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Race Shifts West; Protesters Block Traffic Near Trump Arizona Event; Interview with Sheriff Joe Arpaio; Hundreds Also Protesting Trump in New York City. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired March 19, 2016 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:02] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump attacking Mitt Romney, questioning his faith and who he really supports.
NEWSROOM starts now.
Hello, again, everyone, and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Happening right now a crowd is building as Donald Trump gets ready to hold a rally in Phoenix, Arizona. The Republican frontrunner is set to begin speaking in less than an hour from now. Republican voters in Arizona and Utah hit the polls on Tuesday. Meantime, look at the crowd building in New York City. This is an anti-Trump rally. Protesters accusing him of having fascist policies and they plan to march to Trump Tower.
CNN Politics reporter Jeremy Diamond is covering the Trump campaign today from Arizona. Joining us live now from Phoenix where the crowd has built significantly.
So, Jeremy, set the mood there.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, hi, Fredricka. So we have a really long line of supporters trying to get in here today. We have, you know, thousands of Trump supporters trying to get in. We also have some supporters who are just sitting on the grass beyond the area where you need to get screened. Just sitting there and trying to watch the rally from there.
We also have seen a couple dozen protesters so far who are protesting Trump purportedly on immigration grounds, one of the big components of his policy, but we haven't seen too much protesters and nothing too violent at least so far which, you know, not too many protests compared to what we've seen in the past, but of course waiting to see, there's always the potential for protesters to break out here in the midst of the crowd once Donald Trump starts speaking.
WHITFIELD: And so what do you know about his arrival? Usually at many of these rallies, there's, you know, the images of his plane coming in and then via either motorcade in some circumstances arriving, oh, what is it people are anticipating there?
DIAMOND: Well, certainly we're expecting Donald Trump to arrive within a couple of hours here. We know that Sheriff Joe Arpaio is here. He is of course the hardlined immigration sheriff in Maricopa County here. He's known for his positions on immigration, something that Donald Trump has also leaned on during his campaign. It's of course central to his campaign to build a wall on the border with Mexico and also to deport the millions of undocumented immigrants living in the country.
Sheriff Arpaio earlier on CNN saying that, you know, he believes that Trump is the best candidate to address the immigration issue. Of course other opponents of Trump including Like Ted Cruz saying that he is best positioned to deal with the issue and slamming Trump for not offering enough specifics as far as how exactly he would address that.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.
All right. Part of the GOP establishment is zeroing in on a way to derail Trump's momentum and Ted Cruz says Mitt Romney's support is a big step in doing just that. Here's what he told supporters during a visit to the Arizona-Mexican border.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I very much appreciated Governor Romney's kind tweet today where he announced that he is going to vote for me in the Utah election. And he encouraged others to do the same.
Listen, in my book, when someone says I'm voting for you and I encourage everyone else to vote for you that's pretty darn good. And I'll take that and take that happily.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What does that tell you?
CRUZ: What it tells me is we're seeing Republicans coming together. We're seeing Republicans unite all across this country. You know, this campaign, this primary started out with 17 candidates. Started out with a fantastic diverse, young, talented field, and the field has now narrowed dramatically. And as a practical matter there are only two candidates that have any plausible path to winning the Republican nomination, either Donald Trump or me.
And what we are seeing is the 60 percent to 65 percent to 70 percent of Republicans who recognize that Donald Trump would be a disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So with current and former Republican candidates teaming up to stop Trump, the question is, will it work or is it too late?
Let's talk about this with our political panel. Jason Johnson is the politics editor for TheRoot.com. And we're also bringing back politics reporter Jeremy Diamond who was at that Trump event about to get underway in Arizona.
So, Jason, you first. Too little too late?
JASON JOHNSON, POLITICS EDITOR, THEROOT.COM: It may not be too little too late, but, you know, the narrow victory that Ted Cruz is fighting for is becoming more and more difficult. We're now in winner-take-all states. Donald Trump only has to win a little bit more than half of the remaining delegates and there's no sign that the dropping out of the race of other candidates has harmed him. In fact, the most recent polls that have been taken since Rubio dropped out of the race shows that his supporters seem to be either leaning toward Donald Trump or split evenly between Trump and Cruz which helps Donald Trump so I don't think it's likely that Mitt Romney or anyone else rallying around Cruz is going to stop Trump from having the most delegates even if he doesn't hit the magical threshold.
WHITFIELD: And then, Jeremy, is there any way of gauging whether, you know, all of this talk only further galvanizes, you know, the Trump supporters? Does it actually help him pick up any additional support?
[13:05:08] DIAMOND: Yes. Well, definitely Donald Trump certainly thinks that, you know -- he's continued to hit Mitt Romney. We heard him last night, you know, questioning whether or not he's a Mormon because he's endorsing, quote, "Lying Ted Cruz." So I think Donald Trump is enjoying this moment. He's enjoying seeing the establishment kind of start to perhaps rally around Ted Cruz.
