Town Hall Part 2: Trump, Bush & Kasich
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Miguel and Cristina. A day filled with political clashes. Ted Cruz versus Marco Rubio. Jeb Bush versus Marco Rubio. Ted Cruz versus Donald Trump. Donald Trump versus the pope.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't like fighting with the pope. I don't think this is a fight. I think he said something much softer that it was originally reported by the media. I think he is doing a very good job. He's a lot of energy. But I would say that I think he was very much misinterpreted. And I also think he was given false information. If he would have heard our side, the side from people that live in the United States --</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Would you like to meet with him and talk to him about it?</s>TRUMP: I'll do it anytime he wants. I mean, I think it would be very interesting. No, I like him.</s>MATTINGLY: Trump, just one day after sending a cease-and-desist letter to Ted Cruz's campaign saying he would do much the same with other countries if he's in the Oval Office.</s>COOPER: So, as president, would you be sending cease-and-desist letters?</s>MATTINGLY: Yes, maybe to China. Oh, I would be -- I would be sending them to China to stop ripping us off. I would be sending them to other countries to stop ripping us off. I'd send them to Mexico. And when I say cease and desist, maybe it's equivalent, OK? Maybe I'd do it with my mouth.</s>MATTINGLY: Jeb Bush saying the talk of his campaign failing is premature.</s>JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I do have momentum if you look at the polls and you'd look the crowd sizes of our town hall meetings and the enthusiasm that exists.</s>MATTINGLY: And taking on criticism of being an introvert.</s>BUSH: You'll know this. You'll appreciate this because introverts set goals and grind.</s>COOPER: Yes, yes.</s>BUSH: And they're just like arr, they just go at it, you know? Which is a pretty good thing to be when you are running for president, when you've been written off over and over and over again.</s>MATTINGLY: John Kasich just hours after his poignant moment on the campaign trail continuing to push his message of community and positive campaigning.</s>GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have to celebrate other people's wins and sometimes you've got to sit with them and cry, because that's what we need in this country.</s>MATTINGLY: All three have one more day of campaigning in South Carolina. For Donald Trump, the clear frontrunner, all things look like they're on the glide path. But the moment is now urgent, especially Jeb Bush, who stake much of the future of his campaign on a big performance in this state. For John Kasich, it's about proving the momentum following that second place finish in New Hampshire is for real -- Cristina and Miguel.</s>MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Phil Mattingly, thank you very much. Joining us this morning to help cut through this political jungle, and all the days' political goings-on, "Wall Street Journal" White House correspondent Colleen McCain Nelson. She's in our D.C. bureau. Thanks for watching the debate and now being live with us. You are too kind. You are amazing.</s>COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Thanks for having me.</s>MARQUEZ: You're the machine. We really appreciate it. A junkie. A true political junkie.</s>NELSON: Indeed. I was up all night thinking about this.</s>MARQUEZ: Oh, good. Don't think too much. We are barely awake. But one of the toughest moments is when a voter asked Trump about taking on Bush over his -- Trump knocking Bush over the Iraq war. I want to play that for you. It got testy.</s>COOPER: One more chance. You believe he either lied or did not lie? Are you willing to say --</s>TRUMP: I don't know what he did. I just know it was a terrible mistake.</s>COOPER: So, was it a mistake for you to say in that debate that you thought he lied?</s>TRUMP: I'd have to see the exact word. Look, I don't know. I would probably say that something was going on. I don't know why he went in. I don't know why he went in.</s>MARQUEZ: One would say he was walking back his remarks from the first debate in South Carolina, but actually, he jumped in the car, put it in reversed and was speeding back it sounds like. You think -- did he really hurt himself there, Colleen?</s>NELSON: Well, it was interesting. He would not repeat the word lie. And he said, well, I'm not saying lying, I'm not saying not lying. And then, Anderson read his words back to him. He said, well, actually you did say he lied. And even when confronted with his own words, he still just kind of side stepped the question, but he made it a point to not repeat that word. So, clearly, he had second thoughts about what he said. He didn't ever express regret or apologize for what he said.</s>ALESCI: One thing that was interesting to me is Jeb Bush seemed to break from some Republicans in the party who do not want President Obama to nominate a new Supreme Court justice. Here's what he had to say about that specific question.