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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Donald Trump Rally; Marco Rubio Speech; Ted Cruz Rally; Democratic Race; Trump Speech. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired February 29, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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


[12:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson Cooper tonight on "AC 360." That is at 8:00 Eastern only on CNN.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you guys for joining us on this jam packed hour. We appreciate it.

BERMAN: LEGAL VIEW starts now.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. Welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

It is an all-out blitz this Super Tuesday eve. This hour we're expecting some pretty big events to happen and it's very live, so be on your toes. First up at any minute, Donald Trump, a campaign rally in Radford, Virginia. And in about 15 minutes, Hillary Rodham Clinton with one of her own. She's speaking at an event in Boston. And then at 12:30, Senator Marco Rubio's planning to hold a rally in Atlanta. And at any moment, Senator Ted Cruz is expected to speak to reporters following his campaign rally in Dallas, Texas.

And if anything is common in these recent days or if the rent days are an indication, you can expect plenty of fireworks at pretty much every one of those four boxes on your screen. Don't miss a beat right here on CNN. We're going to bring each and every one of them to you live, even if they're happening at the same time. I promise you, I will figure out a way to get all of this to you.

In the meantime, look at this monitor first in Radford, Virginia, because this is where the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump, is about to appear from behind those black curtains at any moment. He will take that podium all on the heels of a CNN/ORC national poll out today. He must be grinning because he is not just dominating his fellow GOP candidates, he's crushing them, 49 percent - 49 percent of the Republican primary vote. That is more than 30 points ahead of Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Ted Cruz. And overwhelming majority. Also, they say they believe that he's going to be the nominee.

CNN's senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is following Donald Trump. He's in Radford, Virginia.

I don't know if he's been tweeting out any of that - any of that sort of particular brand that he likes to do, especially on the heels of really good poll numbers, but what are we expecting today, because every day is a little different? JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, my guess

is he likes to talk about poll numbers, Ashleigh, so my guess is we'll probably hear something about that CNN/ORC poll here in a few moments when Donald Trump takes the stage here behind me in Radford, Virginia.

You're right about the polls. They show him sort of at juggernaut status right now. He is dominating across the board. Not only nationally, but there are a couple of state polls that have come out earlier this morning from Monmouth University that show Donald Trump way out in front in Alabama and Oklahoma. Those are two key Super Tuesday states.

And so at this point the question becomes, can anybody stop Donald Trump after Super Tuesday because he is really poised at this point to really have a clean sweep or a near clean sweep - he may not win Texas - across the board on Super Tuesday. And it also indicates something else, Ashleigh, and that is that perhaps, even though it has been entertaining to watch, that Marco Rubio's very sharp, pointed attack on Donald Trump, sort of going after Trump with a taste of his own medicine, has not really been all that effective. We'll have to see. You know, the real poll that counts, as they say, is on Tuesday night. But at this point it does not appear to be weakening his frontrunner status.

And Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz need a win somewhere. Ted Cruz may win Texas. Marco Rubio's in search of some kind of strong second place finish in all of these states because he is really just opposition well to win any of these states according to the latest polls on Super Tuesday.

Now, in terms of the rhetoric, you heard over the weekend, Ashleigh, Marco Rubio going after Donald Trump saying he wants to make America orange again, talking about the size of Donald Trump's hands. We just heard this warm-up crowd here a few moments ago, there was a warm-up speaker here saying that - calling Marco Rubio "little Marco." Sort of setting the tone for Donald Trump when he gets out here in a few moments.

But one interesting thing that I think we have to take note of, Ashleigh, and that is, over the weekend, Donald Trump felt it was necessary to respond to some of these attacks from Marco Rubio. I was with him in Arkansas. He was talking about his defense of Trump University, those lawsuits that are now facing his organization because of this school that he was running to teach people the model - the Trump model of success. He felt it necessary to talk about that.

Also felt it was necessary to talk about the money he received from his father growing up. Marco Rubio says it was a $200 million inheritance. Donald Trump is saying, no, no, no, it was just a $1 million loan and then I paid it back. Those are some other things that you may hear during this - this speech. Not because Donald Trump is worried about Marco Rubio of saying it again and again, it's because it is sort of setting and laying the groundwork for the general election campaign. Democrats are almost guaranteed to seize on all of that should Donald Trump become the nominee, Ashleigh. BANFIELD: All right, Jim Acosta, thank you for that. We're going the

tap into that rally just as soon as it gets underway. We're watching those black curtains, the parting of the black curtains to see when Donald Trump takes to the podium.