You know, you also saw former Senator Lindsey Graham who had likened Ted Cruz to, you know, a lesser disease than Donald Trump in the past, also rallying behind Ted Cruz. So I think Donald Trump is enjoying it. You know, it positions him yet again as the anti-establishment candidate and I think that's really resonating with his supporters including here in Arizona where folks are really expressing that kind of anger and frustration with the politics as usual. Something that Donald Trump has continued to hit on the campaign trail.
WHITFIELD: And, Jason, Jeremy brings it up, you know, the establishment, the Republican Party as a whole. How much damage is really being done here? I mean, is it in large part, you know, because of Donald Trump or was this inevitable to have this kind of infighting?
JOHNSON: Well, this was inevitable. And you know, it's interesting, Friday was the three-year anniversary of the Republican autopsy, the RNC chair Reince Priebus said, this is how we need to improve the party, we need to become more diverse, we need to be a bigger tent, and instead they have put more and more conservative candidates in, and so the establishment's desire to make a bigger party has completely blown up in their faces.
So this is harming the establishment, it's harming their legitimacy. They look like hypocrites by supporting somebody like Ted Cruz. And it also helps somebody like Donald Trump, This is really one of the worst things that can happen to the Republican Party, either the conservative, the moderate or the nonexistent liberal wing.
WHITFIELD: And, Jeremy, do you get a feeling from some of the supporters that say that Trump is then that feel like they identify with the Republican Party, with the establishment, or is it that they are behind Trump, you know, who is running under the Republican ticket but they're not necessarily, you know, showing any allegiance to the party?
DIAMOND: Well, certainly they're kind of drawn to this kind of larger-than-life presence that Trump has -- has had consistently throughout this campaign and I think it really is this idea that they like what Trump represents. They like that he represents this outsider image rather than, you know, being, you know, a Republican candidate. But certainly most of the Trump voters are Republicans. He has also, though, drawn a lot of Democrats, a lot of independents to his candidacy. You know, you've seen that in the open primary contests where Donald Trump has taken support from elsewhere as well. So that's where he really benefits is from his outsider appeal, something that goes beyond party lines.
WHITFIELD: And then meantime there's a large crowd gathering in New York just near Central Park there, and apparently people say -- or Columbus Circle, people say they're going to march their way to the Trump Tower and so, you know, Jason, I wonder if this kind of movement, this anti-Trump sentiment right there in the Big Apple will in any way, you know, disrupt, distract Donald Trump in his message.
JOHNSON: I don't think, Fred -- I don't think it's going to distract Trump in his message, but it is going to change one of the longest standing political axioms ever. I've always said, you can never win a presidential election by having people vote against the other guy. They got to want to vote for you. That may change this year. I think there seem to be so many people including about a hardcore, 25 percent of Republican Party, independents and a lot of Democrats who literally will just vote against Donald Trump.
And when you see something like this in the city of New York where Donald Trump is actually very, very popular it's a sign of what may happen in a general election. This may turn out to be the beginning of something that works out really well for Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.
WHITFIELD: And, Jeremy, are you seeing any, you know, gatherings of anti-Trump, you know, protesters or, you know, people who are showing up who are professing that they're not really there in support of Donald Trump?
DIAMOND: Yes, I mean, certainly in the last -- you know, we've seen protests of course against Donald Trump since the beginning of his campaign, you know, in the midst of all of the controversial comments that Trump has made, but in the last couple of weeks we've really seen a solidifying of the anti-Trump protests. We've seen some more organized efforts, some more concerted effort. And we've also seen the kind of divisiveness of the rhetoric kind of break out as well with some violence.
So today we -- that hasn't been the case yet, but certainly we've seen a lot of anti-Trump protests and a lot of protests that are more organized and concerted efforts to kind of stop Donald Trump.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, Jason Johnson, thanks so much, gentlemen. Appreciate it.
JOHNSON: Thanks, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, to the Democrats now. Within the hour Bernie Sanders will hold a news conference at the U.S.-Mexican border just a day after Sanders shocked a reporter in Arizona, in fact walking off an interview after a tense exchange.
Let's get to CNN's correspondent Chris Frates with the latest on this.
Chris, what happened?
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Fred. Yes, Bernie Sanders has been campaigning very hard out west and it's a region where he thinks voters are more open to his message, you know, so he can make up some ground against Hillary Clinton. Yesterday he was in all three states that have contests on Tuesday.
[13:10:04] He hit Arizona, Utah, and Idaho, and Sanders, remember who's been battling with Hillary Clinton over which of them will have an easier time defeating Donald Trump he managed to take a shot at both Clinton and Trump. It was kind of a twofer. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And let me say a word or two about my good friend, Donald Trump.
