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George W. Bush Campaigns; Supreme Court Seat; South Carolina Primary. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 15, 2016 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[14:00:05] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me on this President' Day Monday.

Listen, just a quick note for you. Any moment now, Donald Trump is expected to hold a news conference there in all-important South Carolina. And, of course, with every Trump news conference, we're not quite sure what the Republican frontrunner might have to say. We'll watch it. We'll take it live when it happens.

Meantime, as I mentioned, it is President's Day today. But what I can definitely tell you is that a seismic shift is happening for the first time in 12 years. One of America's most colorful, much maligned presidents is hitting the campaign trail. I'm talking about George W. Bush. And right now his brother, Jeb Bush, who is trailing in national polls, struggling with the big political baggage attached to his famous last name. He's finally in a place where his family is not at all a liability, South Carolina. Tonight, these two brothers, along with a former first lady, Laura Bush, they will be taking the stage there. So let's chat about the significance.

Mark Preston is joining me, CNN Politics executive editor.

Mark Preston, good to see you, my friend.

Which version of Bush 43 do you think we will see?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, look, I think Jeb Bush had to reach out to his family. We saw his mother, Brooke, with him up in New Hampshire, and many thought that was helpful to his candidacy up there. But I do think you're going to see a brother who is going to stand by his brother and try to -- try to hit home the fact that he thinks that Jeb Bush is qualified to be president and probably the most -- and, quite frankly, the most qualified in the field.

Now, Brooke, Jeb Bush has not turned to his brother at all because his brother has been much maligned by Democrats and some independents. But we need to really notice the fact that George W. Bush is still well liked by Republicans. And you have to ask yourself, why wasn't he brought into the campaign a little bit earlier, perhaps in Iowa. Perhaps he could have helped out there. But we will see him tonight.

This is at a time right now where Jeb Bush's campaign is starting to gain some steam. He did OK in New Hampshire. We've seen a little bit of a new fire in his belly on the debate stage. And he'll have his brother by his side tonight.

BALDWIN: Listen, South Carolina is a -- is a really safe state for the Bush family. Both Bushs have won in years past. But they're not safe from Donald Trump. I mean I know you were watching the debate this weekend and we'll talk -- there some sound in a second. But Trump has been all a Twitter over this, you know, calling him, Bush 43 essentially, a liar and tweeted this, "now that George Bush is campaigning for Jeb, is he fair game for questions about the World Trade Center, Iraq War and eco collapse? Careful." So there's that and then it was this Saturday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: George Bush made a mistake. We can make mistakes. But that one was a beauty. We should have never been in Iraq. They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There weren't none. And they knew there were none.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I could care less about the insults that Donald Trump gives to me. It's blood sport for him. He enjoys it. And I'm glad he's happy about it. But I am sick and tired --

TRUMP: He spent $22 million (INAUDIBLE) --

BUSH: I am sick and tired of him going after my family.

TRUMP: The World Trade Center came down during his brother's reign. Remember that.

BUSH: (INAUDIBLE) my mother. He had the gall to go after my mother.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Mark, how do you think George W. Bush will address these attack after attack after attack on him and his legacy tonight?

PRESTON: I'd be surprised if he says anything, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Really?

PRESTON: Look, once he left the White House, he's been very quiet. He has been very much a gentleman, very much allowing his legacy to build on itself and let history be the decider. He has gone back to Texas and he has done his own thing.

But you know what's interesting, is I talked to a very prominent Republican in South Carolina after the debate and this is what the person said to me is, who would have thought that the Republican frontrunner right now would be out attacking George W. Bush, saying that he is the -- he is the cause of 9/11, as well as saying nice things about Planned Parenthood as well. And, of course, that's Donald Trump. And we'll hear from him very shortly. But I bet you he is going to come out swinging against George W. Bush and Jeb Bush at this news conference.

BALDWIN: I wanted to ask you about that because we're watching, we're wait to see Donald Trump. We know he doubled, tripled down on the Sunday shows, you know, in these attacks on the Bush family. What are you expecting to see in a matter of minutes?

