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Amtrak Train Derailment Causes Service to Shut Down Along the Northeast Corridor; Fight Between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton Intensifying; Ted Cruz Leading in Wisconsin; Mississippi Governor to Decide on Controversial New Religious Freedom Bill; Bill Sponsor: People Don't Understand The Law; GOP Insiders Pick North Dakota Delegates Today; Kasich Evades Stance On Abortion Punishment; One-on- One With Charles Barkley. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired April 03, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:14] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. This is the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with breaking news out of Chester, Pennsylvania. Two people have been killed and dozens of others have been injured in an Amtrak train derailment and service has been shut down along the northeast corridor.

Let's go to CNN correspondent Sara Ganim who is there in Chester, Pennsylvania, with the very latest - Sara.

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fred. What we know is that around 8:00 this morning, Amtrak train number 89, the Palmetto Route, from New York to Savana, Georgia, struck a (INAUDIBLE), a construction vehicle that somehow ended up on the tracks behind me in the path of the train.

I want you to take a look here, Fred. You can see the front engine. It's pretty smashed up. Clearly a pretty horrific incident that happened on the train here. We don't know exactly how that backhoe ended up in the path of the train. Investigators are now trying to figure out how that happened. We simply do not have that many details but you can see pretty smashed up and also derailed from the tracks.

Emergency officials here are telling us and the fire chief are also telling us that two people who were not on the train, presumably people who were working in or near that backhoe, died as a result of this crash. In addition, 35 passengers on the train were injured. None of those passengers had life-threatening injuries. The fire chief telling us that almost all of those passengers have now been transported away from the scene.

Amtrak saying that they took them to 30th street station in Philadelphia where they will then me arrangements to get them to their final destinations. Many of the passengers who were injured still in the hospital here. One of the passengers who thankfully was not injured, 15-year-old Linton Holmes was fear the back of the train when this incident happened. He talked about this horrifying incident. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINTON HOLMES, PASSENGER: The train was like rumbling and then we got off track, I guess, and then it was just a bunch of dust. There was just dust everywhere. And then the train conductor, they were running to the front. There were people that were bloody because it was an explosion. We got off track and then it was a big explosion and then a fire and then windows bursted out. And that some people were cut off --.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GANIM: Now Fred, I want to stress that we simply do not know why this backhoe was on the tracks or who those workers were that were killed here in this incident today. The NTSB is en route to the scene to begin investigating along with Amtrak. This could, though, have an impact on tomorrow morning's commute. We don't know yet if the train tracks will remain closed between Philadelphia and Wilmington. That's where they are closed at the moment. But 750,000 people travel daily on the northeast corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C., and this could have an impact on people north in New York and Boston trying to get to D.C. tomorrow morning -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right. Potentially big impact.

All right. Thank you so much, Sara Ganim. Appreciate it there from Chester, Pennsylvania.

All right. On to politics now where the Republicans are canvassing the state of Wisconsin just two days before the primary. At this hour, we are expecting that Ted Cruz will attend a rally there in Green Bay. He is expected to speak soon. In fact, most polls predicting Cruz will win Wisconsin. He has the support of many in the establishment, including Wisconsin governor Scott Walker.

This comes as Cruz picked up six more delegates from the very complicated delegate selection process in Colorado. And 25 delegates are up for grabs at the GOP convention in North Dakota. The deadline for consideration is Monday.

Meanwhile, we are learning more about Donald Trump's vision for the presidency. In a revealing 96-minute interview with "the Washington Post," Trump laid out some bold and some rather bleak predictions. He said the country is headed for a, quote, very massive recession," end quote. That the stock market was inflated and that he could eliminate the $19 trillion national deficit in just eight years. "The Post" Bob Woodward and Robert Costa met Trump at the soon to be finished Trump international hotel in Washington. The reporters themselves describing the meeting as highly unusual and extremely candid. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB WOODWARD, REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: I think the real headline for me was what he said about the economy in a precarious situation that there is a bubble but then we asked about what would be your advice as a stockbroker or somebody who provides tips on the stock? And I was really surprised. He said, it's terrible now. This is not the time to invest in the stock market.

