Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Bernie Sanders Record of Supporting Civil Rights Examined; Pope Francis Visits Mexico City; Republican Presidential Candidates Campaign in South Carolina; Female Students File Lawsuit against University of Tennessee for Not Pursuing Action on Sexual Assault Cases. Aired 10-10:59a ET

Aired February 13, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:07] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: It's Saturday morning at 10:00. I'm always grateful for your company. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you here in the CNN Newsroom. We're starting off with the big debate that's coming up just a few hours from now in South Carolina.

PAUL: It's kind of make or break day, a lot of people are saying, for the race for the White House. Six Republican candidates here. So this is the smallest group we have had yet, we should point out, for this debate. They're set to square off on the stage in a matter of hours after frontrunner Donald Trump said he would tone down the salty language on the campaign trail. Jeb Bush is firing back today. Here is what he said to CNN just within the last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He says a lot of things that turn out to be not very accurate, including shouting profanities. There are a lot of children that watch these debates. A lot of people go to his rallies. A president should never talk the way he does. A president should never denigrate people the way he does. I hope that he's turned a new leaf. That would be wonderful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: CNN's Phil Mattingly joining us now live from South Carolina. So Phil, I'm wondering, what are the folks there in South Carolina saying they want to see tonight?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, I think you recognize that the stakes are very high. While we're seven days out from the votes actually taking place in South Carolina, there's real urgency for those six candidates. All you need to do really is flip on the television here to get the tone for what's happening, attack ad after attack ad after attack ad going after Marco Rubio, going after Ted Cruz, and most notably, Ted Cruz going after Donald Trump, who, as you noted, pledged to have a more positive campaign down here. That appeared to shift after he got a sense of those attack ads, tweeting last night that if Ted Cruz doesn't change the direction in how he's operating down in South Carolina he, quote, "has the standing to sue him" over the citizenship issue that he's been bringing up over and over on the campaign trail. This is how Ted Cruz responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will give him this. He's not boring. My approach consistently has been I'm not going to respond in kind. So he can launch whatever insults he wants. My focus is going to be on the substance and issues. And there is a reason that Donald engages in attacks, because it's all a smokescreen to hide from his record.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now, the Cruz/Trump attack and subplot is one to definitely keep an eye on. For Ted Cruz, it is essential for him to try to cut down Donald Trump who in poll after poll has had double digit leads in this state, Christi. One thing to keep in mind, the south is crucial to Ted Cruz's campaign strategy. Winning states like South Carolina, placing well in the SEC primary states coming up is essential to him moving forward.

Another key subplot to keep an eye on, the so-called establishment lane. Marco Rubio, if anybody can demonstrate what a negative impact a bad debate can have, it's Marco Rubio, who fell to fifth place in New Hampshire after his last debate performance, pledging to have a better night tonight. Also, keep a close eye on Jeb Bush and even John Kasich. Jeb Bush has staked much of his campaign to his performance down in South Carolina. You already heard from him. John Kasich after a big second place finish in New Hampshire, not expected to do very well in South Carolina, but I've been to a couple of his events so far. One will happen behind me in a couple of hours here, trying to get some momentum, maybe pick off a couple of delegates to set himself up for a big Midwestern swing in the weeks ahead, Christi.

PAUL: Phil Mattingly, thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in CNN political commentator Ron Brownstein, Rick Tyler, national spokesperson for Cruz for president. We also have with us John Avlon, CNN political analyst. Good you have to all of you with us. Rick, I was to start with you. We just heard from Senator Cruz about this threat to sue based on his claim that the senator is ineligible to be president. We know that your campaign believes it's an invalid argument. But what do you think the impact is of Trump making this argument over and over? Do you think it's resonating in South Carolina?

RICK TYLER, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT: So far it's been zero. I mean, we've won the Iowa caucuses. We came in third in a blue state in New Hampshire. We expect to do well in South Carolina.

