tv Anderson Cooper 360 CNN February 24, 2016 9:00pm-10:01pm PST
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subject and wit and they did a wonderful job, thanks to abc's "blackish". thank you so much for watching. stay with cnn. our republican debate tomorrow night good evening from houston, texas. tonight, the latest on the race for the white house and my conversation with donald trump who has now won three states in a row. could take many more on super tuesday. whether you believe pundits, polls or prediction markets, could take it all. all the candidates sharing the debate stage with him tomorrow night are scrambling to navigate a republican landscape he has shaken to the core after his crushing victory in nevada. >> reporter: we won the evangelicals. we won with young. we won with old. we won with highly educated. we won with poorly educated. i love the poorly educated. >> which gets to the heart of what his opponents face. especially rubio and cruz.
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he won new hampshire. they said south carolina evangelicals would stop him. he won south carolina. they said he couldn't win caucuses, couldn't win latinos, couldn't handle marco rubio's ties. tonight, a closer look at the whole trump phenomenon. something we've never seen before as well as donald trump's own take on it and my conversation. we begin with phil mattingly covering the campaign. super tuesday now less than a week away. what is trump's strategy moving forward? >> well, anderson, it's make the south trump country. if you paid any attention to donald trump's campaign schedule over the left few months, he continued to sprinkle in trips down south. there's a reason. obviously, super tuesday. 25% of available delegates up for grabs. over the next week, donald trump turning that southern priority into overdrive. he's got visits to georgia,
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tennessee, alabama, oklahoma, arkansas, all states that vote on march 1st. all states that are crucial to donald trump closing whatever door that stills remains open to other candidates and shutting it for good. >> reporter: with the gop debate tomorrow, obviously, i mean it's unclear whether trump is going to be attacking cruz or rubio. certainly preparing for attacks from those two. is his campaign showing signals of how he plans to handle that? >> look, if you watched all the debates you know if he gets swung at, he'll swing back. started with a prebuttal today taking a few swipes at ted cruz. some tried and true jabs dealing with citizenship or dealing with whether or not people in texas or washington actually like ted cruz. did the same thing on twitter today. you'll note he'll go after ted cruz no matter what. the big question is not so much what donald trump does tomorrow night. it's what the other candidates do to him as you know quite
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well. the gop establishment is scrambling trying to figure out some way to stop this momentum that's gone forward. tonight will mark the first night and the last major opportunity on the public stage before super tuesday for those candidates to really go to work on trying to stop donald trump, anderson. >> phil mattingly, thanks. now marco rubio out of state when the nevada results came in. pretty much went straight to bed as soon as the outcome was known. he held a campaign event here. jason carroll was there and joins us now. what's rubio's message after nevada because at some point if he wants to beat trump he actually has to beat trump. >> yeah. very true, anderson. his message post-nevada is the same message his campaign says before nevada which is he is the conservative that can unite this party. look, the campaign also recognizes they are feeling the pressure of the calendar. they do have to start winning some races here. ideally they would like this to
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be a two-man race. they want the field to narrow. once that happens, hopefully after super tuesday, they are hoping this would be a race between themselves and trump. and in their words, if they can go mano-e-mano with him in the ring, their words, not mine, hopefully they can land some punches. also the campaign telling us they feel strong going into super tuesday. and in terms of trump, rubio spoke about this earlier. and he basically says he does not believe trump is as popular as some of those polls show. >> the majority of republican voters in this country do not want donald trump to be the nominee. that's been pretty clear now. the problem is they are divided among four people. >> anderson, rubio also saying that he does not want this campaign to be about attacking trump. he said in his rally earlier that we just came from, he wants this campaign to be something
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his children can look back at and be proud of. anderson? >> in terms of the strategy for rubio the next few days, how is allocating time and money ahead of super tuesday? >> they are feeling good about their finances. they feel as though they had a strong showing in south carolina. got a financial bump out of south carolina. so in terms of finances, they are feeling good. in terms of strategy, it's going to be what some of the other candidates are going to be doing. they'll be hitting every super tuesday state with a special emphasis on states like arkansas, oklahoma, virginia, and also georgia as well. they also acknowledge that tomorrow here at the debate is going to be key for them. rubio has to perform well here tomorrow night. they acknowledge that. he cannot have another performance -- disastrous performance like he had at that debate in new hampshire. anderson? >> jason carroll, thanks very much. ted cruz picked up an endorsement from greg abbott.
