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Trump Meets with GOP Leaders on Party Unity; 215,000 Jobs Created in March; North Korea Fires Missiles, Sends Message; Nations United Against Threat of Terrorist Nukes; Clinton: "Sick of the Sanders Campaign Lying About Me". Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 01, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:03] SANDOVAL: Whether you call them officers or dads, the child's grateful family says they'll call the officers something else, heroes. And it seems to be catching on.

O'CONNOR: Brian is, you know, he's very modest, but, you know, he's my hero.

(LAUGHTER)

PORADZISZ: Well, Kevin's my hero, too.

SANDOVAL: Polo Sandoval, CNN, Schaumburg, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Great guys. Wow.

CAMEROTA: What a great story.

All right. Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

LEMON: Hey, Carol.

PEREIRA: Happy Friday.

LEMON: Happy Friday.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, happy --

LEMON: April fool's.

COSTELLO: Yes. I don't even -- just so it's still Friday, I don't care if it's an April fool's joke. Right? Thanks to all. Have a great weekend.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM. Donald Trump's surprise meeting with GOP leaders. DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think they wanted to

really discuss, you know, unity and I like discussing unity, too.

COSTELLO: The frontrunner trying to wave off criticism over his comments on nukes, NATO and abortion.

Also, Hillary Clinton lashing out.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about that. I'm sick of it.

COSTELLO: Now Sanders supporters fight back.

Plus, President Obama speaking soon about tamping down on nuclear materials. And keeping them out of the hands of terrorists.

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Donald Trump on the defense or on the attack? The Republican frontrunner goes behind closed doors with party leaders just days after breaking his unity pledge and then igniting a firestorm with his abortion comments.

Trump has since reversed course over whether a woman should be punished for having an illegal abortion, but he is certainly not apologizing, saying it's the media's fault.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Forgive me if I misspoke but this was a long, convoluted subject. We talked about Catholicism, and his religion, and, you know, Chris went back and forth about that, and this was a very long convoluted discussion which frankly they didn't want it on television because it was too long. My stance is the same stance as Ronald Reagan and if, in fact, abortion was outlawed, the person performing that act is responsible, not the woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Phil Mattingly live in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where Trump rival John Kasich will hold an event next hour. Good morning.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Good morning, Carol. No shortage of controversial events for Donald Trump this week. No question about that, but taking a step back yesterday coming off the campaign trail for a series of meetings in Washington, D.C. Most notably that meeting with the RNC. Now sources saying that meeting primarily focused on delegates. Again, trying to secure enough to get the nomination before Cleveland. And if he doesn't do that, make sure that he's not undercut when he gets to Cleveland, but also a call for unity hoping to mend some broken bridges perhaps with the Republican National Committee.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump now trying to make nice with party leaders amid fallout from yet another political firestorm. Republican frontrunner in Washington for a meeting with the chairman of the Republican National Committee Reince Priebus. Behind closed doors sources say discussion focused on delegate rules ahead of the convention, just days after Trump and the other GOP hopefuls backed out of their pledge to support the nominee.

TRUMP: It was a very good meeting. We met with Reince Priebus and the staff, and they're very good people. Very actually a terrific meeting, I think. And it's really a unity meeting.

MATTINGLY: Trump also huddling with foreign policy advisers at the site of his new hotel for a two-hour private meeting as his comments on nuclear proliferation continue to rile American allies.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You said Japan, yes, it's fine. You get nuclear weapons in South Korea as well, Saudi Arabia says we want them to.

TRUMP: Can I be honest? It's going to happen anyway.

MATTINGLY: Trump's camp uncharacteristically quiet Thursday. One day after his abortion comments with the New York billionaire's campaign on the defensive.

CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC ANCHOR: Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no, as a principle?

TRUMP: The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.

MATTHEWS: For the woman?

TRUMP: Yes. There has to be some form.

MATTINGLY: His rivals seizing on the controversy, claiming forcefully he's not qualified for the Oval Office.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I have to tell you that as commander-in-chief and leader of the free world, you don't get do-overs.

MATTINGLY: Ohio governor John Kasich unleashing a pointed and specific attack on the frontrunner.

KASICH: The abortion controversy, using nukes in the Middle East and in Europe, get of the Geneva convention, getting rid of NATO and having a Supreme Court justice who's going to investigate Hillary's e- mails. I don't even know what he's talking about there?

MATTINGLY: Ted Cruz sending out his wife Heidi and top surrogate former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina attempting to underscore Trump's continued difficulty with women voters. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Well, Carol, all of this coming just a few days before the Wisconsin primary. A primary that Donald Trump is seeing his numbers really in trouble.

[09:05:07] Ted Cruz up by double digits now in consecutive polls in this state and, Carol, I'm here in Pennsylvania. One of the next prizes on the primary calendar, where John Kasich's aides are saying that what you saw yesterday, that pointed attack that came from him really breaking from how he's operated his campaign up to this point is only going to continue.