But look, I have to fundamentally disagree with the analysis I just heard. Ted Cruz -- South Carolina, while we want to win South Carolina, is not crucial going forward. We have now dominated the conservative lane. That lane is clear for us. So we are the conservative candidate in this rain. The establishment is a muddle. The establishment has not figured out who it's going to put up against the conservative candidate. And I think Marco Rubio has a lot to prove in this debate because he said in the last debate, that's not going to happen again. So we'll see if it's not going to happen again. And so there's a real struggle, who is going to be the establishment candidate, whether it will be Rubio, Bush or John Kasich. But that's where the focus will be tonight.

BLACKWELL: John, as soon as I heard Rick say we have dominated the conservative lane, I wanted to respond with but polls how -- we know the polls have been wrong up to this point, so I'm not going to go there.

[10:05:01] I'm just going to ask you, is there still this fight now between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz for this conservative lane, and is there now a leader in the establishment lane? Do we have frontrunners in either column?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No. One thing I think the Cruz campaign would acknowledge in their lane analysis of the Republican electorate, there's an evangelical, there's a Tea Party lane, there's a perhaps movement conservative lane, and an establishment center- right lane.

The Cruz campaign has done a good job, to their credit, of nailing down evangelicals with endorsements. But Donald Trump's support has dug into evangelicals. It's broader than any one lane. And that's something that's skewed the analysis. Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, are fighting for that center-right lane. But that's a strong position to be in. And South Carolina is a state that is too easily stereotyped as being what it 20 years ago. So this is a big debate. This is a big fight. Rubio has the most ground to gain. He has the endorsement of South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. But the Cruz campaign has done a good job nailing down evangelicals. But they have to nail the larger SEC primary coming up throughout the south, and it's not simply enough to nail down evangelicals to translate that to a majority.

BLACKWELL: Ron, the last poll in South Carolina came out before New Hampshire, before Iowa, the last major poll. How tight is this race?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think the polling has been pretty consistent with Donald Trump in a double digit lead in South Carolina. You know, South Carolina is a conservative state. It's a heavily evangelical state like Iowa. But it has historically been a state where the establishment and order in the Republican race have kind of reasserted itself. If you go back from 1980 to 2008, every contested Republican race, the frontrunner lost either Iowa or New Hampshire, whether Ronald Reagan in 1980, H. W. Bush in 88, Bob Dole in 96, George Bush 2000, McCain in 2000, they lost either Iowa or New Hampshire, then they won South Carolina and won the nomination. South Carolina was the place where order was restored in the Republican race.

In 2012, it veered off in a different direction with Newt Gingrich winning and becoming the first person in the modern era to win the state without winning the nomination. And you do wonder, this is where many in the establishment were hoping to make their stand. It does not seem plausible that either Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush is going to win this. It is a Trump/Cruz fight. Trump has the upper hand because Trump is cutting into that evangelical vote, particularly blue collar evangelicals, as John noted, whereas Ted Cruz's support in Iowa and New Hampshire hasn't extended far enough beyond evangelicals to truly threaten Trump, I think.

BLACKWELL: Rick, let me test your theory here. If Senator Cruz has indeed dominated the conservative lane, would it be fair to expect him not just to do well in South Carolina but a state in which national security is so important, two-thirds of the GOP electorate considers themselves to be conservative Christians, to expect Senator Cruz to win the South Carolina primary? Is that fair?

TYLER: Listen, I'm not going to predict whether we'll win or not. I think we'll do very well. But what's going to count in South Carolina is ground game, someone who is strong in national security and foreign policy, and Senator Cruz is certainly that. By the way, he voted for the 2015 appropriations bill to fund the budget of the defense budget, which Marco Rubio says that he didn't vote there. The irony of Marco Rubio's assertion there is that Marco Rubio himself didn't vote for the 2015 appropriations bill to put money into defense. So that's going to be interesting.

But, look, I think what Ron is saying is right. I also think it is down between Cruz and Trump. And going forward into March 1st, it's going to be important to have three things. You have to have a candidate with a message. You've got to have organization, and you have got to have money. And there's only two people left in the race now that have the money to go on, and that is Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

BLACKWELL: I think we're forgetting Jeb Bush here. And I have to wrap this segment, but I know you guys are with us for the hour. And I want to talk about the Bush love that I saw when I was there in South Carolina. If the love for the Bush family is strong enough to outweigh the concern that so many have about politicians who promise and promise, as we saw at one of the events, a man said, listen, I love the Bush family. I'm just tired of promises. So this person is a Trump supporter. We'll have for you that coming up at the bottom of the hour. Ron, Rick, John, thank you all. We'll continue the conversation.