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recent polling gives him about a five-point edge on trump but does not take into account reaction to last night. cnn's sunlen serfaty is traveling with the cruz campaign and joins us now. the idea that texas, more than anywhere else is cruz's best chance to get another win, which he obviously badly needs, how confident is the campaign tonight? >> well, they are confident, anderson. a cruz adviser saying they're very optimistic with their chances of how well they'll do here in texas. this adviser adds they are going to compete for every vote and making sure not to take anything for granted. cruz ruled out that big endorsement today with the texas governor. that goes a long way on the ground. really sends them into voting next tuesday with a big boost of momentum. there are a lot of delegates at stake here in texas. 155 delegates.
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cruz himself today called it the crown jewel of super tuesday. you couple that with the symbolic nature of this state for ted cruz being his home state, that set the stakes very high for him to do well here. >> we heard senator cruz spinning his third place showing in nevada into some sort of almost victory sounding speech. is he sticking with that rationale and acknowledging he needs to do better? >> he's not acknowledging that in any way. he's not acknowledging weakness or that he needs to improve. he is saying very clearly when we spoke to him in a press availability earlier today that he's going to compete for every vote. he's going to campaign very aggressively this week. i think it's very clear he has an understanding of the stakes, and that's in large part why we've seen him sort of ratchet up the rhetoric in a dramatic way saying this is a pivotal week. but not claiming that it's a pivotal week for him which is an important difference.
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he's call super tuesday the most important day of the election. it can't be overstated. we've said time and time again how much super tuesday is such a pivotal and important date for the cruz campaign. they've staked so much, investing in this strategy. of course, they've got to perform. >> sunlen serfaty, we'll see. in a few moments a conversation with our team of political analysts and professionals about how donald trump has up ended the race so far. first my conversation late today with the candidate himself. mr. trump, congratulations. an enormous win last night in nevada. third in a row beating your opponents nearly every category. do you see the race for the nomination ending sooner than a lot of pundits predicts? >> i don't see it going to the convention. i think we're doing very well. >> in terms of last night, what do you read in the numbers? you beat cruz among evangelicals, very conservative. really among almost every category of voter.
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>> i think we won just about every category. and it was just, you know, a special evening. special people. i know the state very well. i've invested in the state very heavily and done well there. and they are just great people. we've had three in a row now. three special groups of people. the whole country is special to people. and it's -- i sort of think it's a movement. >> supporters of senator cruz have said it's crucial he wins texas for him to even consider moving forward. do you think you could possibly win texas? do you think you can beat him there? i'll give you his answer to that later. and mitt romney said i think there's something looming in the taxes. we'll have donald trump's response to that. you can imagine what it might be. a rare and revealing interview with melania trump about what her life was like before her marriage. all ahead on the program tonight.
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i spoke late today with donald trump who is getting ready for tomorrow's night's cnn debate here in houston and hoping to turn his string of three victories into many more. here's part two of my conversation with the republican front-runner. >> supporters of senator cruz have said it's crucial he wins texas for him to even consider moving forward.
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do you think you could possibly win texas? do you think you can beat him there? >> i could win texas. i don't know that i will. that's the only state i'm a little bit down. oklahoma i'm way up, and interestingly, in massachusetts, i'm way up, almost 50. and we're doing well all over. florida we're doing very well. and i know alabama and arkansas, just about every place we are going to be. georgia has been -- in particular, georgia has been strong. we're looking forward to a good week next week. you never know in the world of politics. you know that better than i do. >> compared to senator cruz, you've been fairly modest in going after senator rubio. i want to get your reaction to something rubio said this morning about your win in nevada. i'm going to play a sound bite from him. >> a majority of republican voters in this country do not want donald trump to be the nominee. i think that's been pretty clear. the problem is they are divided up among four people. >> do you buy that argument that the fact that there's a divided field going against you that it's allowing you to win?
