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Violence Continues at Donald Trump's Rallies; John Kasich Sees No Way To A Split The Map Strategy to Stop Trump; Barack Obama on His Way to Cuba; Rabbi and Jewish Leaders are Boycotting AIPAC. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired March 20, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:24] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Happening now, in the NEWSROOM.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't condone violence and I say it and we have very, very little violence at the rallies.

WHITFIELD: Trump's response to violence breaking out at his rally this weekend.

TRUMP: We had thousands and thousands of people wanting to come. They were delayed for an hour because of these protesters and, you know, at what point do people blame the protesters?

WHITFIELD: At least one demonstrator punched and kicked. And Trump's campaign manager appears to grab a protester by the collar.

REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Getting involved in confrontations, violence is not the answer.

WHITFIELD: Plus, John Kasich sees no way to a split-the-map strategy to stop Trump.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a crazy idea. Who actually could be president of the United States and do a good job?

WHITFIELD: And the historic visit. President Barack Obama is hours away from being the first president in nearly 90 years to step foot on the island of Cuba.

NEWSROOM starts now.

Hello again, everyone. And thank you for joining. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, it was another night of violence at a Donald Trump rally. This time, in Tucson, Arizona. Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, the man in the gray blazer, was caught on camera in an apparent altercation with a protester and more violence at the same event as the protester was brutally attacked as he was being let out of the venue by police. So this morning on ABC, Trump was questioned about the attack on the protester and this was his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Somebody, a protester, would be wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit and he went --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You seem to be excusing it.

TRUMP: You know, it was a tough thing to watch and I watched that. But why would a protester walk into a room with a Ku Klux Klan outfit on?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looked like he was wearing the American flag right there. But does that justify violence?

TRUMP: Well, if you would have seen him before he went up the stairs, him and his partner were wearing -- one of them was wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. CNN correspondent Chris Frates is joining us now with the very latest on there.

So, is the Trump campaign preparing itself for other explanations because it doesn't seem to be going away?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. Well, I tell you. You know, Donald Trump's campaign manager is once again under fire from may enabling someone at the Trump event.

Yesterday at a rally in Arizona Corey Lewandowski dragging a protester by his --

WHITFIELD: OK. We're having a little audio problem. Let's bring in some other voices here to talk more about this. Ryan Lizza, CNN political commentator and Washington correspondent for "the New Yorker."

All right, good to see you.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: So Ryan, is that explanation enough, that Donald Trump, you know, is saying, you know, at what point do you blame the protesters for this kind of violence, altercation that happens between supporters and protesters or even his staff members?

LIZZA: Well, you can never blame a nonviolent protester for someone else hitting them or engaging in violence. Remember, these events are free and open to the public. Anyone can go online, get tickets and go in. So, without condoning any specific protests that happened at these events, obviously, if someone is heckling Trump or holding up a sign and being nonviolent, obviously you can't condone using violence against that person. And, you know, Trump on TV after that -- right before or after that

clip you showed with George Stephanopoulos, he actually denied that his campaign manager touched the protester. So literally as ABC news was playing a clip as we're playing right here of Corey Lewandowski, who was hired as Trump's right-hand man, was grabbing this man's collar, Trump was denying it in real-time. So I mean, as a journalist, I'm not sure how we even handle this anymore. We have candidate, and I use this word advisably, lying as something is in front of our eyes.

WHITFIELD: He used the word spirited, that he was, you know, acting in a very spirited way.

LIZZA: Yes. Listen to it very carefully. He said he didn't touch him. And last night the Trump campaign put out a statement sort of using some sort of strange language blaming only the person next to Corey who is also seen grabbing the protester. But as we see from the clip right here, they are both clearly grabbing the protester.

[15:05:09] WHITFIELD: OK.

LIZZA: So it just seems like the Trump campaign doesn't take this seriously and you now have two very serious incidents with the campaign manager. One allegedly grabbing a journalist, Michelle Fields, and two now grabbing a protester. And I think if there's no disciplinary action against his campaign manager here, we just have to assume that the Trump campaign condones this.

