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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Has Died; Republicans Against Replacing Scalia by President Obama; Donald Trump Harsh Remarks about George W. Bush's Handling of 9/11 and War in Iraq; Remembering Antonin Scalia and His Legacy; Fiery Exchanges at Last Night's GOP Debate. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired February 14, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:00:15] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Happening now in the NEWSROOM.

JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA, SUPREME COURT: I do solemnly swear --

WHITFIELD: Remembering Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Antonin Scalia was a larger than life presence on the bench.

WHITFIELD: His powerful voice, a remarkable life and some unexpected friendships.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had dinner together and Justice Kennedy --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that's the first intelligent thing you've done.

WHITFIELD: His death already creating partisan clashes.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's up to Mitch McConnell and everybody else to stop it. It's called delay, delay, delay.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If Donald Trump is president, he will appoint liberals. If Donald Trump is president, your second amendment will go away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. Hold on, gentlemen. I'm going to turn this car around.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just don't think it looks good that the Republicans would deny this president has a right to voice its constitutional responsibility.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The simple fact is the next president needs to appoint someone with a proven conservative record similar to Justice Scalia.

WHITFIELD: All in the NEWSROOM. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. You are in the NEWSROOM.

The U.S. Supreme Court leading ideological conservative, Justice Antonin Scalia, is being remembered today. Headlines across the country calling him a force in the courtroom, a powerful voice on the bench and memorializing the lasting legacy that he leaves behind. Scalia died in his sleep during a visit to a Texas hunting retreat. Right now, his body is at a funeral home in El Paso. The U.S. Marshals service is helping to arrange for his body to be returned to his home in McLean, Virginia. While the cause of Scalia's death is still under investigation, officials say they have no reason to suspect anything other than natural causes.

As the nation reacts to Scalia's unexpected death, the immediate question is what it will mean for the U.S. Supreme Court and the cases the justices are reviewing right now. It also immediately opens up the opportunity for a liberal majority on the bench under President Obama. Democratic appointees have not held the majority in the high court for more than 40 years.

Let's talk about this more with CNN Supreme Court reporter Ariane de Vogue.

So Ariane, good to see you. The court has unusually large number of cases before it this term on some very controversial issues. Let's discuss some of those cases right now and how the death of Scalia just might affect the outcome.

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Well, you know, this is a monumental shift here in the court and we're halfway through this big term and there are big cases being heard. Affirmative action, abortion, immigration and when the court is split 4-4, what happens is the lower court ruling is upheld. That's what stands.

So in the cases before the term, for instance, there's a big labor case and going in, the lower court ruled in favor of big labor here. But after oral arguments, the supporters of labor were very concerned that the Supreme Court justices were poised to strike that down. Now we're 4-4 and that really looks unlikely.

There's another big case, an abortion case and that is concerning the Texas law. Abortion rights, people say that it's one of the most strict laws in the country. The lower court put it -- ruled in favor of the law and now if the Supreme Court is 4-4, that ruling, of course, would be upheld. So in all of these big cases, the death of Scalia is going to make a big impact and the court could put these cases over and not decide them. But then the big question is, how long would that take? How long will they be with a less than full court sitting on the bench?

WHITFIELD: All right. Ariane, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

All right. Republican presidential candidates paused for a moment of silence to honor justice Scalia during last night's debate in South Carolina but then during the debate they squared off on who should replace Scalia and when.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to put people on the bench that understand that the constitution is not a living and breathing document. It is to be interpreted as originally meant.

BUSH: The next president needs to appoint someone with a similar record similar to Justice Scalia, a lover of liberty and then fight and fight and fight for that nomination to make sure that that nomination passes.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We ought to let the next president of the United States decide who is going to run that Supreme Court with the vote by the people of the United States of America.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are one justices from the Supreme Court that would undermine the religious liberty of millions of Americans and the stakes for the election this year, the Senate needs to stand strong and say we're not going to give up the U.S. Supreme Court for a generation by allowing Barack Obama to make one more liberal appointee.