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>> no, i don't because i think i would do very well with one on one. i'd almost like that. it would really be a simplification. when you get up to 46% and 47%, and that's in a seven-person field. that's at a very high position. i laugh at the pundits who say if you add up all of the rest, it's 53. when people leave, i pick up a lot of votes. >> you are gearing up for the cnn debate tomorrow night. what do you see as senator rubio's biggest vulnerability. >> i think i'll save that for tomorrow night. we have to keep some good action for tomorrow night. we'll be totally prepared. people have not done very well against me. so far everybody that's attacked me has gone down. maybe that's a good thing for the country because maybe that's what our country needs. everybody that's attacked me -- jeb bush spent probably $15 million to $20 million on negative ads on me.
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the only reason i went after him was because of that. he spent a tremendous amount. spent $150 million but he spent about $20 million on negative ads on me which was not very nice. >> you talked about also winning the 44% of the latino vote last night. obviously some polling experts who point out there were so few people involved in the caucus in terms of latinos it represents about 0.5% of the entire latino population in nevada. are you planning to make more of an outreach to latinos and african-americans? >> well, i think so. when you say one half of one percent, i don't know what that represents. we got 46% of the latino vote and that was far more than anybody else in the field. and that's pretty good, i think. obviously, it's not the whole nation but it's what we had to deal with. we were dealing with that area and got 46% of the vote. i think that's indicative of the nation, actually.
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>> i want to move on to senator cruz. on monday he seemed to toughen his talk on illegal immigration saying he'd push for i.c.e. agents to look for, deport undocumented immigrants. it was an interview this past january he said, i don't intend to send boots to knock on your door. do you think he's changing his stance? >> he is also changing his stance. he wants to build a wall. i heard it from him and somebody else. they are all copying me. we have sheriff joe arpaio supported me. so you know in terms of that kind of endorsement, it's probably the ultimate. the fact is he was weak on immigration, and the illegals, as far as he was concerned. he was willing to give amnesty and you know that debate between him and rubio and it went on very long and loud. but he was very, very weak on illegal immigration. now he's getting tough. and he is because he's getting
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very nervous. i watched him the other day. he's a nervous wreck. he didn't know this was going to happen to him. now he's in third place, not even in second. looks like rubio is taking over, reasonably solid in second place. i'm in first place by quite a bit, but he has very much toughened his stance because he was losing. >> you've been asked when you'll release your tax returns. on monday you said you'd do it at some point. just today you probably know mitt romney said, quote, i think there's reason to believe there's a bombshell in trump's taxes. mitt romney refused to release his taxes for quite a while. ultimately did. why not just get them out there? we'll have his answer to that and more on my interview with donald trump after a break. also how the democrats are tackling the run-up to the south carolina primary and super tuesday as hillary clinton picks up a major endorsement. the latest when we continue. pain from your day can haunt you at night, don't let it.
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on monday you said you'd do tat some point. today mitt romney said, quote, i think there's reason to believe there's a bombshell in trump's taxes. we should point out mitt romney refused to release his taxes for quite a while. why not get them out there? >> because my returns are complex. i'll make them at the right time. nobody has been bringing it up but mitt romney. he brought it up because he lost in the last election and lost very badly. i don't know why he's bringing it up. i have many, many companies. i have tremendously -- i have a very complex system of taxes. and frankly, i get audited every single year. so unlike everybody else who never gets audited, i get audited every single year which i think is unfair. but i go through large audits. we'll make a determination over the next couple of months.