WHITFIELD: And so Chris Frates is back with us now. Our audio problems are worked out. So I can return really to that first question because it's an issue of the word choice that Donald Trump and even his camp are using to describe events like this, more specifically, what just happened yesterday within the past 24 hours.

So Chris, as far as you know, do you know whether or not Donald Trump or his campaign is rethinking some of the language that it has used and that he's used to describe these events or even justify or explain away what everyone is now seeing on videotape?

FRATES: Yes. Well, certainly it doesn't sound like they are rethinking it because just today, Fred, you know, we heard Donald Trump on ABC. He seemingly defended his campaign manager and his actions. Like, let's take a listen right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Security at the arena, the police were a little bit lax and he had signs up in that area that were horrendous. I give him credit for having spirit. He wanted them to take down the horrible, profanity- laced signs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: So here you hear Donald Trump, you know, essentially explaining that it was just a spirited exchange between these protester and his campaign manager. And you know, Republican national committee chairman Reince Priebus, he also weighed in today, Fred. He said he thinks law enforcement professionals, not campaign officials, you know, should deal with these protesters. As Ryan pointed out, this is just the latest altercation.

Earlier this month, Lewandowski was accused of grabbing a reporter by her arm, yanking her backwards when she tried to ask Trump a question at a news conference. And that reporter, Michelle Fields, has in fact pressed charges against Lewandowski. You know, Lewandowski has denying ever touching her. And you know, let's not forget, we also -- yesterday at that same rally, a man essentially sucker punched and kicked a protester being escorted out by security. That man was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault.

And one other thing to watch out, Fred. Tomorrow, Donald Trump, you know, who has essentially been criticized for not being, you know, a big enough friend of Israel. He is giving this closely watched speech to a very pro-Israel group. That speech is expected to draw a number of protesters who are rabbi and Jewish religious leaders. And they are accusing Trump of promoting hatred.

So a lot of protests happening here and as we watch this dynamic between his campaign officials and the protesters, I think it's something we're going to have to keep a really close eye on.

WHITFIELD: And so, Chris, will that be rabbis involved in protests or a rabbis who are going to be boycotting this, you know, American- Israel public affairs, you know, committee - policy committee known as AIPAC? Because earlier as you reported this, you know, they would be boycotting. But now some rabbis we're actually getting involved in a protest?

FRATES: Right. We are talking about rabbi who intent to show up tomorrow and protest Trump's speech to make the point that they feel like Trump and his campaign is encouraging hatred and that that is a problem and they need to speak out against that. So this will be, in fact, a protest of rabbis and Jewish religious leaders.

WHITFIELD: All right. And then - and Ryan, back to the issue at hand and what we're seeing on videotape, it's very disturbing to see, you know, people who are being roughed up and you know, you have to wonder now if Donald Trump's campaign, when you have a campaign manager who is not being accused of and being caught on videotape as an active participants in whatever kind of (INAUDIBLE) happening out there, it's more than just a reflection of the individual of the campaign manager or its reflection of Donald Trump himself, the entire campaign.

Can that campaign, can Donald Trump continue to move on status quo or does Donald Trump or the campaign have to separate itself from the actions of the campaign manager that were caught on tape and even dialed back or reconsider the language that is being used?

LIZZA: Look, we are clearly reaching a boiling point here. I think it's obvious to anyone who has been watching what's been going on the last few weeks that things are escalating and you have in Donald Trump someone who, for whatever reason, doesn't want to -escalate, doesn't want to do anything to sort of -- to set a tone that would suggest that there's no toleration for violence at his rallies.

And another disappointment this morning coming on ABC News and trying to explain away what was clear, you know, from anyone watching the video. So I think if he doesn't come out and, one, admit that his campaign manager did this and, two, condemn it, we all have to assume that he is OK'ing this kind of behavior. And, you know, I think that will inform everyone's opinion of what was going on.

