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Candidates Make Final Push For Third Super Tuesday; Romney To Join Kasich At Ohio Rallies; Palin Skips Trump Event Due To Husband's Injury; Trump Fires Back At Criticism Over Rally Violence; Clinton Says Trump Is Political Arsonist; Sanders Says Trump Is A Pathological Liar; Trump Says Kasich Could Win Ohio; Trump Confident He Will Win Florida; Interview with Donald Trump Regarding Rally Violence. Aired 1-1:30p ET
Aired March 14, 2016 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 5:00 p.m. in London, 7:00 p.m. in Aleppo, Syria. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.
Right now, we're watching the stage in Akron, Ohio, where Bernie Sanders is scheduled to speak at any moment. Later this hour, we'll also check in on Ted Cruz who's holding a rally in Illinois.
And in just moments, you will hear my interview with Republican presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump. He just wrapped up a campaign event with Chris Christie in Hickory, North Carolina. It's all part of the push to tomorrow, the next Super Tuesday. This one, with five states voting, has more than 1,000 delegates in play for the candidates from both parties.
The candidates hit the trail early today, from North Carolina and Florida and Illinois and Ohio, each trying to whip up support ahead of tomorrow's critical vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tomorrow is the day -- tomorrow is the day where we're going to shock the country, and we're going to do what needs to be done. We're going to win the 99 delegates here in Florida.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: At what point do we say enough is enough? If Donald Trump is the nominee, he is a disaster. And the answer is to beat him.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We especially need you now because I know people are worried and they're afraid by some of what they are hearing.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: Coming up in the next hour, by the way, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, hits the campaign trail in Ohio in support of Governor John Kasich. Romney hasn't endorsed any single candidate but has made it clear that he will do what it takes to try to derail Donald Trump.
Phil Mattingly is joining us now from Westerville in Ohio, ahead of that Kasich-Romney rally. Phil, when we -- where we heard from Donald Trump this morning, it was clear there was a lot of tension in Ohio right now. This is a critical state. What's the latest there now?
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a critical state not just for Donald Trump's effort to try and secure the adequate delegates to get that nomination, but also for the future of John Kasich's campaign, a campaign whose tone has shifted very much so into the man -- where the man who he will be campaigning with today has been. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This country is not about us tearing one another day or having fist fights at campaign rallies. That's not what America is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Now, Wolf, that is a change from where John Kasich has been, up to this point. He said, finally, when he watching the television and saw what was happening in Chicago, he'd just had enough and he started to speak out.
Now, Mitt Romney has been criticized for not having a major impact in this whole anti-Trump movement that we've seen. But Kasich's campaign is taking a different route with him today, carefully targeting where he will be campaigning. His first event in North Canton today, in Stark County. His event down here in Westerville, a city that straddles Delaware and Franklin Counties.
Mitt Romney won Ohio in 2012 over Rick Santorum by 10,000 votes, 6,000 of those votes came from those three counties. So, Kasich's campaign being strategic how they deploy Mitt Romney today -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Chris Frates is joining us now from Hickory, North Carolina. Chris, what was the mood like there? Today, we saw the Donald Trump I guess it was an interview with the New Jersey governor, Chris Christie. Was there raucous at all?
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Wolf, having been to a number of Donald Trump events, this was a much more mellow affair. A couple hundred people, smaller by Donald Trump standards. There weren't the thousands of people here at a small theater in the university just a little bit north of Charlotte, about an hour north of charlotte, North Carolina. No additional security.
The usual security you see, secret service was here, local law enforcement. There were a few disruptions, those folks were ushered out rather quickly. They weren't the serial disruptions that we've seen in places like St. Louis. Nobody was forcibly removed by authorities. Nobody laid on the ground. Nobody needed to be carried out of here.
So, it was a much more subdued affair that we've seen on Friday and Saturday of this last week -- Wolf.
BLITZER: As you know, Chris, the former vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, she was supposed to be headlining an event with Donald Trump in Florida but had to cancel. Tell us what happened.
FRATES: Well, I'll tell you, Wolf, very unfortunate set of circumstances here. Sarah Palin was scheduled to campaign in the villages in Florida and her husband, Todd Palin, hurt in a snow machine accident. He's been hurt and hospitalized. She is headed back to Alaska.
A source close to the family tells CNN Donald Trump putting out a statement saying that they understand. They're supportive. They hope that Todd Palin gets better soon.
[13:05:03] And, of course, she was a big force, a big, important endorsement for Donald Trump as he rallied the conservative movement.
