Rubio And Cruz Throw Simultaneous Jabs At Donald Trump In Last Night's Debate; Trump Expected To Win Handily In Most States Voting On Super Tuesday; Rubio Throws Debate Handbook Out The Window.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back; 11:00 p.m. here in Houston, site of the most important Republican Debate before the most important day of the campaign so far, Super Tuesday. Donald Trump went in to tonight with three straight victories, of course, and the prospect of many more. His rivals went in knowing this might be their last chance to try to stop him. It made for an explosive mix at times. Here's a quick look at some of the best moments.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The nice part about -- you have many different plans. You'll have competition. You'll have so many different plans.</s>MARCO RUBIO (R-FL) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now he's repeating himself.</s>MODERATOR: Mr. Trump?</s>TRUMP: No, I'm not. No, no, no. [Cheering and Whistling]</s>TRUMP: I don't repeat myself. I don't repeat myself.</s>RUBIO: You don't repeat yourself?</s>TRUMP: Here's the guy who repeats himself.</s>RUBIO: You repeat yourself every day.</s>TRUMP: I watch -- they're talking about repeating. I watched him repeat himself five times, four weeks ago -</s>RUBIO: And I saw you repeat yourself five times five seconds ago. [Cheering and Whistling]</s>TRUMP: I watched him -- I watched him meltdown on the stage like I've never seen anybody --</s>MODERATOR: Mr. Trump? Let's stay focused.</s>TRUMP: -- I thought he came out of a swimming pool.</s>RUBIO: I said -</s>MODERATOR: Let's talk about your plan.</s>RUBIO: I see him repeating himself every night. He says five things: everyone's dumb; he's going to make America great again; --</s>MODERATOR: Senator Rubio, please.</s>RUBIO: -- win, win, win -</s>MODERATOR: Senator Rubio, please?</s>RUBIO: -- he's winning in the polls (inaudible) the lines around the state. [Cheering and whistling]</s>RUBIO: Every night, same thing.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you talking about getting rid of Kim Jong-Un?</s>JOHN KASICH (R-OH) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I say "regime change", I don't have to talk exactly what that means. Look, I've been involved in national security for a long time. You don't have to spell everything out; but what I'm telling you is you look for any means you can to be able to solve that problem in North Korea and in the meantime put the pressure on the Chinese and what we're doing is beginning to work against them. They are the key to being able to settle this situation.</s>TRUMP: I'm a negotiator. I've done very well over the years through negotiation. It's very important that we do that. in all fairness, Marco is not a negotiator. I watched him meltdown and I'll tell you it was one of the saddest things I've ever seen. He's not going down -</s>RUBIO: He thinks a Palestinian is a real estate deal.</s>TRUMP: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. And these people may even be tougher than Chris Christie; okay?</s>RUBIO: The Palestinians are not a real estate deal, Donald.</s>TRUMP: Excuse me; no, no, no. A deal -</s>RUBIO: They're not a real estate deal.</s>TRUMP: A deal is a deal. Let me tell you, I learned a long time ago --</s>RUBIO: A deal is not a deal when you're dealing with terrorists. Have you ever negotiated with a terrorist?</s>TRUMP: You are not a negotiator. This guy is a choke artist and this guy is a liar. You have a combination of factors. He can't do it for the obvious reason and he can't do it because he doesn't know how to tell the truth. Other than that, I rest my case.</s>RUBIO: There's the typical thing he does about any debate about policy --</s>BLITZER: One at a time -</s>RUBIO: -- he goes right for outrageous --</s>BLITZER: Gentlemen? [Cross Talk]</s>BLITZER: Governor Kasich, you have the floor. Governor -</s>TED CRUZ (R-TX) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'd like to speak to that.</s>BLITZER: You will have a response, but I promised Governor Kasich he could respond.</s>BEN CARSON (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can somebody attack me, please? [Laughter]</s>KASICH: Wolf, there's something -</s>TRUMP: First of all -</s>BLITZER: Mr. Trump?</s>TRUMP: He's talking about the polls, I'm beating him awfully badly in the polls.</s>CRUZ: But you're not beating Hillary. But you're not beating Hillary.</s>TRUMP: Then if I can't - hey, if I can't beat her you're really going to get killed, aren't you? So let me ask you this, because you're really getting beaten badly. I know you're embarrassed. I know you're embarrassed, but keep fighting; keep swinging men. Swing for the fences. I know politicians, believe it or not, better than you do and it's not good.</s>CRUZ: Oh, I believe it. No, I believe you know politicians much better than I do because for 40 years you've been funding liberal democratic politicians. And, by the way, --</s>TRUMP: I funded you.