Trump, Bush Attack Each Other in Dueling Town Halls
BERMAN: Jeb Bush and front-runner Donald Trump turning into Frazer and Ali in the race. Jeb Bush on the ropes, but now punching back. Listen to an excerpt of the thrilla in New Hampshire.</s>DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: He's very low energy.</s>JEB BUSH, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Mr. Trump doesn't have a proven conservative record. He was a Democrat longer in the last decade than he was a Republican.</s>TRUMP: Do you know what's happening to Jeb's crowd right down the street? They're sleeping. He was supposed to do well in New Hampshire. He's going down like a rock.</s>BUSH: Look, Mr. Trump has clearly got talent. There's no denying that. But when people look at his record, it is not a conservative record. Even on immigration where it's -- you know, look, the language is pretty vitriolic for sure.</s>TRUMP: The only thing constant is Trump. All of them change on the bottom. They're going up and down like yo-yos.</s>BERMAN: The thrilla in New Hampshire. Dueling town halls last night. Let's bring in CNN political commentators, Dan Pfeiffer and Ana Navarro. Dan is a former adviser to the president. Ana is a good friend of Marco Rubio, but a big-time to Jeb Bush supporter, and a big-time Floridian. Ana, let me show you a new poll out of Florida right now where Donald Trump is leading Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, in a poll right now. Tell me, Ana, do you think it's a good idea for Jeb to be punching back at Donald Trump?</s>ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's great. I almost want to get up and dance. Hallelujah. You know, it's finally happened. Look, Trump is running against 16 other people but the way he's focused on Jeb, you would think he's only runs against Jeb Bush. If you want to make it a hand-to-hand combat between Bush and Trump, I couldn't think of a more stark choice for voters to have. I hope they go at it at the debate. People aren't going to need to say Jeb needs to bring in the energy. I want him to show that same energy and continue making a contrast between his record and Donald Trump's record. So I think this is good for Donald Trump. I think it's good for Jeb Bush, and I think it's good for voters because they get to see the contrast. Remember, John, there was another guy who had a town hall at the same time as Jeb Bush and Donald Trump last night in New Hampshire. Nobody is even talking about him.</s>BERMAN: It's a good point. So you want him to go from a joyful tortoise to a spry turtle. But there are risks, Dan Pfeiffer. You noted on Twitter a few moments ago that being pulled into a fight for Donald Trump for Jeb Bush does have some problems.</s>DAN PFEIFFER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think on paper this is the right thing to do. Donald Trump is right that Jeb Bush has been, quote, "sinking like a rock." He's struggled. He's behind him in every state, including his home state in the most recent CNN poll. Jeb Bush is less electable than Donald Trump so he is a challenge. My view is if he's going to throw a punch, he should really throw a punch. I thought his performance at the town hall was really sort of pitiful. There was no energy. It was very milquetoast. If he's going to do it, he has to be willing to show some passion, show some fight and stand on the debate stage next to Trump and make the case to his face and do it with passion and be able to handle the counter punch because everyone else who has punched Trump has lost the fight. We're going to see if Jeb Bush has more fight.</s>BERMAN: But he's also engaging sort of on Trump's field because Trump is using the phrase anchor baby to talk about babies born to illegal immigrants in the states and now Jeb Bush using the same language, Dan.</s>PFEIFFER: I think Jeb Bush made the case when he was going to run he was going to offer an inclusive message, reach out to communities, but because he's behind Trump, he's speaking Trumps language. He's using a term I think many find offensive. If Jeb Bush were to be the nominee, he will regret and suffer from having been pulled into this debate with Donald Trump.</s>BERMAN: Ana, I want to give you a chance to talk about polls that may bring you some joy. And that's on the Democratic side where Joe Biden in this new Quinnipiac poll, Joe Biden's doing better against Republican candidates than Hillary Clinton is in these key swing states. What does that tell you?</s>NAVARRO: You know, I'm not surprised by it at all. I will tell you that I know Joe Biden, and I know Joe Biden has been in Florida a lot during his long career in public service. He's very well liked here, and I do think that, you know, instead of focusing so much on Jeb's problems, Dan should be focusing on Hillary Clinton's problems which are great and numerous. You know, we have a Trump problem. Hillary Clinton has a Hillary problem, and I would say that's a much more serious problem than what we're facing. She's going down in every poll. She's under 50 percent in these three swing states of Florida, Ohio, and --</s>BERMAN: Pennsylvania.</s>NAVARRO: Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania where Joe Biden is doing great. Of course, Joe Biden is an adopted son of Pennsylvania. So I think she's got a host of problems. You're talking about how Jeb did in the town hall yesterday. Let's talk about how Hillary did in her press conference where, number one, she was flippant about being investigated and, number two, she was testy and thin-skinned about getting asked about it.</s>BERMAN: Well, we have successfully raised a lot of problems now. We will try to focus and answer some of those problems another time.</s>NAVARRO: Thank you.</s>PFEIFFER: Thank you.</s>BERMAN: Shots fired. Threats of more violence. These threats coming over a loud speaker. North Korea warns the South to stop its psychological warfare or else. We'll explain. And he thought he only had weeks to live, but now surprisingly at ease, former President Jimmy Carter about to begin treatment for cancer spots on his brain.