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Donald Trump Talks Third Party Run; Obama Says ISIS Losing Ground; Final Four Tipping Off in Houston Tonight; Trump Backtracks After Abortion Firestorm; Wisconsin Holds Its Crucial Primary Tuesday; Sanders Demands Apology From Clinton; Sanders, Clinton Battle For Wisconsin; Trump Stumbles, GOP Trembles. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired April 02, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Today is the first day of North Dakota's Republican convention where 25 delegates will be selected for the GOP convention in July. Ted Cruz is expected to speak, but Donald Trump is not appearing, instead Ben Carson will be speaking for him tomorrow. Could this add to Trump's troubles?

We will have more on the battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, why he thinks Hillary Clinton needs to apologize. The fallout in the NEWSROOM.

First to Wisconsin, where establishment Republicans are uniting against Donald Trump. Look at some of today's headlines. Unfit to be president, an icy welcome.

Fresh off endorsement from Governor Scott Walker, Cruz shows a double digit lead over Trump in most polling. John Kasich is also hoping to collect some of Wisconsin's delegates ahead of Tuesday's primary, vowing that the GOP will see a contested convention and that Trump will not be the nominee.

Meanwhile, a crucial state convention is taking place this weekend in North Dakota, 25 of that state's delegates are unbound, meaning they can vote for whomever they want heading into the national convention come July.

Let's get to our team of political reporters across the Midwest. CNN's Jason Carroll is in Racine, Wisconsin, Chris Frates is in O'Claire, and Phil Mattingly is in Fargo, North Dakota. All right, good to see all of you.

Jason, let me begin with you. Donald Trump had a challenging week. This all started when he told MSNBC's Chris Matthews that he believed women who received abortions should be punished.

He has made four attempts to walk back, clarify that stance. He appeared on CBS just last night and said when it comes to abortion, the law is set.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You told Bloomberg in January that you believed abortion should be banned at some point in pregnancy. Where would you --

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First of all, I would have like to have seen, you know, this be a state's right. I would have preferred state right. I think it would have been better if it were up to the states, but right now, the laws have set and that's the way the laws are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you have a feeling how they should change. There are a lot of laws you want to chance. You've talked about them everything from liable to torture. Anything you want to change on abortion?

TRUMP: At this moment the laws are set and I think we have to leave it that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Jason Carroll, I think are with you now and maybe you can hear us. This clarifying of his stance on abortion is already making impact, polling shown that he has lost support in Wisconsin. What's the expectation there in a couple days now?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let's first of all talk about the expectation here today, Fredricka, not likely Trump will address the abortion issue at this town hall in Racine. A number of people are looking for clarification.

When you think about his position of first telling Chris Matthews on MSNBC that women should be punished, then saying the doctors should be punished, then should be left up to states, finally saying that laws should stand as is.

There needs to be some sort of clarification. As you know, Trump spokeswoman came out and clarified his remarks saying, "Mr. Trump gave an accurate account of the law as it is today, and made clear it must stay that way now until he is president.

Then he will change the law through judicial appointments, allow states to protect the unborn. There's nothing new or different here." Clearly there's something different. Otherwise you wouldn't have Democrats and Republicans criticizing him.

Not those that support abortion but those opposed to it criticizing Trump as well. Not likely he'll address that at this town hall. More than likely we'll hear him talk jobs and the economy.

As you know this morning, he tweeted about that, talking Wisconsin and loss of jobs, saying if I win, saying in a tweet, all the bad things in the U.S. will rapidly be reversed. Certainly a tall order.

Interesting to see what happens when the town hall gets under way. He speaks and there's opportunity for questions and answers with people in the audience. Again, not likely to hear about that issue on abortion -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Jason Carroll. North Dakota getting presidential attention today as the battle for delegates in the race for the Republican nomination is heating up. CNN correspondent, Phil Mattingly is in Fargo.