</s>CRUZ: You're welcome to have the check back.</s>TRUMP: I gave you a check. I gave him a check.</s>CRUZ: Let's be clear -- you gave me $5,000.</s>RUBIO: He never funded me.</s>CRUZ: And by the way, let's be clear. [Cheering and Applause]</s>CRUZ: Donald claims to care -</s>TRUMP: You know why? I didn't want but he sent me [cross talk] his autograph --</s>CRUZ: Donald. Donald. Donald, I understand rules are very hard for you and it's very confusing.</s>TRUMP: Mr. Trump, you're doing a great job. I have his book.</s>CRUZ: Okay. [Cross Talk]</s>TRUMP: Thank you for the book. Go ahead.</s>CRUZ: Donald, you can get back -</s>TRUMP: (Inaudible) a lot of fun up here tonight I have to tell you. Thank you for the book I really appreciate it.</s>CRUZ: Donald, relax. [Laughter]</s>TRUMP: I'm relaxed. You're the basket-case.</s>COOPER: Some of the moments that voters will be weighing, perhaps, and that will be looking closer at tonight as we also look ahead to Super Tuesday. We want to bring in the panel here, with a couple new faces. Debate panel member and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt who is on the stage tonight; CNN Political Commentator Ana Navarro, as well as joining John King; Nia Malika Henderson; Amanda Carpenter; and Trump supporter, Jeffrey Lord. Hugh, it's always hard when you're on that stage, in the midst of a battle like that, to kind of get a sense of the ebb and flow of things, but what stood out to you?</s>HUGH HEWITT, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: Well I'm here to drag down your ratings. [Laughter]</s>COOPER: That was a comment that had made Trump.</s>HEWITT: I felt like I walked into a scene the "Deadwood" and all praise to Wolf.</s>COOPER: That's Shakespearian.</s>HEWITT: It was Shakespearian; but all praise to Wolf Blitzer. He kept it moving forward. He got a lot of ground covered. It was very substantive. I can't tell who won, but I can tell that most of the incoming was at Donald Trump.</s>COOPER: Right.</s>HEWITT: It really was a fuselage. So I don't know if he withstood it and grows stronger or if he bleeds out as a result; but it was just incoming after incoming.</s>COOPER: We have seen, Ana Navarro, in Nevada that those who made up their minds closer to election day, that there was some movement there from Marco Rubio. Does this - does tonight change anything, you think, in voters' minds?</s>ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think what we'll know in four or five days with Super Tuesday occurs. I think Rubio had a very good debate today. He did what he had not done until tonight. He finally took off the gloves. He finally took on Donald Trump. I think there was a great idea. I'm very happy he did it because he's been fighting for number two with Ted Cruz for the longest time and it's gotten awfully exhausting and awfully small. I think if he needs -- he needs to elevate himself. It needs to be by taking on the frontrunner; and he came in tonight with the intent of getting under Donald Trump's skin. One of the things that I noticed was he didn't follow the rules. You know, we saw that Jeb Bush was not effective in landing blows on Donald Trump because he kept following the rules. Marco today interrupted. Marco would not let himself be shut down by Donald Trump. I will tell you, you know, I'm from Miami, so I got a lot of experience with fast talking shouting matches. I had a hard time following these fast talking shouting matches tonight.</s>COOPER: Let's show one more exchange that Rubio had with Trump; let's listen in.</s>COMMENTATOR: Senator Rubio, you accused Senator Cruz in a previous debate of lying when he said that you said one thing in Spanish and another one in English. So in what sense did he lie?</s>RUBIO: Because it is not true that I'm not going to get rid of DOCA; I am going to get rid of DOCA. In the Spanish interview -- you just read out the transcript in Spanish. I said it will have to end at some point. That point will be when I eliminate the executive order and the people who they have those permits, when expire they will not be allowed to renew it and new people will not be able to apply. In fact, I don't even think we should be taking new enrollees in the program now. That is how the program ends and how you wind it down, is you allow the people who are on it, when the program expires, they cannot renew it and it goes away. But I will cancel the executive order as soon as I take it - as soon as I step foot into the oval office.</s>TRUMP: I have to say, he lies this time. He lied, 100-percent. 100- percent.</s>COMMENTATE: Senator -</s>RUBIO: You lied about the Polish worker -</s>TRUMP: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah; 38 years ago.</s>RUBIO: You lied that there was a Trump University.</s>TRUMP: 38 years ago.</s>RUBIO: Oh, you lied 38 years ago. I guess there's a statute of limitations on lies.