[14:05:17] ROBERT COSTA, POLITICAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: I was calling some Republican economists following the interview and they said it's very odd for a major party nominee to make this kind of bleak statement about the American economy. In all of your years of reporting have you seen a nominee or a major political candidate say this kind of thing about the economy?

WOODWARD: No. I mean, what they say is they may criticize the incumbent from the other party and say the economic policies are not working and I have better policies. But what Trump was saying that this is really dreary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Woodward and Costa were also shocked to hear that Trump said something that he has yet to discuss, his pick for vice president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOODWARD: One of the news parts of this very unusual interview was you asked him about who he might pick as his vice presidential running mate if he were to get the nomination and he surprised you and I and he said, no, I'm not going to get another outsider. I need a political person, somebody -- he literally said, who can go down to the Senate or the House, knows these people for 25 years, didn't he say, and that he needs that Washington political figure on his side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk more about this with CNN political commentator Jeffrey Lord, CNN global economic analyst Rana Faroohar and CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein. Good to see all of you.

OK. So Jeffrey, let's begin with you. You know, after, you know, all of this some would say rather negative talk about Washington, are you surprised that Trump is now saying that he would need a political insider? He said it for some time but now easy la easy he's elaborated.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm not surprised. You know, he is a very smart guy. And one of the things that nominees of parties have to decide is who balances their ticket? What is the kind of person you look for? I mean, all we have to do is look at President Obama who was, in a sense, an outsider himself and he turned to Joe Biden who was precisely the kind of figure that Donald Trump is describing. As Bill Clinton turned to Al Gore and other Republicans have turned to similarly experienced people. So I'm really not surprised at this and, frankly, it's a pretty smart thing to do.

WHITFIELD: And Rana, you know, Bob Woodward is describing this as a dreary outlook. We heard him say that. And that is rather odd, is it not, for someone running for office who voters traditionally expect would bring optimism, some inspiration?

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Yes. It's very interesting. I mean, you know, what's so diabolical is that Donald Trump has taken a grain of truth which is that we are in a fairly weak recovery. There is a lot of debt and leverage in the financial markets right now, particularly in the corporate bond space. A lot of people think there's a financial bubble. Is that going to mean a massive recession the next years? No, probably not. He is also blaming the wrong people. You know, he is blaming the fed. Well, the fed has kept rates so low and has pumped a lot of money into the economy because of congressional gridlock which was, you know, in part a Republican issue. So I think what is interesting is he is trying to take the concern amongst a lot of the Americans about a weak recovery, twist the reasons behind it and make it his own and that's the message that I think Democrats need to pay attention to and come up with a response to.

WHITFIELD: And then Ron, how dominating of a message was it that Trump would use the words, you know, lone ranger and admit that, you know, he goes with his gut.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Well, I think it's interesting because, you know, this interview, I thought, was positive for Trump in one respect and continuing a problem and another. The positive was for him getting to talking about the economy. I mean, his campaign has been dominated by questions of American identity about our demographic change, about immigration, about whether Muslims are true American citizens and also been dominated by these kind of serial personal confrontations in all directions.

Ultimately, if he's the nominee, I think he has to convince Americans that with his experience in the private sector he can bring economic growth at a faster pace. I mean, that would be the core strength that he would have. So I think it was positive for him to get back to where the economy.

And I think the interview also reinforced the sense that this guy is just winging it at this point in many ways. The conflicting answers on abortion, on NATO, on a nuclear weapons in Asia, the idea that you are going to eliminate a $19 trillion federal deficit in eight years while pursuing a massive tax cut is just, you know, it is not really credible in the least. We've only had a few years of surpluses in the last 20 and they didn't get us any near to that.

So, you know, on the one end, better he is talking about the economy but I think it does betrays a kind of off the cuffness that I think is unsettling to many voters.