[14:05:15] TRUMP: This is a tremendous blow to conservatism. It's a tremendous blow, frankly, to our country. I think it's up to Mitch McConnell and everybody else to stop it. It's called delay, delay, delay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Scalia's replacement is quickly escalating into a major issue on the campaign trail, as you saw right there. Today, Ted Cruz went so far as declaring he would filibuster the president's nomination on the Senate floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: We should not allow a lame duck president to essentially capture the Supreme Court.

RUBIO: The president can appoint whoever he wants. But Mitch McConnell has already made it clear. We are not moving forward on any nominees in the Senate until after the election.

BUSH: He clearly has the power to do it, but given his position of Supreme Court justices in the past, the Senate should not appoint someone out of the mainstream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joining me to talk more about this, Republican strategist Kayleigh McEnany and Brian Morgenstern. Good to see both of you. All right. So, will it matter if the president tries to find a more

moderate justice nominee, Kayleigh?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I don't think so because I don't think any justice he would appoint would be palatable on the hill. But you know where it does matter, Fred, it matters in that now all of a sudden this is going to be a recurring issue until November. How do Republicans delay? What does that mean? So all of a sudden where ISIS was the top issue, where the economy was the second issue, all of a sudden these social issues become very important because they are integrally wrapped in who the next Supreme Court nominee will be that replaces Justice Scalia.

WHITFIELD: And then, Brian, you have to wonder whether that will backfire particularly for the GOP because this kind of continued delay, well, isn't that the (INAUDIBLE) of the sentiment that you're hearing from voters who say they are tired of the gridlock? And so if we're seeing one more example of potential gridlock over the president's nominee, then why would this score big points for the GOP presidential candidates?

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, it depends on the voters you're speaking to because conservative voters are tired of President Obama running over the constitution and using executive action on immigration and on gun control. And they believe that the healthcare case was wrongly decided by these as Justice Scalia's word, interpreted jiggery pokery (ph).

And so, they want to prevent more of that. And it's this president and his track record that have created a sense of angst and desire to block his nominees. It's not just any president. It's not just being the obstructionist party. It's, in particular, the outrage among conservatives and President Obama's track record that they think that he has forfeited the right to swing the Supreme Court into his direction based on his past actions.

WHITFIELD: OK. So we have heard from the Republicans during the debate. This is what Bernie Sanders had to say about the idea of Mitch McConnell asking President Obama not to name a nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: I just don't think it looks good that for very overtly political reasons that the Republicans would deny this president the right to exercise his constitutional responsibility, which is to appoint members to the Supreme Court. I don't think the public will look kindly on Republican actions to try to thwart what he is supposed to be able to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Kayleigh?

MCENANY: You know, here is a thing. If you heard Ted Cruz last night, I believe he said repeatedly that in 80 years we've had a lame duck president appoint and get a nominee through. It is just not the way that it has work historically speaking. So I disagree with senator Sanders. And you know, I would ask him to look within his own party. You see the president, as Brian mentioned, abusing his executive power all the time. In fact, we recall him trying to appoint members to the national board of relations during a recess in an appointment. That was struck down by the Supreme Court. So I believe it was Lindsey Graham said who said last night, you know, this president has repeatedly abused power and you can't abuse power without repercussions and this is one of those. He has not come to the middle. He's not compromised and this is a consequence of that.

WHITFIELD: So Brian, isn't that if apple and oranges, though? We're talking about 11 months to go. He is still the president. It's a four-year term, not a three-year term. So why shouldn't he exercise what gives him the authority to make an appointment for the Supreme Court in 11 months?

MORGENSTERN: Well, Fred, to answer that question, I'm going to give you an historical example of what might be an outcome here in that the Republicans starting from this posture of saying no justice is similar to what the Democrats did to Ronald Reagan in the '87, '88 time frame when Robert Bourque was nominated and they filibustered him and they wouldn't let him through. And the outcome of that fight in the Democrats posture, which is similar to the Republican --.