TYLER: Appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: Also a programming note. CNN's post-debate special tonight with Erin Burnett is right after the debate, so stay with us for that.

PAUL: All right, we're going to take you live to Mexico City now and show you what is happening in the streets there. That is the Pope- mobile making its way down the streets that you can see are just lined with thousands and thousands of people. He's actually on his way right now to the national palace to meet with President Nieto. We've been seeing him take a moment, talk to people, kiss some babies, get out there with this huge contingent of security that you see around him. We're going to have more on the president's trip to Mexico here in just a little bit, so do stay with us. But that is what is happening there right now as he gets ready for his meeting with the president.

[10:10:006] Meanwhile, the focus is on winning Nevada as the Democrats head west. We're talking about South Carolina, we cannot forget about Nevada. Caucuses happen on the same day for the Democrats. They're courting the black and Latino vote. What is Bernie Sanders's strategy to sustain his momentum and keep his campaign from running dry in the desert there?

BLACKWELL: And this disturbing story, six women, one lawsuit, a lot of questions for the University of Tennessee after allegations of rape and a massive cover up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We came together to change the environment, to change what it does about sexual assault.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: The Bernie Sanders campaign is on the defense after some have questioned how deep his ties ran in the civil rights era.

PAUL: His campaign is releasing images now to show Sanders as a leader during the civil rights movement. But as Tom Foreman explains, this is a complicated history here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In one explosive moment, Bernie Sanders's long claims about defending minority rights, especially in the 1960s, came into question when civil rights icon John Lewis said --

REP. JOHN LEWIS, (D) GEORGIA: To be very frank, I don't want to cut you off, but I never saw him. I never met him.

FOREMAN: Sanders, from largely white Vermont, has heard such critiques before despite ample evidence he was already a civil rights activist since way back in college, organizing protests, getting arrested.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is you in 1962.

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who is that handsome young guy?

FOREMAN: He told MSNBC he demanded his own university change racist policies.

SANDERS: Stop keeping your housing that you own segregated. Stop segregated housing at the University of Chicago. Later I got involved with segregated schools in the city of Chicago.

FOREMAN: But even that photograph is complicated.

[10:15:00] Although it's in Sanders's campaign video and Sanders leads us to believe that's him taking charge of the demonstration, a caption on the university's archive identifies the "handsome guy" as another student. Still Sanders has undeniably taken up issues many time that matter to African-Americans, human right -- health care, judicial reform. He's maintained ties to leading black activists like Al Sharpton. He helped Jesse Jackson win Vermont when he ran for president, and Jackson's Rainbow Coalition helped Sanders campaign for the Senate. The NAACP has given Sanders extremely high marks.

SANDERS: No president will fight harder to end the stain of racism in this country and reform our criminal justice system.

(APPLAUSE)

FOREMAN: One member of the Congressional Black Caucus is saying John Lewis never saw Sanders at the height of the 1960s struggles because Lewis lived in the southeast. "No matter how good your eyesight is," Congressman Keith Ellison says, "if you're standing in Alabama, you can't see people in Chicago."

Strangely, Lewis's comments may not help Hillary Clinton much either because after he slammed Sanders, he said he did meet Bill and Hillary Clinton, but that meeting now appears to have come more than 20 years after the heyday of the civil rights movement.

SANDERS: The human spirit, may it never be extinguished.

(SINGING)

FOREMAN: By then, Bernie Sanders had even recorded a musical tribute to the civil rights era. But for critics in this fierce political battle, none of that seems to matter, as they insist his vaunted record is little more than a song and dance.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Let's talk to the author of "The Essential Bernie Sanders and his Vision for America" Jonathan Tasini. Mr. Tasini, thank you for being with us.

JONATHAN TASINI, AUTHOR, "THE ESSENTIAL BERNIE SANDERS": A pleasure to be here, Christi.