</s>BUSH: Would I nominate someone? I probably would because as I said in the debate last Saturday, I'm an Article II guy. I think the presidency -- we should be respectful of the Constitution. But whatever powers are afforded the presidency, the president ought to use them.</s>ALESCI: What do you think of those comments?</s>NELSON: Well, that was fascinating, because other Republicans are saying Obama shouldn't nominate someone, obviously. And they are criticizing Obama for trying to use his power. So, that was divergent from other Republicans. But it's kind of a tough argument that Republicans are trying to make when they say, well, I would nominate someone, but President Obama should not just because the atmosphere has become so toxic and so partisan. That's the argument that some other Republicans have been making, that they should be allowed to nominate someone in their fourth year, but that President Obama should not be permitted to do that.</s>MARQUEZ: Now, you have been following this all along. These debates or this town hall format is different from a debate, where you get the long form and talking. You know these candidates so well. You know all of the stump speeches. You know everything. Anything -- what popped out to you?</s>NELSON: Well, it was a humanizing evening for the candidates, particularly for John Kasich, just because in the debates, he is often kind of overshadowed. He doesn't jump into the fray and he really says, I want to stay positive and not fight with the other Republicans. And so, for a lot of viewers, I think this was kind of the first time they have seen an extended version of John Kasich. And they got to see a very different brand of Republicanism from him. We obviously saw him hugging the voter yesterday, which was a pretty touching moment. He talked with Anderson Cooper about the death of his parents and what a dark place he found himself in and how he found the Lord at that point. So, it was particularly revelatory particularly for folks who haven't been exposed as much to Governor Kasich.</s>MARQUEZ: It will be interesting to see if that plays in Greenville.</s>ALESCI: Yes, switching to Democrats. Hillary Clinton and Sanders faced off last night. Hillary got a negative response to something she said. She was basically talking about Sanders and how he's been so critical of former President Bill Clinton and Obama. Here's the response.</s>HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just don't know where all this comes from, because maybe it's that Senator Sanders wasn't really a Democrat until he decided to run for president. Maybe he doesn't know what the last two Democratic presidents did.</s>ALESCI: Do you think that response was the people in the room or do you think that kind of negative campaigning doesn't play well on that side of the campaign at this point?</s>MARQUEZ: Does she have a problem in Nevada?</s>NELSON: Well, she is suddenly facing a very close race in Nevada. I think that is what you are seeing in that room. She expected to have Nevada be kind of proof of her strength nationally, and this was going to be the first test of the so-called Clinton firewall. And all of a sudden, she finds herself in a very close race in Nevada. And all of a sudden, her campaign is kind of walking back their statements saying they are far ahead in Nevada and saying, well, we might win. We might not win. Nevada is not as diverse as some of the states on the schedule. So, all of a sudden, it is down to the wire in Nevada.</s>MARQUEZ: Colleen McCain Nelson, all cheers for you. No boos. Thank you very much.</s>NELSON: Thank you.</s>MARQUEZ: Today, President Obama and the first lady will pay their respects to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. His body will lie in repose in the court's great hall. In just a few hours, Scalia's loved ones and eight remaining justices will attend a private ceremony, followed by a public viewing from 10:30 until 8:00 p.m. tonight. Critics have slammed the president for deciding to skip Scalia's funeral mass on Saturday. The White House defending the move, citing security as a major factor.</s>ALESCI: Time for an early start on your money. The winning streak for stocks is over. The rally ran out of steam yesterday with the Dow dropping 40 points as gains in oil faded. It was just the eighth time this year that blue chips did not move more than 100 points in either direction. But that put just a small dent in the major rally over the past four sessions. The Dow is still up more than 750 points this week. Here's where the major three averages stand. The Dow is off 5.8 percent. NASDAQ is the biggest loser, down more than 10 percent, and the S&P sliding 6.1 percent. Now, stock futures are slightly higher. Oil is down. Europe is up. And Asia finished lower. Donald Trump versus the pope. We are breaking down the controversial new reaction this morning live from Rome, next.