[12:04:58] In less than 15 minutes from now, Florida Senator Marco Rubio also set to speak at a rally of his own. It is set for Atlanta. It's the second of four stops in four different states just today. And our Jason Carroll is trying his level best to stay on it, hop scotching from one spot to another. Right now he's in Atlanta for us.

So give me the lay of the land where you are, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you, if it's any indication of what we heard in Texas and heard in Virginia yesterday, look for more of the same, more insults, more criticisms coming from our Marco Rubio aimed at Donald Trump. This new strategy, which we saw kick into gear after that debate last Thursday of really going after him. That's not going to stop. At least not based on what we've heard so far and what we're expected to hear here in Atlanta later on today.

You know, you've heard so much of it before, Ashleigh, both personal and professional criticism lobbied against Trump, going after his - the way that he looks. The spray tan comments. You've heard all about that, calling him a con man. The whole controversy surrounding David Duke. And now the most recent criticism going after Donald Trump, Senator Marco Rubio earlier today compared him to a barking dog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot elect the dog that caught the car. Get it? Think about it. The dog is always barking at the car. What are you going to do when you catch that car? We can't risk it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: The question is, can he insult his way to the nomination? I'm not so sure, according to some Rubio supporters who we spoke to, Ashleigh, who say they understand the reasons for wanting to go - to go after Trump, but at this point they say enough of Trump, we want to hear more on the issues.

Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: All right, Jason Carroll live for us in Atlanta. Thank you.

We're going a lot of hop scotching right now, so I want to zip over to Dallas, Texas, if I can go west from you for a moment. That's where trusted is behind Ted Cruz as he trashes Donald Trump. Let's listen in live.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump says there are no Americans willing to work as waiters and waitresses. And, by the way, we're talking about at a swanky Palm Beach hotel where people are tipping with $100 bills.

There we go. We got one job applicant right there.

All you have to do is move to a foreign country and then come in as foreign worker and be willing to work for captive wages and be essentially captured by your employer. There were roughly 300 Americans applied for those jobs. You know how many Donald hired? Seventeen. Instead, he brought in hundreds of foreign workers. Why? Because you can pay them a lot less because they can't quit, they can't go work anywhere else, they're captive.

Now, listen, that's not a whole lot different what Donald's doing than a whole lot of other big companies. But you don't get to abuse and take advantage of American workers and then suddenly style yourself a champion for American workers.

If I am elected president, we will secure the border. We will end illegal immigration. We will end taxpayer funding for sanctuary cities. And we will end welfare benefits for those here illegally.

BANFIELD: Ted Cruz speaking live in Dallas to some pretty enthusiastic supporters. And any minute now there's a whole other group of very enthusiastic supporters, but they follow Hillary Clinton. And she's going to be speaking live at a get out the vote event in Boston. It's one of four stops for her as well today.

Nationally, she's got to be smiling with these numbers that are just out. She's 17 points ahead of Bernie Sanders in our latest CNN/ORC poll and she's a whopping 79 percent of Democratic voters who expect her to be the nominee.

Our senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, is live in Minneapolis, where Bernie Sanders is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in a little more than one hour.

They are also very, very enthusiastic, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think so, very enthusiastic. And we're seeing people stream in right now. Still got about an hour and a half ago. A lot of these people sort of typify the Bernie Sanders crowds we've seen across the country, younger, appearing to be students and what have you.

But, look, Hillary Clinton is in some ways in the driver's seat right now and her campaign is trying to appear as if they're not confident, they're not overconfident. They're trying to be cautious, and at the same time they're trying to pose themselves as the campaign that is going to win the nomination, the Democratic nomination for president.

[12:10:11] Hillary Clinton is also talking more about Donald Trump. And that's a little bit of trying to appear like a general election nominee. But I have to tell you, Bernie Sanders has been talking about Donald Trump as well on the campaign trail of late. And it's not just a reflection of who thinks they're in the lead or how well they're doing. It's simply because so many people in these Democratic crowds, as you go across the country, want to talk about Donald Trump. And sometimes when I wade in the crowd, I find Trump is the first thing they want to talk about before their own candidate.

