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CNN NEWSROOM

Latest Campaign Happenings Ahead of Super Tuesday; Preview of Super Tuesday Primaries; North Korea Claims Detained US Student Confessed to Hostile Act. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 29, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:32:42] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Marco Rubio mocking and jabbing at Donald Trump lobbing insults about an orange tan, thin skin and even tiny hands. And it may be more than just political theater. Listen to HBO's John Oliver talking about Trump's response to earlier criticisms of his small hands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN OLIVER, HOST, LAST WEEK TONIGHT: So how about the claim that he is tough? Well, again, I'm not sure about that, because for a tough guy, he has incredibly thin skin.

Back 1988, TIME Magazine called him a short-fingered vulgarian. And ever since, (inaudible) that he receives envelopes from Trump always with the photo on which he suckles his hand to highlight the length of his fingers. Usually with a note reading, "See? Not so short."

Look, look, his fingers seem fine. But the very fact he is so sensitive about them is absolutely hilarious. As is the fact that those notes were apparently written in gold sharpie, which is so quintessentially Donald Trump. Something that gives the passing appearance of wealth but is actually just a cheap tool.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, so let's pull the curtain back for a glimpse of the real Donald Trump. The Donald Trump we don't see. Joining us is Trump biographer, Michael D'Antonio. Welcome, Michael.

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, DONALD TRUMP BIOGRAPHER: Thank you, food morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So, Michael, give us a glimpse of the real Trump.

D'ANTONIO: Well, his fingers aren't that short. You know, I shook his hands many times and they're pretty regular, but he does have a thin skin. If he were a boxer, I'd say he has a glass jaw. And what's happening now is people are playing the game that he plays.

So you can't really reach someone who's in the gutter unless you get down in the gutter. So it may be too late for Marco Rubio, but he' engaging at the right level.

COSTELLO: Really. So, you wrote his biography, you had extensive interviews with Donald Trump. What kind of guy is he? Like, give us a sense of who he is.

D'ANTONIO: He's pleasant enough in person, but he's very much the same person that you see on the campaign trail. He told me that he's who he was at age six, and hasn't changed since then.

So think about a six-year-old with billions of dollars and everybody listening to him.

[10:35:00] You know, he says everything. He means everything that he says, but then changes his mind whenever he feels like it. So it's very hard to pin him down.

COSTELLO: What do you mean he hasn't changed since he was six years old?

D'ANTONIO: Temparament that, you know, he doesn't believe that people change or grow. And, you know, he said to me that he doesn't read books. He's very focussed on the media, but mostly where his name appears. So every morning, he starts the day with a sheaf of printouts of where he has been mentioned and his name circled.

So it's very narcissistic, very -- he's got no observing ego, as they say. He doesn't know what you're seeing when you're looking at him and his outrageous behavior.

COSTELLO: Your book and the title. The title of your book is "Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success". Why did you title your book that?

D'ANTONIO: Well, he used the phrase never enough actually over the weekend. He had a lawyer call me. This is like getting a call from Tony Soprano with a law degree, "I want to talk to you about your book".

You know, and he's threatening me. In fact, my publisher -- and I said, "Well, come on, Michael, you know, you can't have that many problems. Is the title a problem? And he said, "No, not really. There's enough for Donald".

So there's never enough attention, there's enough money, there's enough controversy. He's able to generate more and more and more any time he wants.

COSTELLO: So you're not surprised he decided to run for president?

D'ANTONIO: He told me he would three years ago. And I swear, I didn't believe it at first. You know, he said he was going to build the world's tallest building. He said he's the smartest guy in the world. I mean, he says everything.

So when he said this, I thought, "OK, yeah, yeah, Donald". But as it got close, I realized he was serious. He kept telling me how many Twitter followers were saying he should run, and that's more important to him than anything else. And you know what? It turned out that he was right. He didn't need the party apparatus behind him. He needed Twitter followers. COSTELLO: So what is it about him that people love?

D'ANTONIO: I think they love the outspokenness, the plain outspokenness, but he is also signaling. So this thing with race, back in the '70s, he played the racial victim. His father's business was sued for not renting to black applicants. He sued back saying, "Oh, I've been injured". In the 80s he said, "I'd rather be a well- educated black man".

