eyes turns to Hillary Clinton, and I think that she will be, the fact that she can't even pull away from Bernie Sanders is a telling story in and of itself. And 80 plus percent of women under the age of 35 are supporting Bernie Sanders. Hillary has got real problems. You don't elect a president who you can't be trusted, and that's Hillary Clinton.

So when we know it is Donald and Hillary you are going to see where that goes. I know in western New York, the working men and women, the union folks, the people who lost their jobs under NAFTA, they are solidly in Donald Trump camp. And that is why all of a sudden in a general election not only is New York in play but so is Michigan. And when you put New York and Michigan in play, seriously in play in a presidential election, I think you will see Donald Trump steamroll over Hillary with a Reagan-esque type of victory.

CUOMO: Congressman Collins, good to have you on NEW DAY.

COLLINS: Thank you, Chris, you too. OK.

CUOMO: All right, so this is going to be an all-day affair. There's going to be a lot of ups and downs. So stay with CNN. We're going to have complete coverage of this super, super Tuesday. We're also going to have full analysis of why whatever happens tonight happens, and what it means going forward right here tomorrow morning on NEW DAY. Michaela?

PEREIRA: All right, this is big. For the first time an NFL official is acknowledging a link between repetitive head trauma in football and the brain disease CTE. The league's senior vice president for health and safety making that admission during a round table discussion with lawmakers on concussions. CTE can only be diagnosed after death. A Boston University doctor recently located the disease in the brains of 90 of 94 former players tested.

CAMEROTA: Time for a little levity. Once again Trump headlines become punch lines. In case you missed them, we have the very best late night laughs for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:15:00] JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": I'm your host Jimmy Fallon, and I want to warn everyone to not get too rowdy or Donald Trump might cancel the show.

(LAUGHTER)

Trump was surrounded by Secret Service agents after a man tried to rush the stage, proving once and for all the best way to keep everyone safe is just to build a wall around Donald Trump.

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Marco Rubio, who's still in the race, is encouraging people to vote for John Kasich in Ohio instead of him. Rubio says Kasich is the only one who can stop Trump in Ohio, and he's the only one who can stop Trump in Florida. Ted Cruz already stopped Trump in Texas. So then I guess -- the plan is, if they get to the convention, they're going to have Dr. Ben Carson sew all of their bodies together to form one enormous super candidate who just might have enough delegates to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: I'm sorry. I'm wondering if all of these comedy writers are just, like, doing beach hours. Because they don't even have to work that hard.

CAMEROTA: They write themselves. The jokes.

PEREIRA: They really do. They really do. This is insane.

CUOMO: But it's also impossible. Because everyone knows Dr. Carson's expertise is in separating. Separating.

CAMEROTA: Oh, not actually joining.

CUOMO: Not putting together. So the joke just fails on its face ab initio, on its face.

Many frustrated Ohio Democrats are breaking from their party. They say they're going to vote for Donald Trump. We're going to look behind this big shift with an Ohio senator who supports Hillary Clinton.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:20:00] PEREIRA: So Ohio is one of Super Tuesday's big prizes but anger and high unemployment are fueling a surprising shift. Long time Democrats deciding to back Donald Trump instead. Our Martin Savidge went to Youngstown, Ohio, to find out why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, from news radio (INAUDIBLE) WKBN and Ron Berb (ph). We're under way here.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Youngstown, Ohio, Ron Berb (ph) been talking politics for 31 years. I sat down to listen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been a registered D since 1980 and I'm taking a Republican ballot. I'm supporting Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Had enough of these hand-picked, hand-chosen, bought and paid for candidates. Voting for Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From day one, I have been for Donald Trump. And I was a Democrat.

MARK MONROE, REPUBLICAN PARTY HEAD: Well, it's like nothing I've ever seen before.

SAVIDGE: That's Mark Monroe, head of the Republican Party in this part of Ohio, where finding a fellow Republican is almost as hard as finding a job. Unemployment here is almost 9 percent. No wonder change is on the minds of many.

GUS GUSTAVSON, OHIO CROSSOVER VOTER: I mean, this is something that's never happened before.

SAVIDGE: 84-year-old Gus Gustavson. These days guys like Gus go by another name -- crossovers.

GUSTAVSON: Democrat all the way.

SAVIDGE (on camera): And now what are you thinking when it comes to voting?

GUSTAVSON: I'm going Trump. SAVIDGE (voice-over): Then there's twin brothers Don and Ron Scarab

(ph), painting Trump signs and making Trump campaign buttons. They're retired cops and apparently retired Democrats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For 50 years I voted Democrat since the Vietnam War and served over there and came over there and I've always backed Democrats and it was the right party to be in.

