Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Event/Special
Trump Leading In Michigan GOP Primary; Standing By For Trump News Conference; Trump Wins Mississippi GOP Primary; Trump Wins Mississippi, Leads In Michigan; Clinton Wins Mississippi, Sanders Leads In Michigan; CNN Projects Trump Wins Michigan GOP Primary; Trump Wins Michigan And Mississippi Primaries; Sanders, Clinton Locked In Tight Race In Michigan; Trump Wins Michigan And Mississippi Primaries. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired March 08, 2016 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:01] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: What's going on in Michigan right now on both the Democratic and Republican side. Here's a CNN Key Race Alert right now.
We can't make a projection in Michigan right now on either the Republican or the Democratic side, but we can tell you that on the Republican side, 21percent of the vote in Michigan is in, and Donald Trump maintains his lead he's at 38 percent to John Kasich's 26.4 percent. Ted Cruz, 22.1 percent. Marco Rubio distant fourth with only 9 percent. Once again, 21 percent of the vote is in Michigan. Trump has a lead of 36,954 just changed rapidly with 21 percent of the vote in Michigan.
I want to go to -- I want to -- first of all, make, go to Michigan, stay in Michigan on the Democratic side 30 percent of the vote is in Bernie Sanders, he has got 50.7 percent. Hillary Clinton 47.4 percent. A third of the vote almost is in. I want to go to CNN's Mark Preston, he's our CNN politics executive editor.
Mark, why can't we make a projection in Michigan so far based on these actual numbers?
MARK PRESTON, CNN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Well, Wolf, even though we see a big lead right now on the board for Donald Trump, there's three key reasons why we are not calling this race at this point. The first one is we do not know the level of absentee ballots that were cast in this election. What does this mean? If you go back to 2012, 27 percent of all ballots in that presidential election were cast by absentee.
We don't know what that number is, and of course, there's been a lot of talk that Donald Trump might have hit a wall over the past week or so. So we need to see what that percentage is. In addition to that, we're still looking for more data, more vote out of two key counties. One of them being up in Kent County that is the Grand Rapids area, as well as for -- or excuse me, as round as Wayne County which is the Detroit area. So right now we're looking for data from two key areas of the state. We also need to find out who the absentee ballot scenario is for this election. Wolf? BLITZER: Well we want to be cautious, so obviously, even though Trump does maintain a lead with a significant number of the percentage is now in, but we want to be very, very careful.
I want to go to Sara Murray she's over at Trump headquarters right now in Jupiter. That's just North of Palm Beach. Sara, he's getting ready to speak. Is he already there at the Trump Jupiter Country Club?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Wolf, Donald Trump sort of wandered in to the back entrance of his press conference and wandered back out, but I caught him for a few minutes before he left and he said, obviously, they're very thrilled with the win in Mississippi. They said they feel very good about where they stand right now in Michigan. He actually asked me a couple times when the polls would be closing there and he said he expected to be down as soon as the polls close. So any minute now because he said they're feeling very good there.
Now, we also asked him about some of the comments Marco Rubio made today saying that whoever wins the Florida primary will be the nominee. Obviously Rubio is saying that because he feels like he can win in Florida. Donald Trump would not go so far as to agree with Rubio, but he said he feels very good here in this state. This is like a second home to him.
He began rattling off a number of his properties here including the one were at tonight, so clearly a very optimistic and confident Donald Trump and we should be seeing him any minute now if things look as good for him in Michigan as this campaign believes they will. Wolf?
BLITZER: And Sara, this is going to be one of these joint speeches rallies, his got his supporters there, he's also has journalist there, like he did in Mar-a-Lago, like he did in West Palm Beach. And third time tonight it's going to be a new Donald Trump, not just a speech, he's going to be answering reporters questions, right?
MURRAY: That's absolutely right, Wolf, and this one he's kind of upped to the ante a little further. Next to the podium where he's expected to deliver the speech, there are bottles of Trump water, there are Trump wines. There was a display of Trump steaks out here.
Remember, he's been facing a lot of fire from his rivals then from outside groups about his business history saying that some of these are failed companies and so I think he's trying to do this as a way to tout some of his products and sort of restore some of his brand as he comes out here and has at least one win under his belt tonight.
But, you know, Donald Trump never really prepares a speech. He doesn't work off a TelePrompTer ever, so I think he sort of feels like this press conference environment works a little bit better for him, but of course, he always talks the front rows with his friends and supporters, so it's at least a couple friendly face looking back at him. Wolf?
BLITZER: Like he's waiting for projection in Michigan, shortly thereafter we will see him. But let's -- we'll stay in close touch with you, Sara Murray in Jupiter over at Trump headquarters on this night. The last -- the other night he waited for the projection before he came out and spoke once we made the projection, he won, he went out and spoke.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: And I love that he asked Sara several times what time the polls are closing in Michigan for that exact reason. Also, can we take a step back and talk about what she was just reporting, that he's got Trump wine there, got the Trump meat there.
[21:05:03] He's really doubling down on the -- not just the branding which is what this is really about, but also the criticism that is now blanketing airwaves especially in Florida now that all of the sort of establishment, rich people, the donors, have started to pour their money into the anti-Trump effort.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah, no doubt. It's a pushback on that, but it is -- this man is the master marketer ...
BASH: Yes.
CHALIAN: ... of our time. Right?
So the fact that he is able to use his presidential campaign and the success he's having in the campaign and parley that into a reminder of all of his products and properties is no small thing.
I also think the optics that he is doing something that I don't recall ever seeing before. Holding news conferences on election nights where you just take questions from reporters who are placed behind your supporters. It's in a room that looks kind of like the East Room in the White House. The optics are really good for him, too.
BASH: And before we go off this topic, the fact that Sara was also reporting that he has what's called a step-in repeat there, which is if anybody watches "Entertainment Tonight" or "Access Hollywood", it's the place where people can come and talk to reporters before they go into the event.
In fact that he has that there for his supporters is such a nexus of, you know, Hollywood, reality T.V. and politics.
But putting that aside for a second, let's turn to Michigan and the incredibly tight race on the Democratic side. And if you look at the numbers right now, 31 percent reporting, Sanders is ahead. That is not what the Clinton people thought going in and certainly isn't what some of the polls going into Michigan.
CHALIAN: I mean talking to the Clinton campaign all day, they were ...
BASH: Nervous.