[15:10:17] WHITFIELD: All right. And then it's not all about Donald Trump. Even though sometimes it seems like it is, Ted Cruz too campaigning also in Arizona. But now, we are hearing that half of the ballots have already been cast. So Chris, is there a feeling of confidence or trepidation from, you know, Ted Cruz that, you know, many of those ballots are going to him or to the other guy?

FRATES: Well, certainly that's going to be Cruz's message, that he's energizing the conservative base and getting those folks out. As we have seen for Donald Trump, you know, when the people are voting early, he is the guy generating the excitement and he makes a lot of boasts on the campaign trail, you know, some of which are true, some of which are not true, frankly. But the ones that are true is that he is bringing out a lot of people who haven't voted for Republicans before.

So the fact that there are a lot of these early votes already out there, that tends to help Donald Trump but Ted Cruz, of course, making the argument that he's the only guy who has beaten Donald Trump. He can continue to take this fight to him all the way to the convention. Of course, he's hoping that he'll win some of those conservative votes in places like Arizona, Idaho and Utah, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. I should say the other guys. John Kasich is still in it, too.

All right, Chris Frates, Ryan Lizza, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

LIZZA: Thanks, Chris.

WHITFIELD: Of course, you can hear from all five presidential candidates, Republicans and Democrats, right here on Monday on CNN. They will make their cases to voters starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern time.

All right now, turning overseas to Iraq where we learned today that a U.S. marine has been killed in an ISIS attack. The rocket attack happened at an American fire base in northern Iraq which had only become operational a few days earlier.

Let's bring in CNN military analyst lieutenant general Mark Hertling to discuss more of this.

So general, we understand this was a fire base being set up in northern eye whack with these U.S. marines. First off, explain to us what is a fire base? What does this mean? What kind of installation?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, a fire base usually -- the term is usually used to describe a place where artillery pieces are set that can reach all aspects of the battlefield. In fact, Fred, this is a bigger base than that. There's not only U.S. marines there but just recently over a brigade of Sunni Arabs from the 16th Iraqi army division joined Peshmerga forces there.

This has been a place more that is about 50 kilometers southwest of Mosul. The place where the Iraq army is attempting to liberate in the near future. So what they are doing there is setting the conditions for exactly that.

But the other thing is that (INAUDIBLE) has been a place that has been under constant ISIS attack over the last year plus. It's right on the green line between the Kurdish area and the Iraqi-Arab area. So it is a very critical point for both Peshmerga forces and now Sunni-Arab forces to conduct that attack in to Mosul later this year.

WHITFIELD: So we heard now reporting from Barbara Starr earlier that these, you know, U.S. marines were there to support Iraqi forces. While they may be there in a supportive role, does this also constitute in any way kind of mission creep that has been a concern expressed by so many leading up to this point? Would this be what that is?

HERTLING: No, not at all, Fred. And when you're talking about the advice and assist role, American soldiers and marines are doing two things. First of all, obviously, they are advising Iraqi or Peshmerga forces on how to better conduct operations, to execute the plan and bring the fight to ISIS.

The other thing they are doing is assisting. Providing some level of force, just like air power. In this case, it appears the marine that was killed was part of an artillery unit providing artillery support. That's not in direct contact with ISIS. But it is certainly is providing indirect fire, something the Iraqi and Peshmerga forces need in spade. They want to take the fight to the enemy and they need this kind of artillery support much like the air support in order to conduct maneuver operations against ISIS.

WHITFIELD: So does this base now have to move on now that, you know, while it was set up secretly, you know, ISIS now has wind of it, engaged in that kind of fire power, what would be next?

HERTLING: Yes. I would push back on the fact that it was set up secretly. The base of Makhmur was there when I was there in 2007 and 2008 and we turned it over to the Iraqi army. So there's been a significant number of Peshmerga and Iraqi forces there. It may have been a secret that U.S. marines have come in to the base, provide arterially support. They were trying to keep the fact on the low. But in fact, there are several thousand soldiers there, Fred.

