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New Hillary Clinton Ad; Republican Candidates' Loyalty Pledge; CNN's "The Eighties" Premier; The Annual Easter Prayer Breakfast Aired 10:30-11a

Aired March 30, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:04] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

The race for the White House, Democrats make a play for the Big Apple. Bernie Sanders cranks up the pressure on Hillary Clinton to debate him here in delegate rich state of New York. Hillary Clinton is not dismissing the idea but at least this morning she's turning her attention to GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

A new ad rolling out this morning on New York airwaves. Hillary Clinton doesn't specifically blame Donald Trump for the violence at his rallies. Here's the ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): So when some say we can solve America's problems by building walls, banning people based on their religion and turning against each other, well, this is New York. And we know better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in New York with more on this. Hi, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol.

Hillary Clinton is turning her attention to Donald Trump and there's one reason for that. His name is Bernie Sanders. This New York primary race in just about three weeks' time, suddenly so competitive. Who would have thought that? Certainly not the Clinton campaign. They are putting money behind this ad, a lot of money here in New York because they are trying to show Democrats that she is the stronger of the two candidates.

Carol, I can tell you, the race at least for the next six days or actually in Wisconsin. That's where Bernie Sanders is campaigning today quite aggressively. He believes that is his state and sort of fits his politics. And interesting, the Wisconsin has an open primary which means you can vote in the Republican or Democratic primary. You don't register by a party. And there is some crossover between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. He addressed that head-on last night with CNN's Erin Burnett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People are angry. What Trump is doing is taking that anger and saying, it's the fault of the Mexicans or it's the fault of the Muslims. We've got to scapegoat people.

Well, beating up on Mexicans who make 8 bucks an hour is not going to deal with the issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Carol, I guess it's no surprise that Donald Trump is front and center in the Democratic primary, too. He certainly has been in the Republican race.

We so far have not heard a response yet from the Trump campaign to this Clinton ad. I'm sure that's coming. He's not very shy when it comes to responding here.

But Look, the Clinton campaign -- Hillary Clinton is making her case of fighting for New York. She of course represented this state in the Senate. She was elected twice here. But they are really fighting for this, Carol.

Bill Clinton will be all across New York City tomorrow. She'll be campaigning here for the next couple of days and the one eye is back on Wisconsin. But this is a state where they know they have to win on April 19th. So interesting that she has chosen today to spend her time here in New York City. Carol?

ZELENY: All right. Jeff Zeleny reporting live for us this morning, thank you.

Coming up next in the NEWSROOM, the loyalty pledge goes caput and now we could be in for one contentious convention.

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[10:37:16]

COSTELLO: One thing was made clear at last night's town hall, there is no love or loyalty between the candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country and dividing the country, I can't stand behind them. But we have a ways to go. Let's see how this all folds out.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: If Donald Trump is the GOP nominee, will you support him?

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me tell you my solution to that. Donald is not going to be the GOP nominee. We are going to be.

COOPER: Do you continue to pledge whoever the nominee is?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No. I don't. Anyway look --

COOPER: You don't?

TRUMP: No. We'll see who it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Can you say contested convention or, better yet, third- party candidate?

With me now to talk about that and hopefully they will have the answers to these questions. Ana Navarro, Republican strategist, Tara Setmayer, former Republican Congressional Communications director, and Mike Shields, former chief of staff of the RNC and president of the Congressional Leadership Fund. Welcome to all of you.

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR (ph): Good morning, Carol.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR (ph): Thanks.

MIKE SHIELDS, FORMER RNC CHIEF OF STAFF: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So Mike, you're an RNC guy. Mr. Trump says he's being treated unfairly by the RNC and the establishment. Nobody is going to adhere to those loyalty pledges that they actually signed. So is Reince Priebus having a heart attack this morning?

SHIELDS: No, I don't think so.

I mean, look, first of all he hasn't been treated unfairly by the RNC. The RNC is a very open and transparent organization and they have from the very beginning said, we're going to adhere to party rules. The party rules say you have to get over 50 percent of the delegates to become the nominee. If you don't have over 50 percent of the delegates then you're going to go to an open convention. The delegates are going to decide. And I think to change that, to fix the rules in favor of a candidate and say, we're just going to give it to somebody even if they didn't get to 50 percent would be a huge problem as well.

So, I don't think -- I think Reince is perfectly fine. I think he understands exactly what is going on and I don't think Donald Trump is being treated unfairly by the RNC.

Look, of course they are all going to say they are not supporting this pledge or whatever. We're at the stage of the campaign -- we're at the "National Enquirer" attacking each other's wives stage. Of course, they are all going to say they're not going to support each other. But in the end I think the delegates at the convention, which it looks like who we'll be deciding who the nominee is, the delegates at the convention are going to look at a candidate who can bring everyone together, bring the whole party together to move forward to beat Hillary Clinton in the fall. That's one of the things they are going to be looking for.