So it's still very much a numbers game though when it comes to getting the Democratic nomination. The delegates are where the action is. And, quite frankly, as I think Jim Acosta might have mentioned, Hillary Clinton appearing to do well, up in the polls in Massachusetts. Bernie Sanders up in the polls in Oklahoma. Sort of a mixed bag, if you will, right now.

But Bernie Sanders is also going to Massachusetts to try to make his case. Here in Minnesota right now, because this is one of those states that has gone in the past for progressive candidates, and he's hoping he can do well in the caucuses tomorrow night, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Joe Johns with his jacket up in Minnesota. That is the cold assignment, my friend. I'm glad you're inside. Thank you for that.

So I did mention one thing. Joe just mentioned that Jim Acosta was reporting on the Trump event. And, yes, indeed he was. And I asked Jim Acosta about Donald Trump's tweeting. And I'm not going to disappoint you. We have a tweet yet again in the last hour. This one from Donald Trump. And he's quoting Mahatma Gandhi. "First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win."

Just let that settle in for a minute, folks. That's Donald Trump tweeting out to the thousands and thousands and millions and millions of supporters he has. Many of them right there in that arena. That's what the view is when Donald Trump takes to the stage, folks. So we are watching what his view is going to be here in Radford, Virginia, where any moment he will come through those curtains and he will address these supporters on the heels of some big, big, big poll numbers. We're going to take you live to that in just a moment.

And also nearly a third of the Republican delegates needed for the nomination are up for grabs. And if it all goes the way of the polls, could it seal the deal for the man who is about to address these supporters? Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:16:25] BANFIELD: Welcome back.

Got some live pictures for you to the right of your screen. Look at those smiles on those faces. They are excited folks. And they are in Radford, Virginia, because they're waiting for a guy they've been waiting for, for a while. Time is on their side though. I got to stop with the pun. Donald Trump rally. And we're waiting for any moment for him to come out and address those folks, all on the heels of some amazing numbers. I'm telling you, the guy is riding high in the polls, instead of fading away, and that's what the pundits had predicted. It didn't happen. Donald Trump is, instead, poised to have a huge Super Tuesday.

If his supporters deliver, the businessman could open up a big lead in this delegate chase. Twenty-nine percent of the Republican delegates are supposed to be chosen tomorrow night. At the moment, Donald Trump is ahead in ten states. All of the states, except for that big kahuna on the bottom that says 155, that's Texas and these folks are going to talk about that and more.

Onset with me, CNN political commentator Errol Louis. Also John Avlon, CNN political analyst and editor-in-chief of "The Daily Beast," and his lovely better half, Margaret Hoover, CNN political commentator and Republican consultant.

I still wish I could be a fly on the wall at your dinner table conversations every night.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, you have been.

BANFIELD: OK, you three, I just, last block, read a tweet that came out in the last hour. Donald Trump sending out, "first they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win." And you can see he attributes it to Mahatma Gandhi. Now, the walking Wikipedia I like to call John Avlon quickly corrected me.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No.

BANFIELD: It is not Mahatma Gandhi at all.

AVLON: Your -

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Then they misquote you.

AVLON: Not - no. Yes, and then they misquote you. It's not that that - that that Gandhi quote is actually from an American socialist labor lawyer named Nicholas Klein from 1918. Probably not the person he was intending to pick from - compare himself to. But on the other hand, is there anyone less like Donald Trump than Mahatma Gandhi in the entire world? I mean other than they're both mammals, what do they have in common?

BANFIELD: They're both mammals. Good one. But this is the story of this campaign.

HOOVER: Yes.

BANFIELD: Things like this don't matter.

HOOVER: (INAUDIBLE).

BANFIELD: They never have. And I'm now going on record as saying, none of it is going to matter.

AVLON: No, of course not.

BANFIELD: I'm not even going to bother asking if it matters. But what it has become is a crisis for Republicans. And I've said that before too, but every day it seems that there's a bigger crisis, Errol, and the crisis now is that big Republicans are saying, I can't, nor will I, vote for Donald Trump.

LOUIS: Well, that's right. And I don't know how long we're going to see that, by the way. One by one I think you're going see state chairs and some of the elected officials going to make some kind of a deal. There will be a handful, like the senator from Nebraska, who actually sit out.

BANFIELD: (INAUDIBLE).