PRESTON: Well, there's something to be said about bracketing, right? In politics, bracketing is trying to get out in front of the message on the front end and trying to get out on the back end. And clearly Donald Trump is trying to get out to try to throw as many punches as he can at the Bush family, specifically Jeb Bush. It almost feels personal, Brooke. I don't know about you, but watching it --

BALDWIN: It absolutely feels personal.

PRESTON: Watching it, right, it just seems like it's not so much about this is a gentleman who I'm competing with for the Republican presidential nomination.

BALDWIN: It's deeper than that.

PRESTON: It's deeper than that. And it's amazing. I really wonder why it has gone so deep. I mean there's got to be something more there. But what you're seeing from Trump right now is bracketing on the front end. He is going to try to continue to tear down the Bush legacy in South Carolina, certainly as we're heading into this primary on Saturday.

[14:05:10] BALDWIN: Mark Preston, we will watch together here, thank you very much.

By the way, let me just remind all of you, this week, it's a huge week here on CNN, because we will be hosting, not just one, two Republican presidential town halls, both in South Carolina. So all six candidates, they will be facing questions, great question, tough questions from South Carolina voters directly. So one Wednesday night, one Thursday night. You see the candidates, depending on which night it is, starts Wednesday night, 8:00 Eastern, here on CNN.

The body of the Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia carried in this hearse has been moved from Texas to Virginia and a Texas judge has corrected Scalia's cause of death, saying it was not a heart attack but quote/unquote "natural causes." His heart stopped beating.

And as his loved ones prepare to lay the 79-year-old jurist to rest, his vacancy on the nation's highest court has unleashed a hard-core political conflict where perhaps the only thing all sides could agree on is that this will only get more partisan moving forward. President Obama says, yes, he will name a replacement. Senate Republican leaders says they will delay the nomination process for the next president. And a lot at stake here. Minutes ago, Republican Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are one justice away from fundamentally losing our freedoms. This court right now is already an activist court that is disregarding the law. But as extreme and radical as this court is, there are four hard core left wing judicial activists on the court, one more and we will have a five justice majority that will undermine the very basic liberties of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's go to CNN contributor Steve Vladeck, a constitutional lawyer and a law professor at American University Washington College of Law. Also with us, Stephen Harrison, who wrote a piece for "Salon" entitled "Scalia Told Me a Secret about George W. Bush."

Great to have both of you on.

STEPHEN HARRISON, AUTHOR, "SCALIA TOLD ME A SECRET ABOUT GEORGE W. BUSH": Thanks for having us.

STEVE VLADECK, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Steve Vladeck, first to you. You know, I was talking to Jeff Toobin who's, listen, he's written the book on these justices and he thinks it will be a couple of weeks before really we start seeing a name perhaps from President Obama. I'm wondering, for you, talk to us about the process and how he would weigh, you know, more of a liberal, farther left leaning justice versus maybe a more consensus centrist pick?

VLADECK: Sure, Brooke. I mean I think from the president's perspective, the fact that this is Justice Scalia's seat is going to weigh heavily on the consideration for who should replace him. I think we're going to see more of a moderate, more of a centrist nominee than we might have if, for example, Justice Ginsburg had left the court or someone else from the left bloc. And so I think that what's going on right now behind the scenes is the White House is going through the list of folks they've considered in the past, making sure it's up to date, and figuring out which of those nominees makes the most sense in this political climate and for Justice Scalia's seat.

BALDWIN: So then what happens then if you have these sort of four and four, four more left, four more right, you know, Supreme Court at the moment, and depending on how long this nomination process lasts, what happens to the affirmative action cases, immigration, health care, that are waiting?

VLADECK: Yes, I mean, I think there are a couple possibilities. So one is the justices find some way to break the four-four deadlock. Maybe they find a very narrow ground on which to rule, for example, in the challenge to President Obama's immigration policy. Maybe they simply say the states didn't have standing as opposed to reaching on the merits. But, Brooke, the two other possibilities are to affirm the decision four-four by an equally divided court, that leaves the lower court decision intact without creating a precedent or to simply --

BALDWIN: Let me jump in. Let me jump in.

VLADECK: Yes.