[12:05:04]And Phil, North Dakota is starting the process of picking their Republican candidate. The process there is different than the rest of the nation. Explain how this works.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. We are not looking at a caucus or primary, we are looking at the state convention. Here is why it matters so much, 28 total delegates coming out of this state, all of whom unbound when they get to Cleveland in July.

Now three are already selected, 25 are in play here. Party leaders put together a slate today. That slate will be voted on tomorrow. Why unbound delegates matter so much, put together this hypothetical, Fredricka.

Donald Trump gets to Cleveland. He's short of the 1,237 he needs to secure the nomination. The number of delegates he needs to actually become the Republican nominee. Maybe he is only 20 short or 22 short.

He convinces the 25 to be named delegates here or 28 total from North Dakota to side with him. That pushes him over the line so that's why you see Ted Cruz, a keynote speaker here in about two hours. Ben Carson in town, going to spend 24 hours in the state, lobbying for Donald Trump.

John Kasich is here. Unbound delegates, there's about 150, a little more than 150 in total, have become the most valuable free agents in the game right now. That's why we are in Fargo, North Dakota.

Fredricka, that's why this state, solid red doesn't usually get attention, you know how they'll vote, is the hottest place to be on the Republican campaign -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow. More fireworks on the campaign trail. Phil Mattingly, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

All right, let's talk about the Dems for a minute. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are campaigning in Wisconsin today. In three days Republicans and Democrats have primaries in that state.

And a dispute over contributions from the oil and gas industry is heating up between the two Democratic candidates. Both sides accusing the other of lying, and each wanting, demanding apologies.

This week, Hillary Clinton angrily responded to a Greenpeace activist that asked Clinton if she will reject fossil fuel money from her campaign. This was the moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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 of the Sanders campaign lying about that. I'm sick of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Now Bernie Sanders is responding to Hillary Clinton, asking for an apology from her. CNN correspondent, Chris Frates, is in O'Claire, Wisconsin with the very latest. These apologies, likely to happen or no?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: I don't think so, Fred. I am in O'Claire waiting for Bernie Sanders rally to get going. Hillary Clinton is going to be here later in the day. Before either of these candidates hit the ground, there's already mud flying back and forth between the campaigns.

A few minutes ago, the Clinton campaign put out a statement taking a shot at the Sanders camp for not agreeing to dates for a New York debate. The spokesman for Hillary Clinton, Brian Fallon (ph) saying that they put out three dates in April to have that debate.

The Sanders people have not agreed to it, and saying this, the Sanders campaign needs to stop using the New York primary as a playground for political games and negative attacks against Hillary Clinton.

Of course, Hillary Clinton is trying to tamper down expectations in Wisconsin, making the point that she lost to then Senator Obama back in 2008 by double digits.

But she's taking big swings at Bernie Sanders, saying that he is lying about the amount of financial support she's gotten from oil and gas industries.

Just yesterday Bernie Sanders saying that's not true. He was telling the truth, and demanding an apology. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton's campaign and her super PAC have received more than $4.5 million from the fossil fuel industry. In fact, 57 oil, gas and coal industry lobbyists have directly contributed to her campaign, with 43 contributing the maximum allowed for the primary. And these are not just workers in the fossil fuel industry, these are paid, registered lobbyists. Second Clinton, you owe our campaign an apology. We were telling the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: Fred, the Clinton campaign saying there's no way they're going to apologize, saying that Bernie Sanders is distorting the record, and pointing out that about $50,000 of Sanders' campaign contributions came from individuals in the Greenpeace report.

[12:10:00]Of course, Wisconsin is huge for Bernie Sanders. He needs to win here to make up the delegates that he is lagging. He lags by 240 delegates. He needs as many of these 86 delegates as he can. He is trying to upset her in New York. That's why he is trying to get that debate.

We will see how that continues to play out. Sanders people say they'll put out a statement about New York debates later. We will be watching that as well -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: It is remarkable, what was a sizable gap is shrinking. All right, Chris Frates, thank you so much.