[14:10:04] WHITFIELD: And Jeffrey, you know, that sort of off the cuffness, you know, winging it in combination with what Bob Woodward was saying, you know, a lot of it is instinct, you know, that Donald Trump is revealing, how powerful of a moment is this, you know, kind of peeling back the layers for Donald Trump in this forum with this editorial staff, you know, of "Washington Post" in the form of Costa, you know, and Bob Woodward? LORD: Well, I have to say, I have met my fair share of presidents and

other politicians. And a lot of them wing it. A lot of them go by gut instinct. They have an ideology or philosophy but a lot of them do it their way almost exclusively when it comes to making these kinds of decisions. So I don't really find anything unusual by that -- about that. And the one thing I, of course, would as a Reagan/Kemp guy, I would argue, of course, that the tax cuts brings many more revenue, not less.

WHITFIELD: OK. You know, Donald Trump has gotten a lot of flock in the past week. You know, his comments about abortion, his offering clarity on it, people have been challenging him about his position on women. And just moments ago, we received this tape out of Milwaukee where Donald Trump is talking about women. Let's listen to see how much he elaborates on the topic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think anything you said over the past week and a half hurts you with women voters?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It might. But I'll tell you, I've had -- I've been doing very well with women voters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So Ron, that was very short but what do you hear in Donald Trump in comments like that? And, you know, how resonating will his position on women, on issues that are most concerning to women, how much more will it be resonating for really the rest of his campaign on the road to the White House?

FAROOHAR: I think it's a huge issue. I mean, you know, it's just impossible to spin this in any way that is at all positive, you know. Unlike the economic story which Donald Trump can sort of, you know, again play to certain truths in the economy but distort them and, you know, make people feel that maybe he has a point, I think his position on women is, you know, just flat out bad, wrong and you're hearing that from both liberals and conservatives.

WHITFIELD: And Ron, in your view, does he have to make any shifts? You know, we talk about instincts.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Gut, you know, and winging it. Can he afford to do that as it pertains to these issues where he has been so under fire most recently?

BROWNSTEIN: No. Look, I mean, this is a serious problem. I mean, already in the Republican primary, he is running about ten points behind his showing among men, among women. His vote among women is 32, 33 percent. It is about 42 percent among many. He already has a gender gap in the Republican primary and then he is looking, as you know, to these unfavorable in the general election. There are unprecedented. I mean, he has very high unfavorables among African- Americans, among Latinos, among millennials. Those are 15 to 20 percent of the electorate.

Women are a majority of the voters and will be a majority of the voters in 2016. If you're looking at an unfavorable rating of 73 percent in the last CNN poll among women, that is obviously a really big hole. And if you talk further about the college educated white women, who are the most Democratic-leaning portion of the white electorate, he is over 80 percent unfavorable among them.

So clearly, if he's the nominee, he will have to dig out of some unprecedented kind of depths that he has created for himself with the kind of approach, style and message that he has delivered in the primary.

WHITFIELD: All right. So real quick, Jeffrey, make or break as it pertains to women for Donald Trump.

LORD: Yes. I mean, he has done well with women in the past in actual elections and these primary elections. He has done well across the board. And to (INAUDIBLE), I think women are being pigeon holed here, not unlike we were doing here earlier in this process, pitching holing evangelicals and everybody was believing because of their religion. They were going to vote for one way. They were going to vote for Ted Cruz when in fact significant numbers of them voted for Donald Trump.

The reason is, there are other concerns. The economy being number one. And I assure you, if we are headed for a great recession. Everyone out there, women, men, all ages, all races are going to be concerned about the economy, first and foremost, and that's the strongest issue.

WHITFIELD: All right. We've got to leave it right there. Jeffrey Lord --

BROWNSTEIN: Just Real quick. Real quick?

WHITFIELD: OK. Real quick, Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: Just in point of fact. His support among women in the primaries has been running about ten points behind his support among men. So there's already a gender gap. And as we look forward to the general election, there is a potential it could be much wider than we have seen so far.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ron Brownstein, Rana Faroohar, Thanks so much for joining me in the conversation. Appreciate it.

All right. Also coming up, I actually talk politics with the NBA's Charles Barkley while he is suiting for the NCAA championships.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: What are your thoughts about the race for the White House right now?

I just feel sadness because like I'm so lucky and blessed that it doesn't have a big effect upon my life, who's going to be the president. But I feel bad for the American people because what politics in America has become, (INAUDIBLE) in the world, that it's become about rich people screwing poor people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:15:17] WHITFIELD: All right. Strong thoughts about a lot of things from Charles Barkley. We will talk about the road to the White House coming up later on in this hour.