So Donald Trump with some problems in Wisconsin and no question future attacks on the way when he gets here to Pennsylvania -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Let me ask you about that meeting that Trump had with RNC leaders. Everybody is playing nice, but Trump breaking that loyalty pledge could cost him delegates. Explain why.

MATTINGLY: So, Carol, the interesting thing here is in some different states the pledge was considered kind of a prerequisite for their delegates ending up backing him. Specifically South Carolina Time magazine breaking yesterday that South Carolina Republican officials, most of whom aren't particularly fond of Donald trump would potentially consider unbinding their delegates to Donald Trump when they get to the convention because he decided to break the pledge.

Now South Carolina sources saying that nothing in that -- in the works there is actually happening right now, but what this really underscores here, Carol, is that Donald Trump is really in fragile position, while he's clearly the delegate leader top Republican officials in states across the country are looking for any way they can to undercut him before the convention if this pledge is one of the ways to do it, they will certainly look into that, and that is one of the reasons Donald Trump perhaps trying to have this cordial meetings with RNC officials, trying to put a stop to that long before it happens -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Phil Mattingly, reporting live from Pennsylvania this morning. Thank you.

As Trump backtracks on his abortion comments, the backlash keeps on coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAPHICS: When it comes to women, the Republican frontrunner is --

TRUMP: Must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees.

GRAPHICS: Demeaning.

TRUMP: You wouldn't have your job if you weren't beautiful.

GRAPHICS: Insulting. MATTHEWS: Do you believe in punishment for abortion? Yes or no, as a

principle?

TRUMP: There has to be some form of punishment.

MATTHEWS: For the woman?

TRUMP: Yes. There has to be some form.

GRAPHICS: And dangerous. We have too much to lose to let him win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ominous music there, right? But here's why that Planned Parenthood super PAC dropped that ad. Donald Trump's support among women is tanking. His favorability ratings are actually the worst out of all of the remaining major party candidates.

So let's talk about that with CNN political analyst and editor-in- chief of the "Daily Beast," John Avlon. I'm also joined by Trump supporter, Jeffrey Lord.

Welcome to both of you.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hello, Carol. Happy Friday.

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi. Happy Friday it is. So, Jeffrey, how can Mr. Trump win without women?

LORD: Well, of course, he can't win without women. Carol, what will happen here is if Donald Trump or frankly anybody else wins the Republican nomination we will get to a contest in the fall where there is two people. In the case of Hillary Clinton who's going to be meeting apparently with the director of the FBI which is a really bad moment, she will have her own set of negatives. But the American people will then have to choose between two people, as they always do, and these candidates can have very high negatives, but eventually one of them becomes president. So you know, this is only April 1st. I'm not worried about it.

COSTELLO: OK. You're not worried, but, John, one pollster told Politico, quote, "Historically I can't imagine anyone having worse numbers with women." He points out, though, there's never been a candidate like Mr. Trump. But here's an example of what he was talking about. In 2012, when Mitt Romney carried white women by a 14- point margin, 56 percent to 42 percent, he still lost by four points overall and Trump is doing -- he's not doing well among white women and certainly not among minority women.

AVLON: No. I mean, Donald Trump's numbers among women are abysmal as are his numbers among Hispanics and African-Americans, and it's very tough to cobble together a winning coalition if you've alienated large swaths and indeed majorities of the American people. And we can rationalize how it's all going to come down to compared to

what situation in the fall, but Donald Trump has baggage that he has added on to by his own misstatements, that makes his climbs even steeper.

I will say, though, there's an irony about Planned Parenthood attacking Donald Trump because very few Republican candidates in recent history have been as kind to Planned Parenthood saying they do some good things, you know, compared to certainly the people who's competing against Ted Cruz and John Kasich.

So there's pile-on made of self-inflicted scandals on the part the Donald and you can't spin it away. He's got a huge, huge problem when it comes to the full spectrum of American voters.

COSTELLO: And Jeffrey, I heard what you say that Hillary Clinton has baggage of her own and I agree with you. She does have serious baggage. Right? But take a look at these numbers. In the Trump- Clinton matchup, a Quinnipiac University poll plays Clinton at 16 points ahead of Trump among women. Clinton also led among women by 19 points in a FOX News poll and 27 points in a CNN-ORC poll. Those are some daunting numbers, Jeffrey.

[09:10:06] LORD: Yes. Carol, I go back, and I mentioned this before, but I go back to this December 1979 Gallup poll that had Jimmy Carter beating Reagan 62 percent to 32 percent and 33 percent. And the numbers in there about Ronald Reagan and women and everything else were abysmal. So bad that Carter's pollster Pat Caddell was quoted in the "New York Times" to say he was salivating over the data. And of course, a year later Ronald Reagan carried 44 states.