So what you are talking about, they will not sort of disestablish this base. They will continue to use it. It's a critical base on the road to Mosul. But what you also have is this artillery attacker, this rocket attack by ISIS was probably one arbitrary round which occurs all the time fired from probably a sled or the back of a pickup truck that moved in, shot the round and then left. Usually that kind of artillery attack is highly inaccurate but harassing and sometimes they do get lucky.

[15:15:35] WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there. Lieutenant general Mark Hertling, thanks so much. Appreciate your time.

HERTLING: Always an honor, Fred.

All right. It hasn't happen. In nearly 90 years, a U.S. president visiting Cuba. That will change. In the next hour, as President Obama lands in the island nation. We are live in Cuba with a rundown of the president's itinerary, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:17] WHITFIELD: All right. In just over an hour from now, President Barack Obama will make history when he lands in that city right there, Havana, Cuba for a two-day visit. You are looking at live pictures right now. And not since Calvin Coolidge was president almost 90 years ago has a U.S. president stepped foot in Cuba.

We got full coverage for you throughout the visit starting with CNN's Ed Lavandera and Jim Acosta who are both there in Havana ahead of the president's arrival.

So Ed, you first. What is going to be the first stop for the president?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In just a few hours, when President Obama arrives here at the airport in Havana, Cuba, he will make his way to a meeting with the folks who work at the U.S. embassy. They will be take place in a hotel. But if you hear we are along the fame (INAUDIBLE), just the famous waterfront boulevard here on the northern edge of the city.

The U.S. embassy is down there at a distance just at the end of the bend there. We anticipate that the president's motorcade, because after he has done at the hotel there, meeting with members of the U.S. embassy delegation there, the motorcade will supposedly make its way down here. The (INAUDIBLE) water front, which if you really stop and think about it, will be an unbelievable sight to see especially when you consider and I've talked to a lot of Cubans here over the last few days who are absolutely fascinated trying to catch a glimpse, not only of the first family, but of the beast of a limousine that the president rides in. You know, many people come here to Cuba to see the old 1950s cars right down this boulevard. But in a few hours, it will be overtaken by a motorcade of some of the most modern cars this city has ever seen. So it will be quite a scene.

What is interesting, though, is that normally for a Sunday afternoon, you would expect to see thousands of people gathered here along the waterfront throughout the day especially as you get later into the day, they come and congregate and they spent hours and hours sitting here, talking with family and friends. That is a traditional past time that you see here in the city.

But right now, you can see that the security is starting to be stepped up and people are being told to kind of move along. Roadways will be shut down here rather shortly. So it will be very difficult to access this unless you kind of walk in here. But many people, as you see them walking up and down the street here, Fredricka, very anxious to catch a glimpse of the motorcade and their first glimpse of a U.S. president here in city of Havana -- Fredricka.

[15:21:35] WHITFIELD: And people there along the (INAUDIBLE) will be allowed to stay there to see the beast, the vehicle that the president will be in?

LAVANDERA: You know, we have been asking people, you know, because what the security - you know, a lot of the security here in Havana are not formally addressed. But so we are trying to get a sense of what the word is? What they are being told. Some people have been told us they have just been just kind of told to move along, but they don't need to be kind of congregating where they need to. We do know that we can obviously tell that many of the roadways into the street have been shut down.

The traffic is very light at this point. We imagine as we get closer to the arrival of President Obama and the first family that that will begin to tighten up. So we'll keep tabs on that. We spoke with one woman who lives about a block inland that there was no way anyone was not going to tell her that she couldn't be here on this boulevard to watch the motorcade go by. So it will be really interesting to see how things develop here over the next couple of hours.

WHITFIELD: That's going to be very exciting.

So Jim, you know, this symbolizes the huge thaw between the U.S. and Cuba. The president will also be meeting with President Raul Castro. Do you know what's on the agenda? What will be said, what kind of ideas exchanged, et cetera?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the Cubans like their music, Fredricka. And so, this is going to be a little bit of a diplomatic dance for President Obama. He has got a couple of different items on his agenda. One is, he is trying to basically make this policy of opening up relations with Cuba irreversible. And so, having the president here along with the first family, not only the president is going to be here, he is going to be with Mrs. Obama, the first lady, he is going to have his daughters here, even the grandma, the first grandma is going to be here as well. They are going to be walking around Havana. And so, that image, the White House is hoping will to tell Americans to come to Cuba.

