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CNN NEWSROOM

GOP Conservatives Scramble to "Dump Trump"; Anonymous Targets Trump in New Hack; Jewish Leaders Plan to Boycott Against Trump; Obama Prepared Garland for "War Zone" Process; Obama to Hit Campaign Trail. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 18, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:00] CUOMO: You want to be like your favorite firefighter right now? You can help the Stones.

PEREIRA: What a guy.

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PEREIRA: Let's do it.

CAMEROTA: That's beautiful. All right. Great way to end the week.

PEREIRA: Yes. Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

PEREIRA: Happy Friday.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happy -- best day of the week. Isn't it? Have a great weekend. Thank you.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, the clock is ticking.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: Hopefully there's time to still prevent a Trump nomination.

COSTELLO: Anti-Trump conservatives racing to take down the frontrunner. But is it too late?

Also, it is official. Hillary Clinton sweeps Super Tuesday Three, but think Bernie Sanders is bowing out? Think again.

And the Korean Peninsula already roiling with tension, and now a new display of military might from North Korea.

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The Republican race for president, the candidates return to the trail

today hitting Utah and Arizona with a new sense of urgency. For John Kasich and Ted Cruz, time is running out to derail Trump's momentum after his big week of racking up delegates. Conservative leaders scrambling to, quote, "dump Trump," and the frontrunner's campaign is now showing signs of concern. As most states gear up to name those delegates, the Trump camp is urging its loyalists to lobby for those positions in case of a contested convention.

Here's an e-mail from a supporter in Georgia where Republicans hold county conventions tomorrow. It asks, quote, "Do you want to serve as a delegate to the Republican National Convention and help us defeat these senseless efforts to destroy our momentum?" It then explains how to become a Trump delegate.

This morning, a campaign leader denounced the stop Trump efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM CLOVIS, TRUMP NATIONAL CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIRMAN: If it was not so ridiculous it would be laughable, what's going on inside the -- I would consider this. We have people who are elitists, who are part of the ruling class of this country, or pretenders to that throne, who think they're part of the ruling class, who are openly and willingly going out here and telling the American people who have voted for Donald Trump that they're stupid, and that they don't know any better.

I want to tell you, if that's the path they want to go down, there will be consequences for that kind of thinking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Hmm. There will be consequences. CNN's Phil Mattingly is with me with more on this. Good morning.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. For the Trump campaign, this is extraordinarily important. This is a moment right now where they need to push bark, and that's why you see them engaging.

The reality is, right now, Republicans are trying to do anything they possibly can to stop Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think you can say that we don't get it automatically. I think it would be -- I think you'd have riots.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): The GOP upping the pressure on Donald Trump. Two days after the frontrunner's interview on CNN's "NEW DAY" where he warned that riots could erupt if he is denied the Republican nomination after securing the most delegates.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Nobody should say such things, in my opinion, because to even address or hint to violence is unacceptable.

MATTINGLY: Top conservatives meeting privately in Washington on Thursday, plotting any way to block Trump's path to the nomination, raising the possibility of a third party option.

RYAN: It's not going to be me. It should be somebody running for president.

MATTINGLY: House Speaker Paul Ryan again rejecting talk that he could become the Republican nominee through a contested convention.

TRUMP: Wow.

MATTINGLY: Trump hitting back at his opponents in his own way, taking to his free attack platforms of choice, social media, with a series of posts aimed at Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton, and Trump's fiercest one- time rival, Marco Rubio.

RUBIO: Hopefully there's time to still, you know, prevent a Trump nomination.

MATTINGLY: Speaking out for the first time after his bruising loss in Florida.

RUBIO: I'm not going to be anybody's vice president. I'm just -- I'm not interested in being vice president.

MATTINGLY: Saying he's done with politics.

RUBIO: I'm going to finish out my term in the Senate and then I'll be a private citizen in January.

MATTINGLY: And a surprise endorsement for Ted Cruz from South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham after months of colorful digs.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: If you're a Republican and you're choice is Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in a general election, it's the difference between poisoned or shot, you're still dead.

MATTINGLY: Now telling CNN's Dana Bash, he's raising money for the Cruz campaign.

GRAHAM: I think the best alternative to Donald Trump, to stop him from getting 1237 is Ted Cruz and I'm going to help Ted in every way I can.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: It is tough to overstate how much animosity truly existing between Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz leading up to this point. So Donald Trump in some way I guess bringing the Republican Party together. Strange bedfellows indeed.

But, Carol, I think one of the most interesting things here is all this is underscoring right now is the desperation. Every Republican operative I'm talking to that is trying to get involved with the stop Trump movement has the exact same question. Is it too late?

[09:05:06] COSTELLO: Phil Mattingly, thanks so much.