SAVIDGE (on camera): So now, you're going to vote how?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm going vote Republican and I'm going to vote for Donald Trump.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): At the local board of elections, early voting has been under way since mid-February. Tom McCabe's have been crunching the numbers.

TOM MCCABE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MAHONING COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS: 55 percent of all the Republican vote is coming from Democrats to Republican or what we consider non-affiliated voters.

SAVIDGE: You heard right. Of the Republican votes cast so far, more than half have come from voters who up until just recently were either Independents or Democrats.

It's not just in Ohio. Exit polls show crossovers in other primary states. The same polls show anger is the biggest motivator, but Trump isn't the only benefactor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, let me tell you something. There is a guy running that is for the people that's funded by the people, and it's Bernie Sanders.

SAVIDGE: Back in local Republican headquarters, Kathy Miller (ph) is worried about running out of Trump yard signs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hard to keep, hard to get, and very, very popular.

SAVIDGE: Martin Savidge, CNN, Youngstown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: All right, joining us to discuss this phenomenon and more is Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio who has endorsed Hillary Clinton. Good morning, Senator.

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: How are you?

CAMEROTA: I'm well. So how do we explain what we just saw in Martin Savidge's piece that Democrats in your state are opting for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton?

BROWN: Well, I've been in the state -- I get home every weekend. I was in Youngstown last weekend, in Akron. I saw something very different. I understand a number of people crossover at election time like this. I also know that people in Mahoning Valley know it was the Democrats and President Obama that did the auto rescue that put -- that kept thousands, literally thousands of people in jobs in Lordstown, in the supply chain that feed into that GM/Chevy Cruze plant there.

So I think that people are understandably upset, but I also think that -- I know that I trust Hillary Clinton to have a real manufacturing plan, the only person in this race that does on either side and will keep this growth going. We've had 71 consecutive months of job growth in Ohio -- across the country, since the auto rescue. Unfortunately, Governor Kasich hasn't kept that up particularly well in Mahoning Valley. We've fallen behind again the rest of the country in economic growth, even though we were doing better with the auto rescue five and six years ago.

So there's a very understandable frustration among everybody in the Mahoning Valley and everybody in Ohio and across the country.

CAMEROTA: And in that area, in that county, I believe unemployment is close to 9 percent. So for people in your state of Ohio who think that the issues are jobs and trade, how can you tell them that Hillary Clinton is the best choice when of course she was part of the Obama administration and she has supported President Obama's policies that many now blame for the predictment that they're in?

BROWN: Well, President Obama did something that no Democrat's done since Franklin Roosevelt, that is get a majority vote in Ohio twice. So I don't really buy that his policy is that unpopular.

Hillary Clinton was the Secretary of State. She worked for him. Of course she supports the policies of her boss.

[08:25:00] But the fact is, she is going to look at a very different trade policy. Now, I don't take a backseat to anybody on trade issues. I'm leading the opposition in the Senate to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I've written a book on trade. I've opposed this trade agenda through presidents of both parties.

I see something different in Hillary Clinton. She wants a trade prosecutor. She's going after currency. She's going stand up strong on keeping China designated as a non-market economy. And she understands better than any of the other candidates in either party what do with a different trade policy. All four candidate, Cruz and Trump and Sanders and Hillary, all are against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but it's easy to be against. Hillary actually has a plan and I've worked with her on that to put people back to work in the Mahoning Valley and all over the state.

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump was talking about all of this very subject matter and he was talking about the air-conditioning company Carrier that moved its base from Indiana to Mexico. And he was saying that this would be a vulnerability for Hillary Clinton. Let me play that for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If Hillary is president, her special interests will call her, her lobbyists will call her, her fundraisers will call her. And she knows it's a bad thing but she won't do anything about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: He's basically saying that she is vulnerable on trade deals.

BROWN: Well, Trump -- it's easy for Trump to say that and he doesn't ever go any deeper about what he would actually do other than call the CEO and oppose trade deals and negotiate a better one. But again, Hillary Clinton is -- you know, I trust her. I've worked on these issues for a long time ad people in Ohio know that. I trust her to negotiate better trade deals, to have a much better enforcement of trade law and trade rules. There are people working in Mahoning Valley in steel, in Findlay, Ohio, in rubber, in many other places because we've enforced trade deals. Her special trade prosecutor will do that. We will see a different trade policy coming out of here, and I'm convinced of it. I wouldn't be supporting Hillary Clinton if I didn't believe that.

CAMEROTA: Senator Brown, thanks so much for taking time for NEW DAY. We appreciate getting your perspective.

BROWN: Glad to do it, thank you.

CAMEROTA: Chris.

CUOMO: All right, to the other side of the ball. John Kasich confident he's going to win in his home state of Ohio. But even if he does win, what is the future of his campaign in terms of victory? We're going to get the analysis from Kasich's lieutenant governor coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)