All right, coming up, we will talk about the battle on the Democratic side, and the fight for New York, and then President Barack Obama taking aim at Donald Trump, saying quote, "He doesn't know much about foreign policy." How this is adding to Trump's bad week or is it? When the NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back to Houston at NRG Stadium where tonight the final four. But right now, we are going to talk presidential politics, the road to the White House.

On Tuesday voters in Wisconsin will have their say in this year's presidential primary. Bernie Sanders is hoping to build off his sweep of three western states last week.

Hillary Clinton is down playing her chances of winning Wisconsin, but wants to pick up as many delegates as possible to pad her lead.

Let's talk about the status of the Democratic race and a look at the general election straight ahead. Ford O'Connell is a Republican strategist, chairman of Civic Foreign PAC, and was adviser to the McCain-Palin presidential campaign, and Nomiki Konst, a Democratic strategist and a Bernie Sanders supporter. Good to see both of you.

So Nomiki, let me begin with you because Bernie Sanders is feeling some real momentum after that three western state sweep. Do you see or think the campaign is feeling that there is some potential of shrinking that gap between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders?

[12:15:09]We are talking Clinton with 1,742 delegates, including some super delegates, almost 500 super delegates. Sanders with 1,051, including about 31 super delegates.

But Is Bernie Sanders feeling like there really is some potential, a real chance that he can shrink the gap and perhaps even potentially surpass Hillary Clinton?

NOMIKI KONST, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Absolutely. I mean, the Sanders campaign said from the beginning states at the beginning of the primary process are all suited for a more conservative Democratic candidate.

Unfortunately many of those states with the exclusion of Florida are states that Democrats traditionally don't win in general elections. It is latter states from the west, the southwest, Wisconsin, the northeast, these are all states that work better for Democrats and also work better for the Sanders campaign.

As we have seen five out of six caucuses he's won and the last three primaries, in Michigan alone and in Washington, he caught 100 delegates alone in that state on Saturday. If the real difference in pledge delegates is about 240, he could catch up rather quickly.

By June 7thd the campaigns proposing probably surpass her with these next states. One thing to keep in mind, super delegates aren't elected until after the primary in that state and don't make decision until night of the convention. That's the rules of the DNC. Many of those super delegates were thinking that --

FORD O'CONNELL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Nomiki, though, that's pretty pie in the sky.

KONST: It is not pie in the sky. DNC rules are --

WHITFIELD: Wait a minute. Ford, you are disputing that some of these super delegates that while they have their pledged support, they really can't potentially change their minds. That's the beauty of the gift, maybe even the curse of being a super delegate.

O'CONNELL: Look, to Nomiki's point, Bernie Sanders is on a roll, he's won six of the last seven. He's going to win Wisconsin, seven of the last eight. He has Hillary Clinton on her heels. She's going to run home in her pant suits in New York and hope to stave off the bleeding.

Yes, the super delegates can change, but you got to understand the super delegates are the embodiment of establishment politics, which is Hillary Clinton, and not Bernie Sanders.

And understand something else from the Democratic Party, we are all focused on the Trump circus on the Republican side, infighting, division politics, and scourge earth is not only the sole province of the Republican Party, it is going on in the Democratic Party as well.

As much as Nomiki is making the case for Bernie Sanders, he has to literally pull off a cataclysmic event for him to get 73 percent of remaining delegates.

KONST: But Ford, one thing to keep in mind is many of these super delegates, about 75 percent of them are elected officials. If those elected officials are not responding to 70 and 80 percent of their districts, they're spitting in the face of their voters.

Sure, they can make deals with Hillary Clinton. It is a patronage stem, I will agree to that, but they'll choose the voters' needs, interests over the interest of potentially getting a job or some sort of deal making.

O'CONNELL: Nomiki, let me say this. Trust me, I am rooting for Bernie Sanders. Understand on your side that most of the delegates out there are in big states like New York and New Jersey and Pennsylvania, like California. You have to pick off one of the big states. You keep winning small states and winning small states looks nice for the headlines --

KONST: He won Washington. He won Michigan.