But also important to remember, he is not in any trouble in Florida. He is beating Marco Rubio, the native son in Florida senator, by double digits there. In fact, he decided not to campaign in Florida today, instead doubling down in Ohio to take on John Kasich, as we just heard from our Phil Mattingly.
So, while it is a terrible turn of events, Florida not an important place, but the Donald Trump campaign certainly wishing Todd Palin the best. A very unfortunate, sad state of affairs for the Palin folks. Everybody here, of course, wishing him a very, very speedy recovery -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Let's hope for that. Chris Frates in North Carolina. Phil Mattingly joining us from Ohio. Guys, thanks very much.
Donald Trump is responding now to the criticism that he's to blame for the violence at his campaign rallies. I spoke with the Republican presidential frontrunner just a little while ago. His first interview since coming under intense fire from the two Democrats running for president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Donald Trump. Mr. Trump, thanks very much for joining us. I want to get right to the issue of security. We've noticed a very visible security presence at your events over the weekend surrounded by secret service officers and agents. Are you worried about your personal safety?
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): No, I'm really not, Wolf. If you look at what's been going on, we have had not only tremendous security, but we have tremendous love in the rooms where we are. We have thousands and thousands of people. I have massive crowds, by far the biggest. And, you know, we'll have 25,000 (ph) people, and we'll go through sessions where we have absolutely no protesting or, when you say protesting, disruption or protesting, we have absolutely none. Very rarely do we have a problem.
BLITZER: I'm sure when your family, your wife, your kids, see all those secret service officers standing around you as they did this weekend, they're probably worried about your safety, aren't they?
TRUMP: Well, I think the secret service -- first of all, they do a fantastic job. But I think, generally speaking, I -- you know, it was -- it was the idea for secret service because of crowds I get because I do get -- you know, we do have very big crowds. And, frankly, I don't think anybody thinks of it that way. But the secret service is evident. There are quite a few people because the crowds are so big, Wolf. That's the only reason.
BLITZER: Yes, but this seems like a new development, based on that protester trying to jump through a line on Friday night that we -- that we all saw. The -- you know, that was, obviously, very disturbing.
TRUMP: Well, I haven't noticed -- I haven't noticed that much of a difference. We've always had the secret service around and, you know, I feel very -- I feel very secure.
BLITZER: All right, let's talk a little bit about the reaction at the Democratic town hall that CNN hosted last night. Both of the Democratic candidates had sharp words for you. First, listen to Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: What Trump has done is like a case of political arson. You know, he has lit the fire and then he throws his hands up and claims that he shouldn't be held responsible. And he should be held responsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Your reaction to secretary Clinton.
TRUMP: Well, she has to say what she has to say, Wolf. I mean, she has very uninspired crowds. Her crowds are very small. Her -- you know, if you look at the poll numbers, they're down 35 percent because people from four years ago, because people are not inspired by her or by Bernie. There's nothing much to be inspired. It's boring and it's not very inspiring. So, she only wished she had my crowds, and she only wished she had the enthusiasm that I have in my crowds. There is no enthusiasm for Hillary or her crowds.
BLITZER: She's basically saying that you're, you know, creating -- the violence could get out of hand and that you're responsible for this. Are you?
TRUMP: Well, Wolf, there's not much violence. You know, when we have 20,000 and 15,000 and, you know, many more than that, in some cases. We had 35,000 people in Alabama and, you know, there were no protests. And, you know, there's not much -- first of all, let's not even use the word violence. There's very little disruption, generally speaking.
It's a -- it's a function of the press. The press likes to say what they like to say. If one person gets up and starts shouting and the police walk that person out, they try and make it like it's a violent thing. It's not violent. It's a protester that stands or probably a disrupter because think they're sent there by, you know, some people on the other side. But it's a disrupter. But there is no violence. I mean, nobody has been hurt.
I will say this -- I will say this, Wolf. If you look at -- other than Chicago where I've actually been given a lot of credit for canceling. Because I could have gone there and I could've done the speech. And after I did the speech, you know, I don't know what would have happened, frankly. And I didn't want to take the chance that people could've gotten hurt. And I've been given a lot of credit for canceling that one.
[13:10:16] So, other than that -- and then, you had the person that tried to come on stage and they stopped him quite easily. But, you know, we have had very little disruption. We've had very little problem overall.
