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Campaigns Focus on South Carolina. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 10, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: That's it for me. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. Eastern in "The Situation Room." In the meantime, the news continues next on CNN.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me.

Today, just a short time from now, a significant and poignant moment for America's commander in chief. It was nine years ago on this very day President Barack Obama, then Senator Barack Obama, announced his bid for the White House in Springfield, Illinois. And, today, he will return to that very building and those very steps there in Springfield to reflect on his successes and confront his failures in a speech before state lawmakers. We are told he will admit that politics in the U.S. are meaner and more divided than ever before, something he promised to avoid. It comes, as you well know, during an historic and fiery race to elect his successor. Again, a major address by President Obama moments away. We will take the whole thing live, of course.

But, first, this, to the race for the presidency. Can South Carolina's primary do what New Hampshire's did not, define an alternative candidate to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. While Trump surpassed the lead the polls predicted he would have, in New Hampshire, the standings after that. The pundits are now calling it, quote, "the muddle in the middle." You're looking at the muddle right now. There is no single standout to unify the establishment as the race moves to the February 20th primary in South Carolina. Ohio Governor John Kasich came in second, but Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio were not too far behind.

And it's not just Republicans, but Democrats facing a long primary season after New Hampshire. Senator Bernie Sanders crushed Hillary Clinton by 22 points. With an eight figure sized war chest, Sanders has the money to shake Clinton's confidence for some time. It is all the makings for a major showdown in South Carolina for both parties.

And that brings me to our Victor Blackwell. He is in Bluffton, South Carolina, where Jeb Bush just held an event.

Victor Blackwell, I hear Bush had arrows only for the frontrunner, Donald Trump.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Brooke, he didn't go as far as to call Trump a liar or a loser and a whiner as he did in a tweet on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, but he continued the refrain here, saying that Trump doesn't have the temperament, nor the credentials to be the next commander in chief. And we've really seen Jeb Bush ramp up the attacks on Donald Trump starting with that debate in New Hampshire, and that proved to serve him well, finishing in fourth place yesterday. And we're seeing that that - that narrative is continuing as he starts now focusing on the primary coming ten days from now. Listen to a part of - of what he said to the crowd here in Bluffton this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you're looking for a president that doesn't give two hoots about focus groups and what's popular, you're looking at the guy that should be president of the United States, because they've written me off in this campaign over and over again, following the polls. My God, there's an obsession about this. How about doing what is right for the first time in a long while? That's what we need.

Trump can talk a good game. And he - man, he is a good talker. But I think we need someone who's actually disrupted the old order for the benefit of the people that they serve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And Jeb Bush has been, of course, running with the Jeb! stickers and banners everywhere. Don't be surprised if we see Bush! as he campaigns across the state of South Carolina. South Carolina has been great for the Bushs, handing primary victories to H.W., George H.W. Bush in '88 and '92, of course the win to George W. Bush in 2000. And the former president, George W. Bush, will be on the campaign trail with his brother over the next 10 days. And on the air today, on radio, a new add from the campaign featuring George W. Bush. We know that he has recorded ads for the super PAC, the Right to Rise, for his brother, but now he is joining the campaign, heading across this state, and they are going to push the (INAUDIBLE) as possibly the next commander in chief. They believe that's his strongest card as he tries to win the South Carolina primary.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: South Carolina has been very good to the Bush family, as you have just pointed out.

Victor Blackwell, thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

BALDWIN: And with that, the president of the United States, he's early. Let's take you live now. He is in Springfield, Illinois. He is addressing the general assembly there. Folks, this is so significant for him. Nine years ago, on this very day, then Senator Barack Obama announced his bid for the White House. Let's listen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Member of the general assembly, my fellow Illinoisans. It's actually kind of fun to start a speech like that twice in one month. What an incredible privilege it is to address this chamber. And to Governor Rauner, Senator Durbin, members of Congress, Speaker Madigan, former Governor Pat Quinn, Mayor Langfelder and the people of Springfield, thank you for such a warm welcome as I come back home.

[14:05:26] Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. It's good to be home. Thank you, guys. (INAUDIBLE). Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

It is - well, it is great to see so many old friends, like John Cullerton and Emil Jones. I miss you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We miss you!

