Jeb Bush Slams Donald Trump; CNN Hosting Democratic Debate In Michigan
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. John Berman here in Manchester, New Hampshire. We are just two days away from the first in the nation primary. We are one morning after a very eventful debate here in New Hampshire that may have changed the playing field just a little bit. We've talked about Marco Rubio. Not his strongest debate performance perhaps his weakest when he needed to be at his strongest. Donald Trump also came under attack from Jeb Bush on an issue that does matters to New Hampshire voters, eminent domain. Listen.</s>JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What Donald Trump did was use eminent domain to try to take the property of an elderly woman on the strip in Atlantic City. That is not public purpose. That is downright wrong. And here's the problem with that.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All right.</s>OK -- BUSH: The problem was it was to tear down -- it was to tear down --</s>TRUMP: Jeb wants to be -- he wants to be a tough guy tonight. I didn't take the property.</s>BUSH: It was to tear down the house and the end result was -- you tried.</s>TRUMP: I didn't take the property.</s>BUSH: And you lost in the court.</s>TRUMP: The woman ultimately didn't want to do that. I walked away.</s>BUSH: That is not true.</s>BERMAN: All right. Joining me again the executive editor of CNN politics Mark Preston. Also with CNN political commentators Bakari Sellers and Ben Ferguson. Mark, people noticed a few things last night. One was that was an exchange between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump were Jeb Bush did not backed down which was different than it was three months ago. Explain to me though the issue of eminent domain why that matters here in New Hampshire and to Republican voters.</s>MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well certainly it's an issue that you don't know much about unless you've been affected by or something in your community has caused for it. But eminent domain basically means if you are a conservative the federal government coming in and taking your property. Very basic, very simple. This is an issue going up here in Northern New Hampshire right now up around the Northern Pass. You know, it has caused a lot of people to be very passionate about. And people here in New Hampshire the whole idea of live free or die, you know, that means something to folks who live here. So we talk about eminent domain for conservatives dog whistle for big government coming in and taking our property.</s>BERMAN: You know -- and Ben Ferguson the polling back in Iowa, you know, it was identified as what could be the weakest issue for Donald Trump, eminent domain. And Jeb Bush clearly wanted to capitalize on that. Did you think that he got what he wanted out of that exchange, Ben?</s>BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I do. I think that other candidates just stepped up and also used it to their advantage because this is the biggest weak point for Donald Trump. It's a very simple issue. Should the government be able to take your private property and force you to sell it for another private entity. If you look at what Trump was doing he was building a casino. Taking private property for a private casino to be built. And what he was trying to do -- that is not a conservative value. And I think this is his probably his biggest vulnerability on this campaign. And if you sell that case in simple terms to conservative Republican freedom voters that is something, I think, that can certainly hurt Trump because he was building a casino. He was trying to use the federal government to strong arm people and forcing them to sell their private property. That is not a conservative value that is something that Jeb Bush should have stood up for last night. I think others should also stood up to that. It is one thing to use eminent domain for roads and highways and things like that, that truly are going help the majority of people. But when you use eminent domain to build a casino at Atlantic City most voters are just not going to think that is the right thing to do.</s>BERMAN: Right. All right. Bakari, I want to turn quickly to the Democrats. Now, the Republicans are getting a lot of focus rightly so because they had a debate overnight. Today is an interesting day because Hillary Clinton leaves New Hampshire today to go to Flint, Michigan. I should note that CNN just announced that we are hosting a Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan on March 6th two days before the Michigan primary. Bakari, tell me why first of all if the trip to Flint will matter to New Hampshire voters and if the answer is no as I suspect it might be what she is trying to do in this trip.