BLITZER: Bernie Sanders goes one step further than Hillary Clinton. He says, specifically, that you're inciting violence. And he says that -- he refers to this notion that you would pay the legal bills for a man charged with pro -- punching a protester at a rally. Listen to what Bernie Sanders said about you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I hesitate to say this, because I really don't like to disparage public officials, but Donald Trump is a pathological liar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: He calls you a pathological reaction. Let's get your reaction.
TRUMP: Well, look, he was a terrible senator. And now, he's running and he hit a hot streak a little bit but he's failing and it's going to fail ultimately, I guess. I'd love to run against him but I probably even more would like to run against Hillary because I think that they'd both be easy to beat. I think that, you know, once I focus on them -- right now, I'm focused on putting it to -- put -- you know, getting over the finish line. And we started off with 17 people. We now have the four, total of four. And I think it's going fairly soon.
But Bernie was a terrible senator. He did very little as a senator. You know, people don't realize this. Ask him what legislation he got passed. Ask him what he did. You know, it's wonderful to say he's a socialist and he's all of these things. But ask him what he got done. And I know he talks tough and he talks big now. But if I meet him in the election, he won't be talking so big. That I can tell you.
BLITZER: I think he calls you a path -- he calls you a pathological liar because you called him a communist. Do you want to revise that?
TRUMP: Well, I also -- I also called him somebody that I think is lying because a lot of the people that stand up and make fools out of themselves and disrupt my meetings, they have Bernie Sanders signs printed right by the same people that print his signs. Their typical signs. So, I mean, somebody gave them the signs. So, let's see what happens.
But I don't really think too much of Bernie Sanders. He's going nowhere and he'll be going back to being a bad senator again. But that's what he was. He was a senator that did not do a good job and now he's in a position that maybe can't -- he should be very thankful to me because, frankly, he was doing very badly until I spoke about Hillary and Bill when they hit me very unfairly about five weeks ago.
And then, all of a sudden, Bernie started doing better and they gave them a lot of credit for that. But he wasn't the one who took Hillary Clinton down. And I will tell you that he should be saying, thank you very much, Mr. Trump.
BLITZER: Five critical contests tomorrow, Super Tuesday Two, as we're calling. You're calling the Ohio Governor John Kasich an absentee governor. You've added another Ohio rally to your schedule later today. Are you concerned that Kasich will win in Ohio and keep on going?
TRUMP: Well, I don't think he'll keep on going. He may win Ohio. It's right now a tie. According to most of the polls, we're literally tied. He may win in Ohio. I mean who knows. He's the governor. But he has not done a good job. He's convinced people that he has. He hasn't. They're losing industry tremendously. He voted for NAFTA which is the reason they're losing industry. Now he wants TPP. He has -- he's raised real estate taxes in Ohio through the roof.
And, frankly, the only reason he's doing well in Ohio is because of the oil that they got lucky and they found. I mean, Ohio happened to be sitting on top of oil. So, you look at what's happened. It's the biggest budget increase in the entire United States. Their budget has increased more than any other state in the United States. And he's got, you know, a lot of problems. And now, with the fact that oil is down, he can't use that as a -- as a crutch anymore.
So, with the budget increases and all the problems they have and the tremendous loss of industry -- I mean, they've lost Eaton. They've lost Ford. They've lost a tremendous number of people and a tremendous number of companies.
And so, look, I don't think he would do the job. He certainly will not do the job that Donald Trump is going to do, because I will be bringing jobs back. And I'll be bringing companies back to the United States, and he will never be able to do that.
BLITZER: What about Florida tomorrow because the polls show you way ahead of the incumbent senator, Marco Rubio. Cruz is looking like there's a little fight going on for second place.
TRUMP: Well, Marco is not a very popular guy in Florida. He doesn't show up to vote. He's got the worst voting record of the
[13:15:00] United States Senate in 20 years. This guy doesn't vote. They put him in. He really defrauded the people of Florida, Wolf, because they put him in and he was their senator and from that point on, I mean, he started running for president. And he's failed very, very badly at that. And, you know, I mean they -- they elected him to be their senator and even on important vote he doesn't show up to vote. And you can't do that.
And I'm not just talking about the fact that he's running for office, because other people are running also and they -- they have a much better record than he has. So, you know, Marco, frankly, I think made a big mistake. He should have stayed as a senator. He should have gone into those beautiful halls and he should have voted.
BLITZER: Very quickly, I want you to respond to the president of the United States. Over the weekend he was in Austin, Texas, and he said this. Listen carefully to President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And what the folks who are running for office should be focused on is how we can make it even better, not insults and school yard taunts and manufacturing facts. Not divisiveness along the lines of race or faith. Certainly not violence against other Americans or excluding them. We're a better country than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: He's saying, as you just heard, he's saying you're divisive and the country deserves better. And I wanted to give you a chance to respond to the president.