Also, the fight between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton intensifying. This, as we wait for an event to unfold with Bernie Sanders in Wisconsin.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:14:21] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders continue sniping at one another over a range of issues. And as we approach a critical primary vote in Wisconsin in just two days, at any moment now, Bernie Sanders is expected to speak at a town hall meeting in Wassau, Wisconsin.

The Sanders and Clinton campaign have been rattling in recent days over a still unscheduled debate. Each side blaming the other for the shenanigans. The Clinton camp has accused the Sanders team of quote "playing games" while a Sanders spokesperson charged that Clinton's proposed dates were quote "ludicrous."

Well, let's get the latest on this debate over a debate with Chris Frates who is in Wassau, Wisconsin where Bernie Sanders will be speaking at any moment now.

Chris, so there is the proposition of a debate taking place on Monday night. You know, the NCAA finals are taking place. And then there is the other camp saying we proposed Thursday night. So what is going on? What is going to bring these two camps together on stage?

[14:20:23] CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. You know, this is exploded on the campaign trail yesterday with Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton's campaigns. You know, trading insults and blame over who has rejected the debates.

But Clinton campaign spokesman, Ryan Fallon, putting out a statement saying that they had offered to Sanders campaign three different April debate dates. All of which were rejected. Now, those debates April 4th, April 14th and April 16th were all rejected by the Sanders folks. And the Sanders folks said, hey look, we are not going to do a debate the day of the NCAA finals tournament. Everybody is going to be watching basketball. They are not going to be tune in to political debate. On April 15th, Bernie Sanders telling CNN today that he didn't want to do a morning show debate, that that wasn't a good idea. He wanted to get more eyeballs for it. And he also on CNN said that he doesn't want to do April 14th because he may be doing a big rally there.

Let's take a listen to how Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders talked about this dispute today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have been talking, I think to NBC and CNN, and we are working on a number of dates. First, I'm very glad that the secretary has accept the challenge to debate in New York. I think we can work out a date that works for her schedule, that works for my schedule. Doing it during the NCAA finals or whatever make sense. Doing it in the morning when people are not going to be watching in large numbers make any sense. But I'm confident we will work out a time that is good for both of our schedules and when a large number of people will be watching.

CHUCK TODD, NBC HOST, MEET THE PRESS: You think there is almost has to?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm confident that there will be but I'm not the one negotiating it. That's going on between our campaigns. And I do know my campaign has been really trying to get a time that senator Sanders campaign would agree with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: So there you can hear both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. Obviously, they want to get a date on the calendar as they try to figure out which day will be most advantageous to their campaign.

And I can tell you, Fred, I was just talking about Bernie Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver. He thinks it will be resolved today or tomorrow and they will get a date on the calendar. And it's really important to understand why Bernie Sanders wants that so badly. He is expected to do very well here in Wisconsin. He has got to win as many of the 86 delegates as he can but that New York state primary is huge, about 250 delegates at stake in New York. That's second only to California. He really needs an upset there to take on Hillary Clinton and cut her delegate lead. So when this debate happens, where it is seen, that's huge. And that's why there's so much debate and discussion over exactly when it's going to happen, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Sanders wants to maintain that momentum coming off the win at three western states.

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

All right. Coming up, North Carolina along with other states are under pressure to repeal so called religious freedom laws. We will hear from one transgender person who is directly impacted by this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are all literally the same and we're all fighting for the same thing. We all just want to be accepted and want to know that we're not going to be discriminated against.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:27:12] WHITFIELD: Mississippi's governor now has to decide whether he will sign or veto a controversial new bill that critics say allows open discrimination against gay and transgender people. The legislature passed what is being called a religious freedom bill and allows state employees to refuse to give same-sex marriage licenses. Private companies and religious groups would also be allowed to refuse to provide some services to gay and transgender people. Mississippi governor Phil Bryant has not said whether he will or what he will do with that bill.

All right. The bill in Mississippi had some similarities to a North Carolina law. It blocks anti-discrimination protections across the state and imposes standards for single-sex bathrooms. Critics say it also limits the rights of transgender people in that state.