OBAMA: And it's - it's great to be in the state capital. You know, being here today calls to mind the first time I spoke on the senate floor almost 20 years ago. And I was passionate, idealistic, ready to make a difference. Just to stand in that magnificent chamber was enough to fill me up with a heightened sense of purpose. And I probably needed a little dose of reality when I first arrived. So one day I rose to speak about a bill. And I thought I had made some compelling points with irrefutable logic. And I was about to sit down, feeling pretty good about myself, when Pate Philip sauntered over to my desk. Now, there's some young people here. So for those of you who don't remember, Pate Philip was the senate majority leader at the time. He was a Marine. And a big shock (ph) of white hair. Stomp - chomped on a cigar. Was so politically incorrect that it's - you don't even know how to describe it. but he always treated me well and he came by and he slapped me on the back and he said, kid, that was a pretty good speech. In fact, I think you changed a lot of minds. But you didn't change any votes. And he signaled and the gavel - and we got blown out. So that was my first lesson in humility.

The next came when I presented my own first bill. It was a simple piece of legislation that would make it a lot easier for Illinois manufacturers to hire graduating community college students. I didn't know any serious opposition, so I asked for a vote. And what I got was a good hazing. I assume that this custom still exists. So a senior colleague put the vote on hold to ask, could you correctly pronounce your name for me, I'm having a little trouble with it. Obama, I said. Is that Irish, he asked. And being in my early 30s at the time, I was a little cocky. I said, it will be when I run county-wide (ph).

And that was a good joke, he said, but he wasn't amused. This bill is still going to die. And he went on to complain that my predecessor's name was easier to pronounce than mine, that I didn't have cookies at my desk, like she did. How would I ever expect to get any votes without having cookies on my desk? I definitely urge a "no vote," he said, whatever your name is. And for the next several minutes, the senate debated on whether I should add an apostrophe to my name for the Irish or whether the fact that Obama ends with a vowel meant that I actually belonged to the Italians. And just how many trees had had to die to print this terrible, miserable bill anyway. And I was chastened and I said, if I survive this event, I will be eternally grateful and consider this a highlight of my legal and legislative career. And I asked for a vote and initially the tote board showed that it was going down, but at the last minute it flipped and my bill passed.

But I was duly reminded that I was a freshman in the minority. And I want to thank all my former colleagues in both chambers for not letting me forget it. To be a rookie in the minority party, as I was, is not much fun in any legislature. And we were called "mushrooms" because we were kept in the dark and fed a lot of manure.

[14:10:21] You know, but one benefit of being in such a position, not being invited into the meetings where the big deals were being made, is that I had a lot of time get to know my colleagues. And many of us were away from our families and so we became friends. We went to fish fries together. We'd go to union halls. We'd play in golf scrambles. We had a great bipartisan poker game at the Illinois Manufacturer's Association. Bor Reglick (ph) would host. Folks like Dave Lucktenfeld (ph) and Terry Link (ph), others would join in. We'd eat downstairs and I can't say I miss the horse shoes.

But away from the glare of TV, or the tweets, or the gifts of today's media, what we discovered was that despite our surface differences, Democrats and Republicans, down state hog farmers, inner city African- Americans, suburban business people, Latinos from Pilson or Little Village - despite those differences, we actually had a lot in common. We cared about our communities. We cared about our families. We cared about America.

We fought hard for our positions. And I don't want to be nostalgic here. We voted against each other all the time. And party lines held most of the time. But those relationships, that trust we built, meant that we came at each debate assuming the best in one another and not the worst.

And I was reminiscing with Christine Redonnia (ph). We came in, in the same class. And we were on the opposite sides of most issues, but I always trusted her and believed that she was a good person. And if we had a bill that we might be able to work together on, it was a pleasure to work with her on. Or Dave Severson, who we were together on the public health and welfare committee and we got some important work done that made a difference in people's lives.

And we didn't call each other idiots, or fascists who were trying to destroy America, because then we'd have to explain why we were playing poker or having a drink with an idiot or a fascist who was trying to destroy America. And that respect gave us room for progress. And after I had served here for six years, my party finally gained the majority. Emil Jones became the president of the senate. And by then I had made some friends across the aisle, like Kirk Dilly (ph), who I believe is here today, and we were able to pass the first serious ethics reform in 25 years. And working closely with law enforcement, who knew by then that we cared about cops and sheriffs and prosecutors and working with folks like John Cullerton, we passed Illinois's first racial profiling law, which was good for police officers and minority communities.