PAUL: Sure. I know you've been following Sanders obviously for quite some time. He's made the civil rights obviously a large part of his platform. But I want to talk about something that happened last night at a Black America forum with him. He received a warm reception initially. But as the night continued to move forward there was some obvious frustration among some of the folks in the audience. I do know there was one local entrepreneur who said to him, "I know you're scared to say "black." I know you're scared to say "reparations." Can you please specifically talk about black people?" Sanders did respond, saying that the issues at hand are more about economics than they are about race. But do you think that based on what happened last night and some of the conversations he might have been having, are we going to see a shift in his -- in how he is going to address this issue?

TASINI: Well, Christi, you may remember that when Bernie Sanders won convincingly in the New Hampshire primary, he said they're going to throw the kitchen sink at me. And I think that this attack, an unfortunate attack, is really a sign of the desperation of the Clinton complain, which essentially sees its campaign meltdown all over the country for the second time in the same way that it happened in 2008.

Bernie Sanders has been a strong, strong supporter of African- Americans, Latinos, people of all races. And I think what people are going to look at, as they did in Iowa, New Hampshire, I think we're going to win in Nevada. We're now tied in Nevada. This is a state that just six months ago Hillary Clinton led by something like 30 points. I believe we'll do very well in South Carolina and maybe win that state. People are going to look at the following things, including African-American voters will look at the following things -- Bernie Sanders supports raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. That would benefit lots of people, including many African-American workers who work in retail jobs, work for poverty wages. Bernie Sanders wants to give healthcare to every American from cradle to grave. That will help all races. Bernie Sanders believes very strongly -- let me just finish -- Bernie Sanders believes very strongly that we should have tuition-free college. That would benefit huge numbers of African- American voters and all people.

PAUL: So if that is the case, and we know of course that is what he's touting, what happened last night? Because Hillary Clinton wasn't there. That had nothing to do -- whatever happened last night between him and that audience had nothing to do with Hillary Clinton.

TASINI: Honestly, I did not see -- I was not at the event and I did not see the video. And all I can say is I saw a couple of reports -- and frankly, I want to be careful with this. This is media reporting. I've been in public life for 30 years as an organizer. You go into a crowd, you're going to have one or two people stand up and disagree with you and maybe say strong things. So I can't put much stock into it, frankly. I didn't see the video. And I think that it's frankly, again, it's kind of laughable to focus on that.

PAUL: I understand what you're saying. You can't comment on it if you didn't see it.

[10:20:00] TASINI: Not only that, but Christi, the fact that one person stood up, did we survey all the dozens of --

PAUL: The reports were that the room itself changed, the atmosphere shifted, is all I'm saying. I just wanted to get your thoughts on that. But I did want to ask you too, because you did mention Nevada, we know that Hillary Clinton has had people there since April with her campaign digging in there. What is Bernie Sanders doing to try to get to some of those folks in Nevada ahead of the caucuses next week?

TASINI: Well, we have something like 11 or 12, 13 offices all over the state. There are people on the ground in every community both in the north, Reno and the rural areas in the north, the Vegas area. There are tons of people on the ground. A lot of the organizers, the people who are in Iowa and New Hampshire where we won the popular vote in both places, actually, then moved into the state. And I think -- I'll just say, I'm not a slave to polls, but the recent polls show them tied at 45-45. And that's after Hillary Clinton led that state by over 30 points just about six months ago. We are going to win Nevada, I'm very confident of that.

PAUL: It will be interesting to see, because we know that the polls have certainly -- I think they've thrown everybody for a loop this time around. They say one thing and then something else happens when we get down to the actual voting in the caucuses. But Jonathan, I'm sorry, we've run out of time.

TASINI: Fair enough, Christi.

PAUL: It's been good to have you here, thank you.

TASINI: Have a great weekend.

PAUL: You too.

BLACKWELL: All right, new this morning, a super-PAC supporting Hillary Clinton says it will spend nearly $5 million trying to boost turnout among African-American, Latino, and female voters in South Carolina. Clinton faced heavy losses in those demographics to rival Bernie Sanders. And while ad buys aren't necessarily uncommon, the super-PAC had earlier said that it hasn't planned on spending this money until the general election. Some see that as a sign of concern over the financials of her campaign, or at least the super-PAC.