TRUMP: Well, sure, I'd love to respond to that because I've been saying for a long period of time that he's the most divisive president maybe that we've ever had and he had an opportunity to bring the country together. And whether it's white and black or so many other different forms of division, the fact is, he's been the most divisive president I think we've ever had. I would be a total unity president.
You take a look. We have an African-American president and what he's done for African-Americans is a shame. Fifty-eight percent and even 59 percent of African-American youth has no job. African-Americans in their prime, 30 years old, 40 years old, 50 years old, they are way, way behind. So he's an African-American president who frankly has done very, very little for African-Americans.
And, frankly, I think I'll do a great job for the African-American population in our country. I think that what's happened over the last seven years and soon to be eight years for African-Americans is really a shame and really disgraceful. And I think the president of the United States should be ashamed of the job that he's done for African- Americans in our country.
BLITZER: All right, bottom line, I'll leave it where we started, your message to your supporters about keeping calm out there, protests are fine, but not violent protests, making sure this doesn't get ugly or dangerous, what's your message to your supporters out there?
TRUMP: Well, Wolf, my people are calm. They are -- they are amazing people. They -- you know, my theme is, make America great again. That's what they want to see, but every once in a while you'll have a disrupter come in. Now, in Chicago, they had thousands of them standing on the streets, so I did something that I think was really called pretty wise by saying, let's not do it today.
But, you know, we really are -- they are calm. They are really calm. But you have these agitators and disrupters and protesters that every once in a while will stand up, it's very rude, they're taking away our First Amendment right, they're taking away our freedom of speech, and it's very -- it's very sad that they're allowed to do it in a sense, but that's the system.
My people are calm. We have had essentially no injuries or anything. We've had very little disruption. I mean the biggest disruption was in Chicago where we canceled it because we didn't want to have anybody get hurt. We didn't want to see anybody get hurt.
But the people that go to my rallies are amazing people. They love our country. And they really are very calm. They're very enthusiastic, I will say. They want to see something great happen for the country. But they are very, very great people. And they are not the cause of any problems, believe me.
BLITZER: But even that elderly man who sucker punched that one demonstrator, you don't want that to go on, do you?
TRUMP: No, I don't like that. And we don't condone that, Wolf. And I've said that numerous times.
Now, with all of that being said, and I still don't condone it, that young man walked up and he made a gesture in in his air with one of -- in the air with one of his fingers, which was not good and was not nice and was very, very horrible to see also. But despite that, I don't condone it and I -- we don't want that to happen.
BLITZER: Donald Trump, thanks very much to joining us.
TRUMP: OK. Thank you very much, Wolf. Thank you.
[13:20:02] BLITZER: All right, we're going to get reaction to the Donald Trump interview. Our political panelists is standing by. Donna Brazile, Tara Setmayer, Jeffrey Lord. I'd like all of you to take a quick -- short -- we're going to take a quick, short break. We're going to access what's going on, get reaction, a whole lot more. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Donald Trump firing back at his critics during an interview I had with the Republican presidential frontrunner just a little while ago. You just saw it -- you just heard it. Let's get some reaction to that and tomorrow's big primaries with our political panel. Joining us, Donna Brazile, she's a CNN political commentator, a Democratic strategist. Also joining us, Tara Setmayer, Republican strategist, a CNN political commentator, and Jeffrey Lord is a former political director in the Reagan White House. He's a CNN political commentator who supports Donald Trump for president.
There has been violence at some of those rallies, Jeffrey. You've got to admit, when Trump says it's been very peaceful, mostly it has been peaceful, but there has been violence, right?
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, absolutely. Wolf, you know, while I was waiting to come on with you, I jotted down a quick list. Columbia University in 1968, Kent State in 1970, the 1968 Democratic Convention, People's Park in Berkeley in 1969, Occupy Wall Street today, Black Lives Matter, Ferguson, Baltimore. The American left is dedicated to violence. They use violence all of the time. The events that I've just named to you have nothing whatsoever to do with Donald Trump and yet this happens over and over and over again. Donald Trump is just the latest to have this problem here and this is -- this -- these are the folks who are responsible for this, not Donald Trump.
[13:25:29] BLITZER: Let me let Donna weigh in on that.
Donna, what do you think?