CHALIAN: ... you know, doing a lot of spinning in advance. I mean like, hey, you know, we don't really need Michigan for the delegate count. So there was definitely some nervousness there as Jeff Zeleny was reporting as well.
But, let's take a look at why it's so close there. We dug into these exit polls to sort of find out what's making it close. Take a look at this. Remember, it's an open primary there. So Democrats and Independents can play in Michigan Primary.
Democrats made up 68 percent of the electorate and Hillary Clinton wins them here by 12 points, 55 percent of them go for her, 43 percent for Bernie Sanders.
Independents in Michigan make up 28 percent of the electorate tonight. More than a quarter of the voters in the Democratic primary. Sanders wins them huge, 73 percent to 26 percent. That's one aspect that's keeping it close. We talked about trade before. Take a look at this. Among those voters that believe trade takes away U.S. jobs, 60 percent of them are voting for Sanders, 39 percent for Clinton.
That's 58 percent of Democratic voters in Michigan today who feel that way and 60 percent of them are cutting toward Sanders on that trade issue.
But then we asked about Obama's policies, do you want to continue Barack Obama's policies? Half the electorate says that they do and those are Hillary Clinton voters. That she has successfully really positioned herself as the Obama candidate, 63 percent go for her, 35 percent go for Sanders.
And again, that was half the electorate that wants to continue Obama policy.
BASH: Half the electorate, but, and that's obviously good for her in Michigan as it has been in many other states. But those other numbers, now we know why the Clinton campaign were sort of trying to lower expectations today. I know with you, and with me, and with others.
CHALIAN: Those people who are concerned about trade that economic concern there, that's what Sanders is using right now to fuel what is a very, very close race in Michigan.
BASH: That's right. And we should say that we're waiting for the Trump press conference. That is going to happen momentarily. And you know what, look at this stagecraft, its right behind us here. That is, as we were just talking about, and as Sara who was just reporting, this is not something that we've seen before. You have his supporters.
People -- there you see George who is his advanced appersonate maybe this means that Donald Trump is coming shortly. But you have all of these people kind of milling around in front of the reporters, not a rally. Not a rally. Not a big event. But something that is really unusual.
CHALIAN: It's a bit of a hybrid.
BASH: And very much of a hybrid. BLITZER: It's a combination rally, combination press conference. But only Donald Trump ...
BASH: Do you think they're serving Trump steaks there?
BLITZER: I'm sure they're serving delicious food whatever they're serving. Guys, stand by. I want to go to over to John King at the magic wall. We're waiting for Donald Trump to speak.
But on the Democratic side in Michigan right now, almost the third of the vote is now in. Look how close it is, 51 percent for Bernie Sanders, 47.1 percent for Hillary Clinton. Is a lot closer than a lot of the polls had earlier suggested. Sanders is doing very well.
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Well, the polls coming in showed Secretary Clinton ahead, so not only is it closer than we expected but the other guy is on top.
If you're the Sanders campaign at 31 percent, the lead has held pretty steady. So in the one hand, you're encouraged because your lead has held for a long time now as we're done from 5 to 10 up to 31 percent. Still some question marks.
So no question Senator Sanders has lead at the moment and one of the big issues in the race is the largest slice of votes here in Wayne County. For both Democrats and Republicans.
[21:10:03] It's the largest part of the state, 18 percent of the population. Detroit, obviously the anchor of Wayne County. At the moment Senator Sanders is winning. If that stays that way, he'll win the state of Michigan.
BLITZER: It's only 3 percent of the vote.
KING: Only percent of the vote and this is my eighth presidential cycle, we should applaud Wayne County for its consistency. It is always slow to count. This is the bulk of the African-American vote in the city.
So we need to -- this is where -- if this county states Senators blue, not dark for Hillary Clinton blue, he will win the state without a doubt. If you move out into the suburbs around, one of the reasons Secretary Clinton is probably thinking as more Wayne County comes in, maybe I'll feel better.
You get out into the auto country in the Detroit suburbs, she's leading very narrowly but leading in Oakland county, leading with a more healthy margin over here in Macomb County.
And then as you get out to the extra suburbs and the more affluent suburbs, Senator Sanders pulls ahead only 7 percent of the vote in and these are smaller areas but they're key for Senator Sanders. So, you pull the map back in and take a peek at it, there's a lot of Sanders filling in. Bernie Sanders a lot of the smaller rural areas, white voters where he's had the most success in the race. So we're going to keep a close eye on Wayne County. Again, just up to 3 percent now at 5,345. So we got a long way to go. This is your biggest basket of votes in the state if Michigan. Same thing on the Republican side, Mark Preston was just talking about it. We are now up to 3 percent.
BLITZER: In that county.
KING: This County.
BLITZER: Yeah.
KING: This County at a essentially a tie. Kasich is just pulled slightly ahead. Donald Trump was ahead last time I checked. So, that's what you want to do. At the moment, it looks like a comfortable Trump lead.
But as Mark said, we want to be cautious because we're going to get more votes out of the largest county in the state, Wayne, and then this is a big Republican area Kent County out in grand rapids as Mark mentioned that we have absolutely nothing.
So, just be cautious, we want to wait a little bit. Because there are enough votes if Kasich can pull away in Wayne County, he'll narrow this gap some. That's a pretty healthy Trump lead. Hard to see that happening but it's not impossible.
One of the point we've called Mississippi. I just want to get down for just a second to show you this race. Because this is important, Donald Trump right now, only 5 percent of the vote in but Donald Trump is at 49.3. If he stay -- if he can get above 50 percent, he wins them all, 50 percent plus 1 gets you all of the delegates in the state of Mississippi. So it's important to keep an eye on this as the count comes in. To see if he can hold that or not.
Democrat rules are proportional. But at 82 percent of the vote right now for Secretary Clinton, again, only 6 percent, both 82 percent of the vote, she's at 82 percent with 6 percent of the vote counted.
So Bernie Sanders will get some delegates out of the state of Mississippi but if that margin holds up, the bulk of them. We're going to go to Secretary Clinton. Let's just take one more peek at Michigan, Wolf, to see if anything else has come in, 31 percent. It's a four-point Sanders lead.
And, again, we're going to have to wait right here for this one and as we hear Mr. Trump coming out I think, we'll just take one last peek at the Republican side. The Michigan, Donald Trump pulled ahead, 25 percent of the vote in, he's got about an 11-point lead.
BLITZER: All right. Here is Donald Trump. He's in Jupiter and he's speaking. Let's listen.