When we come back, kissing babies, blessing the sick and disabled -- a big day for Pope Francis making his way through crowds in Mexico City. We've got live pictures for you this morning as the motorcade makes its way to the presidential palace. A huge mass will get under way later today. We are live in Mexico City.

PAUL: And new developments this hour in the spread of the Zika virus. The number of pregnant women in South America infected with the virus is rising drastically.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:26:15] BLACKWELL: We've got this just coming into CNN. According to government officials in Colombia, consider this, more than 5,000 pregnant women are infected with the Zika virus. And the country also reportedly has more than 31,000 cases of the virus overall. Hawaii has started now to put insecticide sprayers in their population centers. There are people going door to door in expectation that mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus could eventually reach the state. The governor signed an emergency proclamation in an effort to, and this is a quote, "get in front of the situation." The World Health Organization recently announced two possible Zika vaccines are under development, but they won't be available for at least 18 months.

PAUL: And in southern California, an enormous natural gas leak has finally been clogged up. This means thousands of residents in the community of Porter Ranch will soon be allowed to return to their homes. The leak was first discovered more than four months ago. Engineers are preparing now to fill that well with concrete so they can seal it permanently.

BLACKWELL: In Ohio, the FBI is assisting police in Columbus to determine the motive of a man who attacked several people at a restaurant with a machete. Police are investigating a possible lone wolf terror incident, possible lone wolf terror incident here. Four people were injured, including one man who is now in critical condition. The police shot and killed that 30-year-old attacker after a brief car chase.

PAUL: And the number of people killed by that magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck southern Taiwan a week ago has risen. It's now 108 people who have died. Rescuers are still working to find survivors. They say at least eight people are reportedly still trapped in the rubble of a collapsed apartment complex.

BLACKWELL: The bomb hidden inside a laptop aboard in a Somali airliner was the work of militant jihadist group al Shabaab. In taking responsibility for the attack the group acknowledged that it failed to bring down the plane as planned. The only person who was killed was the attacker.

PAUL: Let's take you to Mexico City right now. Live pictures as Pope Francis is getting ready to meet the Mexican president at the national palace here. A huge welcome planned there, a ceremony. And thousands of people gathering for the papal mass a little bit later today. We're taking you live to Mexico, next.

BLACKWELL: Also looking ahead to tonight's GOP debate in Greenville, South Carolina. Six candidates will be on the stage. Are they telegraphing their punches possibly on immigration policy?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:31:50] PAUL: Live pictures for you out of Mexico City and the national palace. You see the Pope there, and the pomp and circumstance that is celebrating him with all the music. There he is alongside the president of Mexico, Nieto, and the first lady. We are going to go to Rosa Flores right now who is also there in Mexico City. He saw just a little bit ago the people, the thousands of them lining the street. Now we see him getting ready to sit down with the president. Rosa, do we have any indication of what the conversation will be between the Pope and President Nieto?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, usually Pope Francis makes a statement. Let's not forget that not only is he the leader of the Catholic Church he is also the head of state of the Vatican. And so he normally makes some remarks. I can tell you that in other countries he usually makes a message of solidarity with the government. So he said the church is here to help you through trying times. So we're expecting him to say that.

For example, in Cuba, one of the things he said was that politics are about service. You're not there to serve an ideology. You're there to serve the people. So it's usually a positive message of reinforcement. And he's also the Pope of mercy, of course, so we're expecting him to be gracious with his words as he always is. He crafts his speeches and homilies in a fantastic way because he can be a little harsh, but you don't even know he's being harsh until you may be read it two or three times and digest what he is saying because he's just so good at delivering a message that you need, even though it's not exactly what you want to hear.

But, again, what we're seeing now is pretty much the first big event that Pope Francis will be having here in Mexico and the first time that we're going to have him speak, do one of his many speeches that he will do in this country. And we're expecting him to probably speak about the violence, perhaps the corruption, drug violence possibly.

Some of the places that he will be visiting are very iconic. One of the places is very well-known for the number of women who have been killed, for example, so violence against women, that could be another topic. The other one is pretty much the epicenter of drug violence. So we'll have to see what he says. But I would have to say that anything that he says is usually laced with mercy.