</s>COOPER: How much -- I mean, sometimes when you're on a stage you catch things that don't necessarily come out on camera. The -- obviously it felt like it must have been very tense up there on that stage. It felt like bristling at times.</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was extremely hot, hotter than the previous three I've done. Much hotter than I expect in March. I do believe that Marco Rubio looked like he swallowed the canary. I think he got exactly what he thought he was going to get the red wedding from "Game of Thrones." Ted Cruz - [Laughter]</s>KING: Ted Cruz looked like he got what he wanted. Donald Trump, of course, he's a master at this stuff and I defer to the people who watched it. He was not ruffled but he was under fire. I mean, he was having to go back and forth and so I praise to him as well.</s>AMANDA CARPENTER, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, TED CRUZ: Yeah; the thing that's really interesting is that -- we talked before about how Donald Trump's brand is all about winning, all about winning, but this is the first night I think you really see him get rattled by a number of questions that threaten his ability to win in a general election. Cruz went very deliberately at that question saying hey, you donated money to the Clinton Foundation. We want to make an issue of the Clinton Global Foundation in the general election. Donald Trump hurts your ability to do that and he did that systematically, over and over again. So if the combination of attacks from Rubio and Cruz can just put that question mark in people's minds, Republicans want nothing more than to just win after losing the White House for two cycles. If people are worried that Donald Trump will not win, that's the beginning of Donald Trump going down.</s>NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think one of the things that's interesting, we keep talking about brands, John did and then Amanda there, what is Marco Rubio's brand? It's been a little bit uncertain coming in to this. He hasn't really made an effective emotional case for his candidacy; it always sounded like talking points about him being the consensus candidate or being able to expand the party. Is -- you know, sort of the brand now, him as the Trump- slayer, and is that enough to kind of peel voters away from Donald Trump, to peel voters away from Ted Cruz? I think there's still some questions about how he makes the case that he should be president and maybe it's not enough just that he's able to take on Donald Trump.</s>KING: And then you put the drama of tonight into the context of where we are in the race.</s>COOPER: Right.</s>KING: There's no question, Donald Trump came under aggressive, sustained attack for a longer period of time than in any other debate. To Amanda's point, whether he was rattled or certainly surprised that it kept coming because in past debates there's been a few exchanges and then off they went to something else. The question is, what's the impact.</s>HENDERSON: Yes.</s>KING: And right now Ted Cruz is leading in Texas and Donald Trump is leading in ten of the other 11 states that vote for Republicans on Tuesday, in most of them by margins that are unlikely, even if he loses some ground because of tonight, you know, -- the question is -- my question is, Rubio has to win Florida, which we have to wait for. Kasich, if he stays in, has to win in Ohio which we have to wait for. So on Tuesday, I mean, I guess Rubio is coming in second just about everywhere. It looks like it will be Cruz/Trump in Texas. That's probably the best Rubio can hope for but --</s>NAVARRO: I think he needs to move to one of those states, the one that is the most winnable. He needs to spend the next four days there, because I don't know how you get to March 15th with -</s>KING: Without a win.</s>NAVARRO: -- 15 contests having gone through and you have nothing to show but silver and bronze medals for it.</s>HEWITT: I just have a question: Rubio had, in the exit polls, the closing momentum over a week. Is momentum that closes a state by state thing? I'll ask John King, the expert on this, is that limited to Nevada or does that actually transfer to other states when you have closing momentum?</s>KING: No; I think there's no question that Rubio's standing has improved in the national polls, as well as in the state-by-state. So, obviously, if you're interstate, the problem with Rubio is we're out of the single state period of the campaign, where you can go to Nevada for a couple of days or you can camp out in Iowa or you can be in New Hampshire. Now, to Ana's point, if he wants to win one, he's going to have to pick one and spend more of his time there; and I don't know if any of them are within reach.</s>NAVARRO: Which would be should he pick?</s>KING: The one thing - well, you could make an argument for Virginia. You could make an argument for Vermont or Massachusetts, go for the smaller states, more moderate if he wanted to do that.