(CHEERS)
SANDERS: Just kidding. He's not my good friend.
(LAUGHTER AND CHEERS)
SANDERS: In fact, I never even went to one of his weddings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: Now remember Bill and Hillary Clinton attended Trump's 2005 wedding to his current and third wife, Melania, so Sanders kind of portraying Clinton as cozy with Trump and the political establishment more generally there. That's a line, you know, that's sure to play with Sanders' antiestablishment base. And Sanders, he's been spending a good chunk of time in Arizona. The Grand Canyon state has the most delegates at stake on Tuesday with 75 and if Sanders really starting to campaign there on Tuesday.
Remember, his Super Tuesday 3 election night headquarters was in Phoenix. He's holding a rally there tonight. He's making a stop at the border in just a few minutes so Sanders really putting down a marker there in Arizona.
For her part though, Clinton has not campaigned in any of the three western states up for grabs on Tuesday. She's been doing a lot of fundraisers this week. Though she is up with a Spanish ad in Arizona and she called into a Phoenix radio show on Thursday to say, you know, she thinks the government has been doing a good job securing the border. Clinton and Sanders are both courting that big Hispanic vote in Arizona where Latinos make up 30 percent of the population.
And Bill Clinton, he'll be in Arizona tomorrow, Fred, stumping for his wife.
WHITFIELD: And then, Chris, what's behind -- you know, is it frustration that was displayed between Bernie Sanders and a local reporter?
FRATES: Well, so there's two versions of that story out there, Fred. Apparently, you know, the local reporter asked about Jane Sanders, Bernie's wife, who went down to the Tent City that Sheriff Joe Arpaio keeps there with migrants who have come through that he's arrested. She was questioning the living conditions there and the reporter was asking about that trip. Bernie Sanders asked -- answered the question and then walked off. His campaign saying well, the interview was over, had run over its four minutes of allotted time. The rapid response time saying that, you know, the reporter had taken a shot at Jane Sanders so it's a little unclear exactly what was behind that.
We've not yet seen the question that was asked by the reporter either. That local station not putting the question out. So the official explanation from the Sanders campaign was that the interview was over. He had answered the question and they were out of time -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Frates, thank you so much. Appreciate that.
All right. Meantime, we've been mentioning to you that there is going to be a rally that will be getting underway momentarily for Donald Trump there in Phoenix, Arizona. We saw our Jeremy Diamond there and the crowd was growing. Meantime, new pictures right now that we're receiving. I had asked Jeremy about any signs of protesters and he described what they've been seeing recently at various rallies.
Well, today here in Phoenix apparently there are a number of people who are not supporting Trump who have showed up. Apparently even blocking traffic on the way to the event. You can see these parked vehicles on Shea Boulevard there blocking both lanes of traffic into the Fountain Hills, Arizona, area where that rally will be taking place.
We understand that the Maricopa County deputy Joaquin Enriquez says that this boulevard is the main artery into the area and the protesters' actions are causing motorists to drive into oncoming traffic as they try to get around the protesters there, potentially dangerous situation. Maricopa County deputies are on the way to, quote, "engage the protesters," end quote, at this time and remove some of the vehicles. They're hoping to reopen the arteries there so that people can enter and exit the planned rally for Donald Trump there in Phoenix.
We'll of course keep you posted but those are the latest images of the small group of people -- appears to be a small group of people who have gathered there.
All right. And something you don't want to miss, come Monday, Democratic and Republican candidates all making their case to voters on the same night on the same network here at CNN. The final five candidates Monday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:17:50] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Live pictures right now in Phoenix, Arizona, and what you see is a traffic jam there, a number of people who are holding signs preventing those vehicles from passing. We understand this is Shea Boulevard and in order to get to the Donald Trump scheduled event about to get underway momentarily you've got to get through that roadway. Well, apparently according to deputy county officials there, the people who have clogged this artery are anti- Trump demonstrators who have gathered in preventing any passing through this road in order to get to the Donald Trump event.
Maricopa County Deputy Joaquin Enriquez telling us that the Shea Boulevard is the main artery into the area and that protesters' actions are causing motorists to drive into oncoming traffic as they try to get around the protesters. You're not seeing that in these images right here. It looks like everything is in a standstill, but that coming from the Maricopa County authorities who are describing it as a potentially dangerous situation.
Now on the phone with us is the Deputy Enriquez who I just spoke of with his quotes saying that this is a potentially dangerous situation. So describe for us from Maricopa County there exactly what you're dealing with. How do you allow demonstrators to gather safely, but at the same time ensure the safety of others and allow this event to get underway?
JOAQUIN ENRIQUEZ, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA SHERIFF'S DEPUTY: Yes, well, what we have is a group of obviously anti-Trump protesters who have used their vehicles to block Shea Boulevard which is a major artery into the town. I mean, obviously the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is going to treat and wants this to be a peaceful protest, however, when they block a major artery, they're causing safety hazards, obviously emergency vehicles need to enter and exit this way so this is causing a huge issue for us considering there's backing up the highway.