WHITFIELD: But the process was under way and that's the difference, isn't it? The process was underway as opposed to Mitch McConnell saying don't even engage in the process.

[14:10:06] MORGENSTERN: Well, and I think the difference is the president. And as we said, this president is in a different posture from Reagan at that time where he had actually work with the Democrats to pass a lot of legislations. He had not abused his constitutional powers as President Obama has up to this point. And so this isn't happening in a vacuum that the Republicans are just saying, no, no, no to Obama. It's because of what Obama has done that they have said enough is enough and that's how we've gotten here.

WHITFIELD: All right. So stick around. The candidates battling over a lot more than the Supreme Court at last night's debate.

Next, I'll show you just how nasty it got.

And later this week, CNN will host two Republican presidential town hall events in South Carolina. All six Republican candidates will participate. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson will appear on Wednesday night. Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and John Kasich will appear on Thursday night. Both events being hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper and will take place live at 8:00 eastern time. The town halls will give South Carolina voters an opportunity to question the candidates themselves and, of course, the passing of Supreme Court justice Scalia will also be addressed.

The Republican presidential town halls on Wednesday and Thursday, 8:00, right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:15:47] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Donald Trump has some harsh remarks about George W. Bush's handling of 9/11 and the war in Iraq during last night's Republican debate in South Carolina sparking a faceoff between candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I'm sick and tired of him going after my family. My dad is the greatest man alive, in my mind. And while Donald Trump was building a reality TV show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe and I'm proud of what he did. He has had the gall to go after my mother.

TRUMP: The World Trade center came down --.

BUSH: He has had the gall to go after my mother. Look. I won the lottery when I was born 63 years ago, looked up and I saw my mom. My mom is the strongest woman I know.

TRUMP: She should be running.

BUSH: It's not about my family or his family. This about the South Carolina families that needs someone to be a commander-in-chief that can lead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Boy, gloves were definitely off. Let's talk more about this. Republican strategist, Brian Morgenstern and Republican strategist, conservative columnist and Donald Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany are back with me.

All right. Brian, you first. You know, the boos in the audience when Trump referred to 9/11 happening on President George W. Bush's watch, Well, Trump said -- he said this before but the South Carolina debate audience didn't seem to like this. So was this a big risk for him in such a Bush friendly state?

MORGENSTERN: Sure. Well, both politically and, you know, if you have any regard for the truth especially when you are talking about the weapons of mass destruction that he cited. Remember, in 1998, Bill Clinton bombed Iraq to target weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein gassed hundreds of thousands of Kurds because of weapons of mass destruction. At the time we went in, this was, you know, as George Tenant said, a slam dunk. So now, Donald Trump joining not just the Democratic party, but really like code pink activists and people who are way out of step with Republicans. That is a huge political risk especially, as you mentioned, in a state that loves the Bushes.

WHITFIELD: And you know, Kayleigh, it doesn't seem as though people want to kind to re-litigate what happened or what led up to, but it's here and it is right back on the debate stage again. So Trump took it even further, you know, saying Bush lied leading up to the Iraq war. How does that potentially impact what has been his lead?

MCENANY: You know, I don't think it's good. And Fred, as you mentioned, I'm a Trump supporter. I think he would be a great president. I think he won the debate last night. But I do wish he would dial back the criticism of George W. Bush because here is what Trump supporters are made of. It's partly conservatives but it's also independents and Democrats. And while what he said may play well among independents and Democrats, in South Carolina, 83 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of George W. Bush. So I wish he would rein that criticism in a little bit and just stick to the criticism of the war itself.

WHITFIELD: And then Kayleigh, you said you thought he won the debate. Why do you think he won the debate? And on what points did he win, in your view?

MCENANY: It is overall, the demeanor that he presented his closing argument I think nailed home why he is resonating so much in the hearts of voters. He said I am be holdings any political interest. I am here for you. And I think his populist message for instance on preserving Social Security in saying voters paid into this, they need to be able to take out of it. That's not a conservative point, but it is populist one and it is one that appeals broadly beyond the narrow conservative base.