The president is going to be traveling with a huge congressional delegation like of which I have not seen since covering this White House. And he is going to be traveling with the CEOs from the Marriott Company, other leaders in the tourism business in the United States who all want to establish a beach head here in Cuba. And so, yes, they want to get that side of the equation going. They want to get businesses up and running, get Americans -- you know, have a foothold in Cuba. But at the same time, Fredricka, when he meets with President Castro, when he gives in addresses to the Cuban people on Tuesday, the White House officials are telling us is that the president is going to deliver a message to the Cuban people that says that basically Cuba needs to open up, that they need to have more of a respect for human rights, for freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech. These are things that they don't really have right now in Cuba. And that is a part of Cuban life that the tourists who visit here completely miss when they come down to old Havana and walk down the beautiful streets. And the president has been very upfront about that and so have the White House officials. The question is, how will the Cubans react to that?

WHITFIELD: Right.

ACOSTA: And you know, the other thing that we are going to see happen here, Fredricka, and it is going to be remarkable as well, on Tuesday, the president is going to take in a baseball game. The Tampa Bay Rays of the major league baseball back in the United States, they are going to play against the Cuban national team. I remember seeing the Cuban national team playing the Baltimore Oriels in Maryland back in 1999.

They don't do this very often and it's symbolic of this opening that is happening. But, you know, this is going to be an interesting diplomatic dance for President Obama. There is a lot of Cuban Americans back in the U.S. are going to say, listen, if you don't say enough when you are down here, it's not going to work for us. So he is has got a lot on his agenda. And we will see how it plays out in the next few days.

[15:25:05] WHITFIELD: All right. And he is scheduled to meet with some of those political dissidents too. Baseball is very huge there in Cuba. And you mentioned, huge, you know, Jim, when you talked about the contingent traveling with the president, we are talking about 39 members of Congress, if my count was right, and 11 entrepreneurs and business CEOs. So yes, big contingent of folks along with the president there.

All right, thanks so much, Ed and Jim. Appreciate it.

Of course, we are continuing to watch the big trip for the president soon to be landing there in Havana. And, of course, our coverage is going to pick up again in about 35 minutes or so from now with an hour-long special.

All right, now, back to the race for the White House. Hillary Clinton, well she is off the campaign trail today but her husband, well, he is not. We are live in Phoenix, next, where a rally with Bill Clinton will be kicking off soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:29:33] WHITFIELD: All right. This Tuesday, we will bring another round of primaries for the Democrats and another pivotal day for the candidates. Voters in Idaho, Utah and Arizona will go to the polls two days from now with 131 delegates on the line. Bernie Sanders will hold three rallies in Washington State today and on Saturday Bernie Sanders took a tour of the border in Nogales, Arizona. He said the controversy over immigration has been trumped up, his words, and there is no need for a wall along the border. (INAUDIBLE) Hillary Clinton is taking a break from the campaign trail

today. Instead, her husband, Bill Clinton, is holding several events in Arizona. And that's where CNN's Boris Sanchez is right now. Boris joining us from Tucson.

All right. So, Hillary Clinton taking a break from campaigning is they are feeling from the campaign that it's just as effective to have her husband there.

[15:30:29] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Hillary Clinton showing a lot of confidence in her surrogates, chiefly among them former President Bill Clinton is expected to speak at the middle school here in Tucson in just a few hours. He is extremely popular in this state. He is really the only Democrat to win Arizona in a general election since Harry Truman many, many decades ago and a long side and he will have former congressman Gabby Giffords along with her husband astronaut Mark Kelly. The two of them also very popular in Arizona and across the nation where they have campaigned for Clinton across many stops in many states including the Carolinas. They have also appeared in many commercials for her campaign.

So Clinton is expected to do well here and this could be a victory lap for her, so to speak, after a strong performance in Super Tuesday three last week where she took all five states that were up for grabs.