It's a good question this morning. To try to answer it, Republicans aren't the only ones going after Donald Trump. The hacker group Anonymous says it published Donald Trump's personal cell phone number and his Social Security number.

CNN has not been able to independently verify this information but experts warn this could be the first phase of a bigger hack.

Let's bring in CNN's Laurie Segall. Hi, Laurie.

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. Well, actually it started a couple of couple weeks ago. You had a video posted online calling on hackers to go up against Trump to take a stand. And now what we're seeing in the last couple of days Hackers are beginning to release they say are Trump's Social Security number, cell phone number, online for anyone to see. They've also leaked phone numbers of his family and business, they've leaked his home address along with his business associates' home address.

I actually called one of those numbers and spoke to -- and actually spoke to a family member of Trump that said that they'd been receiving calls from hackers all day. So we're beginning to see, this is what is almost at the beginning of an Anonymous style hack.

A Trump spokesperson has said that they're looking into it. She said they're seeking to arrest the people responsible for attempting to illegally hack Mr. Trump's accounts and telephone information.

So, you know, Carol, this is really -- when you look at an Anonymous hack, Anonymous is a hacking group that isn't very sophisticated. What they'll try to do is what they call docs, which is put out personal information, you know, call up these numbers, try to scare you a little, take down your Web site potentially by overloading it with traffic. So we're beginning to see that this could be the beginning of them doing this to Donald Trump -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Laurie Segall reporting live this morning. Thank you.

So it's not so grand to be part of the Grand Old Party these days. Disunity rules thanks to Donald Trump. But Mr. Trump certainly isn't lying down. As we told you at the top of the show, this e-mail is making the rounds in the Georgia. It urges Trump supporters to become delegates at the convention, and, yes, it is complete with instructions.

There it is. To discuss, I'm joined by CNN political commentator and Donald Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany and the executive director of the Independent Women's Forum, Sabrina Schaeffer.

Welcome to both of you.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Carol. COSTELLO: Thanks to you both for being here this morning.

Sabrina, Mr. Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski signed up. He will be a delegate at the Republican convention. Trump seems to be covering all bases. So why continue to fight if you're a Republican who does not like Mr. Trump?

SABRINA SCHAEFFER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S FORUM: Well, look, Carol, I mean, there is not exactly a happily ever after story line that is going to unfold come this summer at the convention. I think one of the problems is that the Republican Party is going through some growing pains, to say the least, and there is going to be people who are very unhappy. And I think the challenge now is going to be, you know, how can we both sort of salvage the party and ensure that there's a lot of people who don't feel so disenfranchised.

And that's a challenge for whether Trump is the nominee or whether someone else is able to sort of carry it out. There are going to be a lot of frustrated, angry and despondent voters out there.

COSTELLO: Well, Kayleigh, it seems like the sort of hysteria has set in, though. Some Republicans are even talking about voting for Hillary Clinton.

Listen to what Cisco CEO, a Republican, told Poppy Harlow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK ROBBINS, CISCO CEO: I also think Hillary's a great candidate on the Democratic side. I think they both --

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: You're a Republican saying Hillary is a great candidate.

ROBBINS: Isn't that shocking? I hope my dad's not watching.

HARLOW: You're not -- you're not buying the GOP frontrunner right now? Donald Trump. A businessman like you.

ROBBINS: Well, I think some of his policies are very good. I just think that what we need is we need someone who will bring the country together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So, Kayleigh, he's a fellow Republican. He's a business leader. That should be Trump's home turf. So what happened?

MCENANY: Look, the narrative of, "I'll never vote for Trump," is one being perpetuated by the donor class, by the political class, by the establishment. It's not one that really rings true among the people. The fact is, we are having record turnout in the Republican Party. 60 percent up. Meanwhile, the Democrat turnout is down. Look at Ohio. It is astonishing to find that Donald Trump edged out Hillary Clinton in the number of voters by 50,000 people in a four-way race, in a race where he got second place. The fact is, Donald Trump is expanding the party, he's bringing new

people in. The establishment, I agree with what was said yesterday by a Trump supporter. It's insane to not embrace this movement and instead to try to thwart it.

COSTELLO: Still there are kind of warning signs on the horizon, Sabrina, according to a Reuters IPSO. It shows half of American women have an unfavorable view of Trump. Mr. Trump is again trolling Megyn Kelly. He's calling her crazy this time.

So, Sabrina, are Republicans who dislike Trump right when they say that Hillary Clinton could beat Donald Trump?

SCHAEFFER: Well, I -- I think that Trump has a real shot at beating Hillary Clinton and while I find many of Trump's comments towards women disgusting, I am the head of a women's organization, there are plenty of women out there who support him and they support him strongly.

[09:10:04] So I think that we have to be careful sort of not to think that because he's made some sort of crass comments that that is turning him off to women.