So this is starting up not the way they wanted to do this and right now we're in the process of towing vehicles, and if this continues obviously it might lead to arrests by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
[13:20:12] WHITFIELD: So you could potentially arrest them not because they're gathering but you're saying because they are blocking traffic?
ENRIQUEZ: That's correct. The arrest won't come from them protesting. The arrest is going to come from them blocking a public thoroughfare where obviously this is a roadway. Cars need to get through. Maybe someone has an emergency, a legitimate emergency. Now they can't get through because we have people and vehicles blocking this roadway.
WHITFIELD: So roughly how many people are you dealing with? Because we're looking at these live images right now, and it clearly is significant enough of a turnout on the roadway where these cars at least in this image are not even able to get around them. Roughly how many people are you dealing with?
ENRIQUEZ: Well, right now I think we're dealing maybe 50, but they keep gathering. I think there's more people coming in as this keeps happening. I'm being told that we've towed cars and more cars are lining up and we're just going to keep towing them and we're going to get to a point obviously where we're going to have to start affecting arrest. We have people driving on the shoulders and oncoming traffic creating a huge traffic safety hazard for us now and putting people's lives at risk. So we at the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, we have to be aware of that and we have to take extra action.
WHITFIELD: And when you say there are about 50 people and more keep gathering, from which direction do you believe these people are coming those who represent the anti-Trump kind of sentiment as it look like? Many of the people are coming from the rally site and come to find out there are many, you know, people protesting Donald Trump who may already be inside and then working their way to that location or people coming from the opposite direction.
ENRIQUEZ: No, they're actually coming from the opposite direction. Some are actually coming from where the traffic is backed up. So I know there's different rally locations where they're actually meeting and gathering and putting their plans together, and like I said, peaceful protest is fine, but when you start to block roads like that, that's the main issue here that we're dealing with when they're basically giving a threat to public safety.
WHITFIELD: Is there a way of telling just how far backed up it is? Is it a matter of meters or miles?
ENRIQUEZ: No, I can tell you it's definitely miles at this point. And the longer it stays like this, the quicker it's going to just continue to back up. Shea Boulevard is a major, major artery into the town of Fountain Hills so that's what we got going on. We need to get that opened as soon as we can.
WHITFIELD: And what about on the opposite direction, the other side? Now we're -- in these images we're seeing some people who are backing up perhaps by the direction of the man in the vest. I don't know if he represents the, you know, county deputies that you're representing, but some of those vehicles are backing up because it doesn't appear as though they can see that they'll be able to get through this crowd of people. What is the instruction being given?
ENRIQUEZ: See, that's the other thing, too. We're going to have -- we're going to have people that start to get impatient with us and obviously start to turn around causing maybe -- maybe accidents and this might turn into a big issue and that's why the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is trying to get resources out there and trying to get these vehicles along with other law enforcement agencies that are in the area as they're helping us out, too, so we're going to try to resolve this issue as soon as we can.
WHITFIELD: So if people refuse to leave because you're saying -- you're describing for us here, you want the people who are standing there blocking traffic to, you know, push aside, perhaps off road so that these cars can get through and you said that there could be potential arrests but how would you go about doing that as the crowd continues to grow? You know, clearly it seems like it only builds a very potentially volatile situation.
ENRIQUEZ: No, I would agree and obviously we would obviously want this to end peacefully and we don't want to arrest anybody, let's make that clear. However, we have a job to do and obviously we need to get this road open. It's not like they're gathering on the side of the road. It's not like they're gathering at the park or they've had a designated area. They're in the middle of a three-lane roadway. I mean, who's to say that when some of these cars get moved that these cars won't start moving and they start to get hit by cars so we're actually doing them a favor as well. We need to get them out of the roadway.
WHITFIELD: What kind of timeline are you dealing with?
ENRIQUEZ: I mean, we have -- we have resources deployed everywhere. Obviously it's a big situation that we're working in different places and we have other little gatherings that we're dealing with at the same time so we're deploying manpower to every little issue that we have going on.
[13:25:04] So we're relying hard on other law enforcement agencies that have -- from the valley that are helping us out here, too, but we want to get this resolved in the next 30 minutes to get this Shea back open.
WHITFIELD: All right. Within the next 30 minutes you're hoping that people will get off that Shea Boulevard, that main artery. Now we're looking at live aerial shot where you can see that traffic backup you described moments ago as backed up for miles now. We clearly can see that. This traffic backup as a result of a number of people. The sheriff's deputy here saying roughly about 50 anti-Trump demonstrators that are on Shea Boulevard blocking the entryway to the Donald Trump rally that is scheduled to get underway within a matter of, you know, minutes, under the next, you know, hour, hour and a half or so.