</s>NAVARRO: Marco, are you listening to this?</s>KING: But Trump is well ahead in all these states right now. Only today did he start buying advertising. I do think the one thing Rubio did tonight is, if you have skeptical donors, can you really wait until the middle of March to get a win? Going aggressively, so aggressively after Trump will calm the donor class down a little bit, to say, okay, if he gets an opening he seems now better prepared to get it, but Trump is prohibitively ahead in all of these states and he has an early start. It's hard to beat.</s>HENDERSON: Even if he wins one or two states on -- on Tuesday, is that even really enough? I mean, you've got to -- you sort of sweep from Trump or a split with Cruz. If he wins Georgia or Virginia, is that enough?</s>ANDERSON: We've got to take a -- I want to toss it back to Jake Tapper who is standing by and then we'll come back; Jake?</s>JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Anderson. Let's stay here with CNN Political Commentator Michael Smerconish and our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger. One of the interesting moments of the night came when Dana Bash, and then Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, trying to get Donald Trump to be more specific about what exactly he thinks should replace Obamacare, or more specifically what his position on health care is. Here's a brief excerpt.</s>CRUZ: On Obamacare, both Donald and I say we want to end it but for very different reasons. I want to end it because it's goes too far; it's killed millions of jobs; and it's hurting people's health care. Donald wants to end it because it doesn't go nearly far enough. And what was amazing in that exchange that was missing is for decades Donald has been advocating socialized medicine. What he said is the government should pay for everyone's health care and, in fact, a couple of debates ago he said if you don't support socialized health care, you're heartless. Now, liberal democrats have been saying that for years. [Applause and Whistling]</s>TRUMP: I do not want socialized medicine, just so you understand. He goes around saying oh, he wants it. I do not want socialized medicine.</s>CRUZ: Donald, true or false; you said the government should pay for everybody's health care?</s>TRUMP: That's false.</s>CRUZ: You've never said that?</s>TRUMP: NO, I said it worked in a couple of countries.</s>CRUZ: You've never stood on this debate stage and said it works great in Canada and Scotland and we should do I there?</s>TRUMP: No, I did not. No, I did not.</s>CRUZ: Did you say if you want people to die on the streets, if you don't support socialized health care you have no heart?</s>TRUMP: Correct, I will not let people die on the streets if I'm president -</s>CRUZ: Have you said you were a liberal on health care?</s>TRUMP: Excuse me; let me talk.</s>CRUZ: Talk away. Explain your plan, please.</s>TRUMP: My plan is very simple. I will not -- we're going to have private health care but I will not allow people to die on the sidewalks and the streets of our country if I'm president. You may let it and you may be fine with it; I'm not fine here.</s>CRUZ: So is the government paying for everyone's healthcare?</s>TRUMP: We're going to take people and --</s>CRUZ: Yes or no; just answer the question.</s>TRUMP: Excuse me; we are going to take those people and those people are going to be serviced by doctors and hospitals. We're going to make great deals on it but we're not going to let them die in the streets.</s>TAPPER: It seems to me that the Trump health care plan is removing state barriers so that insurance companies can all compete within states, some sort of bare minimum of Medicaid that already exists so people don't die in the streets. Perhaps he would expand it, whatever that means, and that the government would pay, for and in addition, the government would cut better deals with the pharmaceutical companies. What am I missing? Is there anything more?</s>GLORIA BORGER, CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: No, and I think that's what Dana Bash was kind of pushing on because Trump's solution really seems to be, as he said, getting rid of the lines around the states, allowing health insurance to be sold across state lines, but when you push and when Cruz tried to push about socialized medicine, beyond what we have now, Medicaid, it -- he didn't -- he -- he didn't get specific. What he did was he turned it around, which Trump is really good at doing, and said I don't want people to die in the streets and who can be against that? Nobody can be against that. So it was -- nobody touched him on it although it did to me, leave you wondering where -- where are the specifics in this. I mean, everybody else has got a 6-point plan and a 5-point plan and it's -- Trump's message is I'm going to make it work better for you. Obamacare is a failure. It's costing a lot of money. It's not working. Your premiums are going up. I'm going to fix it and privatize it, but what's the answer.