O'CONNELL: Let me finish. The name of the game as we both know is not votes, not states, it is actual delegates. Maybe you guys should go back and change the rules with establishment on the Democratic side, stop this whole proportional stuff, and start making it winner take all like the Republicans and maybe Bernie could capture lightning in a bottle.

WHITFIELD: All right, we are going to leave it right there. All right, we are going to leave it right there, Ford O'Connell. Nomiki Konst, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

This is a prelude, a hint about what it will be like on the convention floor and perhaps at the general election as well. Thank you. Appreciate it.

All right, Donald Trump, some would say he had a rocky week. Some believe it is going to continue, too. Coming up, where things went off the rails and talk about how this could impact his relationship with core Republicans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:23:01]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Houston at NRG Stadium where the NCAA final four is this evening. We are also watching Racine, Wisconsin. In less than an hour, Donald Trump is expected to speak there.

He is recovering from what some may describe as a bad or rough week on the campaign trail. Trump has made four attempts to clarify his stance on comments he made about whether women should be penalized for having abortions. That's not the only issue he is stumbling with.

Our Dana Bash takes a look at this rather bumpy ride of a week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When all else fails for Donald Trump, he tries to change the subject.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ted Cruz was my roommate. I did not like him at all.

BASH: Slamming Ted Cruz in a new Instagram video after one of the billionaire frontrunner's worst weeks since the campaign began, causing a bipartisan fire storm with these comments when asked if women should be punished for having an abortion if it became illegal.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the woman?

TRUMP: Yes, it has to be some form.

BASH: That Trump recanted within hours, and later added this.

TRUMP: Could be that I misspoke, but this was a long, convoluted subject.

BASH: But he has not taken back what he said at CNN's town hall, advocating for more nuclear weapons in Asia.

TRUMP: At some point we have to say you know what, we are better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea.

BASH: Now Trump is refusing to rule out using nuclear weapons in Europe.

TRUMP: Europe is a big place. Last person to use nuclear would be Donald Trump. That's the way I feel. I think it is a horrible thing. The thought oft is horrible, but I don't want to take anything off the table.

BASH: Trump's rivals continue to blast him.

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nominating Donald Trump -- that's not fair to the train (inaudible).

JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The problem for him with town halls, he has to answer questions in a specific way.

[12:25:04] BASH: Kasich also went after Ted Cruz for having a thin leadership record.

KASICH: His record is shutting down the government and making everybody he works with upset.

BASH: As Trump sees his unfavorable ratings rise and support among women fall, he is quick to point out he is still the frontrunner by a long shot. Even if he arrives at the GOP convention in July without winning the nomination, if he is close, it should be him.

TRUMP: I think whoever has that kind of advantage should get it.

BASH: But the first time politician is also learning that seizing a Republican nomination takes more than winning contests, it takes winning over delegates in some states where rules vary.

Sources tell CNN that educating Trump about the complicated delegate process was the subject of his Trump's meeting this week with Republican Party chair, Reince Priebus, at RNC headquarters in Washington.

TRUMP: Very actually terrific meeting I think, it is really a unity meeting.

BASH: CNN is told that Priebus used the meeting to ask Trump to ease up trashing the RNC as he did this week at the CNN's town hall.

TRUMP: I have been treated very unfairly.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Unfairly by who?

TRUMP: I think by basically the RNC, the Republican Party.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much to Dana Bash for that look back at the week. Let's dig deeper into what's happened with Donald Trump and his campaign all week long.

Joining me right now from Washington, is CNN political commentator, Tara Setmeyer, Adriana Cohen is in Newton, Massachusetts, columnist for "The Boston Herald," and CNN commentator and legal analyst, Mel Robbins is in Boston. All right, good to see you, Ladies.