Things change. Things change dramatically. Carol, by the next time you and I talk, whenever that is, this situation will doubtless have changed seven times over. So that's why I'm skeptical about this kind of things.

COSTELLO: Seven times over, John? You think?

ACOSTA: Yes, yes. Look, no. You can't just sort of use, say Reagan's -- invoke Saint Reagan as a disinfectant cloth every time your candidate gets in trouble. There are fundamental differences, many, many, between Trump and Ronald Reagan. One of which, of course, is that Ronald Reagan had been a two-term governor of California. Another is that he treated women consistently with respect and he was focused on building the big tent of the Republican Party. None of which are things that Donald Trump has any aptitude or experience or --

(CROSSTALK)

LORD: Well, that's just not true, John.

ACOSTA: -- instinct to do, it appears. And -- no. And you just can't -- you just can't invoke Saint Reagan every time to deflect and distract from real fundamental problems your candidate's got.

LORD: I'm deflecting --

ACOSTA: Especially frankly with regard to women while running against Hillary Clinton who would, of course, be the first female nominee of a major political party. That's not incidental. That's fundamental.

LORD: John --

COSTELLO: Jeffrey, last word.

LORD: I was there. I remember what they called the gender gap with Ronald Reagan. He wasn't doing well among women. He couldn't win. That was the argument then. This is decades ago. I'm simply saying practicalities for these arguments.

ACOSTA: You can't just invoke Saint Reagan all the time.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. John Avlon, Jeffrey Lord, thanks for being here.

Let's talk about jobs, shall we? Because it was another strong month. The Labor Department just releasing the March jobs report. Christine Romans has all the numbers.

Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Another solid month here. So let's go through these number, Carol. 215,000, 215, net new jobs created in the month. The unemployment ticked up to 5 percent. Still near this eight-year low. But I'll explain why it went up in a moment. Wage growth, 2.3 percent, a small rebound there, but you like to see that stronger.

OK. So why did the unemployment rate go up if you had so many new jobs? Because people came into the labor market, Carol. Almost 400,000 people came out of the shadows, off the sidelines, and into the labor market. People come and go all the time, about 400,000 net new people into the labor market and the labor force participation rate, that little blip on the right, coming up a little bit.

This is the chart right here that when you hear people like Donald Trump who says there's a 42 percent unemployment rate, he's looking at that. That is a chart that shows you the people who have been elbowed out of the labor market, or people who are retiring out of the labor market. That went up a little because people are starting to come back in.

Where are the jobs gains? Retail, construction. I think that's a sign of strength in the housing market. 25 percent of American housing markets are at record highs again. Strength in the housing market. Health care, look at manufacturing. The worst month for manufacturing that I can see in years. This will be a topic on the campaign trail. As you know, the loss of factory jobs, the loss of manufacturing jobs is a real story line in your money, your vote this year. So very closely watch that.

Let me give you some context perspective. Always important when we're talking about the jobs market. It's so important to everyone. 2009, that terrible year, it has been steady and consistent jobs growth on average since then, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK. I like that graph. I like looking at the glass half full.

ROMANS: I like hearing that people are coming into the labor market. What we'll really be digging into is why were so many manufacturing jobs lost in the month. That's curious.

COSTELLO: That is curious. And you're right. That will be certainly part of election 2016.

ROMANS: Yes. Yes.

COSTELLO: Christine Romans, thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, united against the danger of nuclear weapons. And the Donald Trump bombshell that has some allies speaking out in alarm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:23] COSTELLO: North Korea holds a new missile test launching a short-range rocket into the sea and sending a message to Washington.

This morning's launch comes just hours after President Obama met with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea. The leaders agreed to work together to halt North Korea's development of its missile and nuclear programs. More than 50 countries are taking part in a nuclear summit at the White House.

Speaking of Japan and South Korea, they're also in agreement on another nuclear issue. Their balking at Donald Trump's suggestion that U.S. troops should be pulled from their countries and replaced with nuclear weapons. Both nations voicing grave concern with the idea.

The White House quickly knocking it down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN RHODES, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It would be catastrophic were the United States to shift its position and indicate we support somehow the proliferations of nuclear weapons to additional countries. It also flies in the face of decades of bipartisan national security doctrine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Athena Jones live at the White House with more on this.

Good morning. ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

So, North Korea's nuclear ambitions and its provocations was a big topic of the day yesterday, also the longer-term goal of promoting a denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Well, today, the big topics are ISIS and Iran. On the subject of ISIS, they'll be a special session talking about the threats posed by terror groups like ISIS and, of course, to goal of keeping any nuclear materials or radiological materials out of the hands of such terror groups.