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Jeff, you know, I'm sorry, with all due respect, Mississippi 1963, Birmingham 1963, I can go '64, '65, '66 -- Jeff, I can go back as far as you want to go back in history in terms of the kind of racial violence, the kind of what I call aggressive rhetoric, the insightful dog whistle. Let's not play left versus right. This is right versus wrong.
And what we have to take into account is the kind of rhetoric that is coming from a major presidential candidate, the leading presidential candidate on the Republican side. The kind of dog whistle, just now Mr. Trump. And I call him Mr. Trump. I'm not calling him Donald. I'm calling him Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump insulted us once again by calling the president of the United States, the man elected for two terms with over 50 percent of the vote, calling him divisive when it was Mr. Trump who back in 2011-2012 began to even raise the issue of his birth. So -- and he hasn't backed down from that.
So let's not get into right versus left. Let's condemn the kind of hateful tone that we're hearing. Let's have a substantive conversation about what is foreign policy, national security, domestic issues. Let's understand that when black youth unemployment is 31 percent, not 59 percent, when Hispanic youth unemployment is 18 percent, let's tell the truth. Let --
BLITZER: All right.
BRAZILE: Let us inspire people, not condemn people. And don't ever be on the side of hate. Let's be on the side of the better angels that brings us up in this country, not take us back to a bygone period.
BLITZER: Well, Tara, you did -- you did hear Donald Trump say that President Obama was the most divisive president in American history. I'm paraphrasing, but that was his bottom line. Do you agree with him on that?
TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I agree that President Obama has been very divisive in a lot of different areas, from, you know, what's going on with not taking the side of law and order in this country, to using his office executive orders as the president to disrespect the Constitution in this country. So there -- there is this argument to be made.
But this is -- it's much bigger than that. You know, this tit for tat back and forth about, well, you know, in history this happened and in history that happened. We all saw that. What's going on right now, there is a responsibility on Donald Trump' part, if you want to be the leader of the free world, you want to represent the office of the presidency, then you have a responsibility to condone unequivocally what is going on, on both sides. We're not going to absolve the left and the crazy (INAUDIBLE) over there doing what they're doing, trying to shut down free speech, but let's not take away Donald Trump's responsibility here.
You know, Jeff, I know that you support Donald Trump and that's your prerogative. But when you see how he handles these situations and you see what he says, when he goes out and he says, we should punch protesters in the face, we want to see people pulled out on stretchers, remember the days of old when people, you know, it was tougher on them and the vigilante justice, can you sit here and tell me that that's the kind of let's make America great again that you want? Do you think this is making America great again? How can you sit back as someone who actually worked under Ronald Reagan, who was a statesman, who understood how to unify people, who was the great communicator, how can you sit there and watch how Donald Trump has handled all of these things, the words that come out of his mouth, the lies that come out of his mouth, the propaganda, the demagoguery and you sit here and think that this is making America great again? Honestly.
BLITZER: Go ahead, Jeff.
SETMAYER: And I'm a conservative, life-long.
LORD: Tara --
SETMAYER: My whole life.
LORD: Tara, let -- let me -- let me just -- let me just say, in 1969, then Governor Reagan sent in the California Highway Patrol and the local police, called the demonstrators, the protesters who had physically taken over People's Park at Berkeley by force --
SETMAYER: I know.
LORD: He called them communists, sexual deviants. He sent in the police. There was a riot. This kind of thing, that had nothing do with Donald Trump.
SETMAYER: Yes, but -- but --
LORD: Ronald Reagan was as forceful in his language then as Donald Trump is now.
SETMAYER: No, he's not. But, Jeff --
LORD: The American people have had (INAUDIBLE).
SETMAYER: Ronald Reagan never condoned punching protesters in the face.
LORD: No, there's no excuse for violence. (INAUDIBLE) --
SETMAYER: Ronald Reagan never said the outrageous things that Donald Trump has said justifying this kind of behavior. Ronald Reagan actually -- I -- I'm familiar with that incident --
LORD: There is no excuse for violence.
SETMAYER: And he was -- he was clear about the protesters --
BRAZILE: Tara --
SETMAYER: Breaking the law. He wasn't condoning violence begets violence. That's what Donald Trump is doing. Did Ronald Reagan say, I'm going to go ahead and pay the legal bills of someone that punched a peaceful protester in the face?
BRAZILE: Right.
[13:30:03] SETMAYER: I don't care what the protester said.
BRAZILE: Right. Right.
SETMAYER: He wasn't violent.
BRAZILE: And let's also be clear about the history. Ronald Reagan started his campaign in Neshoba County, Mississippi, where three individuals were murdered.