And because someone like my friend John Bowman (ph), who worked at the Shriver's Center on poverty law, helped us build coalitions across the state, including with business, and was able to then reach out to Republicans. We were able to increase tax credits for the working poor and expand health insurance to children in need. And we wouldn't bend on our most deeply held principles, but we were willing to forge compromise in pursuit of a larger goal. We were practical when we needed to be. We could fight like heck on one issue and then shake hands on the next. Somebody like Jesse White (ph), you know, was able to travel around the state and people didn't even know what party he was necessarily from because he bought so much joy with the tumblers and the work that they were doing.

So I want you to know that this is why I've always believed so deeply in a better kind of politics. In part because of what I learned here, in this legislature. Because what I learned traveling across the state, visiting some of your districts before I was running statewide, before I was a U.S. senator, learning all the corners of this state, this most representative of states, a state of small towns and rich farmland and the world's great - greatest city, a microcosm of America where Democrats and Republicans and independents and good people of every ethnicity and every faith shared certain bedrock values.

[14:15:12] I just saw a story the other day showing that if you rank all 50 states across categories, like education levels and household incomes and race and religion, the one state that most closely mirrors America as a whole is Illinois. This state. And I learned by talking to your constituents that if you were willing to listen, it was possible to bridge a lot of differences. I learned that most Americans aren't following the ins and outs of the legislature carefully, but they instinctively know that issues are more complicated than rehearsed sound bites, that they play differently in different parts of the state and the country. They understand the difference between realism and idealism, the difference between responsibility and recklessness. They have the maturity to know what can and cannot be compromised and to admit the possibility that the other side just might have a point.

And it convinced me that if we just approached our national politics the same way the American people approached their daily lives, at the workplace, at the little league game, the church or the synagogue, with common sense and a commitment to fair play and basic courtesy, that there is no problem that we couldn't solve together. And that was the vision that guided me when I first ran for the United States Senate. That's the vision I shared when I said, we are more than just a collection of red states and blue states, but we are the United States of America. And that vision is why nine years ago today on the steps of the old state capital, just a few blocks from here, I announced my candidacy for president.

Now, over these nine years, I want you to know, my faith in the generosity and the fundamental goodness of the American people has been rewarded and affirmed over and over and over again. I've seen it in the determination of auto workers who have been laid off but were sure that they could once again be part of a great iconic American industry. I've seen it in the single mom who goes back to school even as she's working and looking after her kids because she wants a better life for that next generation. I've seen it in the vision and risk taking of small businessmen. I've seen it time and time again in the courage of our troops.

But it's been noted, often by pundits, that the tone of our politics hasn't gotten better since I was inaugurated. In fact, it's gotten worse. That there's still this yawning gap between the magnitude of our challenges and the smallness of our politics. Which is why, in my final state of the Union Address, and in the one before that, I had to acknowledge that one of my few regrets is my inability to reduce the polarization and meanness in our politics. I was able to be part of that here, and yet couldn't translate it the way I wanted to into our politics in Washington.

And people ask me why I've devoted so much time to this topic. And I tell them, it's not just because I'm president and the polarization and the gridlock are frustrating to me. The fact is, we've gotten a heck of a lot done these past seven years, despite the gridlock. We saved the economy from a depression. We brought back an auto industry from the brink of collapse. We helped our businesses create $14 million new jobs over the past six years. We cut the unemployment rate from 10 percent to 4.9 percent. We covered nearly 18 million more Americans with health insurance. We ignited the clean energy revolution. We got bin Laden. We brought the vast majority of our troops home to their families.

Our - we got a lot done. We're still getting a lot done. And our political system helped make these things possible. And the list could go on. There's no doubt America's better off today than when I took office. So -

[14:20:17] So - so I - see, I didn't want this to be a State of the Union speech where we have the standing up and the sitting down. Come on, guys, you know better than that.

But - but - but this will - oh, no, no, no. But - no, no, no, no. I mean I've got a serious point to make here. I've got a serious point to make here because this is part of the issue, right? We have - we have an importation of our politics nationally, and on cable and talk radio, and it seeps into everything. The point I'm trying to make is, I care about fixing our politics not only because I'm president today, or because some of my initiatives have been blocked by Congress. That happens to every president. It happens to every governor. Happens to everybody who participates - anybody who participates in democracy. You're not going to get 100 percent of what you want all the time.