Traffic cannot get through and the sheriff is describing -- they want these pedestrians to get off the roadway. They can gather, protest peacefully, but not in the fashion that is underway right now blocking traffic. It's creating a potentially dangerous situation because some of the motorists are feeling compelled to cross the median there driving the opposite direction and in some cases turn around right where they are, driving in opposite directions trying to get out of this traffic jam.
So, Sheriff's Deputy, thanks so much for being with us. I know you're trying to resolve this within the next 30 minutes, but we want to keep close tabs with you to see just how things transpire.
All right. Meantime, also with us right now Mike Shields, former chief of staff of the Republican National Committee.
What are your concerns when you see this?
MIKE SHIELDS, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Well, look, there's some protesters, they're doing their job. They're out protesting. They're trying to get attention. They're getting the attention. Hopefully this is something that can be resolved peacefully. I think Arizona is on the front line of issues of immigration. I think some of the candidates in the Republican primary field have talked about Arizona being a model for the type of immigration policy they would like to have.
You know, the governor there, Jan Brewer, got -- passed through pretty controversial immigration law and so as the presidential campaign comes through there and you have candidates it's not surprising to see that you're going to have people that are pushing back on that.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Well, but I don't know -- that's what's unclear right now. We don't know what they're pushing back on right now. We don't know if the issue is immigration and we heard the sheriff's deputy who described it as anti-Trump, you know, demonstrators so it may be an issue of the rally that's about to take place, we don't know their sentiments, what exactly they, you know, oppose Donald Trump about, but as it pertains to the party, the cohesion, what appears to be a real fracture, there is the sentiment by the GOP establishment trying to stop a Donald Trump who is the frontrunner, I mean, let's address that and if this is a consequence of all that has transpired, all that I just described. How concerning is that to you?
SHIELDS: Well, it remains to be seen. I mean, look, we're in the middle of a presidential primary process. There's going to be people with differing opinions. You're seeing protests at various people's events. Protests at Hillary Clinton's events as well. Certainly in the Republican primary process they're fractured. There's big disagreements. And whoever the nominee is is really going to have a huge task ahead of them to bring the party together.
That's actually what happens pretty much every four years when you have a -- you know, Hillary Clinton is now going to have to bring the Democratic Party together. Whoever our nominee is going to have to bring the Republican Party together.
WHITFIELD: But you agree this is unique to the Republican Party right now? This kind of tenor, this -- you know, so far what we have seen in the last two or three Donald Trump rallies where there has been real vitriol. There have been arrested, there has been violence which takes, you know, protests to a whole another level as we've seen in some of the other campaigns.
SHIELDS: Yes, I think what's unfortunate is that really my experience in politics has been most of that sort of mindset comes from the left. It comes from people that are almost professionalized on the left to come and start these types of things and what's unfortunate is that some people in our party now are losing the moral high ground because they are also calling for using words that sort of incite violence and I think in the past Republicans have had a little bit of the high ground of sort of wanting peaceful protests as opposed to things that get violent.
Usually you see some of the union folks and people on the left that kind of incite this sort of thing and we're losing a little bit of that moral high ground when we start sort of leaning into it a little bit. But it's a sign of the times. People are upset. They're angry. They want their voices hurt. They feel disenfranchised. They want to be a part of the process. You've got that on both, the left and the right, and it can provide a pretty bad environment sometimes and I think it requires leadership on behalf of everybody in the political process to try and get back to what we believe in as Americans, which is that you can voice your opinions peacefully.
You can protest things. You can state what you believe, but you do it in a sense of respect and under the laws of the land so it doesn't ever get to a place where it's violent. And I think our leaders have to step up and call for that type of peaceful protest as we go forward.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: And what do you --
SHIELDS: Because if not it's just going to get worse.
[13:30:06] WHITFIELD: What do you want to hear from leadership within the Republican Party?
SHIELDS: Well, I think most leaders in the Republican Party are calling for that sort of thing. They want there to be peaceful ways to resolve these things. They're looking for Americans to be able to share their voice and voice their opinions peacefully and I think that we will get to that. I think that the -- but we need all of the leaders to join in and say look, there's a way to do this and we also need to call out the people on the left.
I mean, this is -- this is something that's been brewing on the left that really hasn't been talked about. You should see what it's like to be a conservative to try and go on speak on a liberal college campus. I mean, these sorts of things happen. There's threats to people, people get shouted down where they can't have their voices heard anymore and that's been actually going on for a while and I think it's spilling over into the presidential contest and I would hope and urge that Republicans continue to try to take the high road as opposed to leaning into that and saying well, we should be violent, too, or let's punch people or using those types of words that Republicans would also say look, this is not who we are. This a group of people that we need to set an example by using our leadership to say this is not who we are as Americans.