BALDWIN: Forgive me.

VLADECK: Yes.

BALDWIN: I'm being told Hillary Clinton is addressing Justice Scalia, talking about the Supreme Court right now.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To confirm whoever the president nominates. I tell you, my friends, one of the great advantages of our country is we have always been a nation under the rule of law. Let us never, ever deviate from that. As your secretary of state, I went to 112 countries on behalf of the United States. I went to a lot of countries where dictators, where special interests call the shots. Where basically they interfere in the way government operates to their advantage. Where they do everything they can to stamp out opposition because they believe they have all the answers and they want the power, they want the money, they want everything that goes with it. We can never --

BALDWIN: Saying, before we dipped in, she was essentially saying that the Senate, the Republican majority Senate, has the duty to consider whoever it is that the president puts out there as a potential nominee.

[14:10:08] Stephen Harrison, let me bring you in. You know, tell me about when you met Justice Scalia. You were studying, what, at Oxford and he came to speak and you won this spot at dinner. What was it you asked him?

HARRISON: Well, I asked him two questions. First, I asked him to assess President George W. Bush's leadership qualities. This was in 2008. And he sort of looked at me and looked around the room and he said, you know I have the utmost respect for the Bush family and for George W. Bush, but a lot of my fellow Republicans believe that the other Bush brother was much brighter and that the wrong Bush brother became president. And --

BALDWIN: The other Bush brother being the man who wants to be president currently, Jeb Bush?

HARRISON: Yes, that's right, Jeb Bush. A I was a little surprised that he would be so candid about this.

BALDWIN: Huh.

HARRISON: And I think the other guests were surprised too. But I really think that was his personality. He was very forthright and always shared his opinion.

BALDWIN: You -- you also asked him about, what, campaign finance reform. Some of his other comments to you are really telling about who he was as a person. Who did he tell you was his best friend?

HARRISON: He said Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hands down was his best friend. He spoke very fondly of their friendship. Even though they usually -- and most of the time disagreed.

BALDWIN: Steve Vladeck, just back to you, on the politics of all this, not just in terms of the, you know, Republican primary, you know, folks who want to be president, but also on a Senate level, re- election, especially in more moderate states, how nasty is this going to get?

VLADECK: You know, I think that's going to be up to the Republicans in the Senate. I mean I think the White House is going to walk this very carefully. I think we're going to get a nominee who they believe is very confirmable. Perhaps someone who this very Senate has already confirmed. So someone like Judge Srinivasan in the D.C. Circuit who was confirmed 98-0. And then it's going to be up to the Republicans in the Senate. Are they really going to try to run out the clock on President Obama, which is still 11 months, you know, left in office, or are they going to actually take seriously a nominee who's put forward in good faith have the hearings, go through the whole process and see if that nominee receives enough support? The ball's really going to be in their court once President Obama puts forward a name.

BALDWIN: Steve Vladeck, Stephen Harrison, thank you both so much.

As we go to break here, just a reminder, live pictures here in Hanahan, South Carolina. We are watching and waiting to see Donald Trump. This is hours before George W. Bush hits the campaign trail on behalf of his brother Jeb Bush. We'll the president triple down on his attacks against the former president. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:33] BALDWIN: And we're back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

South Carolina, the epicenter right now for the race for president, George W. Bush for the first time will campaign publicly for his brother, Jeb, just hours for now. The former president really this political football in the Republican contest. He's been called a liar by Donald Trump over the weekend. So in a state where the Bush family is so extraordinarily popular, how is this drama going over with folks in the great state of South Carolina? My next guest knows the state better than anyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARIUS RUCKER (singing): Your little homegrown honey, honey, honey, you're so money, money, money, you got a country road Carolina soul, baby you're just so homegrown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The three-time Grammy award-winning artist Darius Rucker, formerly of Hootie & the Blowfish fame, who has blown up as a country star. Four albums under his belt with another one on the way this year.

Darius Rucker, it is so awesome having you on my show. How are you? DARIUS RUCKER, MUSICIAN: I'm great. Thanks for having me, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, South Carolina, where you are now --

RUCKER: Yes.