TRUMP: ... so many horrible, horrible things said about me in one week. $38 million worth of horrible lies, but that's OK. It shows you how brilliant the public is because they knew they were lies and it was just really amazing to watch. And to get this kind of numbers where they call them immediately is just something very special.
So I want to thank the public, I want to thank the people of Michigan, I want to thank the people of Mississippi. And it is such a great honor and it's also really wonderful to have you at Trump National Golf Club. Jack Nicklaus did this, it's a Jack Nicklaus signature course and it's a great, great resort and place and we have a lot of our members here, I see.
We love our members. Jack, by the way, Jack Nicklaus is a special man and he did a special job. In will of Jack. And we have another special man, Paul O'Neill of the Yankees. Stand up, Paul.
Paul. In fact, Paul, you come -- you originally come from Ohio, right? Oh, wow. Paul O'Neill of the Yankees. Come and stand up Paul. Paul. In fact Paul -- you come -- you originally come from Ohio, right? Oh wow, Paul O'Neill of the Yankees. Hey Paul you come from Ohio? You endorse me?
BLITZER: We're going to break away from Donald Trump. He'll be happy about this. CNN now has a projection in the state of Michigan. Donald Trump CNN projects is the winner in the Michigan Republican presidential primary. His second win of the night. Donald Trump now has 14 wins so far.
Earlier we projected he's the winner in Mississippi, now we project he's also the winner in Michigan. Let's go back and listen to the winner of both of these primaries.
TRUMP: ... and I must tell you, it's very, very important as a Republican that our Senators and that our Congressmen get re-elected that we put a good group of people together, that we keep the people that are there. We have some terrific people. Not all of them are on my side but we have some terrific people. And it's very, very important, if we're going to be effective, it's very, very important.
One of the things I'm most happy about is that the turnout has been just massive for every week, whether it's South Carolina or any place, I mean, started pretty much with New Hampshire and it really -- Iowa. No matter where you go, it's records.
[21:15:10] So I think it's actually the single biggest story in politics today. It's what's happening at the booth, the tremendous number people that are coming out to vote. Some of these States are getting -- there in fact one has a 102 percent increase over per years ago its amazing 102 percent.
On average you're talking about probably more than 50, your talking about millions and millions of people whereas the Democrats are down 30-35 percent it down from what they were. Were up by 50 percent at even more than the you're talking about millions of peoples. So I actually think is the biggest story in politics today and I hope that the Republicans will embrace it. We have -- don't forget we have Democrats coming over very importantly, we have Independents coming over and they have done it ever, probably ever. And with all of those people coming over we're going to have something very, very special if I win and if I get to against Hillary. Polls are showing that I beat her. And some of the polls have be beating it very easily because when you take advantage we will take many, many people away from the Democrats and will take many, many people away that normally go Democrat as Independents, and that -- I was seeing that, we're seeing that.
We have people come over here who have never voted Republican who have never thought about it and they came and they voted Republican and I tell you another group of people that I've seen and I'll be signing autographs after speech and we'll be talking to people and I have many, many people say and it was a beautiful thing to hear it.
Mr. Trump, I'm 67 years old, many people I'm 67 years old, I've never, ever voted before, I've never come close to voting before. This is the first time I'll ever vote and that's so amazing. It's so amazing. And they do it with such spirit. So it's really great.
I want to thank the special interests and the lobbyists because they obviously did something to drive these numbers. I mean, we're close to 50 and 40 and now -- but I want to congratulate them because to raise that much money that quickly is a pretty good feat right? Do we agree? No and many of them are my friends, but they just have to gamble, you know, they have to do it.
I want to thank Paul Ryan he called me a couple days ago. He could not have been nicer it was very encouraging and I have great respect for Paul Ryan. Great respect, Ted Cruz, it's interesting because he's always -- I mean, he's always saying, I'm the only one that can beat Donald Trump, you have to vote for Donald Trump and you're going to vote Donald Trump and you going to be miserable, you have to vote for me. But he's the only one that can beat Donald Trump and I've heard it so many times and I said, but he never beats me. I mean, take a look, he never beats me. Meaning he rarely beats me.
The fact is that we're going to do well. Ted is going to have a hard time when he gets to certain states, he's going to have a hard time. One of the things we do is we get up to New York, I'm going to do great. We get to New Jersey. I'm going to do great, Chris Christie is here some place and the governor of New Jersey, great prosecutor I watched what he did to Marco where's Chris? He's around here somewhere and great prosecutor. And he's -- really when he came and called and he said, I've seen this, it's an amazing it's a movement.
Many people have called it a movement in four covers in the last 3 1/2 months on "Time Magazine", when people have called it a movement and part of the movement is what I've said before, I mean it's the people want to be involved. So when Chris called and when Sarah Palin called and when Jerry Falwell Jr. called and when Joe Arpaio called, I mean, you know when Joe Arpaio of Arizona calls. That Trump is tough on the border OK?
And I don't want to be tough I want to be fair but we're going to be -- we're going to have borders again, folks we're going to have borders, we're going to have the wall, we're going to have borders. And people are going to come to the country, and they going to come into the country, they're going to be very happy but they're coming in legally. They have to come in legally.
Mitt Romney got up and made a speech the other day. No, it's OK look no, no, I understand. No, no he's a very nice man but, you know, I understand -- look, it's hard, when you go through this and then you get to the final gate and you don't get over it, it's a hard thing I mean -- I so I understand. But he did make some statements and I brought some things up because he said Water Company is gone. I said it is? I didn't know that.
I have very successful companies. Let me just -- I'm going to do this in about two seconds, but I filed with the federal elections, 100 pages almost, 100 pages that many of the press have gone down and seen and they were all very, very impressed. I built a great, great company.
[21:20:09] I have very low debt, I have assets like this is this is owned 100 percent by me with no debt. You've seen Mar-a-Lago, you've seen and that's 100 percent by me with no debt. I have Trump International where you were last week, 100 percent by me and no debt. You look at Dural where we just had the major championship. I mean I have a lot of things in Florida. Partners with related on numerous jobs on the beach, very successful. Partners with Gil and Michael Dezer on the beach, massive buildings. Nobody ever talks about this stuff. And you know, many, many jobs in New York including the city on the west side from 72nd to 59th Street on the Hudson River. One of the most successful projects ever built in real estate.