WHITFIELD: All right. Mike Shields, if you don't mind just stopping right there. I want to continue our conversation. We'll take a short break as we continue to watch this blockade of a major artery there, as many motorists try to make their way to a Donald Trump rally. But then there are pedestrians holding signs, according to one of the county sheriff's deputies telling me these are anti-Trump demonstrators there.
We're going to keep a close watch on how things are resolved here. The county deputy saying he wants it resolved in about 30 minutes or so. We'll see if that happens. We're going to take a short break. Right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:35:23] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. Live pictures right now of Fountain Hills, just outside of Phoenix, Arizona. You're seeing a large number of people who have gathered. They were blocking traffic, the main artery, in order for motorists to get to a scheduled Donald Trump rally. Now we're seeing many of those what the sheriff's deputy were calling anti-Trump demonstrators, now they're actually moving. Setting foot on this roadway. We don't see the kind of cars on that particular roadway anymore, but once this shot -- this aerial shot does widen out you will see that there is traffic backed up for miles on both sides intersecting with that Shea Boulevard. Shea Boulevard, we understand, it is the main road in order to get to the location where the Donald Trump rally will be underway.
These are images earlier when those demonstrators were clogging traffic. You see they were all at a standstill there as were the vehicles lined up behind them. We talked to the sheriff's deputy earlier who said they don't want to disrupt the people's right to gather and demonstrate and protest there, but it looked like it was becoming a fairly volatile situation -- dangerous situation because many of the motorists were turning around and they were going in opposite traffic trying to get out of that gridlock right there, thereby potentially endangering other motorists as well and even some of the pedestrians there.
We understand that Sheriff Arpaio is going to be joining us momentarily to talk about what is transpiring there. OK.
So, Sheriff Arpaio, thanks so much for being with us. We know that you have endorsed Donald Trump. You are actually going to be introducing Donald Trump at the rally scheduled for today, but now that you see this unfolding with many demonstrators coming out, I talked with one of your sheriff's deputies who said that they thought about 50 people had gathered. What are your sentiments now about what's taking place?
SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: I couldn't hear very well. I presume you were asking about some demonstrators in Fountain Hills?
WHITFIELD: Right. What's your reaction to this?
ARPAIO: Yes. We got a large contingent of my deputy sheriffs there. We'll take care of business and the main mission is to make sure that Donald Trump is secured, protected, and also everybody else in the town because I'm the law enforcement official for that town so we got a lot of resources out there and we're going to do everything we can to continue or have this rally at RNC. I don't think I'm going to have many problems, but we're ready for any problems.
WHITFIELD: All right. So safety is paramount, but talk to me about the strategy here where many of these, what, about 50 demonstrators were at that location at a standstill with traffic behind them and now it looks like they are being permitted to walk along this roadway. Are they moving presumably toward the rally site?
ARPAIO: I believe we're starting to seize the vehicles.
WHITFIELD: You are seizing the vehicles. OK. Because our live shot -- right now we're looking at taped images but earlier we also have a live imagery that showed the demonstrators walking. And do you know that they would be walking toward the rally site?
ARPAIO: We'll take care of that.
WHITFIELD: What do you mean?
ARPAIO: So everything is in motion right now.
WHITFIELD: OK. Everything is in motion, does that mean that these demonstrators will be allowed to walk toward the rally location?
ARPAIO: We're going to try to do everything we can to get the people to be able to attend that rally. That's the right thing to do, the fair thing to do, and we're going to do everything we can so they can hear Donald Trump speak.
WHITFIELD: OK. And while the hundreds if not thousands of people just looking from -- looking at the live shots earlier of the gridlock, the number of people who would be gathering to hear Donald Trump, what about the 50 so people who were considered anti-Trump demonstrators? Where are they going to be directed?
ARPAIO: I'm not sure right now. I don't have an update about those 50 people, but like I say, we'll do everything possible to make sure that we have a freedom -- that you know, a free -- free speech in this country, and Donald Trump has a right to speak out and the people have a right to go in there and hear him speak and if certain groups don't like it, that's OK. They have freedom of speech, but they're not going to violate any laws because they're going to have to pay the consequences.
[13:40:06] WHITFIELD: And then how will you keep these two groups --
ARPAIO: And I have to -- I don't want to cut you off, but I have to leave here.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, how will you keep the groups from coming together?
ARPAIO: So I'll see you in Fountain Hills.
WHITFIELD: Is it your concern that the two groups would come together?
ARPAIO: The what?
WHITFIELD: Is it your concern that the group of people who are there to support Donald Trump would also interact with those who were not supporting Donald Trump?
ARPAIO: No, I've been in -- I've been in so many of these rallies in Phoenix three times and other places. And the -- the people attending the rallies are great. Maybe one or two may demonstrate, but I've never seen any big problems. I don't expect any problems in this forum. So you always have people that are agitated, want to send a message out and don't forget, they've been demonstrating against me, thousands and thousands for the last 10 years, so I'm used to this.