</s>MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's also said contradictory things about the individual mandate -</s>TAPPER: Right.</s>SMERCONISH: -- and, Jake, I couldn't help but think, as I watched each of them on the stage down there, talking about their desire to end the individual mandate these are five candidates who in every other circumstance are trumpeting personal responsibility. Stop and think about it. When it comes to insurance, what they're really saying is when it comes to your health insurance we're going to relieve you of the responsibility of making sure that you cover yourself, which I find this to be a huge contradiction and one that will be attenuated in the Fall.</s>TAPPER: Although it was pointed out by Dana or Wolf, I believe, that when Governor Kasich was a member of Congress, back when it was Republican wisdom to support the individual heritage -</s>SMERCONISH: Heritage, right.</s>TAPPER: -- and the Heritage Foundation -</s>SMERCONISH: Right.</s>TAPPER: -- behind it -- this was at a time by the way, when the Clintons, Bill and Hillary, were pushing employer mandate.</s>BORGER: Right.</s>TAPPER: The Republican position was individual mandate, personal responsibility, he did agree with that at the time.</s>SMERCONISH: Absolute; and the origin, many would say, of the Affordable Care Act going back to Romney-care, before that going back to the Heritage Foundation when it rose out of this conservative think-tank, the idea for a very conservative principle, which is, people out to take care of themselves so that they're not showing up in an ER and burdening society, but that's gotten lost on the stage.</s>TAPPER: It's weird because I would think it would be a republican principle because it's against freeloaders --</s>SMERCONISH: Correct.</s>TAPPER: -- people who can afford healthcare -</s>SMERCONISH: That's my point, but you didn't hear that.</s>TAPPER: Well you don't hear it among Republicans at all -</s>SMERCONISH: Right.</s>TAPPER: -- even though it was Republican wisdom. I know that you're somebody who thinks Governor Kasich doesn't get enough attention from the media. So why don't you tell me what you thought his strongest moments were this evening?</s>SMERCONISH: Great! I think he distinguished himself, -- the uglier that it got in the center of that stage tonight, I think the better that he looks because he doesn't play that game; and you could make the same observation about Ben Carson, but I don't think that Carson has any conceivable path. Strong moments for John Kasich tonight would include his responses pertaining to Apple, and the idea of what a commander-in-chief and a president should do in a circumstance like that. I think the words to the effect of lock everybody in that room and you're not coming out until you iron-out a solution. I also thought when he was pressed on the religious liberty questions, and he essentially said, Jake, bake the cupcake. I'm from religious liberty and protecting religious liberty when we're talking about religious institutions, but if it's commerce then you're the wedding planner or whatever, you've got to do your job.</s>BORGER: You know, I was talking to some Kasich people today and some of them urged him to actually take on Donald Trump a little bit this evening.</s>TAPPER: No, he wouldn't do it.</s>BORGER: And he wouldn't go near it and I think just in texting with a bunch of republicans tonight, there was some sense among republicans, hey, why did you let those two guys out there alone. You kind of wimped out on us. You needed to take on Trump, particularly because you're running, by the way, and Super Tuesday -</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>BORGER: -- and there was a sense from republicans that Kasich really didn't perform the way he should have, like Rubio, like Cruz, --</s>SMERCONISH: I disagree.</s>BORGER: -- and taking an opportunity to actually take on -- take on Trump.</s>SMERCONISH: It distinguishes him; it sets him apart.</s>TAPPER: I will say though, having been in Washington for a long time, Congressman Kasich, Congressman Kasich -</s>BORGER: Right.</s>TAPPER: -- not governor. If Congressman had been asked hey, is waste, fraud and abuse enough to solve the debt problem -</s>BORGER: Exactly!</s>TAPPER: -- he would have unloaded with a string of epitaphs about how that was nonsense, --</s>BORGER: Of course.</s>TAPPER: -- but that John Kasich -- that's 20 years ago.</s>BORGER: Who prides himself balancing the budget, etc.</s>TAPPER: Yes.</s>BORGER: The Government wasn't in the red. There wasn't waste, fraud and abuse.</s>TAPPER: I got it. Anderson, back to you.</s>BORGER: Exactly.</s>COOPER: Jake, we're going to continue the discussion here; we're to take a quick break though. Coming up next we'll hear from Governor Kasich himself, as our special CNN Debate coverage continues.