WHITFIELD: And Brian, do you agree with that, you know? Did it seem as though, you know, Donald Trump seemed particularly his feathers were ruffled last night? He seemed like he was about to lose his temper.

MORGENSTERN: Yes. He was yelling into the microphone at one point. I will agree with Kayleigh on one thing and then vehemently disagree in another direction.

On the one hand, that populist argument that he's beholden to no one and he has got his own (INAUDIBLE) and he only represents, you know, the common good was used by Arnold Schwarzenegger when he ran for governor of California and it worked. It got him elected. The problem is, he didn't necessarily governor very conservatively.

Now, in the other direction on that debate stage, you saw Jeb Bush get under the Donald skin, you saw Marco get under Ted Cruz's skin. So the two front-runners had a lot of incoming fire. In my conclusion, at the end of that is that in terms of who looked presidential --

WHITFIELD: Who?

[14:20:01] MORGENSTERN: -- with everybody screaming at each other, it wasn't a very high bar, but I think Rubio came out looking well because he had been so damaged to begin with, I think that exceeding expectations the way he did in this debate, he probably had the most to gain.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then there was Marco Rubio who might, you know, who has been arguing that he is the one who looked most presidential. In fact, you know, he even tried to deflect Trump's blame on George W. Bush and instead said it was former president Clinton who failed. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBIO: The world trade center came down because Bill Clinton didn't kill Osama bin Laden when he had the chance to kill him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Kayleigh, did we see a kind of more reinvented, more confident Marco Rubio last night particularly after the New Hampshire debate that did not go his way?

MCENANY: I don't think so. Because everyone - you know, this morning is touting his great performance but what comes to mind when I think about Marco Rubio last night is his spat with Ted Cruz over immigration and where he said Ted Cruz how do you know what I said on Univision, I don't - you don't speak Spanish. And then Ted Cruz responded in Spanish. He really out of place in that encounter. And he looked like he was lying about Ted Cruz's record. So I don't think we saw a reinvigorated Marco Rubio. He did better than last time but the bar was kind of low last time if you ask me.

WHITFIELD: OK. There was a lot of name calling last night and there were even those calling each other liars. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You're the biggest liar. You're probably worse than Jeb Bush. You are the single biggest liar.

RUBIO: This is a disturbing pattern now because for a number of weeks now, Ted Cruz has just been telling lies. He lied about Ben Carson in Iowa. He lies about marriage. He's lying about all sorts of things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Brian, is this more of a display of desperation or down to the wire trying to stay out in front of what could be a very pivotal race in South Carolina?

MORGENSTERN: I wouldn't call it desperation. I would say its crunch time behavior. This is how you do it. You go after the candidate sort of, you know, main brand, the theme of the brand. And Ted Cruz wants him brand of the reliable conservatism. The fact is that he has not necessarily been on a number of issues. And, in particular, with this immigration issue, the notion that Ted Cruz is this reliable conservative when basically everyone on the stage agrees that enforcement first is necessary. And then, you know, we'll talk about maybe legal status or citizenship depending on the candidate and that's where they disagree. But what he's trying to do is boil it down into who seems tougher, who

can come off as the real tough guy and that I think is being dishonest.

MCENANY: I just want to quickly respond. There's a difference in action, you know. There's no doubt when you looked at what happened in the Senate, Ted Cruz was on the side of Jeff Sessions fighting against the bill that Rubio was on the side of Chuck Schumer on. I mean, those are very different position. It's not just, you know, a difference in attitude, it is a difference in position. One was for the Schumer bill. One was against it. Those are the differences.

WHITFIELD: All right, we will leave it right there.

MORGENSTERN: But Ted Cruz was in favor of legal status increasing visas by 500 percent, something like that. He said openly fought passionately for legal status and now he's trying to --

MCENANY: Miss characterization.