PAUL: We should point out the music being played there is the Mexican national anthem. A very stoic image there of the Pope with the president and the first lady. I know he will be visiting the Virgin of Guadalupe, and that that holds a special significance for the Pope, Rosa. Help us understand what that is.

[10:35:05] FLORES: The Pope always speaks of the mother as the church. And so he is always very, very gracious with his words, because he has a lot of devotion for the blessed mother. Now, our lady of Guadalupe is the mother of not only all Mexicans, but all Latin Americans. And he's our first Latin American Pope. And this is very special to him.

He has mentioned multiple times, I can tell you, both on the papal plane, in the video message that he sent to Mexico before his arrival, that one of the things that he is yearning the most is visiting the basilica of our lady of Guadalupe. We're expecting him to celebrate mass with thousands of people, and then afterwards, Linda, we're told by the Vatican that he's expected to pray in silence to the blessed mother. And he wants to take as much time as he can to do that. And of course the Vatican and Mexico will allow him to do that for as long as he wants. The little insight we got from the Vatican said it will probably take 30 minutes, he'll probably spend 30 minutes praying and reflecting in front of the blessed mother.

PAUL: We know that children are very special to him. He sees them as very precious. And I know you had a moment with him on the plane because you've been traveling with him. What did he tell you about some future plans to reach children, to speak out to them?

FLORES: Children have a very special place in Pope Francis's heart. We see that everywhere. Every time that he's around children, usually he visits hospitals where there are patients who are children. He reaches out to them. Children reach out to him. I remember in one of his other visits that one child asked him, why do children suffer? He went off-the-cuff, hugged the child, and gave some words from the heart. So it's very important to him. He sees them, of course, as the future of the church, and he wants to protect them, to guide them.

Now, about the moment that I had with Pope Francis, his little secret to me was that he is publishing a children's book. So with the help of a priest, they gathered letters from around the world from children, of course. They looked at those letters. They chose, I don't know, maybe several dozen. And Pope Francis took the time to read them, reflect, and answer those questions. And so this children's book will be a collection of letters from children from around the world. So when I was on the papal plane, he gave me that little tidbit. He didn't speak very loudly, but people heard on the plane because you can hear everything on that plane. And so I'm looking forward to reading that because I'm really wondering what these children asked Pope Francis and how he answered those questions, because you and I know that children don't have filters.

PAUL: They don't have filters and they don't always ask the easiest questions to answer. Rosa Flores, thank you so much, we appreciate it.

And do stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:42:06] BLACKWELL: We've got this breaking news just in to CNN, Russia's prime minister says that relations between Russia and the west are so bad that it's basically a "new cold war," using those words. Dmitri Medvedev made the remarks at the security conference in Munich, German. He said, and this is also a quote, that "Sometimes I wonder if this is 2016 or we live in 1962," describing NATO's policy, and these are Medvedev's words with regard to Russia, as "unfriendly and opaque." We'll see what the ramifications are of that statement, calling relations now a new cold war.

Let's turn to domestic politics now, and the Ted Cruz campaign is firing up the grassroots in South Carolina, trying to get out the vote with the statewide phone banks and the door-to-door meet and greets. The candidate himself, though, keeping a low profile ahead of tonight's debate in Greenville. This is his first since the third place finish in New Hampshire and the first since the Republican field narrowed to six.

Let's bring back our panel this morning, Rick Tyler, national spokesman for Cruz for President, CNN political commentator Ron Brownstein, Senator John Sununu, John Kasich's New Hampshire campaign chairman, and we have with us CNN political analyst John Avlon. Good to have all of you back. Good to welcome Senator Sununu to the group.

Rick, I want to start with you. The "Dallas Morning News," the Texas paper of course knows the senator best, decided to pass on endorsing Senator Cruz, instead endorsing Governor Kasich. And let's put up a portion of what they wrote. "As much as we'd like to see a Texan in the White House, we fear that Cruz's brand of politics is more about disruption than governing and threatens to take the Republican Party to a dark place. As we've written before, continuing obstructionist paths might excite primary voters, but it won't benefit the nation or the conservative cause." Pretty damning when the paper that knows you best says we'll pass and go with Governor Kasich. What's your response?

