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Reagan's Casket Arrives at Library; Presidential Race. Aired 2- 2:30p ET

Aired March 9, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


[14:00:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Her body has just arrived at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library there just in the Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley area of southern California. The former first lady will be carried inside the library by a number of Secret Service agents and then her body will be placed there to lie in repose for the next few days before she is laid to rest ultimately next to her husband, her beloved Ronnie. That is Friday afternoon.

So let's begin our coverage here with my colleague, Sara Sidner, who is there just - just outside that library.

Sara, talk us through what this day means for so many people.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, to give you some idea, there are about a thousand people who are on the list to be at the funeral service, which is private. But today it really is a day for the public to go and view her body lying in repose.

And as you just mentioned, we just watched as the hearse carrying former First Lady Nancy Reagan's body drove up to the presidential library. It's a very scenic view. It's very quiet here, despite all the media that's here. People are being very respectful.

And to give you some idea of how this all works, I mean Nancy Reagan herself -

BALDWIN: Sara, let me stop you there. Let me stop you there, forgive me. Let me stop you there. I just - let's not speak over this. Let's just watch her casket being removed from the hearse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forward march.

Halt.

(INAUDIBLE) center, face.

[14:05:10] Hands, down. (INAUDIBLE)

(INAUDIBLE) side steps. March.

Ready, down.

Ready, (INAUDIBLE).

Ready, face. Forward, march. (INAUDIBLE) forward, march.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dear friends, it was our Lord Jesus himself who said, come to me all you who labored and are burdened and I will give you rest. We pray for our sister Nancy that she may rest from her labors and enter into the life of God's eternal Sabbath (ph) rest. Receive, oh, Lord, your servant for she returns to you. Wash her in the holy fountain of everlasting life and clothe her in her heavenly wedding garment. May she hear your words of invitation, come you blessed of my Fathers. May she gaze upon you Lord face to face and taste the blessedness of perfect rest. May angels surround her and saints welcome her in peace, into your hands, oh, Lord, we commend our sister, Nancy.

BALDWIN: And so now Nancy Reagan is home. She is now lying in repose there at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, just feet from her husband, who is buried just outside of those doors. They're no longer showing pictures - let me just be clear and transparent. They're not showing pictures of the casket any longer because they are now holding a private ceremony there inside of that library.

And so there will be pictures up. We, of course, will dip in and back out. There will be ceremonies for VIPs and special guests. And then, ultimately, later today, because I know there are so many people, members of the public who want to pay their respects to the former first lady who passed away just this past Sunday morning, they will be able to do so this afternoon and tomorrow. And then her funeral will be this time Friday afternoon.

Let me bring in Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian, who can just talk a little bit about, you know, the legacy. And when you think of Nancy Reagan, I keep coming back to the image of her bending down and kissing her husband's casket some years ago at his funeral. But this is a woman who planned her own funeral, who wants to be buried right next to her beloved Ronnie because apparently she said she wanted to feel as though they were holding hands.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: That's right, Brooke, and he wanted to be buried just inches from him, casket to caskets. And viewers should realize that Simi Valley is a Garden of Eden. On top of that hill, where we've been looking at the landscape views there -

BALDWIN: Beautiful.

BRINKLEY: It's stunning. And those were the bridle trails where Ronnie and Nancy used to ride horses. And they would, you know, spend time at Pacific Palisades, and Topanga (ph) Canyon, Malibu, eventually got their ranch home out by Santa Barbara.

[14:10:06] But Nancy Reagan loved California. She was never very happy in New York or Washington, D.C. It was that - this area from Bellaire to Simi Valley to Santa Barbara that was really home to her.

BALDWIN: You know, so many of us were just there in the fall for our CNN Republican debate. All of us remarking how just absolutely stunning it was atop all those mountains looking down. And so many people, I should mention, you know, as the name Ronald Reagan was evoked so much, so many people were asking, well, where's Nancy and how is Nancy doing? And when you think of Nancy Reagan, you think of the '80s and you think of her, "say no to drugs," you know, campaign. It was so incredibly powerful.