The Bank of America building, a big chunk of it in San Francisco, 1290 Avenue there, because many, many things. And Mitt got up, and he really shouldn't have done it. It wasn't becoming, honestly. And he talked about the water company.
Well, there's the water company. I mean, we sell water and we have water and it's a very successful, you know, it's a private little water company and I supply the water for all my places and it's good but it's very good.
Trump steaks. Where are the steaks? Do we have steaks there? We have Trump steaks. He said the steak company, and we have Trump steaks. And by the way, if you want to take one, we'll charge you about, what, 50 bucks a steak.
We have Trump Magazine. Let me see the magazine. Let me see. He said Trump Magazine is out. I said it is? I thought I read one two days ago. This comes out and it's called "The Jewel of Palm Beach." And we it all -- goes to all of my clubs. I've had it for many years. And it's the magazine is great. Anybody want one? Here, take one. My club champion.
So, and the airline, by the way, I sold the airline, you know, he said Trump Airline, well, I sold the airline and I actually made a great deal. Complicated, and in really terrible times. The economy was horrible and I made a phenomenal deal. I had the shuttle. And I sold it. I made -- you know, so I'm hearing about all of these things and by the way, Trump university, it's we're holding it. When I win the lawsuit, which I'll win. They did an ad, Rubio did an ad the other day.
He had two or three people and the three people were saying, oh, he was so terrible. The reason I didn't settle, every one of these people, in fact, we sent them out and the reporters don't like to report it. But we sent their letters out, there report cards. Their report cards were all excellent. Beautiful statements, we love it.
You can't settle cases when the person suing you has given you letters and in some cases tapes saying how great it is. It was a very nice thing. So we're putting it on hold. If I become president, that means Ivanka, Don, Eric, and my family will start it up. But we have a lot of great people want to get back into Trump University. It's going to do very well and it will continue to do very well.
But we have a lawsuit where they're trying to get, you know, we have one of these class action lawyers guys and its ridiculous, but we'll win that lawsuit and I'm -- I just want to explain, I and the United States should be this. I don't settle lawsuits, very rare. Because once you settle lawsuits, everybody sues you. Very simple. It's like business. I teach it.
When you settle lawsuits, it's easy to settle. Sometimes it's cheaper to settle. But once you settle -- I had a friend taught me a long time ago, he was sued very rarely, and everybody else in the same business was sued all the time. He said, "Donald, I never settle." The lawyers learn, you don't settle, they don't sue. So I don't settle lawsuits. When I watch these banks sets lawsuits all the time, they get paid $40 million a year, a banker and then he settles lawsuits with governments and other people giving billions and billions of dollars. I don't do it.
So when I saw the different things -- and by the way, the winery, you see the wine, because he mentioned Trump Vodka. It's the largest winery on the east coast. I own it 100 percent. No mortgage. No debt. You can all check. You have to go check the records, folks. In fact, the press, I'm asking you, please check. Because you can see if there's any debt.
It was the Kluge state, John Kluge, he was the richest man in the United States, he died and he built one of the great vineyards of all time. I mean there's nothing like it. Close to 2,000 acres. It's in Charlottesville, Virginia. Right next the Thomas Jefferson memorial. And we're very proud of it. We make the finest wine. As good of wine as you can get anywhere in the world, and I know the press is extremely honest, so I won't offer them any, but if they want, they can take a bottle of wine home. The members have plenty, right? The members have plenty. But we have one of the greatest. Actually I believe it's the largest vineyard and the largest winery on the east coast.
[21:25:01] And so I just want to -- so I wanted to put that to rest. You have the water. You have the steaks, you have the airline that I sold. I mean what's wrong with selling. Every once in a while you can sell something. You have the wines and all of that. And Trump University, we're going to start it up as soon as I win the lawsuit. Does that make sense? I mean, that's it. OK. The -- and I want to thank my friend, Paul O'Neil; because that to me is a big deal. I had such respect when Paul was a Yankee, he just didn't make mistakes. Tough, smart. We could use him right now. And he just didn't make mistakes. I love that kind of a guy.
I think what this shows, really more than anything else, is that advertising is not as important. It really isn't as important as competence, because there has never been more money spent on hitting somebody than was spent on me. And between that and people saying things and, you know, Lindsey Graham goes and he's a nasty person. First of all, he's wrong on the military. He truly -- this is why he's -- sir, I've been doing this for 15 years. That's right. We've been fighting a war for 15 years with this kind of thinking. I mean if you're going to fight a war, win the war and let's get back to rebuilding our country. OK.
But Lindsey Graham, I mean, he's been so nasty. I think he's probably a nice guy but he's been so nasty. I watch him, I said man, does he hate Donald Trump? And I watch him, you know, if you think about it, every single person that's attacked me has gone down. OK? I don't want to mention names. Let's not mention names. OK? They're out. They're gone.
But you can take a look at virtually every single person. We started off with 17. We're down to four. Of the four, they're pretty much all gone. OK? Pretty much. They didn't do so well tonight, folks. OK? I'm not going to say anybody didn't do well. They didn't do well. There's only one person did well tonight, Donald Trump. I will tell you. It's true.
I mean, it was actually amazing. I was impressed and even Megyn Kelly said, boy, Donald Trump really did well tonight. Thank you, Megyn, thank you. That was a very unusual, I was shocked, actually to hear that, but that was very nice. And Charles Krauthammer said that. He was very, very nice. Thank you, Charles. It's about time. I've been waiting, like, five years, Charles. But it is true. I mean, every single -- I have had such hostility, like with Lindsey, he was at seven, he attacked me, and we took him down to zero. He leaves in disgrace. He then goes to his own state and they do a poll in South Carolina, he endorses somebody else and the poll in South Carolina has me at 47, him at two and he's the sitting senator.
And then he went down from there. And you know what, I don't like to bring it up, but I tell you, it's enough, Lindsey, just relax and go home, relax for a little while. Everyone knows you take this big defeat and the problem is the press never calls them out. They go through this horrible defeat and then they go and start immediately on the attack and it's like he never ran and made a fool out of himself. You know, at what point do you call people out? So I call people out. But it is true, they've attacked me viciously and every single one who's attacked me is gone. And I'm very proud of that because, because that's what we should have for our country. That's what we should have.
ISIS should not be beating us. We don't win anymore. We don't win with our military, don't win with health care. We don't win with anything. We should be in a position where ISIS is dictating terms. And, you know, the other day that one of the debates, the one before last. They asked Ted, lying Ted, I call him the lying Ted. He holds the bible high, and then he goes down he puts the bible down and then he lies. Lying Ted.