LOUIS: Yes, stand - stand on principle, sit out the election. Something you really don't want to have to do if you're a party leader. But there is this larger crisis of the party leadership's relationship to its base. These people didn't come out of nowhere. They're not receptive to Trump, you know, sort of just because some foreign message fell on their ears. He's saying in a slightly different, very revved up way what the party has been arguing, or at least a significant portion of the party's been arguing for a generation now. This is the chickens coming off the roost.

BANFIELD: I just wonder how many people - there's the (INAUDIBLE), there's the senator from Nebraska that you mentioned. But what about people? What about average folk out there who may feel the same way? And I'm telling you what, the polls are very telling today. Let me give you a couple of numbers.

For starter, here's how popular he is as the choice for Republicans for their nominee, 49 percent. Forty-nine percent. And yet 48 percent of them out there, those Republicans who were asked, say they either probably won't vote for him or definitely won't vote for him. And I wonder if those people will sit at home and what difference that will make.

Margaret Hoover, very quickly, I don't want to miss what he's going to say.

HOOVER: Yes, heaven forbid we miss more of the homonym (ph) attacks on other Republicans. But, look, this is a real - OK, do we need to go to this?

[12:20:04] BANFIELD: Yes. Let's jump in and listen. I'm going to get your comment after.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to have a lot of fun today. We have a lot of time. A lot of time. So, thank you all. This is amazing.

Do you know outside, I don't know if you've heard what's going on. Have you heard? So the room holds 3,000 people. Outside they have 11,000 people trying to get in. Amazing. Amazing.

So I don't know what we're going to do, but we put the mikes out. We put the speakers outside and hopefully everybody is hearing. Are you hearing us outside? Can you believe it?

So, you know, CNN just released a poll an hour ago and it even surprised me, I'll tell you. Just came out. Trump, 49. Just came out. Oh, it's too bad. Gee, that's too bad. I'm looking at little Marco Rubio, 16. Lying Ted Cruz, 15. Carson, 10 and Kasich, 6. So this just came out a few - few minutes ago. Trump, 49. Wow. That's fantastic.

And we just got the endorsement, as you know, of Chris Christie. We just got the endorsement of Senator Jeff Sessions, who's one of the great people. We have Sarah Palin. We have - it's great. We have so many great endorsements.

And I've never thought of endorsements as so much. Jerry Falwell Jr., Liberty University, great guy. Sheriff Joe Arpaio. I mean there's nobody messing with Joe. I'll tell you, we have - we have amazing endorsements of the people that really mean - we have hundreds of people now that want to endorse. The problem is, they want to meet with me. They want to have dinner. They want to get together. And I don't want to - I just don't want to do it. I want to be with you. So there it is, OK, folks, 49, 16, 15, 10, 6. It's looking pretty good. Looking pretty good.

And, you know, importantly, "The New York Post," Fred Dicker, great writer for "The New York Post," political writer, he said that Trump very well could win New York. New York has never been in - in play. For a Republican candidate, it's just not in play. They don't even think about it. They don't even campaign there. I will be campaigning in New York. I love New York, OK? And I will be campaigning in New York. And if we win New York, it's over. You understand. Because we picked up so many delegates.

We're also doing really well in Michigan. So, you know, the Republican - from a structural standpoint, Republicans have a hard time because structurally you have to win Pennsylvania, you have to win Ohio, you have to win - you know they have like a map of, in particular, six states. And you lose one, it's over. Democratic ride is a much easier ride. But if I pick up New York or if I pick up Michigan, it's over, folks. It's over. It's over.

We're going to do great with Hispanics. People are going to be surprised. We just won in Nevada and we won with Hispanics. And we won like 46 percent. So people are going to be surprised.

We're going to do phenomenal with the African-Americans. They're going to be phenomenal. We're going to have - we're going to have large numbers. We're going to have large numbers of people coming over. You know they used to call them - they used to call them the Reagan Democrats. Now we'll -- I'll still keep - let's keep calling them the Reagan Democrats. They're coming over. They're going to be with us.

We're going to have a lot of people, a lot of independents come over. So - and I think, you know, one - somebody said, if it's Trump against Hillary Clinton, it's going to be - can you believe? She - honestly, honestly, she should not be allowed to run. She should not be allowed to run.

Now, Bernie Sanders is over. You know he took a big beating. He took a big beating. But you look at South Carolina. So they just left South Carolina. She had a good victory over him. I drew and the Republicans drew so much more, so many more votes, like double it - and they went down because there's no enthusiasm for Hillary. None. We went way up because whether people like me or not, there is enthusiasm. That I can tell you. There is enthusiasm. Big, big, big enthusiasm.