But I just keep going back to Nancy Reagan representing old Hollywood and just such a tremendous love story with her husband.

BRINKLEY: Well, and she just adored Hollywood. Whenever I spent any time with her, I would talk to her about what was going on with current actors, not just of her era, but she liked every bit of gossip and detail that was going on in Hollywood at any moment. She loved "Vanity Fair" magazine a great deal.

And, you know, the thing about presidential libraries, she would sometimes drive and spend a lot of time at the library. So people visiting, tourists, scholars would suddenly catch her in the hallway or see her there. She was very hands on working with Joanne Drake (ph) and her assistant Wren (ph) on making sure that that library was the best in the United States. And it has the highest turnstyle, meaning more visitors than any presidential library. That's a testament to how popular Ronald Reagan is.

But, also, they did things like get Air Force One there at the Reagan Library so families could come and get a picture of themselves at Air Force One. And they have the wonderful conference facilities there. And so this is part of her legacy, the whole complex there on top of the hill where she will be buried.

BALDWIN: Just beautiful watching the precision, the respect paid by these members of the U.S. military as they removed her casket there from the hearse and took it inside. We were all remarking, just goose bumps watching that.

Doug Brinkley, don't go too far here.

We should also just remind all of you, we will be seeing VIPs, special guests start to appear. We're not going to take you too far from this live signal there in Simi Valley.

Quickly, though, to Sara Sidner, who's been watching this motorcade travel northward to this part of California.

And, Sara, Friday, the funeral, what exactly will be happening then?

SIDNER: There will be a lot of dignitaries. That's when the majority the dignitaries will show up because, as I said earlier, this is really for the public.

And just a quick note here. You talked about her planning her own funeral. We were talking to the folks at the Reagan Library. It was just about six months ago that she went back over every single detail of exactly how she wanted her funeral to be. Something that she had planned with Ronald Reagan, but something that she had added to over the years. And she had just gone over it some six to nine months ago. So - so really, really, really intense planning on her part. She was intimately involved in what you're seeing today and what you will see throughout the week.

But we are expecting Michele Obama, for example, to show up. Wayne Newton to show up. Tina Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's youngest child, to show up. So there are going to be people from heavyweights from the political aisle to Hollywood who will be here as a part of the 1,000 people who were invited. She even planned on who would be singing, who would be performing. This is really her funeral. And not all of us get the chance to plan our own funeral. This was really her funeral but she also wanted her husband to be a big part of it as well. His body lying right next to hers.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Inches apart.

Sara Sidner, thank you so much.

A quick break. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:17:50] BALDWIN: And we're back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin, live at just the absolutely beautiful University of Miami here in Florida. And

for the next 48 hours, all eyes right here on this city. CNN hosting a Republican debate here at the university tomorrow night. And just a couple of hours from now, the Democrats will be facing off as well. Both races offering some surprises indeed.

First of all, Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders, wow, stunning frontrunner Hillary Clinton by upsetting her in Michigan. Folks, no one saw that coming. Then today Republican Senator Ted Cruz picked up a new endorsement from a former rival, Carly Fiorina. She made an unconventional coupling of Cruz's competitors linking Clinton with Donald Trump. Here she was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The truth is that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are two sides of the same coin. They're not going to reform the system. They are the system. Hillary Clinton has made millions of dollars selling access and influence from the inside. And Donald Trump has made billions of dollars buying people like Hillary Clinton. They are the system. They will not reform it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We will talk in a moment as far as how much this could actually help Ted Cruz. Keep in mind what happened with Donald Trump picking up three states, huge wins, big delegate grab bag here, specifically with Michigan and Mississippi, more than 70 delegates toward the presidential nomination. Trump won by a wide margin. We talked a lot about that margin of victory they were watching for. As I mentioned, Michigan, Mississippi, and Hawaii, with Cruz taking one state, being Idaho.