BALDWIN: You know, are you -- do you feel like you have your finger on the pulse of what folks are saying in terms of how people are feeling ahead of this all important primary in your state?

RUCKER: I think people are still -- still listening, you know. You know, we have a pretty conservative state here, so -- and people are listening to all the candidates and trying to figure out what everybody's saying. I mean it's so entertaining, you can't help but listen. But I think I've talked to a lot of people about it and I don't -- and a lot of people are undecided.

BALDWIN: It's good that people are listening. Listening is -- that's a good thing. But if you were listening Saturday night in Greenville, South Carolina, the, you know, names, the insults hurled, and not just of one of these candidates, multiple jumping in on this. And I'm just wondering, what do you make of the state of politics right now, Darius?

RUCKER: Oh, that -- that surprised me. You know, I've watched a lot of the debates on both sides and I was surprised at how really that got down into the dirt and people just really just throwing insults left and right and talking over each other and not being respectful of each other. And, you know, it was -- it was a little tough to watch really as a guy who, you know, I listen -- I listen to the candidates and then I decide who I'm going to vote for and that was just a bunch of people throwing barbs back at each other. But I hope it gets clean and I hope they get back to talking about the issues.

BALDWIN: From entertainer, you, to entertainer, Donald Trump, what do you think of him as a man -- I don't know if you've met him before. If you have, tell me. What do you think of his presence in this race?

RUCKER: I've got to meet -- I've got to meet Mr. Trump a couple times. He's fun to hang out with. I've gotten to talk to him a couple times and you know he's doing this for himself. You know, he --

BALDWIN: Tell me a story, please. Story, please.

RUCKER: Oh, no, I just -- I played a casino a couple of times, you know, and, you know, he was there hanging out. It wasn't nothing -- no big deal. You know, he was just at the show hanging out. But, you know, he's a -- he's the outsider coming in and really shaking things up. You know, I -- a lot of people I think at the beginning were waiting for Mr. Trump to crash and burn. It doesn't seem like he's going to do that. It seems like he'll be there till the end. So, you know, it's just, for me as a guy who loves entertainment, this is all so entertaining and he's made it just even more entertaining. And I can't wait until, well, you know, if he wins the nomination, I mean, that's going to be something to watch. BALDWIN: Let me loop back on that. We mentioned Donald Trump would be

speaking in South Carolina. Let me take him live and we'll come back to you, Darius. Stand by.

[14:19:56] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Jeb Bush has spent about $20 million on negative ads that in many cases are false, but they're negative ads. He's got a lot of special interest money. His campaign, in my opinion, is going absolutely nowhere. But he spent about $20 million on negative ads on me. And, in theory, he has a long way before he catches and he should be, you know, looking at some -- or go positive. I think he'd do better if he went positive. But the only reason is, and the only reason I bring it up is, we have to respond to those negative ads. So that's the reason. No bad blood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about George W. Bush? He's never attacked you and you've attacked him relentlessly.

TRUMP: No, I just -- I just said facts. No, no. But once he entered the fray, like Bill Clinton three weeks ago entered the fray, and I helped Bernie Sanders much more than he helped himself, believe me, because if you look at it, that's when she started going down and that's when that race started getting competitive. So you just take a look. You study your numbers and study your dates. When she attacked me, I attacked her and that's when Hillary started going down and that race became much more competitive. Take a look. You'll be very interested to see. Only one political reporter got that one.

Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Mr. Trump, you're honest about George W. Bush and 9/11. Ted Cruz said today (INAUDIBLE) you were taking --

TRUMP: Well, Ted Cruz is desperate. Look, he's a --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) the left (ph).

TRUMP: Yes, I think Ted's a very unstable guy. We put out a little release. I think you probably get it. Did you get the release, John (ph)? I think he's a very unstable guy. And I must tell you one thing about Ted Cruz, that I can say that only to a minor extent by comparison for the other politicians, I haven't been doing this long. I'm been in it since June 16th. I will tell you, I have never ever met a person that lies more than Ted Cruz. I have never, ever seen anything like it.