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>> point blank does that mean you absolutely will release them? it's just a question of when? >> i will make a determination over the next couple of months. >> a lot of polls last night, they said they wanted change and wanted somebody from outside of government. obviously that is all good for you. once you are actually in the white house if you actually make it and become president of the united states, i'm not going to ask you who your vice president would be. it's too early for that. you wouldn't even say if you had been considering it but are you going to look for somebody with political experience to help you with congress and help you once you're in washington if you get there? >> yes. the answer is yes. i would not do -- i'm very political and i've been political and you've known me for a long time. and i've gotten tremendous zone changes and tremendous, you know -- over the years i've been a very political person. i've supported politicians and
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all. but i would absolutely not need another business person. i'll have many business people, i mean, some of the greats. carl icahn endorsed me. many of them endorsed me, the best ones. >> you'd want someone with congressional experience -- >> i'd want someone with political skill because that's where i would really want that. dealing with congress, et cetera. i also think in terms of vice president, the key is, who would be a great president. if something should happen, who would be a great president? that has to be the first. but i'd really want somebody that would be in the world of politics in that case. i will keep it going really beautifully but i like the concept of politics. not 100%, but i think i like the concept of having somebody that's in the world of politics for that position. >> donald trump, again, congratulations on last night. >> thank you, anderson. a lot to talk about with our panel. chief political analyst gloria
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borger, cnn political director david chalian, cnn political commentators amanda carpenter, kevin madden, republican strategist ana navarro and former reagan white house, michael lord. he seems to be backing off he'll release his tax returns. he says he'll consider it down the road. >> i think that's the news here in this interview. before he's always said it's going to take time to get them organized and together and then we're going to release them and that was a different story tonight when he spoke to you. it is a little ironic and kevin, you may want to speak to this, that mitt romney was the person asking donald trump to release his taxes. because romney finally released a couple of years of taxes when he ran but under a great deal of pressure. >> what romney said is that cruz
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and rubio and trump should all release their taxes. he did focus on trump saying there was some sort of a bombshell there that perhaps he didn't earn as much money as he said or didn't give as much to charity as he said. were you surprised romney came out on this? >> yes. he's probably not the -- he doesn't have the clearest shot on that particular issue. but i also think it's interesting because nobody knows how much of a devastating attack that was than mitt romney. what the obama campaign did by constantly asking and pressuring. after he released the two years y not release 10 years, 15, 20? and when they didn't, what the obama campaign did was frame it as, a, he has something to hide. when you have something to hide you should worry about his character. and that's the risk for donald trump. it's the risk for most candidates. donald trump is not most candidates. that remains to be seen. >> i don't think it's a risk at all. we know he gets judged with a different measuring stick than everybody else.
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one of the problems mitt romney had. he's grown on me in the last three years but one of the problems is he was very awkward about his wealth. donald trump is not. he's told everybody in the loudest voice he can muster. i'm rich. >> donald trump said tonight and i try to pay as little taxes as possible. getting that out of the way. i'm -- if i can, i pay as little as possible. >> who amongst us doesn't? >> i think it is an interesting question. we know donald trump is a walking exaggeration. the one thing he does value is his wealth, how much money he's worth. frankly, i think it's interesting to find out how much he is worth because he takes that as such a large measure of value for himself and for a reason why he should be -- >> he's also dodging and weaving on the question because the -- how does -- most candidates release two years of their last returns. he keeps saying they are very complex and takes a lot of time to put together.
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those returns are already filed. he can release them today. >> the story is there are -- he put out a financial statement saying he's worth $10 billion. bloomberg has had a lower figure, as has forbes. >> a billion here, a billion there and pretty soon it adds up to real money. i just -- the american public has seen him for, what, 30, 40 years. he is a pretty looming figure in american culture. i honestly don't think at this stage they care. >> whether he has $2 billion or $10 billion? >> he is sensitive about it. over the years, we've seen this issue come up long before he was a presidential candidate just talk about his net worth. it's something he is particularly sensitive about. we don't see that a ton on the campaign trail of things that really get under his skin. watching under the glare of the presidential election, him deal with an issue that does get under his skin -- >> really the only time i remember any issue getting under
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his skin was the eminent domain issue when jeb bush went after him. tomorrow may be a very interesting opportunity for marco rubio, who is going to release his tax returns this weekend, as announced, to come at him and say, you know, you should do the same. poor little me from west miami. raised paycheck to paycheck. i'm releasing them. how about you? >> that's it. who is going to start saying that to trump? if it's marco rubio, good for him. if it's ted cruz -- >> but if marco rubio -- >> moves the ball from marco rubio to ted cruz. one for mitt romney to say it which is sour grapes. i had to do it. you should. plus, rich people like to compete. there's a lot of that going on. >> if it turns out to be marco rubio who is doing this, you would know better than i. has he spent all of his career in the public sector? where these dollars came from would matter. donald trump is from the private sector in a year in which the federal government and government is not in favor
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earning whatever wealth you have from the public sector would be, i think -- >> it's interesting with marco rubio. there were a lot of questions about his finances and abilities to -- the loans he took, the expenditures. >> absolutely. but to his benefit it all got kind of aired out months ago. now it's really an old story. this is a story chasing marco since he's been running for the u.s. senate and before. and i think there's very little new news -- >> if he goes after donald trump on taxes, i don't think it's going to be an old story. >> who is going to go after marco rubio about not being able to live within his means? the billionaire? or the guy married to the goldman sachs employee? he's in good -- >> inoculated himself to a great degree with mitt romney. it turned out he paid, what, 15% taxes because it was investment income.