And so I think all of these candidates are going to jostle but in the end whoever the nominee is they're going to have to bring everyone back together again and all of this will be over (INAUDIBLE) focus in the fall. I think that's where the RNC knows we are headed.

COSTELLO: OK. So Ana, do you agree? Will there be ultimate unity at the Republican convention?

NAVARRO: You know, it's hard to envision unity right where things stands and I think it's getting harder. And the reason is that this is getting really nasty. It's getting very personal.

[10:40:00]

It's getting very dirty. I think a lot of followers and supporters of the different candidates are getting more entrenched in their position. And the nastier it becomes, the dirtier it becomes the more difficult it becomes to at one point have unity.

I agree with Mike. Reince Priebus is not having a heart attack. Reince Priebus is a pragmatic guy. I don't think anybody with a degree of experience or commonsense would be holding their breath as to, you know, actually pledge a sign, to actually being honored, you know, God forbid somebody do that.

You know, this is getting nasty. This is getting nasty. And I think that the message out there to the three candidates is, look, folks, let's tone down the rhetoric. At some point we will all have to unite. We all have to come under the same tent or we are going to lose. Those are basically the two options.

And so I do think it's time for Donald Trump in particular to change the rhetoric, change the tone. He is the clear front-runner. It is time for him to start talking a unifying message, to start giving Republicans like me some hope that maybe there is some room under a, you know, Republican tent if he is the nominee. Right now I don't see it. I don't feel it and it will be very difficult for me to feel it come August.

COSTELLO: So Tara, if Mr. Trump doesn't become a uniter is it pretty clear to you at this moment that the Republican Party is fractured beyond compare that moderates and nationalists and conservatives cannot ever exist within one party again?

SETMAYER: I think this is the first time in a long time we've seen that possibility.

You know, we've seen people writing different scenarios about this, and Trump supporters people who continue to excuse away his behavior, excuse the way his positions that are not Republican or conservative in any way. They keep making excuse for him thinking that, well, eventually he'll pivot and become more presidential and unify. We've seen no indication of that. None.

Every single time he has had an opportunity to step up to the plate to convince people that, no, no, no, you know, that was the Hollywood Donald Trump or that was an act, I can really be presidential. He doesn't do it. He actually goes to the complete opposite way.

Since March 15th, that was supposed to be the final pivot point, right? He knocked out Marco Rubio. People were talking about falling in line. Let's just end it now. Donald Trump is going to be the nominee, right? There was all of this inevitability and look at what has happened since March 15th until now. Donald Trump has attacked a candidate's spouse. He's backing up his campaign manager who acts like a thug and assaults a reporter. We've had riots at events. We've had people getting assaulted at Donald Trump events.

I mean -- and what has he done? He's doubled and tripled down. He hasn't taken anything, any steps whatsoever to be the unifier. If anything it has been the complete opposite. I mean, now they are actually turning around and blaming Michelle Fields for that incident with his campaign manager. He did this last night during the town hall where he had an opportunity to shy away from those kinds of things and he didn't do it. He just cannot help himself.

I don't see how people who view character, integrity and principle as an important quality for the next president of the United States could ever unify behind someone like Donald Trump.

COSTELLO: OK. So Mike, I'm listening to what Tara just said really Reince Priebus isn't having a heart attack?

SHIELDS: No, because Reince Priebus is the chairman of the Republican National Committee and he's operating a very fair and open process.

He is letting the voters decide and then eventually if we don't have over 50 percent going into the convention, the delegates are going to decide. And so he's aware that he knows exactly the job that he has and the job is not always sexy to be the chairman of the RNC with all the party mechanics that you have to do. It's grinded out work behinds the scenes. But he knows that he's operating a fair and open system and that's what his job is.

And so the delegates it looks like are going to make the decision as to who the nominee is. You know, if you go back in history and you look and see other open conventions, it's obviously been a long time. Quite often what the delegates look for is someone who can bring the party together and someone who can win in the fall. And so if you can't get to 50 percent and you have to go to an open convention, that's what the delegates are going to do. And Reince's job is to preside over that in a fair and even way. That's what his job is.

And I think he's very confident in the team that he has and the job that he has to do to make sure that we have a fair and open and transparent process going into the convention. SETMAYER: Carol, (INAUDIBLE) quick point about that just really quickly. It is important that the RNC explains what the rules are.

Donald Trump is being very shrewd in setting up the narrative that they are going to steal the election for (ph) him. They're changing the rules. He threatened to sue in Louisiana when delegates were not bound -- these are things that were in the rules.