CNN's Nick Valencia has been following the story and he is joining us now from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Nick, what's the latest?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We spent the day yesterday with Candice Cox. She was born a man but for the last 13 years, she has been using a women's restroom after a series of operations turned her biologically into a woman. Now because of this new state law in North Carolina, she will have to use the men's public restroom. And she is worried about her safety and the tens of thousands of others like her in the state that will be affected by this legislation.

Yesterday we spent the day with her and learned a lot about her life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): It's Saturday in Raleigh, North Carolina, and this is mid-day drag show, a fundraiser for LGBT awareness. Candice Cox is the woman of the hour.

CANDICE COX, TRANSGENDER WOMAN: The most important thing for me personally is that every time I close my eyes and I say a prayer and I ask my God as a person of faith how he feels, he doesn't seem to have a problem with it and my parents have no problem with it and their opinion matters to me.

VALENCIA: Cox is transgender.

COX: Black trans-woman. (INAUDIBLE) and not in my eyes.

VALENCIA: She says she is one of the tens of thousands of transgender people in North Carolina affected by the public facilities, privacy and security's act. It is a new state law that requires Trans people to use the public restroom related to their gender on their birth certificate, not how they identified. COX: This law affects us because it puts us in danger and it's open

discrimination. It's no different than the Jim Crow laws that we had here in the south.

VALENCIA: At home, Candice and her husband, Adam Daniels say, now that she will be required to use the men's room, they are worried that she'll be physically assaulted or worse.

PAUL STAM (R), NORTH CAROLINA STATE HOUSE: I would say most of the attention is because people do not understand what the bill actually does.

VALENCIA: Statehouse Republican Paul Stem is one of the bill's sponsors. Stem says the law is not about limiting the protections of the LGBT community, but rather not giving them special rights.

[14:30:00] STAM: We have lots of accommodations in the bill for those with special circumstances, but we're trying to protect the reasonable expectations of privacy 99.9 percent of our citizens, who think when they are going into a restroom or changing room or locker room, that they will be private.

VALENCIA (on camera): That's you as a boy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Nineteen surgeries, two trips to Thailand and more than $100,000 later, Cox is post-op transgender though her birth certificate says she's a man, she's what the trans community would call passable as a woman, but she says that doesn't make it any easier.

COX: We're all literally the same and we're all fighting for the same thing. We all just want to be accepted and we want to know that we're not going to be discriminated against.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Republican lawmakers here in the state of North Carolina say they don't think this law is going to have a negative impact economically on the state. Despite a laundry list of companies threatening to boycott North Carolina, they say that those threats are veiled and they will never come to fruition -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia, thank you so much for that from Raleigh, North Carolina.

All right, also coming up, we are waiting for Ted Cruz to speak at a rally in Wisconsin. We'll bring that to you live as it happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. When you think of national politics, you probably don't think of Fargo, North Dakota. Right now, it could potentially make or break a Republican candidate in the presidential race, unlike most states there is no primary or caucus in North Dakota.

Instead, 25 of the state's delegates will be picked in Fargo today. Not by voters but by the state's party insiders. And when those delegates get to the Republican convention in July, they can support whoever they'd like.

[14:35:11]Our Phil Mattingly is live from Fargo and Sunlen Serfaty is in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Ted Cruz is holding a rally right now.

Phil, let me begin with you. We've heard that there have been twists and turns involving the delegates today. What's going on?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No shortage of them, Fredricka. We talked about this yesterday, but this is about lobbying behind the scenes by all three campaigns trying to secure commitments from these delegates in advance of the actual vote today on the 25 that will go.

At one point today, there was a request on the floor for the delegates to have to name the candidates they were supporting before there would actually be a vote. That's a big deal because up to this point, these candidates were expected to go to the convention as free agents.

That was voted down. So now we are waiting for those 25 delegates to be announced. As I talked about the scenes, a lot of action going on, big ram ramifications with who those 25 are -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Phil Mattingly, thank you so much. Now let's check in with Sunlen Serfaty there in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That's where Ted Cruz is speaking at any moment now. So Sunlen, Cruz is vying for delegates in North Dakota yesterday. How does the Cruz camp feel about his chances there?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONENT: I think they feel pretty good. He's the only Republican candidate to campaign in North Dakota, but the focus for Senator Cruz today is here in Wisconsin. They have been blanketing this state sending out Heidi Cruz, who is campaigning with surrogate, Carly Fiorina.

