Clinton: Trump's Comments 'Offensive, Outrageous'
KEILAR: This afternoon, Hillary Clinton joined the chorus of politicians denouncing Donald Trump. She dismissed Trump's entire presidential campaign as entertainment. Clinton went on to blast what Trump and some of his fellow presidential candidates are saying about women, calling all of it outrageous. CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny joining us now from New Hampshire. She hit Trump, but then she went on to hit all Republicans, Jeff.</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: She did, Brianna. I mean, Hillary Clinton came here to New Hampshire to unveil her plan to make college more affordable, but like so many things on this campaign, she was overtaken by Trump. Now of course, she knows him better than almost all of his Republican rivals do, but today she tried to link them all together.</s>HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What Donald Trump said about Megyn Kelly is outrageous.</s>ZELENY (voice-over): Donald Trump now spilling over into the Democratic primary.</s>CLINTON: Megyn Kelly is a strong woman and more than capable of defending herself against Donald Trump. I'm more worried about what the Republican policies would do to the rest of America's women, and I will continue to speak out and speak up about that.</s>ZELENY: Today in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton weighed in for the first time on Trump's controversial remarks.</s>CLINTON: If you just focus on maybe the biggest showman on the stage, you lose the thread here. The thread is that the Republicans are putting forth some very radical and offensive positions when it comes to women's lives.</s>ZELENY: She blasted the full Republican field, saying all women should be on alert over the candidates' fierce opposition to abortion rights, even in the case of rape and incest.</s>CLINTON: I said it was offensive. I said it was outrageous. I stand by that. I think more people should say the same. They should be going after him. The Republican Party will have to deal with him. I don't want that forgotten. So yes, I know it makes great TV. I think the guy went way overboard, offensive, outrageous, pick your adjective. But what Marco Rubio said has as much of an impact in terms of where the Republican Party is today.</s>ZELENY: Bill and Hillary Clinton have known Trump for years. He contributed to her Senate campaigns, and their family foundation. They attended his wedding. She tried to distance himself from Trump today.</s>CLINTON: I didn't know him that well. I mean, I knew him. I knew him, and I happened to be planning to be in Florida. And I thought it would be fun to go to his wedding, because it's always entertaining. Now that he's running for president, it's a little more troubling.</s>ZELENY: She came to New Hampshire to unveil a plan to reign in student loans and make college affordable.</s>CLINTON: We need to make a quality education affordable and available to everyone willing to work for it, without saddling them with decades of debt.</s>ZELENY: The Clinton campaign may be smiling about Trump and his dominance over the Republican campaign, but they have a Democratic race of their own on their hands, with Bernie Sanders.</s>BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This campaign is sending a message to the billionaire class: Yes, we have the guts to take you on.</s>ZELENY: Now, while Bernie Sanders may by a Democratic distraction, her aides insist it's only a temporary one. She believes the best way to bring any Democrats around who aren't yet sold on her candidacy is to present the strongest general election message. And Brianna, that's what she was trying to do today, by painting all Republicans with that Trump brush.</s>KEILAR: We've seen her do this with other topics, as well. We expect she'll continue to. Jeff Zeleny for us in New Hampshire with Hillary Clinton, thanks. Joining us now in THE SITUATION ROOM, we have political commentator and Sirius/XM host Abby Huntsman. We have CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp and CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein. He's the editorial director of "The National Journal." S.E., to you first. How do Republicans, aside from speaking out, as we've heard them do now on a few of these topics, how do they handle Trump?</s>S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I've been encouraged that every Republican in the field has denounced Trump's language. In past cycles, for example, on Todd Akin, you know, Republicans have been defending him for quite some time. So that's encouraging. But I am very disappointed in the lack of political courage among the candidates for not really coming out strongly and saying, "Guys, voters, I know you're frustrated. I get it. I know politicians have let you down. Donald Trump is not the answer. He's not conservative. He's not electable. He doesn't care about you; he only cares about himself. Stop the nonsense. As long as we're talking about Donald Trump, we're not talking about Hillary Clinton's failed policies or Barack Obama's failed policies. Cut it out." No one's really done that. They get out. They politely say, "I disagree with what he says." Well, this is...</s>KEILAR: And I understand why people are following his lead.</s>CUPP: Yes, exactly.</s>KEILAR: So we heard Kasich say that. Ron, put this in context for us, this latest brush-up between Donald Trump and FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly. This has to do with women. How important are women in this election?