On the other side of ticket, Bernie Sanders has actually spent a lot of time here in Arizona. He has also spent $1.5 million on commercials here. As you mentioned, he spent some time here this weekend visiting with the border and visiting with the immigrant families. So for him, a win here would mean a breath of fresh air for a campaign that is quickly losing momentum as Hillary Clinton gets closer and closer to the nomination. Many Democrats are feeling that it's important for the party to kind of coalesce around Hillary. But many are also saying that it's great for Bernie to stay in the campaign partly because of media coverage. They feel that a close contest between them could stir a lot of coverage of close race between them attention where he get them attention.

As on the other side of the ticket, the infighting in the Republican Party is really dominating coverage and it's not quite as civil as it is on the Democratic side. So they are hoping that's a plus for them going into a general election, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Boris Sanchez, thank you so much from Tucson. Appreciate it.

Don't miss tonight's episode of "Race for the White House." It's 1988. Bush versus Michael Dukakis. It starts at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

All right. So what do Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have in common? Next, one theory about why the two they have done so well this election cycle,

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [15:35:36] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. In two days, three presidential primaries and caucuses among those states, Arizona, that's where we see Ted Cruz right now, the GOP stumping for any kind of support from Peoria, Arizona, outside of Phoenix. Let's listen in.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- in supporting liberal Democratic politicians for 40 years. I have no experience doing that. But Donald continued and he said, Ted, when it comes to religious liberty on the Supreme Court, you have got to learn to compromise. You have got to learn to cut deals with the Democrats and go along together.

Well, let me be very, very clear to the men and women of Arizona, I will not compromise away.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

CRUZ: I will not compromise away your second amendment right to keep and bear arms.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

CRUZ: (INAUDIBLE). For seven years, we've seen in the administration that abandons our friends and allies and it shows weakness and appeasement to our (INAUDIBLE). Now, once again, two days ago, Donald Trump made clear, if he were president, he said, he would be neutral between Israel and the Palestinians. Well, let me be very, very clear, I will not be neutral.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

CRUZ: America will stand unapologetically with the nation.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

CRUZ: And, you know, you can't tell the difference between your friends and your enemies. If you can't tell the difference between the nation of Israel and Islamic terrorists who (INAUDIBLE), that raises real questions about your fitness and judgment to be commander in chief.

WHITFIELD: All right. Challenging audio there but Ted Cruz there campaigning in Peoria, Arizona, just ahead of the primary there in that state of Peoria, just outside of Phoenix.

All right, meantime, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders may be miles apart in their politics and temperament, but they have both tapped into similar feelings of economic rage among some American voters.

Let's bring in CNN politics senior reporter Steven Collinson.

So Stephen, you wrote an article for CNN.com and that is very interesting link between Sanders and Trump. And you said this quote "they are voicing visceral feelings of economic disenfranchisement and alienation among pessimistic voters who feel they have been ignored for years. So this is how they have I guess garnered a lot of support from some people but is that enough to carry them all the way through?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: That's right, Fred. As you said, the styles of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, the very different the way they go about that politics, that political and ideological leaning is a very different. But it's undeniable that what they have done is tap into, perhaps, the dominant theme of this election. This idea, the trade deals, global trade deals with other nations, the effects of globalization, that the fact that Wall Street hasn't made a lot of money since the great recession, many Americans are still struggling. And the thing that people are being left behind, both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have tapped into that.

If you look at, for example, the exit polls in Michigan and Mississippi primary as couple weeks ago, a majority of Republicans and a majority of Democrats both said that trade deals with foreign nations like China or Japan or even in this hemisphere with Canada and Mexico are responsible for giving away American jobs. So there's no doubt, I think, that the economic and ideological spectrum in this election has shifted and the idea that, you know, globalization and trade deals and exports are the way to grow the American economy. They might still be dominant in Washington, but I don't think they are dominant in the heartland as they once were.

WHITFIELD: So then with those commonalities, does that mean that they are both vying for the same voter?