He did it with Ben Carson. He did it with the voter violation fraud deal that he did. I mean it was a fraud. His voter violation fraud, which you guys really didn't pick up, which was very interesting. You picked up the Ben Carson thing very much, where he told people that Ben Carson had left the race, he's out of the race. And now they have calls that are much more severe than anything you had at the time. But that Ben Carson had left the race, come vote for Ted Cruz, which actually had an impact on me because they would have been, you know, would have been probably a victory for Trump, but it doesn't matter.

But I will tell you, the thing you didn't pick up on is the voter violation fraud that he committed. It was a fraud that he committed. And you take a look.

So -- but I've never seen anybody that lied as much as Ted Cruz. And he goes around saying he's a Christian. I don't know. You're going to have to really study that.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said earlier today that Ted Cruz is unstable. What do you think --

TRUMP: I think he's unstable. No, I think he's an unstable person. I watch him. I see him. And I always say he's a good debater, but he can't talk. The guy literally -- he's a good debater. I don't even think he's a good debater. I mean I heard he's a good debater. I don't personally see he's a very good debater. But he is a very unstable person. And that's just my opinion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Too unstable to be president?

TRUMP: Yes. Yes, I would say that's true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump --

TRUMP: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) last event that President George W. Bush has gone silent for several years. Do you think President George W. Bush was a failed president?

TRUMP: I'm not going to say whether he was failed or not. He had some problems. Look, when somebody attacks me, like Jeb, at one of the debates, and I was very nice to him at the Ronald Reagan, I didn't say it, I didn't want to say it, but he talked about the tremendous safety. Well, excuse me, the World Trade Center came down during the, you know, reign of George Bush, right? I mean it came down.

So during the Ronald Reagan -- if you remember, the library debate, he mentioned about how we were safe. We weren't safe. That was the greatest attack in the history of the United States. Worse than Pearl Harbor, because it was individuals. We were attacked as individuals as opposed to the military. The greatest, single attack.

So what he's saying -- and I'm standing up there, I'm saying, do I want to embarrass him by saying this? But because I'm a nice person, I didn't do it. But then when he used it another time, I had to say, I'm sorry, but we weren't safe, the World Trade Center came down, which was the greatest attack in history on this country. So you had that.

You obviously had the war, which was a big mistake. I mean I think few people would say the war in Iraq was a positive. You had him on the aircraft carrier saying all sorts of wonderful things, how the war was essentially over. Guess what, not over. And, you know, the war with Iraq is a disaster.

Now Iran is taking over Iraq, as sure as you're sitting there. They're taking the oil. They're taking everything. I said take the oil. I was against the war in Iraq, by the way. I was the only one on the stage. Believe me, you should get some points for vision, but I was totally against the war in Iraq. I said it's going to destabilize the Middle East. And then when they went in, I said when they're getting out, take the oil. They didn't take the oil. So now Iran is going to have the oil and ISIS has the oil. And ISIS, this has fueled ISIS because ISIS now has so much money because they've had the oil.

So, yes, yes, go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump, today you've attacked Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz. You've repeatedly said that you're a uniter. What do you say to --

[14:25:00] TRUMP: Well, it is a political campaign. No, no, it is a political campaign. I mean am I allowed to attack? I get attacked. They're attacking me all the time. No, I'm not -- did I attack Marco? For what, joking? For being a joke artist? Where did I attack him? For being a joke artist?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

TRUMP: And we can't have that as a president, can we? OK. I don't think I attacked Marco.

Yes, go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump, (INAUDIBLE) --

TRUMP: Sorry. Thanks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Campaign ads, when you say to him (ph), you say that if Ted Cruz doesn't take down his ads attacking you, you will sue him.

TRUMP: Yes, well, he's printed lies. He said I'm pro-choice and I'm pro-life. He's printed lies. I mean they're so -- not only printed. I mean I think he's taken out -- look, what he did with Ben Carson was terrible. I've never seen anything like that. It was a total lie.

And, by the way, 10 minutes after the election was over, the caucus, he went and said, oh, I'm sorry. He called Ben. And Ben didn't accept that apology the way I look at it, OK, didn't accept the apology.