Well, that's a ridiculous thing to say. In the '90s, it was going after the Central Park Five and saying, "Bring back the death penalty". He knows who David Duke was. He knows all of this stuff. So for anyone to think that he's not doing this purposely and knowingly, they're naive about Donald Trump.

COSTELLO: Do you think he's going to win the nomination?

D'ANTONIO: You know, I do. You know, I think he'll go into the convention with the most delegates, so whether he can play the game at an open convention, I don't know. I wouldn't have said it in August, but by October, I was believing it because I saw the ground swell like everybody else.

COSTELLO: You know, I was just having a short conversation with Brian Stelter and we were marbling at how Marco Rubio is talking about Donald Trump now, you know, making fun of his small hands, you know, the innuendo is there. And we wondered would Hillary Clinton use the same tactics because she is woman? Would Donald Trump use the same tactics against Hillary Clinton?

D'ANTONIO: Well, he would use them against her because he calls Rosie O'Donnell my fat little Rosie. (Inaudible) ugly on the inside and on the outside. So he goes after women on their appearance.

It's hard for a woman to do the same. First of all, I think most women have more empathy than Donald has and they wouldn't do that to somebody. She may eventually have to start talking about it. But, boy, would that be a sad day that our national politics are reduced to that level.

COSTELLO: They're already at that level.

D'ANTONIO: I'm afraid they are. Thanks, Donald.

COSTELLO: Mike D'Antonio, it's been lovely. Thank you so much.

D'ANTONIO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: And an interview you won't want to miss. Melania Trump speaks with Anderson Cooper, what does she thinks of her husband's controversial campaign. Mrs. Trump on AC360 tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

Still to come on the Newsroom, more than 1500 delegates up for grabs in the key state of the south, making it a do or die for the presidential candidates. I'll talk to the man who helped make it all happened, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:38:53] COSTELLO: It's been a brutal month for stocks, right? But, hey, all is well that ends well, maybe. Even though the Dow is down about 20 points right now, stocks are on pace for gains in February. So far this year, the Dow is down 4.5 percent but that's better than earlier this month and it was down 10 percent. So we're going to count our blessings this morning.

It's being called the SEC Primary. I'm talking about the string of southern states that will take part in tomorrow's Super Tuesday. They are Georgia, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and Oklahoma.

Major candidates from both parties barn-storming the region right now, Ted Cruz even calling it, "Firewall".

My next guest is the architect of it all, joining me now from Atlanta Brian Kemp, Georgia's Secretary of State. Welcome, Brian.

BRIAN KEMP, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Great to be with you this morning.

COSTELLO: Nice to have you here. Why did you think it was important for southern state to have prominence tomorrow?

KEMP: Well, I just felt like for a long time. I had been frustrated like a lot of other Georgians that we just weren't able to participate in the process when it mattered and we should.

We've got a growing state. There's a lot of great things happening not only in Georgia but all throughout the south.

[10:45:02] And this was a way that gives us a voice this year. And I think you can see by the crowds, they are turning out. The excitement that we've had, the record turnout we've had in early voting that people are really excited about this idea.

COSTELLO: Yes. I was just going to ask you about the enthusiasm on the voter's part. What are you hearing?

KEMP: Well, it's been unbelievable. You know, Trump had a huge crowd in Alabama. Marco Rubio has 4,000 or 5,000 people at his event in Georgia the other day. Senator Cruz had a huge event, both of them, well, Rubio is coming back. Trump, will be back here tonight.

And we've seen candidates barn-storming all throughout the south. I'm sure they're loving this weather down here compared to Iowa and New Hampshire as well.

COSTELLO: I'm sure. I'm certain you're right about that. You know that there's a little bit of unrest within the Republican Party. Some republicans are open arms about Donald Trump's success at the polls. What do you make of that? KEMP: Well, I think that's the great thing about this primary. You know, here in Georgia we had over 400,000 people that voted early which is historic more or so than the '08 election.

So I think we're really going to be a snapshot of what's happening in America. Our delegates are going to be spread out proportionately, so it gives the candidates a way to campaign to all different sectors of our family, and that's on both sides of the aisle.

So I think that's going to be very exciting. And I think it's going to, you know, that's why we have the race, that's why we have the elections, things are very fluid right now. It's going to be interesting to see, you know, whether Trump rides this wave onto the nomination or weather the winds actually change tomorrow and we'll see.