Mel, you first. You wrote an op-ed for CNN asking Trump's female admirers to dump him. You said this, quote, "I am not judging you, I'm judging him. I know two days ago he told you to forget about the past, but for the sake of your future, I hope you are smart enough to stop listening to him." Mel, what provoked these sentiments from you?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: I have been writing about Donald Trump and explaining the phenomenon, Fredricka, for eight months now. I think I was the first commentator at CNN to say that he would be the Republican nominee, and to be basically explaining the phenomenon, talking about why he has such tremendous appeal.

But as a woman, it finally just got to be too much. When he attacked Megyn Kelly, I wrote a piece saying I am not sure he is sexist, because he is an equal opportunity offender.

But when I looked at historical evidence, with the way he speaks about women, about his own daughter, some of the things he's said, disgusting words he uses to describe about women that I can't use on television, his remarks recently, the way he was attacking Heidi Cruz.

If you add this all up and look at the behavior outside of the context of the presidential race alone, if you had a girlfriend that was dating a guy that acted like this historically and presently regarding women, if you cared about her, you would not want her dating him.

I decided to write a piece in the form of a "Dear Jane" letter in that context. Like just stop. I get that you like him. I get that he has shaken things up, he is a disrupter, not like the others in the last eight years that were boring, but be smart and listen to what he is saying about women, because it is disgusting.

A lot of women think that men that treat other women like that are going to treat you like that. Once you get committed, guess what, the honeymoon period is over and now you're stuck with him. So I think Donald Trump, while he loves a great looking woman arm, I don't think he likes women at all.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. ROBBINS: Anybody that attacks him, he goes ballistically sexist and disgusting on him. A guy that successful shouldn't have to speak like that.

WHITFIELD: All right, so Mel, you have drawn some real parallels, the political relationship that a voter would have and personal relationship one would have with someone.

Adriana, a CNN poll shows among all women, 74 percent find him unfavorable. Among Republican women, 59 percent favorable. Trump comments on abortion this week, which he tried to clarify now four times at last count, can't be helping to win over female general, can it?

ADRIANA COHEN, COLUMNIST, "BOSTON HERALD": I think we can agree Trump hasn't had a great week, that's for sure. He botched it on the abortion response. There is no question about that. What Trump supporters know is that well done is better than well said.

[12:30:04] Benjamin Franklin taught us all that. And a lot of Trump supporters are blunting out noise, the political rhetoric, the mud slinging, the barbs going back and forth, which by the way, they're also going back and forth between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. And we this is in elections time and time again.

This is nothing new, yes, is there more inflammatory rhetoric, there certainly is. But it's not just coming from Donald Trump. I remember last August Hillary Clinton compared the GOP which is half the nation, to terrorists. Is that not inflammatory? Is that not partisan? It certainly is.

And then during the CNN first debate with Anderson Cooper, she said Republicans were her enemies. That's not nice speak. That's not politically correct. That's very partisan.

So here is where we are today. Republican, you know, supporters, yeah, I'm sure if you asked them did you like these comments said about this person or that person. No, they're not going to like it.

But at the end of the day, time and time again Republicans have elected smooth talking politically correct politicians like we have now in the midterms. And what have they done. They haven't fixed our country's problems. In fact many would argue that the establishment types like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have green lighted President Obama's left wing agenda.

And so at this point voters aren't looking for a smooth talker, they want a doer, they want a jobs creator, someone who can actually address our broken immigration system.

WHITFIELD: OK, so Tara, you know, Trump's own party, you know, asking him, you know, to be careful, more careful with his words. Is that an influential conversation at all?

Reince Priebus, Donald Trump meeting most recently. But at the same time Donald Trump has let his campaign and, you know, really underscoring Adriana's there that he says whatever he wants and whatever he, you know, decides to respond to in his own way. And so far that's been working for him. But the question is now, is he potentially facing a setback?

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, Donald Trump is who he is. He said that out of his own mouth. We can't ask someone to change their character. You know, I agree with Mel a 100 percent. You know, I have written similar things about Donald Trump and compared him to an abusive boyfriend or husband. And I've said that when he sweet talks you, gets you to marry him, and then you finally after everybody warns you what the signs where, and then you get married and go "Oh my god," you realize what I have done, you can divorce someone, like that.