TYLER: We know the "Dallas Morning News" best, also, and the "Dallas Morning News" is a liberal-moderate paper. So we never expected to get their endorsement. We didn't get the endorsement of the "Des Moines Register" either, which was very similar. And so it's not troublesome at all. They would like someone to go to Washington and compromise and get along with Democrats and keep bankrupting our country and go in the wrong direction. But that's not what Senator Cruz promised to millions of Texans, that he was going to go to Washington and he was going to keep his campaign promises, defund Obamacare, grow the economy, balance the budget, get the tax rate down to 10 percent. He's got those plans, and Washington doesn't like it because it disrupts their power structure.

But that's OK, if he's elected president, what you do is you drive the country to make sure the Congress enacts the vision of the president. That's how Ronald Reagan governed. That's how in 1994 we got a balanced budget, welfare reform. And that's what we intend to do. So a Dallas paper is not going to make a difference.

[10:45:007] BLACKWELL: All right, I get it. Ron Brownstein, I'm going to come to you. I want you first watch this ad from Donald Trump running in South Carolina about immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Donald Trump and I approve this message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeff Shaw was a 17-year-old football star gunned down just outside his home. His killer, an illegal immigrant gang member who just got out of prison. Jeff's dad Jamiel is supporting Donald Trump for president because he knows he will end illegal immigration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump is the only one saying you're going to be dealt with. We're going to enforce that. We're going to enforce that. That's a beautiful thing. I believe Donald Trump wants to make us great again, and he loves America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What's your thoughts on the ad? And Donald Trump continuing this narrative, the one he started his campaign with and how that might impact him or the eventual nominee if it isn't Trump going into the general?

BROWNSTEIN: He returns to the core message. We saw that in New Hampshire at the Monday night rally in Manchester where he also used the vulgarity about Ted Cruz. He was very, very hard on immigration. In fact if you look at the exit poll in New Hampshire, a majority of Republican voters in New Hampshire believe undocumented immigrants should be allowed to remain in the U.S. Only a minority supported deportation. But in that minority that supported deportation, Donald Trump had overwhelming support.

This is in the end his core strength. I think when immigration intersected with national security around Paris and San Bernardino, I think that was when he really took another step forward in this race. But there is, as you note, that challenge, that when we get beyond this primary season, there is another bigger, broader electorate out there, and the Republican Party, almost certainly because of Trump's gravitational pull on everybody else, to a lesser extend Kasich and Bush, will be headed into the race, the general election, with a very restrictionist, harsh message on immigration at a time when the electorate is inexorably growing more diverse.

BLACKWELL: Senator Sununu, you're a supporter of Governor Kasich. He finished second in New Hampshire, has said that he does not expect to win South Carolina. Should he refrain from continuing to work in South Carolina and move on to Illinois, move on to Michigan, and focus on the bigger states later in the calendar?

JOHN E. SUNUNU, JOHN KASICH'S NEW HAMPSHIRE CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: Those are going to be great states for John Kasich. But no, he should campaign in South Carolina. Look, he's tied with Jeb Bush in the last poll that I saw. I think they were one or two percentage points that separate them. He has the ability to grow his vote. He did it in New Hampshire. He'll do it in South Carolina. And he'll do it in those crucial March 1st states, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Tennessee, Virginia. These are all states that John Kasich is going to do very well in, and I'll tell you exactly why, because it's about being a conservative that can get things done.

He cut taxes $5 billion in Ohio. Whose taxes has Ted Cruz cut? Nobody's. He rolled back regulations. He created hundreds of thousands of jobs in Ohio. What regulations has Ted Cruz rolled back? None. So it's not just about making a speech. It's about getting these things done. John Kasich has done it. He's cut taxes, balanced budgets, and he's going to take that same conservative, pragmatic approach to Washington and turn the economy around.

BLACKWELL: We know that the positive message that he is using is certainly resonating. Let me come to you, John Avlon, and talk about Governor Jeb Bush. He's got four offices open across the state, 20 staffers. His brother, former president, coming onto the campaign trail at the early started week. If he does not do well there, and there's a good case that he could, what does that say about the viability of his campaign moving forward?