The reason this is important to me is, next year I'll still hold the most important title of all. And that's the title of citizen. And as an American citizen, I understand that our progress is not inevitable. Our progress has never been inevitable. It must be fought for and won by all of us with the kind of patriotism that our fellow Illinoisan, Adelaide Stevenson (ph), once describe not as a short, frenzied outburst of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. It requires citizenship and a sense that we are one.

And today, that kind of citizenship is threatened by a poisonous political climate that pushes people away from participating in our public life. It turns folks off. It discourages them. Makes them cynical. And when that happens, more powerful and extreme voices fill the void. When that happens, progress stalls. And that's how we end up with only a handful of the lobbyists setting the agenda. That's how we end up with policies that are detached from what working families face every day. That's how we end up with the well connect who publicly demand the government stay out of their business but then whisper in its ear for special treatment.

That's how our political system gets consumed by small things, when we are a people that are called to do great things. To give everybody a shot in a changing economy, to keep America safe and strong in an uncertain world, to repair our climate before it threatens everything we leave for our kids. So that's what's on my mind as I come back to Illinois today.

This is what will be a focus of mine over the course of this year and beyond, what can we do, all of us, together, to try to make our politics better? And I speak to both sides on this, because all of you know it could be better. And all of you would feel prouder of the work you do if it was better.

So first let's put to rest a couple of myths about our politics. One is the myth that the problems with our politics are new. They are not. American politics has never been particularly gentle or high minded, especially not during times of great change. As I mentioned when I visited a mosque in Maryland last week, Thomas Jefferson's opponent tried to stir things up by suggesting he was a Muslim. So I'm in good company. But that's nothing compared to the newspaper which warned that if Jefferson were elected, murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will be openly taught and practiced. His vice president, Aaron Burr, literally killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel. I don't want to even tell you what Andrew Jackson's opponent said about his mama. Lincoln himself was routinely called weak, wishy-washy, a yahoo, an unshapely man, the obscene eight of Illinois, and my favorite, a facetious pedi (ph) fogger. I don't know what that means, but it sounds insulting.

So comparatively speaking, today is not that bad as long as you've got a thick skin. As Harold Washington once said, politics ain't bean bag. It's tough. And that's OK.

There's also the notion sometimes that our politics are broken because politicians are significantly more corrupt or beholden to big money than they used to be. Now, there's no doubt that lobbyists still have easier access to the halls of power than the average American. There's a lot of work that we need to do to make sure that the system works for ordinary people and not just the well connected. That's true at the federal level. That's true at the state level.

Folks aren't entirely wrong when they feel as if the system too often is rigged and does not address their interests. But relative to the past, listen, I'm confident we've got enough rules and checks to prevent anyone in my cabinet from siphoning whiskey tax revenue into their own pockets like President Grant's administration did. Until FDR went after the ward bosses of Tammany Hall, they were - they controlled judges and politicians as they pleased, patronage, bribery, and money laundering. It's not as easy as it was to whip up tens of thousands of phantom votes, whether in Chicago or south Texas.

From the tea pot dome to Watergate, history tells us we should always be vigilant and demand that our public servants follow the highest ethical standards. But the truth is, that the kind of corruption that is blatant, of the sort that we saw in the past is much less likely in today's politics. And the Justice Department and the media work hard to keep it that way. And that's a very good thing.

So we don't want to romanticize the past and think somehow it's a difference in the people being elected. And it also isn't true that today's issues are inherently more polarizing than the past. Remember, we endured four years of civil war that resulted in hundreds of thousands of dead Americans. This country was divided on a fundamental question.

Before Pearl Harbor, entering into World War II was a highly charged debate. The fault lines of Vietnam, the culture wars of the 60s, they still echo into our politics a half century later. We've been arguing since our founding over the proper size and role of government, the meaning of individual freedom and equality, over war and peace and the best way to give all of our citizens opportunity. And these are important debates that everybody should join, with all the rigor that a free people require.

My point is, the problem is not that politicians are worse. The problem is not that the issues are tougher. And so it's important for us to understand that the situation we find ourselves in today is not somehow unique or hopeless. We've always gone through periods when our democracy seems stuck. And when that happens, we have to find a new way of doing business.

[14:29:44] We're in one of those moments. We've got to build a better politics. One that's less of a spectacle and more of a battle of ideas. One that's less of a business and more of a mission. One that understands the success of the American experiment rests on our willingness to engage all our citizens in this world (ph). And that starts by acknowledging that we do have a problem. And we all know it.