Jeb and Barbara Bush Get Candid About the Campaign; Interview with Jeb Bush, Barbara Bush
BALDWIN: We're back with the second part of that exclusive interview with Republican presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, and his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush. They talk strategy, they talk moving forward, and specifically Jeb Bush's opponents. Here you go.</s>JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Mrs. Bush, what do you think of Donald Trump? You are known for being blunt and plain spoken.</s>BARBARA BUSH: I don't think about him at all.</s>GANGEL: Really?</s>BARBARA BUSH: I think about Jeb and the qualified candidate.</s>GANGEL: Is it true your husband sometimes throws things, his shoe --</s>BARBARA BUSH: No, that's the silliest thing. He can't throw anymore. He's got Parkinson's. If he threw it, he wouldn't aim it. But he's wonderful, my husband. He's very much for Jeb and very proud of him.</s>GANGEL: Jeb, you have talked about a minute ago you said that there's a lot of pressure on you living up to your family. You have struggled with how you balancing your own man --</s>JEB BUSH, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Yes.</s>GANGEL: -- and your family. Now, your mom's up here campaigning for you. Your brother has just cut an ad for you. Have you changed strategy?</s>JEB BUSH: No. No. I didn't say I'm struggling with being a Bush. I'm 62 years old, for crying out loud. I stopped getting therapy about this a long time ago. You know, I did it in my mid-20s? I'm a goal driven guy. Got out of college in two years, had a family. I wanted to be half the man my dad was. My adult life has worked out pretty good, if I can get to half as good as he is in terms of being a husband, a father, a person that cares about people. So I don't have any struggles about being a Bush. It's not a conflict at all. The fact that my brother is supporting me and my mom is up here campaigning, the way I think about it would be weird if they weren't. What would that say?</s>GANGEL: Donald Trump is still leading in the polls. And Wolf Blitzer recently asked your supporter, Senator Lindsey Graham, if he would support the Republican nominee, even if Trump wins, and Lindsey Graham said, "Yup, I'm buying a ticket on the "Titanic."</s>JEB BUSH: Yes.</s>GANGEL: But he is still leading in the polls.</s>JEB BUSH: Sure.</s>GANGEL: If he is the nominee, are you buying a ticket on the "Titanic" too?</s>JEB BUSH: I don't -- I can't spin a line like Lindsey. I will support the Republican nominee no matter who he or she is, period. I've done it my entire adult life. I'll do it. I want to win, though. I want the Republican Party's candidate to win. I want a conservative to serve in the White House. I believe I'm best qualified. That's why I'm fighting for this.</s>GANGEL: You have a new ad coming out that contrasts you and Marco Rubio.</s>JEB BUSH: Yes.</s>GANGEL: Right now he is leading in the polls, going into New Hampshire. Is it hurting the establishment lane if you are attacking him?</s>JEB BUSH: He's attacking me. So does that count? Or is this just only a one-way street? Is this the child of privilege that has a free pass when everybody else has to fight for it? This isn't bean bag, you know. This is politics. Every campaign will be -- every candidate will be contrasted and compared. Their records need to be shown. He has no record of accomplishment. He's a gifted politician. He got elected at the age of 26. He is very charismatic and a wonderful person but he doesn't have a record.</s>GANGEL: Chris Christie has been going, as you say, "full New Jersey." He has taken the gloves off, attacking Marco Rubio. And there was a report that your campaign and his campaign, behind the scenes, are coordinating.</s>JEB BUSH: No. No.</s>GANGEL: Absolutely not?</s>JEB BUSH: No. If I've gotten the "full New Jersey" from Chris Christie during this campaign. It's good not to be his target because he is pretty good at this that stuff. Look, John Kasich and Chris Christie and I share one common feature. We had to make tough decisions. They do it today as governors. I did it for eight years. My record of accomplishments is out there for the world to see. And other candidates, they may have the virtues of being a great speaker, and I'm sure they will brag about that, but my record is a record of accomplishment. I don't need to have it coordinated with anybody.</s>GANGEL: There is a theory out there that it's personal between you and Marco Rubio.</s>JEB BUSH: Not at all.</s>GANGEL: That if you're not going to win, you're going to make sure he doesn't win.</s>JEB BUSH: No. No. I will support the Republican nominee, as I always have. I've always worked hard to elect the most conservative person to be president of the United States because I think that philosophy is the one that can lift people out of poverty, can create income for the middle class, there's nothing personal about this at all.</s>GANGEL: Mrs. Bush, going into New Hampshire, what would you like people to know about your son?</s>BARBARA BUSH: I'd like them to know he's wise and decent, and he has values that we want our children to have, that he wants to serve. I think that's very important. I'd like to remind you, George Bush came out of Iowa with Big Mo, and then there was "No Mo" after that.</s>JEB BUSH: That's you.</s>BARBARA BUSH: Me.</s>JEB BUSH: You. You're not my old lady.</s>GANGEL: You dodged me on Donald Trump. Do you want to --</s>BARBARA BUSH: Nope.</s>GANGEL: You want to go "full New Jersey" on Donald Trump?</s>BARBARA BUSH: No. No. I do not. I don't even think about him. I'm sick of him. That's very strong.</s>BALDWIN: Love hearing from Barbara Bush sitting, of course, along side her son, Jeb Bush. And, Poppy, you know, it was Bush 41 who coined the phrase "Big Mo," and really that's what Jeb Bush needs as we keep talking about this trifecta of governors. Tonight, especially at that debate, they need Mo, period, after Tuesday, to see how much longer they can hang in this.</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: That's true. I had a Trump supporter on earlier, Brooke, who said I think she would win if she were on the Republican ticket.</s>BALDWIN: Huge crowds.</s>HARLOW: She is very popular. Brooke, thank you. Back to you in just a moment. Coming up next, switching gears, we hear the candidates talk about it all the time, opportunity for all, especially disadvantaged youth, giving them an equal shot. It starts in elementary school. Next, in "American Opportunity," how do you close the achievement gap? I'll take you from Brooklyn, New York, to Hartford, Connecticut, for a heated debate on how you help these kids the most.