MORGENSTERN: Out Trump, Trump.

WHITFIELD: All right, we will leave it there. \

Brian Morgenstern, Kayleigh McEnany, thanks so much to both of you. Appreciate it.

MCENANY: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, remembering Justice Antonin Scalia. He has called a hero and mentor by one of his former law clerks. We'll talk about Justice Scalia, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:27:59] WHITFIELD: U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia may just be remembered for his most powerful voice on the Supreme Court and his ardently conservative interpretation of the constitution.

But as Joe Johns explains, there was also much more to the man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA, SUPREME JUSTICE: I Antonin Scalia do solemnly swear.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first Italian-American to sit on the nation's highest court, Justice Antonin Scalia, was a conservative in thought but not in personality.

Antonin Gregory Scalia was raised in the Elmhurst neighborhood of New York City, the only child of a Sicilian-born college professor and a school teacher mother. They instilled in the precautious a love of words and debate.

SCALIA: I was something of a greasy grind, I have to say. I studied real hard.

JOHNS: He was a top student at public and private and catholic schools in the city. Scalia's interest in law began in college and so, too, interest in Maureen McCarthy with whom he later married and had nine children. His exuberant embrace of conservatism attracted the attention of

Republicans. And President Reagan ultimately named the 50-year-old federal judge to the high court in 1986. There he developed a reputation as a reliable conservative. In his own style, he helped liven the public face of the high court.

Some of the other justices, including the other justices already on the court, if the new guy gets to ask all of these questions, I'm going to sort of step up and ask some questions, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of the other justices, including the justices on the court and had been on the court for a while were kind of like, well if the new guy gets to ask all of these questions, I'm going to step up and ask some questions too.

JOHNS: On abortion, the death penalty, affirmative action, homosexual rights, Scalia clashed early and often with moderate or left leaning bench mates.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If he was trying to get anybody to sign an opinion, it was harder when he would use more combative language. But, you know, as much as they would say, you know, I'd like to strangle him, he was still there in many ways.

JOHNS: And those the sense helped him hone a creative, some said often cruel, strict in his writings becoming a master stylist.

[14:30:03] He once referred to the junior varsity Congress. He quoted Cole Porter, Shakespeare and Sesame Street songs. Off the bench came admiration from young conservatives who wrote books and created websites and tribute, but controversy too.

A hunting trip with Vice President Cheney at the same time the court was considering a lawsuit against the number two over access to privileged documents. A Sicilian gesture some interpreted as obscene and captured by a Boston newspaper. He called it dismissive in nature. Justice Scalia, a man both respected and dismissed, feared and celebrated.

JOAN BISKUPIC, SCALIA BIOGRAPHER: He'll be remembered in many ways, certainly as this larger than life figure, larger than bench figure, someone who embraces both the law and a life beyond the court.

JOHNS: A judge who combined street smarts with a well calculated conservative view of the law and its limits on society.

ANTONIN SCALIA, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: I'm not driven. I enjoy what I'm doing. As soon as I no longer enjoy it, I am out of there.

JOHNS: Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Alight, let's talk more now about the impact of Justice Scalia and the influence that he had on those he knew and worked with. Joining me on the phone the Honorable Lee Liberman Otis, Senior Vice President and a founder of the Federalist Society. She clerked for Antonin Scalia when he was a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals and then after his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Thank you so much for joining us.

LEE LIBERMAN OTIS, FOUNDER OF THE FEDERALIST SOCIETY: Thank you for inviting me.

WHITFIELD: So Ms. Liberman, your reaction on his passing?

OTIS: Well, it's a huge loss. I mean, he was both a great scholar and a great justice and a great legal thinker and I think, you know, he will be very much missed both on the court and by the country.

WHITFIELD: Can you describe what it was like to clerk for him?