This is something the president also discussed yesterday with French President Francois Hollande. Take a listen to what he said coming out of that meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is obviously a subject we're deeply concerned about, nuclear security, making sure that nuclear materials don't fall into the hands of terrorist.

[09:20:10] But in the wake of the Brussels attacks with out memories of our tragedy in Paris, we have not only great urgency around the nuclear issue but eliminating generally the scourge of terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So that will be a big topic at this important meeting this afternoon. The first meeting of the day, though, the president is having with the countries that helped broker the nuclear deal with Iran, the so-called P5+1. We've learned the Russia's ambassador will be sitting in on that meeting, representing Russia, since, of course, Russian President Vladimir Putin decline to come

So, a lot of big topics under discussion today and the day will end with a press conference, a solo press conference by President Obama this evening -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Athena Jones, reporting live for us this morning -- thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: a rough day for Clinton in New York, snapping at a climate change activist, getting heckled at a rally and blaming the Sanders campaign for both.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:12] COSTELLO: Virginia state police today are mourning the death of a trooper who were shot to death inside the Greyhound bus station in downtown Richmond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was outside. I had my hand on the door handle when I heard two gunshots go off. I didn't think they were gunshots, but then they were like five, maybe ten more after that. And I could see the muzzle flash through the tinted door and so I ran out of there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Thirty-seven-year-old trooper Chad Dermyer had been with the state police for less than two years. Before that he spent four years as a U.S. marine.

CNN's Ryan Nobles is in Richmond with more on this.

Hi, Ryan.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

In this bus station here in Richmond behind me remains closed as police continue that investigation into the shooting that led to the death of that Virginia state trooper. Now, 37-year-old Chad Dermyer was part of a training exercise where troopers came here with the goal of spotting suspicious activity at transportation hubs. Dermyer actually approached a man and engaged in what police are calling a friendly conversation. It was then according to Virginia state Superintendent Colonel Steven Flaherty that that man opened fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. STEVEN FLAHERTY, SUPERINTENDENT, VIRGINIA STATE POLICE: I suspect casual conversation to engage in. I don't know -- the period of time was so brief I can't imagine he'd gone much further than, hey, how are you and where you going? Anybody with you? It's just awful (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: After that, it led to a gunfight inside of this bus station near the restaurant inside the bus station.

That trooper, Dermyer, leaves behind a wife and two children. As you mentioned, Carol, he was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. There were two other women inside that bus station who were also shot. Both of them are expected to be okay.

As for the suspect, he was shot -- he was killed in the shoot-out. State police have yet to release his identity but say he is not from the Richmond area and has a lengthy criminal rap sheet -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It was just so confusing. So, this trooper was part of an anti-terrorism training program. Are they going to review the program?

NOBLES: Actually, Carol, that's one of the things they're talking about right now. They said it's too early into the process to specifically say they're going to abandon or change this program in any way. But Colonel Flaherty said they would look at every aspect of what happened here today and make changes where they're necessary.

COSTELLO: All right. Ryan Nobles reporting live from Richmond, Virginia. Thank you.

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

The Democrats are waging a fierce battle for New York, and the title of home town hero. Clinton, the former senator in the state, while Sanders was born in Brooklyn. And in just a few hours, Bernie Sanders will hold an event in what has long been considered Clinton country, Harlem.

In the meantime, attacks from the Sanders campaign appear to be getting under Clinton's skin. Listen as she fires back at a climate change activist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST: If you protect -- with climate change, will you act on your word and reject fossil fuel money in the future in your campaign?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not, I have money from people who work for fossil fuel companies. I am so sick, I am so sick of the Sanders' campaign lying about that. I'm sick of it!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joe Johns is following the story.

Good morning.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

One of the summering disagreements between the two campaigns is over what kind of contributions they take and from whom. Despite protests like that from Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders has continued to bang the drum on this issue, because a lot of the supporters expressed serious concerns about the effect of big, corporate cash in America politics.

Listen to Sanders on "Good Morning America."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not crazy about people disrupting meetings, but the fact of the matter is, Secretary Clinton has taken significant sums of money from the fossil fuel industry. She raises her money with a super PAC, she gets a lot of money from Wall Street, from the drug companies, from the fossil fuel industry. On the other hand, we have received over 6 million individual campaign contributions averaging $27 apiece. I'm proud of the way we are raising money.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JOHNS: The Clinton campaign says she has not taken a single dollar from oil and gas industry political action committees, or corporations, and accuses the Sanders campaign of misleading voters.

However, what the campaign says, the Clinton campaign, is that she has taken money essentially from people who work for oil and gas interests, and by that standard, they say the Bernie Sanders campaign has also taken about $50,000 from the very same people, kinds of people who work for oil and gas companies.

And other thing I think we have to say, Carol, is, Sanders has repeatedly said his success comes from small individual contributions.