[15:40:00] COLLINSON: You know, most of Bernie Sanders voters are clearly liberal Democrats. Most of Donald Trump voters are blue collar white voters. This is some crossover and that's one reason why some Republicans think that Donald Trump could actually pose problems for Hillary Clinton if she's in the nominee in rust belt states up by the great lakes, places like Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, which are basically historically based on manufacturing and you can see that manufacturing brace erode over the years due to the impact of globalization, American jobs going to low-wage economies in Asia, for example.

I don't think the political leanings of some Trump supporters are the same, but there's no doubt there is a possibility that some disenfranchised Democrats who disagree with the way the economy is being run and who feel that distant elites, corporate elites are controlling the economy to their detriment, they might find some aspect of Donald Trump's message appealing.

But of course, as a real cult to dimension to this, Donald Trump so hopeless for this. He has introduced ethnic issues into the campaign. He's railed against illegal immigrants. So a lot of the things that Donald Trump is saying, a lot of the things that he stands for are to likely turn off some Democrats who might be wavering the naturally attracting them.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much. Always good to see you. Stephen Collinson, appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right, at any time now, President Obama set to land in Havana, Cuba, right there for an historic two-day visit. We're live at the airport and we'll take you there, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:07] WHITFIELD: All right. President Obama will soon be touching down in Havana, Cuba. And while he is on this historic trip, he will meet with Cuban president Raul Castro as well as Cuban dissidents.

So I want to bring in Patrick Oppmann who is in Havana for us.

So Patrick, what kind of reaction is anticipated from the people there? Will they get a chance to see the president, hear his message?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Many people are going to try to see the president, Fredricka. We expect Cubans to pack streets all along the route that he will be traveling in Havana. The Cubans have been asking me whether they can see his speech in person through the baseball game and in any events he and the first lady will be attending.

Cubans that I have known over the years living here told me they just don't believe this is actually happening. Until they see the president with their own eyes, see him step off the plane, making history as the first U.S. sitting president to come to Cuba since the revolution, that there's not going to able to fully comprehend all of the changes takes place in their country. It was one thing and significant enough that diplomatic relations would be restored last year with the United States. But the visit of a U.S. president, a visit that, of course, will bring up serious issues.

But more than anything is really an opportunity for this American president to try and connect with the Cuban people, and show that, unlike the rhetoric we hear so often from the Cuban government that America is not the enemy. And so, just minutes away, really, from history being made, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So the, Patrick, how will some Cubans be able to hear or see the president or learn directly about the visit? Because not everyone has radios. They don't have television sets. Not everyone has, you know, internet access. And we've seen in the past when it was Fidel Castro delivering a message, there would be jumbo trumps, you know, big speakers placed in different, you know, areas of the country, but what would happen in this case?

OPPMANN: So, of course, when Fidel Castro used to give a speech, millions -- or at least hundreds and thousands of people would pack places in Havana. President Obama is not giving a speech in one of his outdoor forum. It is going to be indoor form. It will be invitation-only to that speech but it will be broadcast live on Cuban TV. You only have state-run television here. And most people do have televisions already or they crowd around TVs of friends and family.

So I guarantee, this is going to be only one channel here. There is not a lot of internet. People would like to see the president in person. Lots of people are at least be will be waiting at his car when he drives by. He will be in the area where I'm standing, Fred, a little bit later today and walking around the heart of old Havana, (INAUDIBLE) streets that have so much history. And we expect he will be shaking hands and will be talking to people. He will be doing things that politicians in the U.S. do so often. You don't see Cuban leaders do it very much. And I think for the Cubans, they will have a chance to catch a glimpse of the president. It's really going to be a unique moment for them, certainly something they never expected to happen, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. That is very exciting. I know a lot of people are looking forward to that. And again, you know, what less than five percent of people there have access to the Internet. So the face-to- face time is going to be really huge, very sizeable.

All right, Patrick Oppmann, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. And CNN's "the wonder list" returns for a new season with an inside look at Cuba. Bill Weir takes us to the island as it prepares for the dramatic changes up ahead tonight at 10:00 eastern time right here on CNN. And we will be right back.