[12:25:12] So it's been going along well. It's been a nasty, nasty deal. You know when I said I'd run for office, I deal with real estate people, I deal with people - I deal with people much tougher, much, much tougher than the people I'm dealing with. But they're more honest in a certain way. Politicians are very dishonest people. I've never seen such deception. I've never seen so many lies. And these are dishonest people.

And I hate to say it. And it's sad. It's sad. And I say, all took, no action. I mean, I build a great business, a phenomenal business. I file my papers with the Federal Elections Commission. Everybody has it. These people back there have it. They go through - everybody's impressed. A lot of people said, number one, they said he'd never run. Then I ran. Then they said, he'll never sign what they call Form A. Form A is where you literally sign your life away. I signed Form A. Then they said, oh, he'll never put in his financials because maybe he's not as rich as people think. So I put in my financials, which showed that I'm much richer, the company is phenomenal. It's phenomenal. The company is like incredible. And, frankly, the press didn't have that much to say. They were there. You have no idea. The first day they said they've never seen, at the federal - they've never seen people looking - that many people trying to look at papers.

So the papers are great. Low debt, phenomenal assets. Some of the great assets. Big cash flow. And I put them in. And the reason I tell you that is because that's the kind of thinking we need in this country. That's what we need. We have - we have $19 trillion in debt, going to $21 trillion, and that's the kind of thinking. We have to make great deals.

But, anyway, I put in my papers. People came. The press went through every inch of them. They said, wow, this is amazing. We didn't expect this. Because the company's actually much bigger, much stronger and great. And then I have to listen to a little guy like Rubio say, oh, he's a con man. He's a con man. (INAUDIBLE) No, but it's so - it's so insulting. And he had no choice. I guess he had to come up with something because he's getting creamed in the polls. He's like 20 points down in Florida.

You know, in Florida, where he comes from, this guy couldn't be elected dog catcher right now if he ran. No, think of it. He's defrauded the people of Florida. He's defrauded them. He's defrauded them in a lot of ways. You know, maybe he's defrauded the Republican Party, building driveways with their money. You know, they catch him. He builds a driveway and other things and they say, you're not supposed to do that. Oh, I'm allowed to. They say, well, we caught you. He said, oh, I used the wrong credit card. I'll pay you back. He pays it back. Nothing happens.

You know, Chris Christie would take it a little bit differently than that. And, by the way, speaking of Chris, I was standing on the deas (ph) a few weeks ago and I watched - I call them lightweight. I watch lightweight Marco Rubio - he was standing right here. And I watched this and I saw a meltdown. I said, what am I watching here? You know, we have millions of people watching. And I saw an almost complete meltdown. In fact, I was prepared to catch him when he fell. I was. I really thought he was going to fall.

They asked him a question. He gave the Barack Obama answer, right? And he gave an answer. And then he gave the same answer again because he's like a machine. He's like a robot. You wind him up and he talks. He's like a robot. We call him the robot. Well, we call him the lightweight, but we call him the lightweight robot. But he gave the answer the first time. He gave it a second time. Gave it a third time. Gave it the fourth time. And then at the fifth time I said, there's something wrong. And then I looked. He was soaking wet, like he just got out of a swimming pool with his clothes on. And it was - it was honestly - I'll be honest, it was a sad thing to see.

But you can't have this kind of a person negotiating with the Chinese, negotiating with Putin. Can you imagine he's going to go and see Putin. Putin's a confident guy. A smart guy. He's sitting down and Marco walks in and Marco walks in and he's soaking wet. He's exhausted. He's soaking wet. Putin's going to look at him and say, what the hell is wrong with that guy?

Do you remember when he was answering - the Republicans brilliantly picked him to give the answer to Obama in the state of whatever. I guess one of the speeches. One of the - by the way, a very important speech. So Obama got up to this thing and now we have our response, right? And he's speaking. And you see there's something wrong with him. And he's speaking. And then he goes totally off camera during live television and he grabs a bottle of water with the label on it. Now unless he had a piece of that company, I think it was a terrible thing to do. If he had a piece of the company, we could all understand that, right? And he starts chugging water. Nobody has ever seen anything like that before.

[12:30:01] So we cannot have choke artists running our country. This guy's a choke artist. We cannot have choke artists running our country. Our country is in trouble. Our country