So let me now bring in CNN political director David Chalian, which we'll get to Carly Fiorina in just a moment.

But first, you've got some news hot off the presses here?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, yes. Our Ashleigh Killa (ph) was now reporting that Jeb Bush is going to be meeting with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz today here in Miami and John Kasich tomorrow. It should not be too surprising that Jeb Bush, who's from Miami, the debate is happening here, that there would be these kinds of courtesy calls and meetings. What, of course, is noteworthy here, is who he's not meeting with, and that's Donald Trump, is not on the list of the candidates that Jeb Bush is not meeting with. That probably shouldn't be too surprising too anyone.

[14:20:14] BALDWIN: Let me show you my shocked face. Not so much at all on that one. But specifically so many people have been watching. There has, obviously, been some bad blood between mentor/mentee, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and questions as to whether or not Jeb Bush would officially endorse someone. Do you see that as likely ahead of the debate Thursday?

CHALIAN: I -

BALDWIN: Or even next week in the primaries?

CHALIAN: My sense had always been that - that Jeb Bush was going to sort of stay on the sidelines and not take the bait to sort of get in and endorse before Tuesday because I - what force are you going to back here right now? You saw our poll in Florida today. Donald Trump is a significant leader in this state. If you're Jeb Bush and you get in and you endorse someone and then that person loses the Florida primary, you - what did that do? I think here he can try to pay a little bit more the party poobah -

BALDWIN: Elder statesman.

CHALIAN: The elder statesman, meet with all the candidates. Perhaps he'll get in. I have no doubt that there will be a lot of pressure on him. Lots of folks asking, donors suggesting, please, get in, try to help someone to stop Trump. But I, you know, there are only so many days, what is it, six days before the Florida primary now?

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes.

CHALIAN: I just - I don't know that it would be Jeb Bush's inclination to jump into this race right now.

BALDWIN: One more and then I promise I'll move on to Carly Fiorina. But what do you think those conversation also look like?

CHALIAN: You know, I don't know. Listen, Jeb Bush probably wants to sit with each of them to show simply that he's not meeting with Trump. That he wants to support any of the candidates who are running against Trump. It's kind of like Mitt Romney offed to do -

BALDWIN: Just thinking, yes.

CHALIAN: Robo calls, right -

BALDWIN: Yes. All of the candidates.

CHALIAN: For each of the candidates, right? And some of them have taken him up on that and have put out those robo calls. And I think Jeb Bush is trying to take the same approach here. Trying to indicate to the party that we've got to find a way to stop Trump. That's his message to Republicans.

BALDWIN: OK.

CHALIAN: And I think that's clear in what he put together here.

BALDWIN: OK. Carly Fiorina endorsing Ted Cruz saying, walking into the ballot box, saw my name, that was a surprise, but I'm checking Ted Cruz. How significant is that at the end of the day?

CHALIAN: Not very. I mean I don't think - it's not like there were massive amounts of Carly Fiorina voters that she could bring with her to Ted Cruz. But here's - here's what I think it's significant. First of all, any former rival who chooses somebody else that was (INAUDIBLE) -

BALDWIN: She took him on multiple times in the past.

CHALIAN: That's right. That is - that is a validation. And that is a totally good endorsement for Ted Cruz to tout. He needed some good news after not sort of adding to his delegate total in a significant fashion yesterday.

BALDWIN: Right.

CHALIAN: So he's trying to move on from what was a big night for Donald Trump. There's no doubt about that.

But what I thought was interesting in - is how Carly Fiorina described why she was endorsing him. It kind of linked up their messages in a way that I hadn't seen so much in the campaign when they were both in it. But she had been running against, over and over again, the political class in Washington. And that has been Ted Cruz's brand ever since he got to Washington. So it kind of fit. And I think that Carly Fiorina was able to sort of not just endorse her support for Ted Cruz, but actually help him double down on that message.

BALDWIN: Just quickly on Dems. Total shock, surprise, Michigan, Bernie Sanders. How massive is that for him psychologically, literally, as he heads into another rust belt state next week?