You know, he'll say I'm the only one that beat Donald Trump. I said it before. I beat him, I beat him. But he doesn't say, yeah, he won, like, four, and I won, like, 12 or 13. Right? He forgets the other part. But lying Ted and, you know, when they say the evangelicals, because it watching -- in fact there's Carl and said how great I did with the evangelicals and everyone was a little surprise. I'm a very good Christian and, you know, their chipping away at Christianity. And we're not going to let that happen anymore, folks. I'll tell you.
And a lot of times I'll say at the rallies around Christmas, we're going to start saying Merry Christmas again. You know, they don't say it anymore the department stores don't put it up. We're going to start saying it again. But they're chipping away at Christianity and we just can't do it. And I tell you, with the evangelicals, they get it. They get it. They get me. They understand me. I'll be the best thing that ever happened too. I mean that, 100 percent.
And they don't like the way Ted talks and they don't like the fact that he truly does lie. And I actually was -- I mean, lies badly. And I was actually interestingly, little Marco helped me a lot because Marco, what Marco did is in one of the debates he screamed across me, I've been in the center from the beginning, right?
[21:30:12] Never out of center. In fact I always like an odd number because with odd number I'm in the center. With an even number, like last week I hated it because we had four people so I'm not in the center. So we should always keep it odd numbers, right, so we're right in the center. But I've been in the center for every single debate. But Marco helped me a lot because he called Ted a liar. He said, you're a liar. That's the first time. Look, I know politicians better than anybody. They're liars, OK? They're serious liars.
More importantly, they'll never get you to the promise land. Ever. They'll never get you to the promise land. They won't do it because they're controlled by the special interests. They're controlled by the people that put up all this money for them to run. They're controlled -- you know, how much money was spent in the last week on me? And do you know how many times they were asking, despite the fact that they're not supposed to be talking to their Super PAC, Carl, fellows, let me ask you a question, how many times do you think Marco and Ted and all of them were calling their Super PAC? Is that right? It's called life. That's the way life works. They talk to their Super PAC. They're not supposed to but that's the way life works. So, we are going to do something, I think we're going it clean the slat slate. I think we're going to do really well in Florida. It's my second home. I love Florida. I love Florida.
I love Florida. I love Florida special place. And I think we're going to do really well. I think we're going to do really well in Ohio now that I have Paul O'Neill's endorsement, I know I'm going to win Ohio, but I love Ohio. I have so many friends in Ohio. It's an amazing place. And we're going to go have a lot of fun and then what we're going to do is we're going to beat Hillary Clinton and we're going to beat her badly. We're going to beat her badly.
And I think one of the things, and then we'll take some questions, but one of the things that really I add that's very different, you know, we always talk about the five and sometimes six, but the five states you have to get. Whether it's Ohio or Pennsylvania or Florida. You know, if you don't get one -- because the Republicans, structurally it's much tougher, it's much tougher for a Republican to win the presidency, like by a factor of five. But I add things that nobody else can do. I have a chance of New York.
Now, can you imagine if you won a state as big of New York, all of those delegates? Upstate New York I pull higher than anybody ever, because they are really in trouble up there. And they know that I would have done things they wouldn't be in trouble right now if they would have taken my advice. But they're really in trouble. But I'll get Michigan. I mean I'm going to get Michigan because we're going to bring the car industry back. We're going to take it back we going to bring the car industry back into Michigan. I'm going to win Michigan it's never even a question, when these candidates are talking about running it's never even a question. Michigan is not something they even talk about.
I'll win new Jersey, I'll win Ohio, I'll win Florida, I'll win Virginia. I have great properties in Virginia. Charlottesville. We just talked. Winery. On the Potomac River we have one of the great places in the world. I have 600 acres on the Potomac River. One of the great pieces of property in the world. Very, very successful place. And, you know, a lot of employees in Virginia. And it seems that when I have something in a location like when I'm in Virginia and I have a lot of employees, I have great places, Florida where I have Dural, Dural was great last week with Adam Scott, I mean two days ago, Adam Scott. How good was that? Who's a great young man and the way he won the tournament, the Cadillac World Championship.
But when you have property in a state, it means you love the state. It means you have a lot of employees. You pay these employees. You take care of their health care, you take care of their education for their families. You take care of so many things and you just do well. So I think I'm going to do great there and I think I'm going to do great in Ohio and I really look forward to it. I'm going to be working very hard between the two, and Illinois, I mean I have one of the greatest buildings in the world. I mean, Chicago, I have one of the greatest buildings rated the number one hotel in North America, and I'm very proud of it. It's a great, great right on the river. And it's a great, great building. And maybe that's where we have our next news conference.
And you know, maybe we'll do it right in Chicago. So let's see what the press has to ask and we'll then go home and we'll go celebrate a lot of victories. Yes? Go ahead.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: CBS.
(OFF-MIC) TRUMP: No, I don't really because you have to win. I know how to win -- I've won. These people will tell you, have I won many club championships? Stand up. Stand up. Stand up. Have I won many club championships? Does Trump know how to close? You know, believe it or not, it's not so different. Winning is winning. You got to be not easy to win club championships, believe me.
[21:35:02] And I'm not talking about with strokes, I'm talking about with no strokes. But the fact is that I like to close -- things out. So until the last person is gone, you know, again, we started with a field of 17 and now were down to four. And I really want to close things out. I don't want to start thinking in terms.
I have not even focused on Hillary yet. I'm doing well, numerous polls have me winning. But, I haven't even started with her other than four weeks ago when I, actually, hit her very hard because what she said was wrong.
Oh, there are many cases. I mean, many cases. The case -- I have all night, OK.
I mean, you'd have to go on for hours. Hillary is going to be very easy to beat. She's a very flawed candidate, very, very flawed candidate. And it's going to be, I believe it's going to be a very, very easy target.
If she's allowed to run because there's a real question as to whether or not she's even going to be allowed to run. And if the government is going to do its job properly, she will not be allowed to run.
OK. Go ahead, Tom.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Well, I have no message to Marco. I think that, you know, he has to make his own, you know, it's been a tough night for him, but, he's got to make his own decision. I've actually had a good relationship with Marco, believe it or not.
He became hostile about two weeks ago and it didn't work. See, hostility works for some people, it doesn't work for everybody. OK.