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[15:51:52] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at major pro-Israel conference in Washington tomorrow. The American Israel public affairs committee policy conference. But hundreds of rabbis and Jewish leaders are planning to boycott this speech saying the Republican presidential candidate is encouraging hatred. The conference is for a pro-Israel group known as AIPAC. And this morning on ABC's "This Week," Trump briefly addressed his pledge to be neutral between Israel and the Palestinian people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There is nobody more pro-Israel than I am. But you will hear what I say at the speech and we'll see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So joining me now is one of the organizers of the boycott, Rabbi David Paskin.

So rabbi, good to see you. So Donald Trump said he won't reveal what he is going to say as yet. People will just have to, you know, find out tomorrow. What are you expecting his message to be or is that irrelevant in your view since you are helping to lead this boycott?

RABBI DAVID PASKIN, ORGANIZING BOYCOTT OF TRUMP SPEECH: Well, in many ways it's irrelevant. In other ways it's the most important thing, you know. What we're protesting, what we're boycotting here is not his policies, is not his politics. It's the hateful rhetoric he's been using. The bigotry, misogyny, the xenophobia (ph) that he has expressed as core concern of his campaign throughout this election season.

So I have no doubt that he is going to come to AIPAC and say exactly what we want to hear him say. But what we need to stand up for as Jews and as Americans, is that and all of our elected leaders and those who wish to be elected are held to a higher standard.

WHITFIELD: So leading into the weekend, it was reported that something like 90 rabbis and Jewish leaders are going to be part of this boycott. Is it true now that it is, you know, triple-fold? More than 300 who are part of this boycott?

PASKIN: Well, back on Tuesday we had about 200 or 300 rabbis, Jewish professionals, Jewish members of the community, and friends. Today we're up to 1700. Now not all of those people are going to be here at the AIPAC conference and perhaps not all those people will participate. But we are expecting hundreds of leaders from this Facebook group to galvanize thousands we hope other of people to make a strong statement that we stand for values and that in America and Jewish tradition, it's not enough to just say hateful things. It is not enough to just rouse up the crowds into a frenzy. We also have to stand up for principled values, for ideals.

WHITFIELD: Do you think AIPAC shouldn't have even extended the invitation to Donald Trump?

PASKIN: You know, I don't. I don't think they should not have invited him. AIPAC is a very simple goal. Their goal is to make the strongest possible relationship between America and Israel and we all support that. That's why you have the conference because we support AIPAC and what they are doing. And we understand that in order to make that happen they have to have a relationship with whoever may be in the office of the person of the United States.

So I don't question their invitation to Mr. Trump although there may be others who do. And I appreciate the fact that AIPAC is allowing us to have a voice. AIPAC is allowing us to stand up and say we appreciate that we need a strong Israel-United States relationship. And we understand that we have to stand up for values. We need to stand up for not having hate speech, be a regular common place occurrence in our political system and especially here at the AIPAC conference.

WHITFIELD: As part of this boycott/protest, will you and others be in attendance or anywhere near the entrance or venue of this speech holding signs, expressing yourself that way or is your boycott simply keeping a distance?

PASKIN: I'm so glad you asked. We are, I think, going to surprise Mr. Trump. Because we're not going to protest like any other groups that protested. There are essentially three things that are going to happening. Number one, some people will just absent them self from his speech. Number two, some people will join for the beginning of the speech when he is introduced and silently and respectfully stand up and walk out of the room. And third, and most importantly, all of us, both groups will gather together to study safer text. We are going to studying about common decency, (INAUDIBLE) and how to turn (INAUDIBLE) senseless hatred into (INAUDIBLE) senseless and boundless love. We are not going to disrupt this conference. We do not want to show the same disrespect that will boycotting that will protesting. We don't want to show that same disrespect.

WHITFIELD: Rabbi David Paskin, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.

PASKIN: Just so often, thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, the wheels of Air Force One set down to touchdown in next hour in Cuba. We will be live in Havana for that historic moment. Stay with us.

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