OTIS: It was very stimulating and really quite splendid. He -- it was a little scary at first because when we were working on a case, he might ask the law clerks what they thought about it and not infrequently, as soon as you described your views, he might then say, "Oh, that's completely stupid. Or that's completely ridiculous. Or it that can't be right."

But, the key to working for Justice Scalia was to understand that he didn't mean that's stupid or that's ridiculous or that can't be right. What he really meant was explain why you think what you think and challenge me about it because his goal was all about getting it right and he just wanted you to be able to defend your case and challenge him so that he would do the best job that he possibly could.

WHITFIELD: How do you think that made you better?

OTIS: It made me very careful about what I was saying and what I was arguing, certainly. And it also gave me confidence at the end of the day that I could do this well and that I could be an effective lawyer.

WHITFIELD: And now as you hear the tangling over the President's opportunity to appoint a nominee and Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader saying, "No, wait until the next president. Give the next president that opportunity." Where do you stand on this?

OTIS: I -- you know, I'm not getting into that, actually. I really think that for me the -- what I want to talk about is the justice's legacy and his contribution to the law, and I'll leave that question to others. Obviously, people staked out some positions and, you know, McConnell and Grassley have laid down some markers, but ...

WHITFIELD: Well then, based on Justice Scalia's impact on cases that are still pending, that everything will be on hold potentially until there is a new appointment or confirmation, or until the justices can rectify whether they can carry on these cases.

The continued delay, how do you suppose that impacts, what opinions he may have already written on ongoing cases? Do you think a further delay will detrimentally impact some of those ongoing cases? OTIS: Well, I think, you certainly -- it shouldn't affect the court's ability to issue decisions.

[14:35:07] You could end up with some 4-4 ties but that doesn't prevent the court from issuing a decision. What that means is that the decision of the lower court is affirmed and that can happen anyway.

So, I think -- and it has happened in the past and, you know, I wouldn't -- I don't think there's anything to be too concerned about.

WHITFIELD: All right, Lee Liberman thank you -- Otis. Thank you so much for your memories of Justice Scalia.

OTIS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: South Carolina has a large population of active military and veterans. So how are they reacting to Donald Trump's comments on 9/11, and terrorism at last night's debate? Did the front-runner help or hurt his chances of pulling off a win in the Republican primary?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:08] WHITFIELD: All right, one of the more interesting moments in last night's Republican debates in South Carolina was the exchange between Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz on immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R-TX) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Marco went on Univision in Spanish and said he would not rescind President Obama's illegal executive amnesty on his first day in office. I have promised to rescind every illegal executive action including that one.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R-FL)PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know how he knows what I said on Univision because he doesn't speak Spanish. And second of all ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, well, what you didn't get to hear those that Ted Cruz then spoke a little bit of Spanish. So this morning on CNN State of the Union, Senator Rubio was asked about that very exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, were you calling into question whether or not Senator Cruz is a real Latino?

RUBIO: No, I was calling into question whether he knows what I'm saying when he -- he points to this interview, you know, on Univision which he claims that I said something different the way I say in English. He has no idea. He's just going off what other people are telling him and it's false. It's just not true.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Another of the head-to-head battles came between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. Trump hammered Bush on his family, his mother, father, brother and Bush fired back several times as well.

Well, this morning, the former Florida Governor was asked about how he really feels about the billionaire running for president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know him well enough to not like him. I do think that he would not be the proper nominee for our party. He's not a conservative. He's not a serious person.

His conversations in debates when he talks about foreign policy, it's scary, to say that Russia could be an ally. He basically seemed more interested in Putin than my brother for example. I mean, we shouldn't be changing teams here.

We ought to be focused on what are the -- what's the national security interests of our own country and I don't think that he's really thought it through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The debate in South Carolina was a chance for the candidates to reach a key demographic, the military. South Carolina is home to more than 62,000 troops, seven of the nation's most important military bases, including Fort Jackson and Parris Island. And in the 2012 GOP primary, 21 percent of the voters identified themselves as veterans.

So let me bring in retired General Mark Hertling, our CNN Military Analyst and former Commander of the Seventh Army. Good to see you.

MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Hello, Fred. How are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm good. So general was this, the possibility for candidates to try their hardest to tout their qualifications to be commander-in-chief?

HERTLING: Well, first Fred, what I'd say, as you mentioned two of the major military basis in South Carolina, Fort Jackson and Parris Island, a marine base, but there's also Charlotte Air Force Base. And with Charlotte Air Force Base which are to huge as to use an expression as being tossed around air force bases as well as Charleston Naval Weapons Station.

So, you're talking about the first primary where a lot of military veterans are watching to see who their next commander-in-chief might be on both the Republican and the Democratic side. And I would suggest, they are sizing them up from the standpoint of leadership.

The key areas of their character, what they believe in, their presence, how they act because most military folks know that these are people who are going to be representing the United States with overseas leaders and most importantly, their intellect, their understanding of the issues.

So, I think in both of the Democratic and the Republican debate, that's what military folks are watching, especially the intellect piece and understanding if the candidates have a real knowledge of national security issues.

WHITFIELD: So as you feel, you know, a lot of the vets are probably looking for those qualities, you just said like in leadership, character, you know, and judgment. Were there any standouts to you that you think will really have some of those vet voters in South Carolina take notice?

HERTLING: Yeah. I'm not going to name any names because I'm trying to stay as apolitical as possible. But what I'll tell you, Fred, is I was making a check list as I know some of my other friends, men and women in the services are doing.

In terms of those areas of character presence and intellect and we are tallying the scores up, both on the Democratic and the Republican side. There are some leaders, there are some that are falling way behind in our books and truthfully some of the key leaders are getting good advice from a stable of folks who understand national security.

You can tell the difference between the ones who are getting input, who are listening, who have empathy, who have humility versus those who are just espousing some views that are not based in either reality or there are a sophomoric approach to a national security issues.

WHITFIELD: And here's one exchange between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush on Syria in fighting ISIS and Syrian President Assad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:45:02] BUSH: We need to destroy ISIS and dispose of Assad to create a stable Syria so that the 4 million refugees aren't a breeding ground for Islamic Jihadists.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Jeb is so wrong. You've got to fight ISIS first. You fight ISIS first. Right now, you have Russia, you have Iran, you have them with Assad and you have them with Syria.

You have to knockout ISIS, they're chopping off heads. These are animals. You have to knock them out. You have to knock them off strong. You decide what to do after. You can't fight two wars at one time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And I wonder if, you know, those with a military background are listening to these candidates and thinking about, are these ideas best represent this individual or these ideas that best represent those who are advising them?

HERTLING: Well, I think that's the point. I think you have, often in leaders emotional responses, the passion or the throwing out of suggestions that sometimes aren't based on the pragmatics of what is actually occurring.

We're seeing that in many of the debates, that people are throwing out the red meat to get the cheers from the crowd when in fact, many of the solutions that are being thrown out by some of the candidates are irrational, are unfeasible in terms of their approach and show a lack of understanding of what is really going on in the region and with national security issues.

WHITFIELD: All right. Mark Hertling, thanks so much. Always good to see you, General.

HERTLING: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Deceptive robocalls, harsh political ads coming up the primary fight in South Carolina is known can get a little dirty and this here is no exception. The accusations are already flying, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:48] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

South Carolina has a reputation for dirty politics when the primary rolls around particularly. Well, that rough and tumble reputation took center stage last night when Donald Trump accused Ted Cruz's campaign of making deceptive robocalls, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And today we had robocalls saying Donald Trump is not going to run in South Carolina where I'm leading by a lot. I'm not going to run, vote for Ted Cruz. This is the same thing he did to Ben Carson. This guy will say anything. Nasty guy. Now I know why he doesn't have one endorsement from any of his colleagues.

(CROSSTALK)

UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Cruz takes from the buffet there.