One thing, though, to keep in mind is that Republicans are also thinking about those down ballot races. There are a lot of Senate races and it's going to put a lot of people in an awkward position. If you are an establishment candidate, meaning if you are somebody who sort of considers themselves mainstream Republican and your nominee is Trump, it is going to require you answering all sorts of questions that a lot of senators and potential candidates are not really comfortable doing.

And so I think that's where some of this talk about a third party candidate is coming from, because how can Republicans ensure that they don't lose the Senate?

COSTELLO: OK. Along those lines, Kayleigh, Mr. Trump has endorsements from Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Sarah Palin, Joe Arpaio, and with the exception of Chris Christie, Mr. Trump seems to be only appealing to one side of the Republican base. Is that a concern?

MCENANY: No, it's not a concern to me because we did hear Paul Ryan yesterday say, hey, I'm going to support the nominee. I think you're going to see more of that, you'll establishment folks coming out for Donald Trump. That's the only choice. But let's be very clear here. The choice is support Donald Trump and I think he will beat Hillary Clinton, or go to a brokered convention, which will ensure that Hillary Clinton wins.

We need to unify. Donald Trump has extended his hand. He's put forth an overture to the other side and it's time for the establishment to take a step forward.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there.

SCHAEFFER: Trump supporters feel that way -- but I also realized in -- in talking to lots and lots of people, the uncertainty factor that you get with Trump is enough to keep a lot of people home. And that's something that we have to sort of talk about as conservatives. You know, is it better to know what you're getting and it's sort of maybe the evil one, some Republicans would see Hillary Clinton, or is it better to support the sort of the great unknown, which you get with Donald Trump?

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Sabrina Schaeffer, Kayleigh McEnany, thanks to both of you.

MCENANY: Thanks, Carol.

SCHAEFFER: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, when he walks in, they're walking out. Rabbis taking a stand against Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:11] COSTELLO: We must take a stand against hate. That's the message from a group of rabbis and Jewish leaders planning to boycott Donald Trump. The GOP frontrunner is scheduled to speak at AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group, on Monday but his religious critics say many of them will be no-shows and if they do attend they'll silently walk out when Mr. Trump arrives.

The group says, quote, "This is not about policies. This is not about parties. This is about one particular person, Donald Trump, who has encouraged and incited violence at his campaign rallies. We are against the hatred, the incitement of hatred and the ugliness that has engulfed this political season."

Rabbi David Paskin is one of the protest organizers. He joins me now. Welcome, Rabbi.

RABBI DAVID PASKIN, LEADER, COME TOGETHER AGAINST HATE: Hi, Carol. How are you?

COSTELLO: Good. So of those going, how many do you think will really stand up and walk out when Mr. Trump takes the stage?

PASKIN: It's difficult to know. As of right now we have over 970 leaders of this movement. And that's important to distinguish between leaders and participants. 970 people have signed on, on our Facebook page to be a part of galvanizing the entire convention, the entire conference to participate. So imagine 970 people going out, handing out stickers, handing out flyers, engaging people, talking with people. We could have thousands of people participating with us and that's our goal.

COSTELLO: But still, Rabbi, AIPAC says it has this long standing policy to invite all active presidential candidates to its conferences during an election year. And apparently they just want to hear what all the candidates have to say. So what's wrong with just listening to Mr. Trump's message? PASKIN: Right. So we respect their policy and there may be some who

would take issue with AIPAC inviting Mr. Trump to speak. But that's not the goal of this group. The goal of this group is to say that just as Mr. Trump has a right to speak, we have a right to silence him, we have a right to not be a party to the ugliness and the hatred and the vitriol that he's been spewing and that he's been a cornerstone of his campaign.

You know, it's been suggested that we can't support AIPAC, we can't support a strong U.S.-Israeli relationship while at the same time denouncing hate. Well, my answer is we have to. That's our responsibility as Jews. And as Americans. To stand up for the values that we hold dear, that we respect all people, that we celebrate diversity. And, you know, in the words of the (INAUDIBLE), if not now, when?

This is the moment that we have to stand up and say, we respect our Republican friends, our Democratic friends, our independent friends. We are not about policies or politics but we are about -- saying there is no place for hatred in the American political system, in America and especially at AIPAC.

COSTELLO: What specifically bothers you most about Donald Trump?

PASKIN: I think that we struggle with the bigotry, the racism, the xenophobia and for me personally, it's his seeming disregard, his willful disregard, for the safety of those people that are at his rallies. You know, I just got off the phone with someone who said that, well, the cause of that violence that we've been seeing is really the protesters. And I said, there's a certain element of truth to that.