No, but he became very hostile. And, you know what, it doesn't work for him. He was better. He would have been better off had he kept the original Pitter Patter going, but this didn't work.
Say it, Tom, a little louder?
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Well, I've been outspent by everybody. I mean, part of the beauty -- look, I have much more money than all of them put together times 20. OK. But I'm a businessman. I don't have to spend. Why should I spend the money? I've spent probably $25 or $30 million. Other people have spent $160 million. You know, you have the numbers. In New Hampshire, as an example, I spent the $1.5 million and somebody else spent $48 million. I was one, the other person was number five. Wouldn't it be nice if we had a country that worked that way, right? Right?
So, the CNN poll came out and I was 41, in fact, I was 49 and second is 15, 15 and 15. And, you know, and I've just spent less money than anybody else.
Now, the phony "Wall Street Journal" poll just came out where I'm still number one. But that poll -- if you remember the poll from South Carolina, the Wall Street Journal NBC poll was the phoniest most disgusting poll I've ever seen. OK. I don't believe that poll and I don't know who's making up that poll, but they should not pay their bill. You know, I don't do that. People say, "Oh, Donald Trump doesn't pay the bill." That's true. I never pay bills when somebody does a bad job.
They did such a bad job during the South Carolina run, they had me practically dying in South Carolina the day before. I mean, they did that with viciousness and vindictiveness. And it looked like I was really in trouble and then I won in a landslide. The poll was wrong. And then the following day, they came out with a national poll that was ridiculous, too.
So, they came out with another one. NBC, Chuck Todd, NBC Wall Street Journal. I'm saying, what's wrong with them? It's not right. Now, CNN came out with a poll, 49 a couple of days ago, they came out with a poll 30. Again, I'm still in first place, but I really believe their poll is wrong, and boy did they turn out to be wrong in South Carolina. OK.
Yeah, go ahead.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: I'll be honest with you, I saw it. I was a little concerned with that ad until I saw it.
I think it's better than any ad I've ever taken from myself. I do. You know why? Let me just tell you why. No, I really mean it. I really mean it.
I heard about the ad and I said, oh, I'm not going to like this. But, when I looked at it, and I can be -- by the way, I can be more presidential than anybody. I can be more presidential if I want to be. I can be more presidential than anybody.
You know, when I have 16 people coming at me from 16 different angles, you don't want to be so presidential, you have to win, you have to beat them back, right. But, I would say more presidential and I've said this, a couple of times, more presidential than anybody other than the great Abe Lincoln. He was very presidential, right. But the truth is that I saw that ad, and people are sick and tired of being politically correct. And I actually think that ad was good for me, because, in some cases, as you know, I was kidding and I was joking. I have a big audience and I was joking with words not so bad, by the way, but I was joking.
[21:40:06] In other cases, I was showing anger and showing a certain toughness that we need in our country. But, I watch that ad and I said, you know that ad shows a certain degree of anger. And it shows a certain degree like we're not going to take it anymore from all of these countries that have been ripping us off and taking our jobs and taking our money like we're a bunch of babies, very, very stupid babies.
So, I watched that ad and I don't think it's a bad ad for me. I actually think, if I had my choice of saying, I could have it down or let it run, let it run.
Say it again?
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Oh, you're so politically correct. You're so beautiful. Look at you. Oh. He's so -- oh, I know. You've never heard a bad, a little off language.
I know, you're so perfect. Aren't you perfect? Aren't you just a perfect young man?
Give me -- hey, give me a break. You know what, its stuff like that that people in this country are tired of. OK. It's stuff like that. Sara?
MURRAY: Mr. Trump, it sounds like you ...
TRUMP: Say it again, Sara, a little louder.
MURRAY: ... negative attacks, it sounds.
TRUMP: Well, maybe at some point, they will. But look, I hear $39 million has been spent. I'll be honest with you, I'm very surprised. I looked at the numbers in Mississippi I'm close to 50 percent. That's not 50 percent with 2 people, that's 50 percent with 4 people. That's a lot. That's shocking. That's, like, record setting, big difference. You know, if you're running like you're Hillary and you're running against one guy.
I mean, you're running against Bernie, OK, and you get a 50 or a 52 or 56, that's -- I'm running against three very competent people and I'm getting 50 percent and in Michigan, I'm close to 40 percent against a big group of people.
I think that -- I will say this, I am a little bit surprised that I was at Dural and I was watching and I was watching Adam Scott hit that last great shot. And I went back and I was watching the news in one of the rooms. And every single advertisement was about me and it was during my tournament. I'm turning my tournament. I go from tournament to horrible ad, the most vicious ads. I mean, one of the reasons I brought the wine out and the water out and the steak out and more wine and more water, and I told you about Trump University where we'll win that case. That's going to be an easy case to win.
Everybody signed a document. One of the reasons is just because of that. They hit me with this Trump University. It's not even a big case. We're going to win the case. I could settle that case so easily. I don't want to settle it. Be easier for me to settle it. I wouldn't have all you people writing about it. But I don't want to settle it. I could settle it so easy.
The fact is that, look, you have to do in life, Sara, you have to do what's right. And if you live by principle, and believe it or not, I'm a very highly principled person. If you live by principle, you're going to do very well.
So, but just to finish, I must tell you, I was a little surprised when I saw the viciousness of the ads and the viciousness of really, Mitt was very vicious. I mean, he gets up and he just -- I wish he used that same energy against Obama. I think he would have won. No, no.
If he used the same energy against Obama, he would have won -- Carl?
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Yeah. I say let's come together, folks. We're going to win. I say let's come together. Carl, the answer is not 100 percent, but largely, I would say, yes. You know, some people, you're just not going to get along with. It's OK. But largely, I would like to do that. And believe it or not, I am a unifier. I unify.
I mean, you look at all of the things I built all over the world. I'm a unifier, I get along with people. I have great relations. I even start getting along with you, right? Campaign Carl. But, no, I get along with people, and I really say this, Carl, I think it's time to unify.
We have something special going in the Republican Party and, unfortunately, the people in the party, they call them the elite's or they call them whatever they call them, but those are the people that don't respect it yet.
We have millions and millions of people. I discussed it before. We have millions and millions of people coming up and voting, largely for me, in all fairness. But for other people also.
And Carl, you know this, because I've seen you report on this. It's a record. It's a record. It's never happened before. In 100 years, what's happening now to the Republican Party has never happened before.