You know, when you play football, if you don't make it to -- past the goal line, you don't get a touchdown if you only make it to the one yard line. So they need to be very clear about these are the rules. No one changing them. No one is stealing anything. This has happened in history before.

SHIELDS: Well, of course.

SETMAYER: And we've got --

[10:45:00]

Lincoln, Eisenhower, there are a lot of other really great presidents that came as a result of a multiple ballot. So the RNC and the party leaders have got to do a better job of explaining this and countering Donald Trump's lies about this, it's (ph) somehow changing the rules and stealing the election from him. It does not actually win based on the rules in the game he signed up to play.

COSTELLO: All right.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: I have to leave it -- I have to leave it there. Ana Navarro, Tara Setmayer, Mike Shields, thanks to all of you. I do appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, some decades are just bigger than other. And in the '80s, there was no bigger question than, who shot J.R? Up next I got the inside scoop on Dallas from Charlene Tilton aka J.R.'s niece.

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COSTELLO: Ah, the '80s, a great time of change and really, really, really big hair. You know, I was loathed to show you this picture. I was working as a local anchor in Columbus, Ohio, many, many moons ago in 1989. And "Columbus Monthly" did a story on me and this is a quote from the story.

[10:50:00]

Quote -- "Due to the layers of hairsprays she applies, she has to shampoo every day or she couldn't get a comb through it."

It was. It wasn't just "Miami vice" either. Who could forget "Dallas"? And the question that left millions of viewers on the edge of their seats, who shot J.R.? With me now is actress Charlene Tilton. She played Lucy, J.R.'s niece on the show. Welcome. It's so great to see you.

CHARLENE TILTON, ACTRESS: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: I feel like I'm meeting with an old friend.

TILTON: I love your picture, your big hair.

COSTELLO: How did you escape the big hair thing? You were a smart woman back then.

TILTON: Oh, no. I still hold the motto. The higher the hair, the closer to God. And the big shoulder pads. I miss the shoulder pads.

COSTELLO: Oh, I know. Because they made you look thin no matter what. I miss the big shoulder pads myself.

Let's talk about "Dallas" and its place in television history. What do you think that show left us with today?

TILTON: You know, I have to tell you, I didn't watch a lot of it while it was on and then when the DVDs were released I watched it and I said to Larry Hagman. I said, Uncle Larry, this show is really good. It holds up and it does. I mean, it was a good show. The writing, the acting, the directing, everything was really good. It holds up. It was a good show.

COSTELLO: Yes. And it was a show you could tune in to every week and it had continuing characters and, of course, that big question, who shot J.R. Do you remember who shot J.R.?

(CROSSTALK)

TILTON: It was unbelievable. Everyone wanted to know who shot J.R.

They were taking bets in Vegas and you couldn't keep a secret like that, now, I don't think. But, you know, back in the day, it was about -- the '80s was a whole different time. It was a different feeling the money, the greed, the whatever. It was quite different back then. And you know, it was an interesting time.

I want to tell you something, I'm doing a show -- I'm playing Tammy Faye Bakker also in the '80s but it ties into the whole thing. The money, everybody, you know, was just trying to get all of this money and different things. So it was quite interesting.

COSTELLO: I was going to college in the '80s and that's what everybody -- I mean, we just all went to college so we could get a job to make lots and lots of money. We didn't care about anything else. It was a terrible time in that sense.

I understand you're a producer of the "Dallas Reunion." Talk about that. That sounds great to me. TILTON: Well, the "Dallas Reunion" was a two-hour special for CBS

called "The Return to Southfork" and I co-produced that with Henry Winkler and Michael Levitt. And we got the whole "Dallas" cast back together for the first time in 20 years on television. So, yes.

COSTELLO: So when you first -- like when you were all assembled in one room, did you look at each other and say, wow, it's been a lot of years? Or did you say, oh, we all look great?

TILTON: Well, it just -- we're so close that it really just was like we, you know, we never left. We pick up right where we left off and we just -- it's great. We all love each other. We really genuinely do and it shows. I think that was part of the reason of the success of "Dallas" is our chemistry.

COSTELLO: Oh, absolutely. And you all really do look great. And thank you so much for being with me this morning. I appreciate it. Charlene Tilton.

"THE EIGHTIES" starts tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

I'll be right back.

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[10:59:23]

COSTELLO: In Washington at the annual Easter Prayer Breakfast, President Obama offered his thoughts on the victims of the recent terror attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In light of recent events, this gathering takes on more meaning. Around the world, we have seen horrific acts of terrorism, most recently Brussels as well as what happened in Pakistan. Innocent families, mostly women and children, Christians and Muslims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The president went on to urge others not to allow terrorism to weaken their faith saying -- quote -- "We heal hatred with love."

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.