But the other side is that Mr. Trump could be standing up at those rallies and saying, enough. No more violence. We're going to allow these people to protest and we will, if we need to, escort them out but safely and without violence and we will not be encouraging people to hit, offering to pay their legal fees. We're not going to encourage people to rouse up militias to perhaps protect Mr. Trump and his fellow rallygoers. He has a responsibility as a leader of his party and as a potential

leader of our nation to do what's right, and we haven't seen that yet.

COSTELLO: May I ask you, Rabbi, if you are a Republican?

[09:20:01] PASKIN: I'm -- no one knows what I am, and it's not an issue in this particular rally.

COSTELLO: I understand. So I was just going to ask you, it appears that Donald Trump is going to get the nomination. And he may become president of the United States. So I guess I'll just ask you the question this way. What kind of president do you think Donald Trump will be?

PASKIN: I have to tell you, Carol, I'm far less concerned about Mr. Trump being president as I am about all those people who have been swept up in his -- in his ugliness. You know, Mr. Trump tends to forget that we have a system of government where there are checks and balances. So he may say that he wants to doll of these things or he may act inappropriately but we have a Congress and we have a Supreme Court that can balance him.

What concerns me most, though, and really what this rally is about is this -- this ugliness that has just engulfed us, that somehow it's OK for him and for other people to speak so terribly about the press, about people with disabilities, about Jews, about women, about Mexicans, about anyone who is other than Mr. Trump. And so my hope is that what this movement does is that it shine as light on the darkness that he has played a prominent role in bringing to our country and to this election cycle.

COSTELLO: All right. Rabbi David Paskin, thank you so much for joining me this morning.

PASKIN: Carol, thanks.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, you can't say Obama didn't warn him. How the president prepped his Supreme Court pick for a war zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:46] COSTELLO: U.S. Supreme Court judge -- U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland will soon get his face-to-face meeting with GOP senators. The only problem, he probably won't like what they have to say.

Here's judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: If I can meet with a dictator in Uganda, I can surely meet with a decent person in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: There you have it. Grassley went on to say that during the meeting he will once again make it clear to Garland that the Senate will not take up the nomination until a new president is elected.

Manu Raju live in D.C. with more on this. Good morning.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. Republican senators head back home for a two-week recess mounting a two-front war on Federal Judge Merrick Garland. Now on one front, Republican senators are repeating contention that no one should be confirmed this election year they don't even want to discuss whether Garland is qualified. But outside groups on the GOP side are planning to litigate Garland's record including the Judicial Crisis Network which plans a $2 million ad blitz in part to make the case that Garland is out of the mainstream.

Now the president is pushing back, telling NPR that Garland is extremely qualified and is ready for the public relations war ahead. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He is prepared, I think, to take on whatever unfair or unjust or wildly exaggerated claims that may be made by those who are just opposed to any nominee that I might make. For those of us who are more often in, you know, the scrum of politics, where we call folks like Judge Garland civilians, and so suddenly being placed in a war zone like this is something that you want to make sure they're mindful of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now this fight shifts over the next two weeks at senators' home states, where activists on both sides plan to ratchet up the noise level. Liberal groups in coordination with the White House and Senate Democratic leadership are targeting Republican senators in tough re- election races hoping they will cave.

But, Carol, that is something they have done yet.

COSTELLO: All right. Manu Raju, reporting live from Washington this morning. Thank you.

RAJU: Thank you.

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

President Obama is not just focused on the Supreme Court fight but also the battle over who replaces him in the White House. In fact, the president plans to wade so deeply into the presidential campaign, the "Washington Post" says he will be the most active sitting president to do so in decades.

CNN national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is in Washington with more. Good morning, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. I've been talking to White House insiders this morning. And according to one person the president is dying to get out there back on the campaign trail. This is -- he just loves this. This is what he loves to do and he understands that the Democrats are going to win. He's got -- he got that broad coalition of voters that put him over the top, motivate them to come out and vote.

He can also, of course, play the heavy against Trump or any other Republican nominee, but he is also going to be out there to save his legacy. We're talking about Obamacare, trade, nuclear deal with Iran, Cuba relations, immigration. All of that, Carol, as you know is on the line. So he's going to be on the road soon after returning from his historic visit to Cuba to fight for all of these things.

And in the meantime this is what we're seeing here. Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail defending and embracing Obama's policies. Not surprising, she is also fundraising. We saw her in Tennessee, in Georgia, and the Democratic frontrunner, she called into a radio show. This is in Phoenix. And she's raising some eyebrows this morning making some news because of these comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think we've done a really good job securing the border. And I think that those who say we haven't are not paying attention to everything that was done for the last 15 years under both President Bush and President Obama. And, in fact, the immigration from Mexico has dropped considerably. It's just not happening anymore. There has not been net migration over our border from Mexico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)