CHALIAN: So it's biggest impact is going to be financially because it's - he's going to raise a ton of money off of that victory in Michigan.

BALDWIN: OK.

CHALIAN: It is a huge psychological boost. It did not do much for him to dig into Hillary Clinton's significant and massive designate lead. I don't think it helped Bernie Sanders get a step closer to the Democratic nomination. But I do think it helps Bernie Sanders have a total rationale for continuing on in this race and it means that Hillary Clinton cannot shake this Democratic nomination race for quite some time. She can't turn and look at the Republicans and just start building a general election. She's - because he - Bernie Sanders is (INAUDIBLE).

BALDWIN: And that's frustrating to her because she wants to be able to take on Donald Trump. She said the other day, right, she wants to focus on the general election. She wants to start chipping away at Trump but she can't do it yet because this guy Bernie Sanders is still in the race.

CHALIAN: She would love to, but you saw him in the debate that Anderson Cooper moderated the other night.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes.

CHALIAN: He's going to take her on. And this trade issue that he's going to - that he took her on in Michigan, you're going to hear that again in Ohio, in Illinois. You'll hear that throughout these Midwest states that are coming up. So he gets to go on in a pretty significant way with a strong rationale to go on, without having to pick up the phone and hear every Democratic establishment person say, Bernie, time to get out of the race.

BALDWIN: Yes.

CHALIAN: Nobody can do that to him this week.

BALDWIN: OK. David Chalian, thank you so much.

CHALIAN: Sure. Thank you.

BALDWIN: As soon as you know more about Jeb Bush and those meetings, please hop back on this set.

CHALIAN: OK. Ok.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much.

CHALIAN: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Carly Fiorina may be backing Ted Cruz right now, but the love, as we mentioned a second ago, let's just say it wasn't always there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk another -- about another one of your opponents, Senator Ted Cruz. He said this week he thinks he will have the Republican nomination wrapped up by the end of March. You were quite critical of him during the fight of Obamacare, which led to a government shutdown. Let's take a listen.

[14:25:04] CARLY FIORINA (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's no honor in charging a hill that you know you can't take, only casualties, although Ted Cruz maybe got name recognition and money along the way. But President Obama wanted this shutdown and Ted Cruz played right into his hands.

BASH: So do you think Ted Cruz would doom the Republican's chances in November?

FIORINA: Well, first, let me explain why I said that, because at the time we didn't control the Senate. And we didn't have historic majorities in the House. And so without controlling the Senate, there was no way that Obamacare was going to be repealed. And Cruz is just like any other politician. He says one thing in Manhattan. He says another thing in Iowa. He says whatever he needs to say to get elected and then he's going to do as he pleases.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And now Carly Fiorina, as we reported, endorsing Ted Cruz.

Joining me now, the lady panel, I'm loving this, Amanda Carpenter, CNN political commentator, conservative writer and former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz, Kayleigh McEnany, CNN political commentator and Trump supporter, and Maeve Reston, CNN national political reporter.

So, welcome, welcome, welcome, to Miami, ladies.

I want to actually begin - I'd love to hear, just quickly, all of your responses to the fact that now we've learned Jeb Bush will be meeting with all three of them, minus Trump.

You first.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: I mean, I don't know how much he can really bring to the race at this point. I think that the safest move for him is really to stay more in the elder statesman role. He's had such a difficult relationship with Marco Rubio, obviously, over the last couple of months -

BALDWIN: Yes.

RESTON: That he would create a whole other drama around, you know, that conversation in the next week if, you know, if he were to come in and endorse Rubio or someone else. It just seems like a big distraction.