The American people can't divorce their president. You have to wait four years to vote him out. Donald Trump has demonstrated time and time again a willful ignorance of policy, a willful ignorance of the process. He continued to just spew lies and mistruths, mistruths just to -- or untruth just to deflect from the fact this has been nothing but an emotional seduction of voters to bring, to capitalize on their legitimate anger and populism.

You know, its lot easier to just, you know, tap in and gin people up in an angry populism type of environment. But it takes a lot of responsibility to actually govern and be a patriot.

And nothing Donald Trump has done in his candidacy has reflected the responsibility and the seriousness of being the president of the United States. So what, he met with the RNC. So what if he says "Oh, I, you know, I misspoke." None of those things -- no, he didn't. He is speaking exactly what he thinks and with reckless abandon all the time.

And I'm sorry, for what he says, and his policies, and what he's advocating for, they're not even Republican policies. And yet people continue to say, we'll he's not a smooth talker, he's not a politician. No, he's not. He's a con artist and a salesman. And as reality show character who is conning the American people into believing that he cares about what they care about and that he's going to make a difference.

Based on what? His own business record is shoddy. He's own -- I mean, based on what? So, you know, I think that this, we're going to continue to see this from him because that is who he is.

WHITFIELD: All right, Tara hold it right there Tara, Adriana and Mel. We're going to talk a little bit more about this.

[12:34:16] We'll going to take a short break and continue the conversation right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the NRG Stadium, where the NCAA final four will be tipping off this evening. You're going to have to bear with me, we've got a sound check behind us going on for a tip off tailgate party that will get under way momentarily.

Meantime, let's get go back to talking about the road to the White House.

And Donald Trump at least keeping his options now open. Here is what Trump told Fox News about running as a third party candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ruling out running as an independent third-party candidate? Are you ruling that out? It's a simple question.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, it's not that simple. I'm by far the front-runner as a Republican.

I want to run as a Republican. I will beat Hillary Clinton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But if you don't get the nomination?

TRUMP: We're going to have to see how I was treated. I'm going to have to see how I was treated, very simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, I want to bring back my panel, Tara, Setmayer, Adriana Cohen and Mel Robbins.

So Tara you first, just before the break you were talking about Donald Trump is very intentional, there's very little mistaking about what he says or how he said it. So what do you hear in that sound bite about whether he is indeed is seeking a third-party candidacy or not?

SETMAYER: I hear someone who is a whiner and a sore loser, and he wants to hold people hostage if he doesn't get his way.

I mean, this is what he does. And, you know, people talk about his business record. He does the same thing with small businesses and contractors, when he decides to stiff them on bills, then he will sue them and to threatens to sue them into oblivion if they don't finally succumb to the price that he wants to pay them. He's done this repeatedly just after he won that live at Atlantic City.

So this is a exactly what he's doing with the Republican Party and voters. This is the ...

WHITFIELD: OK, so real quick Adriana ...

SETMAYER: ... through the rules if he doesn't get it, then he needs to stop whining about it and threatening third party.

WHITFIELD: All right, so Adriana then, is there a difference between the presidential candidate and the businessman, Donald Trump?

COHEN: Well, I think Donald Trump is just putting it out there that he wants to be treated fairly. All candidates should be treated fairly. You know, I read a Boston Herald column recently that says the nomination should go to the candidate, whoever that may be, it doesn't matter if it's Ted Cruz or whoever it is, or Donald Trump should go to the one who has the most delegates. I think that's what's fair.

And to rob that frontrunner of that -- all the delegates he has worked so hard to earn, after all these primaries and caucuses is just wrong. That's like taking the first place team in football ...

WHITFIELD: OK, so Mel, we're almost out of time.

[12:40:00] Mel Robbins, Donald Trump has been saying, you know, it's all about negotiation. Is he negotiating his way out of commitment to the Republican Party and into a third party candidacy?