TRUMP: He's a nasty guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh my. Well, Ted Cruz did not address those robocall accusations in last night's debate. But, in the past his campaign has said that they don't have anything to do with so-called push polls.

To track the problem, "The Charleston Post and Courier Newspaper" created an anonymous website. They are calling the "whisper campaign". It's for South Carolinian's to submit tips of any questionable campaign activity.

Let's talk more about this with somebody who knows South Carolina politics very well. Joel Sawyer is a Veteran Republican Strategist from the Palmetto state. Joel, good to see you.

JOEL SAWYER, VETERAN REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hi, good to see you.

WHITFIELD: So you're their in South Carolina, you know that state well. Are voters getting this misleading robocalls right now?

SAWYER: Yeah. I am hearing more and more about it. And it's interesting that we actually had a, you know, a fairly strict law, fairly strict state law against robocalls that was overturned, I believe last year. And that made these things a little bit easier to do, a little more bit permissive. So, you know, if the anecdotal evidence is any indication that seems to be going on.

WHITFIELD: So, is it difficult to figure out who is behind these robocalls?

SAWYER: Yeah. I mean look, there's no smoking gun. I mean, anybody who is going to be engaging in this sort of thing is going to be smart enough to keep their fingerprints off of it because, you know, in some level the juice just isn't worth the squeeze.

I mean, getting caught pushing negative information, you know, results in, you know, being in the newspapers, cable news shows talking about it, and then you get this, you know, you obviously get a reputation after a while for dirty deceptive underhanded tactics. And that's something that you don't want to have going on, you know, five days into a primary.

So, whatever marginal benefit you might get out of these tactics are probably not going to be worth the potential downside.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So, South Carolina, you know, voters really don't like it. They find that very unsavory and if they were to found out that a candidate were up to that or doing that with this robocalls or not, you know, saying truthful things about a fellow candidate. They would use it against them when it came down to the polling station?

SAWYER: Well, potentially that, you know, I think you have to consider, you know, the context of the time that were talking about here. The round of really nasty robocalls that everybody remembers was the 2000 Bush-McCain primary.

Now we have something wonderful called the internet, right? So, it is much easier for immature sleuths to use probably available information to go on, and not only track down, you know, who these things are coming from, but also, whether they're even true.

You know, we are really in a phase of the information age far beyond what we were, God that's 16 years ago now. You know, when this really -- when South Carolina really became famous or if you want to call it infamous for these kinds of tactics.

So, you know, I think voters will see through this and I think that, you know, it is much as it is going on. If it is coming from the campaigns, you know, hopefully somebody will track it down.

WHITFIELD: And perhaps you have your fingers on the polls there. So you got six GOP candidates. Is there away in which determining whether voters feel overwhelmed? Do they like having all of these choices or what?

SAWYER: You know, I think that it is good that we had a whittling of the field in Iowa and New Hampshire. You know, we have six -- I think fairly different choices out there right now.

[14:55:00] So, I think it's, you know, its not overwhelming but it's a good number of people to choose from.

WHITFIELD: All right Joe Sawyer, thank you so much. Good to see you.

SAWYER: Thank you, appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: And of course stay with CNN in the final days leading up to the South Carolina primary. CNN will host the Republican Town Hall this Wednesday and Thursday. Watch it right here. And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

This is breaking news. CNN confirming now that Arkansas State University is telling students to stay in their rooms, sending out this tweet. "Two males with weapons reported near the Student Union lockdown immediately until further notice."

So, this message from the Arkansas State University telling students there on campus in Jonesboro to stay in their rooms because of two males unknown to have weapons according to that tweet on campus, and CNN confirming that information from the university there in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

All right, in the meantime, the U.S. Supreme Court leading ideological conservative, Justice Antonin Scalia is being remembered today. Headlines across the country calling him a force in the courtroom, a powerful voice on the bench and memorializing the lasting legacy he leaves behind.

Scalia died in his sleep during a visit to a Texas hunting retreat. He was 79. Right now, his body is at a funeral home in El Paso, Texas.