</s>RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, women have cast a majority of the votes in every presidential election since 1984; 53 percent of all votes in 2012. And Democrats have run better among women and men, the so-called gender gap, in every presidential election since 1980. The important point, though, is there is room to grow within that. Although Democrats have benefited from the gender gap, they have not carried a majority of white women since '96. In fact in 2012, President Obama had the weakest performance among white women for any Democrat since Walter Mondale in 1984. And what that really suggests here, Brianna, is that, particularly with a white -- potentially a white woman nominee who is emphasizing issues of gender much more overtly than she did in 2008, there is a risk to Republicans the Democrats could improve on that performance, and lest we forget, even that relatively weak performance in 2012 was enough to support a 5 million vote victory. So there's a lot at stake here for Republicans, getting both the tone and the policy right.</s>KEILAR: I wonder, Abby, if you could explain something that you've said, which is basically that Donald Trump is this -- he's sort of a window into something bigger here, right? A civil war in the GOP?</s>ABBY HUNTSMAN, SIRIUS/XM RADIO: Yes, I think this is potentially the launching of a civil war that we are going to see happen within the Republican Party. Anyone that has followed the GOP over the past few years, I mean, I was in the cycle a lot four years ago. And I will tell you, there was a deep divide then. And here you're seeing potentially a launch of a civil war with Donald Trump out there saying the things he's saying, as disgusting as they are. No matter what he says, he still has this 15 to 20 percent support group. I think there's something going on in this country, by the way. It's not just Donald Trump. It's also Bernie Sanders, where voters are -- there's something refreshing about someone that is not a politician, that is willing to speak their mind, not willing to apologize, willing to speak to the media. They're not afraid of anything. So I think that's going on. At the same time you're seeing the Republican Party, the establishment, but also this angry right that has been built up over a period of time. And Donald Trump represents that better than any candidate did last month's go-around.</s>KEILAR: What do you think, S.E.?</s>CUPP: I think civil war is going a bit far. I don't -- I don't think the people who support Donald Trump are supportive of his policies. I know that because he hasn't enumerated any of them. I think Abby is right that they support a person who sounds like a real person, not a politician. They like that. But they also want the pilot not to crash the plane into the mountains. And I think more voters who might have been open to a conservative candidate who was a little unorthodox are seeing that Donald Trump is not the answer. They like his candor; they like his straight talk. But they also want some substance. And he's just not delivering it.</s>KEILAR: Is there a point, Abby, where you think some of the damage or sentiment that Donald Trump puts out there becomes permanent damage for the Republican Party?</s>HUNTSMAN: I think that the party is very concerned about that. I mean, whether or not you think he meant to say what he said about Megyn Kelly, it was a disgusting comment. You do not want to get into the business of talking about blood coming out of any part of a woman's body. And usually when you run for president, you're wanting to lift up the political discourse. And it seems like he is still on the set of a reality show. So me personally, I'm passionate about that. I care about the future of the party, and I'm concerned about the comments that he has made and the fact there are folks out there that it doesn't bother them. They are still standing by their man. I mean, you wonder what younger kids that are watching this play out, are thinking about this, and what is OK to say? When you're running as president, it matters what you say. It matters how you treat people, not just women but all people. It matters if you're a bully or not, and that is something that he's proven to be.</s>KEILAR: Ron, take a look at this ad. It's a Trump ad out today targeting Jeb Bush.</s>GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Read my lips. No new taxes.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere.</s>MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Would you have authorized the invasion?</s>JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would have. Did he do this wrong, my dad did this wrong.</s>GRAPHIC: The third time won't be a charm.</s>KEILAR: Wow, I mean, maybe he's not a politician, but I think you could argue that's a politically astute ad.</s>BROWNSTEIN: Yes, right. It does go to, I think, the central anxiety that many Republicans have about him, which I think the ideological resistance on the right. But from the more kind of pragmatic side of the party, the question is whether you have to re-litigate the Bush positions of the past, particularly George W. Bush. And look, I wouldn't go so far as civil war, either, but there is clearly a dividing line in the Republican Party. I mean, and you do have kind of this more white collar, more centrist, more establishment universe that is really choosing among Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Chris Christie, to some extent Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker. I mean, you have Donald Trump mobilizing the other half of the party, which is the overlapping circles of two party evangelical Christians, blue collar voters, who are much more alienated, not only from the direction of the country but from the direction of the party. And even if Trump ultimately deflates, as most Republicans still expect with this kind of language, the party will still have the challenge of managing the expectations and really, the animosity of those voters as they move towards the general election.</s>KEILAR: Ron, S.E., Abby, thanks so much to all of you. A great conversation.</s>HUNTSMAN: Thanks.</s>KEILAR: Be sure to catch Donald Trump's response to all of this criticism. He'll be on CNN's "NEW DAY" tomorrow morning. It begins at 6 a.m. Eastern. And coming up: wave of terror. A surge in Taliban attacks claims dozens of lives. With them, a U.S. service member. And we're also following the breaking news in Ferguson, Missouri. New demonstrations, new arrests in the wake of a new police shooting controversy.