So I don't want to be in a position where it's Saturday evening and I get a phone call from him, you know, I'm really sorry about that, my staff did something. He did three or four things. There's a -- for instance, he talks about me being against the Second Amendment. I am the strongest person running in favor of the Second Amendment. I'm a member of the NRA. My sons have been long-term members of the NRA and they're extraordinary shots. They, I mean, the whole thing is incredible.

So what he does is he'll walk up and he'll say something. He said, I will appoint liberal judges. Donald Trump -- I just saw it, Donald Trump is going to appoint liberal judges. I named two judges that are -- and I named them during the debate. I was the only one that named two judges that I would appoint. Those two judges -- now it could be somebody else, but those two judges are highly respective, conservative judges. They'd be great judges to appoint.

But he just gets up and says, if Donald Trump gets in, he's going to appoint liberal judges. Just the opposite. But the only way you can fight it and the only way I can fight it is all the press here. But most people can't fight it. But he's a liar. So he'll go up and he'll absolutely lie. In fact, Henry, who is lieutenant governor, said I can't believe the things he's saying, because he understands the views on everything and he just comes out and, boom, boom, boom, absolute lies.

Now, he'll apologize, but I don't want an apology after the election. I want the apology before. And if he doesn't, I'm going to bring a lawsuit because, in my opinion, based on what I've learned over the last two, three days from very top lawyers, he doesn't even have the right to serve as president or even run as president. He was born in Canada. So I will bring that lawsuit if he doesn't apologize.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) in terms of the ultimatum, what is your deadline by this point --

TRUMP: Oh, pretty quick. I do quick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: I -- maybe, if I can. Got to get the papers drawn. But it will be -- don't worry, we have another one coming up. OK, it will be pretty quick.

Yes. Oh, John, go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) today is attacking your sister (ph) --

TRUMP: Can you imagine, my sister?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: By the way, my sister was appointed by Ronald Reagan. Elevated, elevated, I believe, in the Clinton administration. But she was appointed -- originally appointed by Ronald Reagan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me ask you this two part question. Are families on or off on this (ph)? And is this now a sign that this race is having really personal --

TRUMP: Well, I think --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Political posturing (ph) --

TRUMP: I think, first of all, my sister has nothing to do with me. I mean she's a federal judge at a high, high level, court of appeals, and she was appointed by Ronald Reagan -- originally appointed by Ronald Reagan. A highly brilliant woman. Known as a great, you know, as a very brilliant judge. I don't even know what her views are and I don't think she'd want to

tell me. I think she's a very -- you know she doesn't -- I remember one of -- one of your cohorts wanted to do a great story about her. I said, listen, they want to do a great story about you. She said, I don't want any stories. She's very much like me in that respect. I don't know. I said, are you sure we have the same parents?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. So are families -- and, again, (INAUDIBLE) --

TRUMP: I think, frankly, I mean, she's a federal judge, highly respected at every level by both sides, by everybody and I don't know that that's -- I mean certainly what he said about her is horrible. They, you know, they made her sound just terrible. She may have views on certain things. I'm never asked her her views. I don't want to ask her her views. I don't think it's appropriate. She is a very, very solid person and a very great intellect and she's acknowledged as being so on the court.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, but has this now become really personal? It seems like the tenor of this campaign is now increasingly personal. There's no political --

TRUMP: Well, I think in many respects. But with -- with Cruz, more so, because even Jeb won't go and say like, you know, boom, he's -- Donald Trump is like against the Second Amendment or whatever. You know, I mean he -- he doesn't do that. What Cruz says is incredible. I've never seen anything like it. He just actually -- I think he actually said it. Donald Trump is against the Second Amendment. I said, what?

[14:29:44] I did a radio show this morning with a very good host and I won't mention the name but you can figure it out, and he said, you know, he said that you were totally in favor of Obamacare. Now every single speech I've made has -- we have to repeal and replace Obamacare. So the host said, you know, he said this and I questioned him. He said, no, no, he really likes Obamacare. Now how do you fight that? Except that these people can fight it. Now, don't forget, I only have three days to fight it. I don't have, you know, like I'll do it over a period of six months.