WHITFIELD: But is your concern or would your concern be different given that just last weekend in Ohio and then also at a rally in North Carolina and then again in Chicago that there was violence at a Donald Trump rally and are you concerned that that could potentially here -- what was put in place --
ARPAIO: I didn't see any violence in the forums.
WHITFIELD: You did not?
ARPAIO: Maybe there was some outside in Chicago but I didn't see any violence.
WHITFIELD: So in Chicago -- right. In Chicago there were arrests and in the North Carolina case there was --
ARPAIO: That was outside. That wasn't -- they cancelled the, you know, the meetings. There wasn't any riots inside.
WHITFIELD: It concerned a Donald Trump rally and in North Carolina someone in attendance sucker punched a demonstrator as they were leaving. And then remember in Ohio, just last weekend there was someone who kind of rushed toward the stage where Donald Trump was standing and the Secret Service considered that a threat. So all of those things are potentially dangerous or considered violent or disruptive occurrences, are they not? In a gathering of these rallies?
ARPAIO: Well, you know -- you know, I'm going to bring me up again. I don't want to bring me up. I've had thousands of people demonstrate against me. I've gone right into the midst of all these people. No one got hurt. I didn't get hurt, they didn't get hurt. I think this is overblown just because Donald Trump says a few words in a rally, and they take that out of context. That has nothing to do with it.
WHITFIELD: So as the leading law enforcement official there --
ARPAIO: Some people just want to make an issue on the other side of the fence.
WHITFIELD: But -- ARPAIO: Everyone is making a big issue. They don't like the illegal
immigrations fight and they don't like Donald Trump, so they try to demonstrate so they can get on TV and the more they get on TV the happier they like it and it perpetuates the continuation of the media, not blaming the media, but the point is right now, I want to make sure that that rally occurs, and everybody is safe, and that's why I'm going back to work to do that.
WHITFIELD: Right. And that's what I'm trying to get at as I'm asking you as the leading law enforcement, you know, officials there about your concerns as it pertains to maintaining the safety for those who are coming out to support or even protest against Donald Trump and to maintain the safety of Donald Trump himself. And I'm wondering --
ARPAIO: No, I am not concerned.
WHITFIELD: You're not.
ARPAIO: You know, I said again, I run this office as the sheriff. These are my people in that town and I have great confidence in my people, and I'm going to make sure that this continues, you know, that Donald Trump has the right to speak to thousands of people that love him, support him, and want him to be president. So I'm going to make sure that situation occurs.
WHITFIELD: Will you be introducing Donald Trump?
ARPAIO: Yes. I do that -- this will be my fifth time.
WHITFIELD: OK. And what do you plan on saying? How will you introduce him? What's your plan?
ARPAIO: I adlib. I don't prepare statements so I haven't decided what to say. I say it -- I'll decide what to say when I'm there and speak out.
WHITFIELD: And then what is it about Donald Trump? What is it about your relationship with him? What is it about his stance on certain issues that has helped cement your support for him and --
ARPAIO: I met Donald Trump when he was here for the first rally in July. I was very impressed. Therefore was about 10,000 to 12,000 people.
[13:45:05] I've been involved in presidential campaigns in the past. Honorary chairman for President Bush, for Mitt Romney, Perry the last cycle, I endorsed him. They all came to me for endorsements so I know a little about presidential candidates, but this one, Trump hit a nerve with me. He's different. That's why right off the bat I supported him because I know he's going to make a difference for our country and I'm not ever going to renege. I've endorsed him in Marshalltown, Iowa, and I want to make sure he's now safe because he happens to be in my backyard where I can see my house. Where that rally will be taking place.
So I have a lot special interests but my main interest is to make sure he is safe and he has the right to hold a rally and speak to the people regardless of a few demonstrators floating around trying to send a message out.
WHITFIELD: We're looking at some images right now, some of it taped, some of it live showing that there is some movement on that roadway that was blocked, and we'd also seen that some of those demonstrators were walking. Has anyone been arrested or detained --
ARPAIO: I don't know yet.
WHITFIELD: -- or cars towed?
ARPAIO: I have the to leave now because I've got work to do, so anyway, thank you for having an interest. We'll keep you posted.
WHITFIELD: All right.
ARPAIO: And I'm sure everything is going to be great, and all you TV stations will be safe, and I hope you cover the gist of this situation at Fountain Hills which is allowing to see Trump have his rally and send the message out and that everything is going great.
WHITFIELD: All right.
ARPAIO: So that's what my mission is.
WHITFIELD: Very good. All right. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
ARPAIO: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.
ARPAIO: Bye. Thank you. Bye.