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that's lower than people normally pay. >> a little higher than that, but, yes. >> it was a little bit embarrassing and the obama campaign went after him tooth and nail. you pay a lower tax rate than average americans. donald trump has already said, hey, i go by the law and i want to pay the lowest rate i can possibly pay. if it's really low, he'll say, well, yeah. >> by the way, who is going to go after trump on that on the democrat side? hillary clinton? >> right. good point. >> it's a completely difference deck of cards. i did not like mitt romney being the spokesperson on this. it harkened back to what harry reid said about him. >> that's right. >> to say that there's a bombshell without giving any evidence, i think it's him doing what was done to him which was very incorrectly done by harry reid back then. >> there's no reason mitt romney would have any knowledge about what's in donald trump's taxes. >> no. >> but i don't think it's
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entirely unfair for romney to want to see donald trump held to the same standard. i don't think this really goes anywhere with marco rubio or ted cruz. the senate disclosure forms, their material is out there. donald trump is largely unknown figure. people haven't looked at his business assets. >> if you are going to take down donald trump, you do have to cut off the supply lines to this populist appeal he has. he's one of -- he's -- the average joe should like him. and this is potentially one line of attack on there. now this may not be the best or effective, but they have to do something. we're running out of time. >> ron messenger. >> he's the wrong messenger -- >> i can't believe i'm defending donald trump. none of the people that are voting for him are voting for him because they think he's just like them. everybody knows the guy say billionaire. >> i'm talking about the -- i didn't say that. the appeal he has to the average
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american. and if you can expose some level of hypocrisy, there's an opportunity there. not saying it's going to happen. that's one opportunity. and they are running out of time. they have to do something. >> running out of time i'd almost say nevada may be the tipping point or beginning of the tipping point. if we get to super tuesday and there's much more like the last three, it's pretty much over. >> it's hard to see beyond -- maybe if ted cruz gets texas, what's does rubio get moving forward? >> when i hear people say that ted cruz has to carry texas, he's the senator from texas. when i hear them say marco rubio has to carry florida. if john kasich can't carry ohio. all three of them -- >> it's over. >> if they do carry those, it will keep going on. >> but let's not forget, the big opportunity for all this to come up is tomorrow at the debate. i think mitt romney was doing everything to throw some material out there because at the end of the day, i doubt that
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mitt romney wants to see donald trump become the nominee. i see this as a form of helping, get some people to look into it, put trump on something. >> but he didn't endorse. maybe he thought his endorsement wouldn't actually help marco rubio. >> it probably wouldn't have. >> i want to thank our panel. tune in tomorrow night when the republican candidates face off in the last debate before super tuesday. wolf blitzer is moderating the debate here in houston tomorrow night, 8:30 eastern on cnn. we'll be leading up into the debate. i'll be joining us at 8:00. a new endorsement for hillary clinton and a look ahead to the south carolina primary and super tuesday. later, the battle over replacing the late antonin scalia. a source says the white house is vetting a potential nominee, even as senate republicans say they won't meet with anyone the senate chooses. ♪
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so far. sanders has been holding rallies in missouri and oklahoma today. joe john has more on the race on the democratic side. >> reporter: tonight another big endorsement for hillary clinton. >> i think the middle class would be better served by hillary. >> reporter: senate minority leader harry he'd telling cnn's manu raju he's all in for the secretary of state. >> she's a very quick learner. all you need to do is look what happened after 9/11. gee, did she do a good job. >> reporter: her victory in saturday's nevada caucuses and could give the front-runner a boost heading into super tuesday when democrats vote in 11 states. bernie sanders is hitting the road, rallying supporters in oklahoma and missouri. clinton is keeping her focus on the next state on the calendar,
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south carolina, where she holds a big lead in the polls. democrats in the palmetto state will cast their ballots on saturday. and while sanders splits his focus with other states, he's not conceding the first in the south primary to his rival. >> we're not writing off south carolina. you all know on march 1st there are a dozen states holding elections. and the nature of the world is that we've got to go out. >> reporter: south carolina played host to cnn's town hall tuesday night providing both candidates an opportunity to make their case to african-american voters who account for over half the democratic electorates there. >> our experiences they not equip us to understand what a lot of our african-american fellow citizen goes through every day. >> we've got a plan to invest in jobs and education, not jails and incarceration. >> reporter: sanders again
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attacking clinton for not releasing transcripts of her paid speeches to goldman sachs. >> i am very happy to release all of my paid speeches to wall street. here it is, chris. there ain't none. >> reporter: clinton stating she would comply if republicans agreed to do the same but countering she's being held to a different standard. >> will you agree to release these transcripts? >> sure if everybody does that, and that includes the republicans. why is there one standard for me and not for everybody else, chris. >> reporter: joe johns, cnn, columbia, south carolina. joining me now is cornell west, professor of philosophy. he supports bernie sanders. also cnn contributor and former south carolina statehouse representative bekari sellers. hillary clinton has a track record of winning african-american votes. are you concerned about sanders doing well in south carolina, in the primary?