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR AND LEGAL ANALYST: You know, it's an excellent question. Let's not forget he wrote the best selling book "The Art of the Deal." There's a lot of quotes flying around the internet from that book. And this guy understands leverage.

And while he may not be popular, he certainly understands how to use leverage to intimidate and to hold control in the deal. And that's exactly what he's doing because the Republican Party is screwed in terms of the White House if he goes independent on them.

WHITFIELD: All right, we're going to leave it right there. Thank you so much. Mel Robbins. All right, Tara, Setmayer, Adriana Cohen, thank you so much. Appreciate it, ladies. All right thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Live pictures right now of Racine, Wisconsin, the Donald Trump event there, we'll bring it to you right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Houston at the NRG Stadium where the NCAA final four will tip off later on today.

Meantime, President Barack Obama says recent attacks in Europe by ISIS are a sign the group is losing ground. He made the comments last night at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As ISIL is squeezed in Syria and Iraq. We can anticipate it lashing out elsewhere as we've seen most recently and tragically in countries from Turkey to Brussels.

[12:45:05] And this means that the sense of urgency that we've shown in destroying ISIL in Iraq and Syria also has to infuse our efforts to prevent attacks around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: The president said nuclear material equivalent to about 150

nuclear weapons has been removed from circulation and out of the hands of extremists. I want to bring in CNN military analyst Lt. Colonel Rick Francona, he's also a former military attache in Syria. Good to see you.

All right. So, let's begin with ISIS and do you believe they are putting more emphasis on terror attacks as they suffer military losses in Iraq and Syria, an indicator that they are in trouble?

LT. COLONEL RICK FRANCONA (RET.) CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, I don't think that there's an indicator they're in trouble, but we know that they wanted to expand operations and have done so since the very beginning. We see them operating in Libya and Pakistan, the recent -- in Pakistan had an ISIS connection. So, they wanted to do this all along, even have attacks in the United States, that's part of their plan.

Ideally they would like to maintain their presence in Syria and Iraq, because that's there -- they believe that to be their capital area. But their expansion is something that's been part of the plan all along. As they encounter more pressure, they're probably going to lash out. And if you look at who they're going after, a lot of it is in retaliation for people participating in the coalition against them. But they're going to come under increasing pressure and they're going to be increasing attacks overseas because they can do that.

WHITFIELD: And given what happened in Paris and Brussels, how well equipped do you believe security forces are in Europe to deal with stopping the next terror attack, trying to prevent it?

FRANCONA: Yeah, the problem with Europe is they've got no real coordinated effort. Each country does their own internal security. There's no like an FBI that covers all of the area. So, each country is relying on its own individual services, and those are uneven. Some services are very good, the British, the French, the Germans. But then you look at the smaller countries, the Belgians in particular, they just don't have the resources to do kind of the internal security.

And when you have a large number of citizens going to Syria, in fact it's almost impossible to surveil them all-- keep tabs on all of them. So, the problem for Europe is much greater than ours, and of course, you have proximity and ease of travel once in Europe. And they're going to have to relook at all those issues. The Schengen agreement which we all thought was wonderful because makes it easier to travel, makes it easy for the terrorist to travel as well.

WHITFIELD: And you talk about the reach of ISIS and the intention of ISIS to have that kind of global reach, there have been some comments out of Iraq with authorities there concerned Mosul could possibly be recaptured by ISIS by the end of the year, but depending who you ask about the time line, there are all kinds of forecasts. Are the Iraqis and coalition forces in position to combat is further there?

FRANCONA: Well, it's a long process. And we are seeing the beginning signs of it. If you look at the coalition air powered targets, you can see where they're trying to isolate Raqqah from Mosul. The Kurds have been used to cut supply lines between the two cities, and that's a start. But the -- for the Iraqis to retake Mosul, they're going to have to work their way up the Tigris valley. And they're going to have to at least four major cities before they even get to Mosul. And taking Mosul, a city that large, and remember ISIS just had over a year to put defenses in. So, when they go into that city, it's going to be very, very difficult, the house to house, street by street, very ugly. It will take a long time. By end of the year maybe.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lt. Colonel Rick Francona, good to see you. Appreciate it.