WHITFIELD: Of course. We will continue to watch the developments there in Fountain Hills outside of Phoenix, Arizona. We're going to take a short break for now as you look at live pictures, aerial views of the dozens if not hundreds of people who have gathered in support of Donald Trump there and also learning of a handful of anti-Trump demonstrators that are also in the vicinity. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:50:50] WHITFIELD: All right. Ahead of the Tuesday primary in Arizona, Democrat Bernie Sanders there on the U.S.-Mexican border in the city of Nogales, Arizona. Let's listen in.
SANDERS: And particularly Latino immigrant families. I am struck by the fear and struck by the sadness that grips so many of them. I remember being in Phoenix a number of months ago talking to a number of young girls, teenage girls, with tears literally coming down their cheeks who are frightened that they or their parents would be deported at any moment. People living in absolute fear that their family life could be disrupted. I have seen the sadness of families torn apart. Fathers or mothers,
or both, sent out of this country having to leave their little children -- can we imagine? Parents having to separate themselves from their small children and leave them with others here in this country. I recall talking to a United States serviceman, a man who has put his life on the line to defend this country, and while he was abroad, his spouse, his wife, was deported. And I have met with a 12- year-old boy who longs to be reunited with his mother. That is why I am here today.
WHITFIELD: Bernie Sanders there talking about his impressions, being left by people who are living in fear, he says, and sadness. Afraid that they're lives will be disrupted. He's there on the U.S.-Mexican border town of Nogales, Arizona. Just two days now ahead of the Arizona primaries.
We'll have much more of the action and the activity taking place in Arizona right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:56:17] WHITFIELD: All right. Big day of campaigning and it turns out a big day of protests, too, in Arizona and in New York. Want to take you in New York right now where a number of people have gathered in an anti-Trump kind of sentiment.
Our Sara Ganim is there. Remember these people had gathered, what, near Columbus Circle and then they were going to make their way to the Trump Tower, but then now there's been a little bit of dust up here and there. What's going on?
SARA GANIM, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: That was the plan originally, was a peaceful protest --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not Donald Trump.
GANIM: Hey, guys. Would walk from Columbus Circle to Trump Towers. But the problem has been, Fred, that it did not remain peaceful. There was a miscommunication originally about where they were going to go. NYPD trying to keep them in the street as they're supposed to be, and instead the crowds, as you can see --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not Donald Trump.
GANIM: -- have been rushing the police barricades. Chanting to push through. There are some people who got pepper sprayed. There was a lapse here where it became peaceful. Again they got back on track. I talked to the organizers in that time. They said this was simply all a miscommunication, but shortly after that, just really seconds after that, Fred, the protestors began to rush the police barricade.
Again, in some cases, moving the barricades, NYPD obviously unhappy. We did see at least one person being arrested and now it appears -- that's happening again as you take a look. There are -- a couple of people in the street. Some people even throwing projectiles at the NYPD and there are arrests being made here, Fred. WHITFIELD: So that movement --
GANIM: Trying to get a good look --
WHITFIELD: Yes. So --
GANIM: What's going on at the moment.
WHITFIELD: Right. You're doing a great job, Sara. So I'm wondering, that movement, people, when they were kind of moving en masse, you moving along with them, was that because of -- or you describe. What was that because of?
GANIM: You know, Fred, it's hard to tell immediately exactly what caused that, but the problem consistently during this protest has been that the protesters want to get into the streets and the NYPD want them to stay on the sidewalk. They don't want them in the streets, disturbing traffic. They want them on the sidewalks, protesting peacefully. That's what's supposed to happen.
We're here in the middle of a protest and that's not what's been happening here. Like I said, we did see several people get pepper sprayed. We saw some people running from police, using pepper spray. I saw some people moving police barricades, rearranging them at some point and then you saw at times people just start running, rushing the police barricades into the streets and that's what's causing these problems and it seems to be what's causing these arrests.
WHITFIELD: And so, Sara, you know, originally the plan from, you know, people would be going from Columbus Circle to Donald -- you know, Trump's Trump Tower there on 5th Avenue so whereabouts are you now? Are people still en masse trying to make it to that final destination or is everything influx?
GANIM: We're in Midtown. We're in Midtown. We're not - we're not far away, Fred. Just taking a peek. We're at 56th and Madison, which is in midtown. We're not far from Trump Towers but this is certainly not the route that they had originally told that police they were going to take. You know, I have to note, there's been heavy security here all day and in the beginning, it was unclear, you know, it was clear from the beginning of the day that the police were ready for this, that they were prepared. We saw police mounted on rooftops. We saw tons of police on the ground. At one point more police than protesters. Clearly that has changed.
I would say there's upwards of 1,000 people who started this march in Columbus Circle, maybe between 750 and 1000 people. It's unclear how many of them have made that trip and I do have to say, it seems that it was one or two people who really started to pick fights with the police.