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what does he have to do to convince african-american voters he is their candidate? >> i think part of it is we're in a paradox. black people have been the most progressive group when it comes to social justice. no doubt bernie sanders is the most progressive when it comes to social justice. he's not tied to wall street in any way. talking about free colleges and free universities. and he doesn't use the language of our dear sister hillary clinton when she talks about young black youth as superpredators and pulling the rug from under welfare. black america getting to know him. part of the problem is we've got a neo political, black political class that confuses the gravy train with the freedom train. they're not providing the leadership they should and they afraid of bernie sanders because in part they are afraid of wall street. hillary clinton is a wall street democrat who is too tied to the mass incarceration order. bernie sanders anti-wall street. one promise he says he's going
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to shrink mass incarceration. we need black working people, poor people, middle class people who care to understand that. we can understand the black elite sometimes pulling back because bernie is hard in terms of accountability no matter what color. that's why i'm with him. >> bakari, you hear what professor west is saying. his support for rights is second to none. how do you respond? >> the first thing i need to say is we have to examine each candidate through the same lens. if we're going to have this conversation about mass incarceration we have to have it honestly. bernie sanders is the only person in this race who had a vote on the crime bill of 1994 and cast a ballot in favor of it. in 2006 a champion for being tough on crime. we're going to have this discussion, let's be honest. what we saw last night, what we saw hillary clinton adopt this theory of crenshaw and espouse a theory of intersectionality.
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>> lip service. lip service. no substance. go right ahead. >> let him finish. >> with all due respect, i don't have as many degrees as you do, but let me finish. >> absolutely. >> all i'm saying -- all i'm simply saying is that she sees the problems of interconnectivity between these systems of oppression, economic injustice and environmental injustice and bernie sanders can't get himself out of this box. bernie sanders is the proverbial one-issue candidate. until he starts talking about the issues he'll not move african-american votes -- >> professor -- >> i want to respond to my brother. first i think, brother sellers would recognize you do not approve of the language of calling precious black men super predators, do you? you don't approve of that? >> no, not at all. >> you know hillary clinton used that language in 1996 in her famous king college speech to justify some very ugly policies.