</s>BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't think this is going to affect her with New Hampshire voters. In fact I think she's here -- I know she's here this morning in New Hampshire and then pivoting to go to Flint. But Flint you can outline larger issues. Flint is about down the road. Flint is about South Carolina. Flint is about the March 1st Super Tuesday states. And what she's beginning to do is lay out this platform where she's speaking directly to minority voters, where she still has an advantage. But one thing she also knows that Bernie Sanders is nipping at her heels and so she has to do all she can do to solidify that support. Just in South Carolina this week yesterday Chelsea Clinton was in South Carolina. On Wednesday Bill Clinton was in South Carolina. So you're starting to see the Clinton apparatus in its full form kind of blossom and bloom. One thing that we do know is that Bernie Sanders cannot lose New Hampshire. So he doesn't have the leeway to pop in and pop out of the state. We also remember that this time in 2008 Hillary Clinton was down nine points to a young man named Barack Obama -- well, she was up -- down nine points to a young man named Barack Obama and actually pulled off the upset. I believe the tracking polls have her down about nine or 10 points today. So she still has a shot that she believes.</s>BERMAN: We'll see. Bakari Sellers, Ben Ferguson, Mark Preston, thank you so much, obviously again reacting to that Republican debate mostly last night but there was other action overnight. Democrat Bernie Sanders he was on a stage of his own. "Saturday Night Live." And he appeared beside, well Bernie Sanders, you might say, Larry David. This is a skit that found the two on the Titanic. Watch.</s>SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hold on. Hold on. Wait a second.</s>LARRY DAVID, COMEDIAN: Sounds like socialism to me.</s>SANDERS: Democratic socialism.</s>DAVID: What's the difference?</s>SANDERS: Yuge difference.</s>DAVID: Huge?</s>SANDERS: Yuge.</s>DAVID: Yuge with a Y? Who are you?</s>SANDERS: I am Bernie Sanders-Witski. But we're going to change it when we get to America so it doesn't sound quite so Jewish.</s>DAVID: Yes, that will trick them.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on everyone. I've got great news. What we crashed into was Liberty Island. We're in New York. Everyone off the boat.</s>SANDERS: Look at that.</s>DAVID: Oh my, not bad.</s>SANDERS: Share a cab?</s>DAVID: Eh, I think we've talked enough.</s>BERMAN: All right I'm joined again by Mark Preston and Bakari Sellers. You know, Mark, that's a moment you can't buy that kind of publicity if you are Bernie Sanders.</s>PRESTON: No you can't. And, you know, Bernie Sanders is somebody, John, that certainly us who have covered him for many years never knew he had this side of him. You know, we never knew he did a folk album. We never knew that he appeared in a movie. And we never knew he can carry a skit on "Saturday Night Live."</s>BERMAN: Not bad. Bakari, you know, appealing to young voters I'm told the kids love "Saturday Night Live." And, you know, it is a group that Bernie Sanders does very, very well with. I imagine this will only magnify that phenomenon.</s>SELLERS: Bernie Sanders is running a hell of a campaign and anybody who tells you that he's not is simply just blind or not being honest with themselves. "Saturday Night Live" last night I'm sitting here laughing at it and chuckling because he did an amazing job. It fits into this narrative where he is actually speaking to a vein of America that's frustrated but a vein who's also a little younger. We'll actually have to see whether this narrative of Bernie Sanders just pounding Hillary with younger voters pans out throughout the rest of the cycle. As we know the demographics do change. And so I'm really looking forward to young millennial voters of color being able to join this conversation as well and we will see if Bernie Sanders' message actually transforms and goes down to the south.</s>BERMAN: And you know, Mark, one point that I think is worth making globally about "Saturday Night Live", you know, all of their depictions of candidates are not created equal, right? I mean, when they go after Sarah Palin, they are ridiculing Sarah Palin. When Will Ferrell is going after George W. Bush he's ridiculing George W. Bush. He did not ridicule Bernie Sanders. They embraced Bernie Sanders. There is a total difference some times on what they do.</s>PRESTON: There is. But Bernie Sanders also appeared. He was asked to come and he showed up. Sarah Palin they were ridiculing her right off the top. Quite frankly it is very hard to make fun of Bernie Sanders. He's like your grandfather, you know, who just seems to have a -- who seems to have a little bit of the personality. Look, he did a great job last night and, you know, we'll see where it goes.</s>BERMAN: Hillary Clinton of course she has been on "Saturday Night Live" also and got a lot of laughs worth noting. Mark Preston, our thanks to Ben Ferguson, and you know</s>PAUL: All right. John, thank you so much. Developing story that we're following too that the U.S. is reacting this morning to North Korea's launch of a long range rocket. We have details on the next steps the U.S. and South Korea plan to take.</s>BLACKWELL: Plus, the death toll is rising in Taiwan after that massive earthquake. Rescue workers are still finding survivors in that rubble. We'll have the latest in a minute.