AVLON: Jeb Bush needs to have a strong showing in South Carolina. But South Carolina is often too easily stereotyped. South Carolina is far more than Bob Jones University. It's a state where 40 percent of the residents have moved in from another state. That changes the tone and tenor. Where 60 percent live in towns and cities and suburbs, including my parents. So I do think that South Carolina is a much more diverse state

than it gets credit for, as evidenced by Tim Scott, as evidenced by Nikki Haley, the governor. And the Bushs are popular there. This is still a state where George W. Bush is still very popular. So it will be fascinating to see whether that translates to real enthusiasm, whether Lindsey Graham's support translates to real enthusiasm for Jeb Bush.

But I think understanding the complexity of South Carolina, the reality of South Carolina, a lot of the old stereotypes fall apart both from external analysis and candidates who want to play to the lowest common denominator in the tradition of dirty tricks with push polls and other things that happen.

BLACKWELL: We know the Bush name is certainly popular there. But we'll see if that popularity is transferable. John Avlon, Senator Sununu, Rick Tyler, Ron Brownstein, thank you all.

TYLER: Thank you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

AVLON: Thank you.

SUNUNU: Thank you.

PAUL: If you haven't heard, there are staggering allegations against the University of Tennessee right now.

[10:50:00] Several female students claiming the university covered up or ignored sexual assaults to protect the alleged attackers who were athletes. We'll have details for you straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Six women have filed a Title 9 lawsuit against the University of Tennessee.

PAUL: This is a group of current and former students that say officials knew about campus rapes but failed to do anything about it. CNN's Nick Valencia has been looking into this. And it's really so disturbing.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Especially when you look at the details of the lawsuit. These women are seeking damages, but most importantly, seeking a cultural change at the campus there at the University of Tennessee. They say as it stands now, victims of sexual assault will not get justice at the University of Tennessee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: The allegations in the lawsuit are staggering. Six women, each of them current or former students at the University of Tennessee, each one alleges that they were sexually discriminated against after reporting a rape by a university student athlete between 2013 and 2015. In the Title 9 lawsuit filed against the University of Tennessee this week, the plaintiffs say the university created a, quote, "hostile sexual environment to female students." The culture of indifference was so bad, the women say, that the university interfered with getting justice against their alleged attackers.

[10:55:00] Two of the athletes named in the lawsuit are currently awaiting for their rape charges. But in the other cases, the victims claim the school did nothing to help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We came together to change the environment, to change what is done about sexual assault.

VALENCIA: It's CNN's policy not to name the victims of a sexual assault or rape. One woman identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe number one, spoke to CNN by phone. She describes what happened the night of her alleged assault.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We started by watching a movie. And then he forced me to give him oral sex. He took my clothes off and he got on top of me and restrained me by my wrist and started raping me. And then he looked me in the face. His face changed, and he looked at me and he said, "Let me tell you something. I don't like you, do you hear me, I don't like you."

VALENCIA: She says she went immediately to the police after the incident and even went to the hospital the next day where a rape kit test was done. She says the results of that examine were never tested by police or the district attorney. Responding to the allegation, the district attorney's office told CNN that they were several reasons they decline to prosecute. They went on to say, "Ethical rules prohibit the district attorney general's office from making extrajudicial statements about pending cases." Ultimately CNN legal analyst Phil Holloway says the victims will have to prove that a culture of indifference existed at the University of Tennessee.

PHIL HOLLOWAY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That creates this environment on campus that is hostile towards women and therefore treats women who are victims of sexual assault differently than it treats everybody else.

VALENCIA: As for the university, it released a statement to CNN that read in part, "In the situations identified in the lawsuit filed today, the university acted lawfully and in good faith, and we expect a court to agree. Any assertion that we do not take sexual assault seriously enough is simply not true. To claim that we have allowed a culture to exist contrary to our institutional commitment to providing a safe environment for our students or that we do not support those who report sexual assault is just false."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: This lawsuit also alleges witness intimidation. In the lawsuit it says a former University of Tennessee football player actually reported the rape of Jane Doe number four listed in this lawsuit and was assaulted not once but twice by his teammates. Victor and Christi?

PAUL: Nick, thank you. We appreciate it. We'll keep on this story. And do stay with us.

BLACKWELL: That's it for us. The Newsroom continues after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)