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it's just a matters of you acknowledging you disagree with that language. >> but dr. west, no, but they are all complicit. just as hillary clinton is complicit and had to apologize, my only problem with this discussion is we have to hold bernie sanders to the same accountability. we have to talk about the 23 members of the congressional black caucus that voted for this bill. it's not about the bill of 1994. it's about who is going to talk about where we are today. >> this is what i mean. this is what i mean. why did hillary clinton accept $133,000 from geo and cca who are private prison lobbyists to justify expanding mass incarceration. and she says she wants to end it. she's just talking. >> it wasn't a justification thereof. >> so you're saying she was wrong? >> she is the person who said that she is going to stop private prisons. she said she's going to ban -- >> how are you going to stop it when you are receiving money from the people who are expanding -- >> dr. west, she is the one who
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simply said she has a plan to limit mass incarceration. to address criminal justice reform. this isn't vermont where -- >> why was she accepting money? >> dr. west -- dr. west, in vermont, in vermont, african-americans, african-americans are ten times -- they have a ten times higher rate of incarceration than white folks. that's what i'm talking about. if you want to look at people's records -- >> he's never support -- >> african -- >> you're talking over -- >> -- the money. that's just a fact. >> african-americans are -- african-americans in vermont said bernie sanders treated them as if they were invisible. >> that's not true. depends on which ones you talk to. you and i know -- >> i don't want any of my brothers in prison -- >> gentlemen, let me try to move this discussion along. >> we agree with that, though, brother. >> bakari, hillary clinton -- bill clinton is seen as his
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wife's not so secret weapon. also signed a crime bill that disproportionately affected the african-american community which senator sanders voted on. how can hillary clinton be a part of that? >> hillary clinton apologized for being a part of that. we have to have this discussion and have it honestly. we have to come out and bernie sanders has to be held to the same standard. that's all i'm saying. if we're going to adjudicate these candidates, we have to do it through the same lens. >> that's fair. that's fair. >> i want a plan to move forward. i want a plan to help limit mass incarceration. i want somebody like hillary clinton who is actually talking about adopting president obama's ferguson commission standards, who is talking about moving this cuntry forward. >> bakari -- >> not just someone that comes out here and wants to sell us uniforms. >> the class issue and economic justice has everything to do with unemployment, everything to
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do with the way black people are treated. there's a class issue that's inseparable with the race issue, my brother. you can't do it if you are wall street democrat like hillary. you are just talking. there's no serious commitment. the class issue with regard to economic justice. that's all i'm saying. you know that's true. >> dr. west, i want you to have the -- >> the legacy of martin luther king. that's what we're talking about. the legacy of your blessed father. look at his example. he was not just fighting against racism. he was fighting against a class system as well. that's what bernie sanders did. you can't do it as a wall street democrat, my brother. you just can't do it. >> dr. west, bakari sellers. >> but i'm -- sorry, if you think i disrespect you. i don't want to disrespect you at all, my brother. >> gentlemen, i appreciate both of you. i have a little bit of a delay so it's hard to orchestrate this discussion. i appreciate your perspectives. melania trump turning up the volume on the campaign trail.
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microphone and gave her own informal speech. >> congratulations to my husband. he was working very hard and he loves you. we love you. and we're going ahead to nevada. and we will see what happens. he will be the best president. >> today she gave a rare interview opening up about their life together and her life before they met. here's jean casarez. >> reporter: she has been a woman of few words. melania trump seen only occasionally on the campaign trail. >> he loves you. we love you. >> reporter: but telling msnbc she has an influence on the campaign. >> i follow the news from a to z. i'm on the phone with my husband a few times a day. he calls me. i call him. i tell him what's going on. he's on the road. and i give him my opinions. >> reporter: at the same time, trump say full-time mother to the couple's son barron. she talks about her own mother
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in slovenia. >> really special. she's with a lot of elegance and style. she was in fashion industry for a long time. >> reporter: once slovenia was recognized as an independent nation, it helped her father who was a salesman. >> once slovenia separated and was possible to have own business, he opened his own business. >> reporter: as a recent interview and photo shoot for harper's bazaar shows, melania is at home before the camera. she came to the u.s. as a model after studying architecture and design in europe and speaks several languages. >> english, italian, french, german. >> reporter: she defend her husband's infamous comments on the border. >> they're bringing drugs. they're bringing crime. they're rapists. >> i don't feel he insulted the mexicans. he said illegal immigrants.
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he didn't talk about everybody. he's right what he's talking about. and he opened conversation that nobody did. >> reporter: melania speaks from personal experience when she says she believes immigrants need to come into the country the legal way. >> i follow a law the way it's supposed to be. i never thought to stay here without papers. i had visa. i traveled every few months back to the country to slovenia to stamp the visa. i came back. i applied for the green card. i applied for the citizenship later on after many years of green card. >> reporter: melania even weighed in on her husband's controversial desire to ban muslims from entering the country. >> what he says is it would be temporary and it's not for all the muslims. we need to screen who is coming to the country. he wants to protect america. >> reporter: melania says she and her husband do disagree. >> this political [ bleep ]. do you understand? >> especially on his cursing.
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>> i tell him my opinions. i tell him what i think. sometimes he listens. sometimes he don't. >> reporter: but it may be those differences that first drew melania to him. >> we are our own people. i'm my own person, he's his own person and that's very important. i don't want to change him. he doesn't want to change me. >> more of my interview with donald trump on the eve of tomorrow's cnn republican debate here in houston. we'll be right back. this is shn whose long day setting up the news starts with minor arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.
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