BALDWIN: I mean Trump is your guy. And this is a big old - can I say this - middle finger essentially to Mr. Trump, that he is meeting with everyone else but him?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It is, but it's one that helps him, just like the Mitt Romney speech against Trump helps him. It helps paints this narrative of, I am the ultimate outsider. No one inside likes me. And as for what's happening in this meeting, you know, I do wonder, perhaps it's an endorsement, perhaps this is to Machiavellian, but maybe he's going to try to say, Cruz stand down, Kasich stand down, let Cruz get this. Excuse - yes, let - excuse me, let Rubio get this. Perhaps that's it. I don't know. They're desperate to stop Donald Trump. So I don't think Cruz will go along with it, but perhaps that's it.

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, here's the thing, Jeb Bush, along with his own name, he has a vast fundraising network.

BALDWIN: Mega.

CARPENTER: Ted Cruz has already picked up some members of Bush's fundraising team. Even if Jeb Bush didn't endorse, if he gives a nod and a wink over to say, this is who my people should get behind, that would be a huge, valuable resource. And so I think all the candidates would be interested in that.

But, you know, to Donald Trump versus Ted Cruz possibly getting a Bush endorsement where I think Ted Cruz is the only difference it would make where it would help somebody because Cruz has a chance of winning the nomination. I mean he has to go someone where somebody can win. I mean Jeb Bush isn't going to endorse somebody that's going to lose. You only do it if they're going to win. So the difference between Trump and Cruz in this scenario is that Trump hasn't been able to coalesce people behind his candidacy. Cruz is showing some evidence that he's picking more people up, as evidence by the Carly Fiorina endorsement today.

BALDWIN: But Kasich did as well last night, steeling away from those Rubio supporters, because to me the headline - and, of course, I'm sitting here in Florida and I'm thinking of the Florida senator, Marco Rubio, and it was an awful night for him.

RESTON: Terrible.

BALDWIN: I mean when you look at margin of victory, it was in the single digits for two, massive states. If I'm waking up and if I'm Marco Rubio, I'm nervous.

RESTON: They were saying like the Marco massacre, right? Terrible headlines. I think that that - that's the most difficult thing that he has right now, is a very difficult storyline going into the primary that is his be all end all. He has to win Florida. His campaign has constantly said that. And instead he's going into this having to explain why he has a string of losses, third place finish, why he's trailing so far behind Donald Trump in the polls here. You do talk to strategists here who say that the polls probably are a lot tighter than they look right now and they -

BALDWIN: The polls are not always right. Not always right.

RESTON: Yes, and they (INAUDIBLE) in this race. And it may tighten up. But it's just a very - it's just a terrible storyline for him right now. CARPENTER: But here's the rub for Marco Rubio. Even if he wins

Florida, which is a longshot, and gets all 99 of those delegates, he closes the gap with no one. Even if he wins Florida -

BALDWIN: Yes.

CARPENTER: He's still going into a brokered convention. So, win or lose, he's in the same scenario, which is a bad one.

BALDWIN: So, from one end of the spectrum with Marco Rubio. Then you go to Donald Trump and you see his massive wins, a la Super Tuesday mega win.

CARPENTER: Right.

BALDWIN: Double digit margin of victories in both Michigan and Mississippi, two very different states, very different constituencies, ideologies, et cetera. And so I'm just wondering, can he be stopped? I know you don't want me to ask you this, but -

CARPENTER: Yes. No, I mean, it's amazing. Donald Trump plays in all the brackets. He wins all the graphics and really the only play, which is what Jeb Bush is realizing, why he's meeting with everyone, is that the field has to winnow. You have to get in that one-on-one race, whether it's Donald Trump or Cruz, Donald Trump or Rubio -

BALDWIN: But it's helping Trump with everyone else in.

CARPENTER: I know, that's why they've got to get it down to that two- man race in order to have any chance of stopping him.

[14:30:02] MCENANY: And the - the - the one note that plays in Cruz's favor too is, he did win Maine. You know, that's important. That's a constituency that doesn't -

BALDWIN: Oh, he did well this weekend.

CARPENTER: Yes.

MCENANY: And he did well this weekend.

BALDWIN: Sure.

MCENANY: He basically tied John Kasich in Michigan. So he is somewhat broadening.