COSTELLO: Well, the Senator Sasse of Nebraska, he says if Trump wins the nomination, then he's thinking of introducing a third party candidate, do you think he should, is that right? Or should all Republican threw their support behind whoever is the nominee.

KEMP: Well, I'll speak for all Republican. I know myself. I'm a big supporter of our nominee. I think that's the best way that we have to win the White House back. I think the Republican voters are energized in that regard. And that's one thing about the election I think down here in the south. It gives us an opportunity to weigh in on the race when it really matters.

And I think that Republicans will coalesce around our nominee, but we still have a long way to go. And I'm just encouraging everyone here to get out and vote. That's Republicans, Independents and Democrats. Let their voice be heard in this process and we'll see happens. That's what America is all about.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. We will be watching. Brian Kemp, Georgia's Secretary of State, thank you sir for joining me this morning.

KEMP: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the news room. We're hearing from an American college student detained by North Korea for two months. Hear what we had to say, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:51:50] COSTELLO: He's an American college student detained by North Korea for the past two months. And today, we got our first look at Otto Frederick Warmbier since his arrest.

This is a videotape press conference released by the North Koreans. In it, the 21-year-old apologizes to all North Koreans.

There's CNN'S Will Ripley with the latest from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another American front and center in Pyongyang's propaganda parade.

OTTO FREDERICK WARMBIER, AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENT DETAINED BY NORTH KOREA: The government of the DPRK for your forgiveness. Please, I made the worse mistake of my life.

RIPLEY: Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia business major, making a dramatic emotional confession.

WARMBIER: Please, save this poor and innocent scapegoat

RIPLEY: CNN cannot verify if Warmbier is speaking under duress. He's accused of trying to steal a North Korean political banner from his hotel and take it home in his suitcase.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we are just hanging out here in our hotel, the Yanggakdo Hotel.

RIPLEY: This is where it allegedly happened, a hotel familiar to foreign media and tourists.

It is legal for Americans like Warmbier to visit North Korea on government supervised tours. Those who obey the regimes strict rules usually come and go without a problem. The U.S. state department won't comment on Warmbier's case but the agency strongly recommends against all travel to North Korea saying American's risk arrest and long term detention.

In September 2014, CNN was granted surprise interviews with three detained Americans, two who entered North Korea as tourists. All were eventually released after U.S. intervention.

WARMBIER: Please, think of my family.

RIPLEY: Warmbier's parents issued a statement saying they were relieved to finally see him, noting they haven't heard from him since he was detained in January. They urged the North Korean government to, "Consider his youth and make an important humanitarian gesture by allowing him to return to his loved ones".

Just days after Warmbier's arrest, North Korea claimed to test its first H-bomb followed weeks later by a satellite launch, two provocative acts that will soon mean even stronger international sanctions against supreme leader Kim Jong-un's regime .

Now, another detained American, seen as a valuable political pawn in North Korea's ongoing propaganda war with the west.

Will Ripley, CNN, Beijing.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the Newsroom, the party seems to never end for Johnny Manziel. The latest spot where he's been reportedly, well, where he's been reportedly letting loose, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:58:46] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories at 58 minutes passed, an Army staff sergeant is accused of killing his wife and police officer on Saturday night.

Ronald Hamilton works at the Pentagon is being held without bond this morning. He's accused of killing Ashley Guindon just a day after she was sworn in as a police officer. She was shot along with two other officers as they responded to a domestic violence call. The other officers are recovering.

Johnny Manziel could soon face domestic violence charges in Texas. But that reportedly has not stopped him from partying a few states away in Florida.

According to TMZ Sports, several witnesses saw Manziel drinking champagne in a Miami nightclub last week. This comes as the Dallas District Attorney is deciding whether to file assault charges against Manziel for allegedly hitting his girlfriend and (inaudible) has denied her account of what happened.

Disney's theme parks are adjusting their prices. Starting this, week Disney will charge more for peak holiday periods. Tickets on the off season will stay as they now are. For example at Orlando's Magic Kingdom, the price stays the same for value days, and then rises straightly in months like April with the highest prices on holiday weekends.

Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. At this hour with Berman and Bolduan starts now.