FRANCONA: Take care, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. As we have been mentioning I am live in Houston. You're hearing the sound check behind me for the tip-off tailgate that will take place because of these four teams in the NCAA final coming up. We'll have a preview of one of the players is surely becoming a star already. Plus, what you can expect from today's special all access report that I am co-anchoring there with Steve Smith. All of that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:52:52] Welcome back to NRG Stadium where it is energetic, very exciting here. Fredricka Whitfield in Houston. You got a sound check going on behind me for the tip-off tailgate parties that are about to get under way outside the stadium in a few moments.

So, there are just three games left in March madness, even though the calendar says April now. The final four teams are playing tonight and the excitement is in full effect. The players are leaving it all on the court because a win tonight, two games, means a chance at the NCAA championship. That's the big Monday night game.

CNN Sports Andy Scholes is here. You have been in the action, all the way through and this is the big dance in very big way.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Absolutely, two huge games (inaudible) of Oklahoma and the North Carolina taking on Syracuse. I am pumped for the games especially the first when I really can't wait to see what Buddy Hield has in store for the Wildcat. Now, you know, he's been phenomenal this entire tournament averaging 29 points of the game. He was just awarded Oscar Robertson player of the year.

He has such a cool story, growing up in the Bahamas, moving here when he was 12 years old. He is named after a cast member, of Bud Bundy from "Married with Children." He's got a cool story.

WHITFIELD: That's funny.

SCHOLES: You know, he has also a cool story. The coach for the Oklahoma Sooners Lon Kruger, you know, he's got -- he went 22 years in between final four appearances. Last time in the final four was 1994 when he's coaching Florida. Ant that's such a long time, and he's so grateful to be back in the final four. And what was funny in yesterday's press conference, is we found out his nickname is Slick.

WHITFIELD: Slick.

SCHOLES: Slick. But he actually didn't want to talk about it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LON KRUGER, OKLAHOMA HEAD COACH: I have no idea what you're talking about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He knows.

KRUGER: I'd like to say it started because I was pretty smooth, you know, yet it was probably more about the haircut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He might make his run for that, but that's a good name. He's pretty slick at everything he does.

[12:55:06] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not going to make us run no more, we're done. So ...

UNIDINTIFIED MALE: ha ha ha.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: You could tell Oklahoma, maybe the players were loose, excited, happy to be in the final four first time since 2002 for them.

WHITFIELD: You know, it's so impressive just looking at these young men out there, the kind of poise and control they're showing, not just we're talking on the court when playing, that's what people are seeing, but when you see them handling themselves in the big arena, it has been one of the most impressive things at least for me.

R: And you know, when say, it's funny you say big arena, they are playing in NRG Stadium and whenever they had basketball games actually here in this big area, the players -- they've had trouble shooting on the floor because it is so large, they're not used to playing in a big venue so we'll have to see tonight if they can hit -- knock down long range three pointers. Or we could end up having two very low scoring games.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. And we're having a little fun duel ourselves, right? Where we are tied in first place for the CNN bracket.

SCHOLES,: Yes, first place in the bracket. They said and you can't go to your hometown in he's Texas unless you do well in the bracket. So, I had everyone on the sports warming, just cramming making sure my bracket was the best. And you know what's funny, we have the same exact picks the rest of the way. So, no matter what, we end up in the same position.

WHITFIELD: Right, always got a lot of common denominators. This isn't my hometown, but I've got a lot of family here. And I love it, there all these like family tie stories Houston, with the Latin family being from here, I mean it's really incredible. And then you, this is home for you.

SCHOLES: Absolutely. Having a blast.

[13:01:39] WHITFIELD: All right, Andy Scholes. Thank you so much, good to see you. And we're all having a good time reuniting with family here in Houston. We're going to be right back, all access final four. Also, coming up 2:30 Eastern Time.