[21:45:07] And the people in the party, whether you call them establishment or not, you can call them anything. I don't know if there is such a thing as the establishment, frankly. But, whether you call them, the establishment or not, they should embrace it. They should -- you know, the Democrats would love to have what's happening. I have friends on the other side. They say, boy, would we like that to happen.
You know, Carl, they're down 35 percent. There's no spirit there, whereas, we're way up with millions of people. So, what I say to the Republicans is embrace it, we will win the election easily.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Yeah.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Well, I don't know that you have to win everybody Carl.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Right, right. OK. Let's talk about that, because it's so interesting.
I'm not really changing the Republican Party because I'm actually a conservative, but I'm a common sense conservative. Look, nobody's more conservative than me on energy independence. OK. I've been talking about it for years, nobody.
Nobody's more conservative than me on the military. Nobody's more conservative than me on taking care of our great veterans who are being absolutely maligned.
Nobody's more conservative than me on health care where we're going to repeal and replace ObamaCare and on common core where we're getting rid of it and on budgets where whether it's the penny deal, there are so many different things, but we'll straighten out our budgets.
Carl, we owe $19 trillion. We're going to start paying off debt. And we're not going to pay it all off that quickly, nor do we have to. But, we have to start bringing it down to a level that's sustainable because we're going in the wrong direction.
So, and certainly, nobody is more conservative than me on the border. The one thing, I guess people could say is that on trade, I am a free trader, believe it or not, but I'm also a smart trader. We cannot let China, and I like China, they're wonderful, but their leaders are too smart for our leaders. I like China. I do great with China. The Bank of America building, all of them, I have because of China.
In a war, we fought. But I will tell you, nobody, nobody is more conservative, actually, on trade. The problem I have is, you have people that are in National Review and they're eggheads, they're just eggheads, they have no common sense whatsoever, no common sense whatsoever.
It's not free trade when China charges tax to get our product in and they don't let our product in, anyway. And yet, they take their product and they just send it to us like nothing. We have a trade deficit with China of $500 billion a year. We have a trade deficit with Japan of over $100 billion a year. We have a trade deficit with Mexico, that's why Mexico's going to pay for the wall. $58 billion a year, 100 percent, it's 100 percent. You know, these guys come up that I'm against. And they say, you're not going to get Mexico to pay for the wall. I said, of course, I am. We have a trade deficit with Mexico of $58 billion a year. The wall is going to cost $10 billion. You tell me I can't make that deal? That's an easy deal.
So, the only thing, Carl, because I love the question, but the only thing I can say that some people would say, I'm not conservative is trade, but that's because I want fair trade. OK. I want free trade. But free trade, you have to have smart people on both sides and we don't have smart people on our side.
So, I want fair trade. It's got to be fair trade. Or as you would say, fair and balanced trade. OK, as they would say at Fox. OK.
Jeremy, go ahead.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Very important.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Destroyed, destroyed.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Yeah.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: You know what, OK, I know what you're going to say, Jeremy. Let me just -- I can't, because nobody's listening to you, Jeremy. OK. Nobody ever listens to you. Let me just explain. The problem that we have with trade, Jeremy, Jeremy, let me just tell you, is we have people on the other side that are grand masters at monetary manipulation, at currency manipulation. They're manipulating their currency to such an extent that our companies cannot compete with other companies in other nations. They just can't compete.
And because of that, we're losing our jobs. If you take a look at how many jobs China, as an example, has taken from us, but it's not just China, it's everybody. China is the big abuser, because it's the biggest.
[21:50:05] China has taken millions of jobs, of factories. What they've done to us, it's actually and thought about it the other day, it's the greatest theft in the history of the world. They've taken out so much money. And again I love China, it's great. And I don't hold anything against their leaders. I wish our leaders would do the same thing in reverse but they don't. And we cannot continue -- hey look I won Michigan, and I went up there. And these people are incredible people.
You take a look at some of the factories that have been abandoned there, where they moved into Mexico. You take a look it as an example in Chicago, where you have Nabisco moves it big plant. They're closing their plant, they're moving to Mexico. Ford building $2.5 billion factory, cars in Mexico. I mean we can continue do it.
Carrier, two weeks ago Carrier announced they're going to close, 1,400 people laid of they'll going to build the air conditioners. They're going to put their air conditioners in Mexico. There going to build them in Mexico. How does that help us?
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Yeah, yeah. OK. Now, now, you know what's going to happen, Jeremy? Let me tell you what's going to happen. OK. Can I tell you what's going to happen? When China thinks you mean it, and I think you mean it. They're going to stop manipulating the currency and you won't have to do anything, and you might even have free trade. OK.
You didn't hear me. When China thinks you mean it, when Japan thinks you mean it, that we're not going to let them sale the cars like that, because they're killing us. You know what, we sell to Japan? Practically nothing. They have cars coming in by the millions and we sell practically nothing. When Japan thinks we mean it, and they'll stop playing around with the yen. They're almost as good as China.
You look at what's happening with Komatsu tractor and you look at what's happening with the Caterpillar. And Caterpillar is being hurt very badly by Komatsu not because there machines are but Caterpillar makes a better machine, but because of the fact that the currency manipulated. And we can have that. And they're not supposed to do it. But they have no fear of our government.
They're dealing with babies. We're dealing with babies, OK. They are grand master players and we have people that shouldn't be negotiating for us, all right? We shouldn't.
One more question. Go ahead. Let's see if she'll finally give me a decent after 12 years. I'm not going to finish with her because she never asks a decent question. OK go ahead, I'm only kidding. Go ahead.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: That's right.
(OFF-MIC)
TRUMP: Well, I'm going to say -- you know what? I think Lindsey Graham is probably a nice guy. And I was very tough on him because he was tough on me. But I think he's probably a nice guy. I think I could probably get along with Lindsey Graham. I could probably get along with Mitt Romney. I have nothing against Mitt Romney and I understand how he feels. I mean he worked really hard -- should have worked a little harder, but he worked really hard and he didn't get there. I mean, I understand it. I could probably get along with Mitt Romney. I could probably -- I don't know Mitt Romney very well. I endorsed him, I backed him, I helped him but I don't really know Mitt Romney.
I could probably get along very well with Lindsey Graham but he goes on television, he's very nasty and when they're nasty, you have to be nasty back. I can get along with people.
Look, the bottom line is we have something going that's so good, we should grab each other and unify the party and nobody's going to beat us, OK?
Thank you very much everybody. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And Donald Trump holding a press conference, as only he can and has been doing on these primary nights. Andy Dean, Trump supporter joining us. What do you make, what you've heard tonight.
I mean, its interesting talking about all the products, he used to sell or says he does still sell and then kind switching more into the politics.
ANDY DEAN, TRUMP SUPPORTERS: Right, well first to the politics, then we get to Trump the marketer. But the politics if we look at Michigan and we look at the turnout tonight in Michigan versus four years ago, its looks like it's going to be up about 50 percent. So 1.5 million people voting today versus 1 million a year ago -- four years ago.
That's a huge result. That's trending in line with the fact that Donald Trump or the party you could say is bringing out 50 percent to 60 percent more voters where as the Democrats are trending down about 35 percent.
COOPER: Yeah, and we've seen there's an enthusiasm gap ...
DEAN: Right.
COOPER: ... throughout the primary.
DEAN: And I think -- well the reason why I brought that first then we will go to Donald Trump the marketer is, that it answers that question is that Donald Trump is enthusiastic. He's an unusual candidate and if he does and I think in a good way, other people disagree, but I think in a good way.
He's fired up about America. He wants to be America's biggest cheerleader, just like he's done for the Trump Organization, he's so proud of his clubs, and his hotels, and his water and his steaks.
He wants to do the same thing but for the people of the United States, because we have great people. They're an underutilized asset and Trumps wants to market them to the rest of the world.
[21:55:06] COOPER: Amanda?
AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, here's the thing. I don't know watching Donald Trump, if I'm watching politics or political entertainment. That essentially wasn't infomercial. Judging from that victory that Donald Trump just enjoyed.
You would think that we would be having a good trade discussion. Look at what's happening to Bernie Sanders, he's performing very competitively. There's a really interesting story happening there about how Tea Party people and also the progressive left have come together in trade issues.
COOPER: And Sarah Murray is talking to Trump. Let's listen in.
MURRAY: ... 100 National Security and foreign policy advisors said, they couldn't support you. Are you having difficulty finding National Security advisers?
TRUMP: No. They're all over.
MURRAY: So why won't, why won't National Security -- why won't ...
TRUMP: You'll see them at the right time. You'll see them at the right time. And that was just politics. You'll see them at the right time.
MURRAY: Now, there's one other ...
TRUMP: Excuse me.
MURRAY: When is the right time?
TRUMP: It'll be soon. But you'll see them. I have a number of people already and very, very top of the line.
MURRAY: There's an effort by an outside Super PAC and anti-Trump Super PAC to ensure that you don't win in Ohio, that you don't win in Florida and try to lead this to the convention. Do you think that will happen?
TRUMP: Didn't they just try that? I think, they just try that. Look, so far I can tell you that people like what I'm saying, they agree with me. I think people ought to save their money. I think we ought to use that money to fight Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. That's what I can.
COOPER: All right. That was our Sarah Murray talking to Donald Trump. Sorry, Amanda, go ahead continue.
CARPENTER: Yeah. That was actually a good point, where you think like "Let's just finish this and beat Hillary." Now, that's actually a very persuasive argument with people.
But going back to the point about Trump winning Michigan, Sanders performing well in Michigan. We saw the hints of this revolt coming that transcends party lines when we saw that TPP deal with President Obama. People call that ObamaTrade.
There's something very big going on here, were people say, "Hey, this trade deals destroy American jobs.'' I don't think many conservatives recognize it, know how to deal with it. I don't think that candidate like Hillary Clinton recognizes that, knows how to deal with it.
COOPER: Because you actually have Trump and Sanders actually kind of close together on this issue talking about these trade deals as job killers.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This victory for Trump combined with what looks like is going to be a victory for Sanders, spells some trouble for Democrats in the general. Because what you're seeing is an anti-trade message breaking through in the Rust Belt. That's not good for Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton has been more of a free market, anti-fair trade voice in our party. This is not a good sign.
I have to comment, though, on that freak show infomercial. That is inappropriate. It is inappropriate to run an election, to run a campaign, to have people going to vote in these large numbers, voting for their jobs, voting for their families and to be talking about Trump steak and -- that is a kind of stuff that I think ultimately will wear badly.
We do have some traditions in this country that are worth upholding and one of them would be not turning your campaign victory speech into an infomercial.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's true when candidates speak, generally say the stakes are great, they're not talking about their own product. They talking about, you know ...
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: ... people tuned in there and probably thought they were tuning into the home shopping network at points. But you also saw on display -- first of all, he commanded the airwaves for a very long time and he tried to turn his own pugnacity into a virtue that would help the country.
Now, Andy, keeps comparing him to Lincoln who said with malice toward none and charity for all. I don't, I don't get that from the Trump presentation. But he certainly knows how to dominate television and to trans -- and that is a greater advantage to him in this race.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: And he also I think turned odd to the Senate and Congress, said we need to get folks in here that are going to be on my side. So in that way, I think he's turning towards what Republicans probably want to hear for a general election as they're -- some of them at least the establishment afraid of what he would do to dumbbell at races.
He praised Paul Ryan, said he's got great respect for him and then he said we have to grab each other and unify the party. So, and this is the kind of the message he is.
DEAN: One thing I think he was very serious in his speech besides him talking about his company is, I think Trump has found a third way to deal with the industrial Midwest. Because the concern is you're either free trade or you're anti-trade protectionist and can you only stake out one of the two areas.
Donald Trump is saying, "Hey, I'm free trade but I don't want our country," excuse me, "to get screwed."
(CROSSTALK)
DEAN: So that is smart trade. And so he can win in the industrial Midwest by saying, "Hey, I'm for smart trade so you guys don't get screwed." Most of the rest of the country is smart.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: One at a time. Amanda.
CARPENTER: I think for free trade and I'm also fair trade. You can't say you're a free trader when you're going to say I'm going to make sure that Apple makes iPhones in America. I'm going to bring back manufacturing because I'm going to pull it back and use the brute force of government to do it. That's not free trade by any measure.
COOPER: We're going to continue this discussion.
We're just at the top of the hour, I want to toss back to Wolf.
BLITZER: Anderson, thanks very much. Let's get to a Key Race Alert right now. In the State of Michigan, 52 percent of the vote is now.
[22:00:00] And look at that, close to this, Bernie Sanders, he was not ahead in the polls going into Michigan but he is ahead right now, 51.7 percent, 46.5 percent. Actually, it's a pretty significant lead right now.