Senator Cruz will appear here with the state's governor, a widely popular governor, Scott Walker, on the stage here shortly. Really projecting a lot of confidence going into Tuesday.

Over the weekend, Senator Cruz saying that -- predicting that he will get all or most of the delegates at stake here. And an interesting strategy shift coming from the Cruz campaign late in the game though, Fred.

Now just going on the airways was a negative TV ad against John Kasich, the first of its kind, which is indicating on some level there may be a concern of stealing votes from Senator Cruz -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much.

Coming up, Donald Trump telling a reporters today that John Kasich should not be allowed to run. We'll talk about that with a Kasich insider. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:09]

WHITFIELD: All right. Donald Trump is taking a swing at his Republican rival, John Kasich.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Kasich shouldn't be allowed to run. Honestly, Kasich should not be allowed to run. And I'll go opposite on you. He hurts Trump much more than he hurts Cruz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Kasich campaign is batting back releasing this statement. "Ted Cruz also has no possibility of accumulating enough delegates and Donald Trump also will not receive a majority of delegates before the convention.

Since he thinks it's such a good idea, we look forward to Trump dropping out before the convention," end quote. Let's talk more about this with Trent Duffy. He is the national communications adviser and spokesman for John Kasich's presidential campaign. All right. Good to see you, Trent.

TRENT DUFFY, FORMER DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Hi, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, so there's some strategy that John Kasich has expressed before, that the longer he stays in the race, the harder it will be for Donald Trump to win enough delegates to get the nomination. Is that still the strategy?

DUFFY: Yes. It's always been the strategy to keep him under that magical 1,237 delegates that he would need to win a majority. The longer this race goes on, we certainly saw this this week with all of the shenanigans and scary comments that Donald Trump has said.

The longer this race goes on, the more obvious it is that he's not prepared to be the president of the United States so that's why John Kasich continues to run, because we have a thousand -- some delegates to go and still lots of states to go.

John Kasich is the best prepared and best fit to be the president of the United States. He served in Congress honorably for 18 years and served in Ohio for many years and had a good record of job creation. That's why he's going to continue to run.

WHITFIELD: All right, so you say best prepared and best fit, but bottom line, you have to have voters that translate into delegates in this primary race. I mean, honestly what are the predictions or the chances that he'll be able to accumulate enough to be competitive if indeed there were an open convention?

DUFFY: Well, I think the odds are good. We moved from Wisconsin on to Pennsylvania where recent polls showed us tied for Trump and that was before this week happened before the Donald Trump campaign which everyone assumes was a disaster.

And then we moved on to other northeast states like Connecticut and Maryland, and Delaware, where John Kasich is proven to be very good and strong. We think that is in our favor and that's why we're looking forward to the states yet to come.

WHITFIELD: All right, this morning on ABC, George Stephanopoulos asked the governor about his stance on who should be punished for abortions and this is how he responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To decide how they want to handle this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe doctors who perform abortions should be punished?

KASICH: We're going to leave this up to the states to work this out the way they want to, George.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you're not going to take any position on doctors facing --

KASICH: Right now, let me just put it to you this way. Today I'm not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK so, Trent, did he prepare himself for these questions? Because the same kind of criticism was lodged against Donald Trump really not being prepared, winging it and making it up as he went along. Is John Kasich, the governor, satisfied with how he's handling this?

DUFFY: Absolutely. John Kasich has a very strong pro-life record, both in Congress and as governor. He believes Roe v. Wade should be repealed and like he just said there that it needs to be a very serious decision by each member states.

So he's completely prepared and he's had a long, very pro-life record and he believes we need to create a culture not only in Congress but in the state of Ohio to encourage adoption. He's very prepared on this issue.

WHITFIELD: OK, and then Trent, Senator Ted Cruz just launched an ad attacking the governor in Wisconsin. Cruz's campaign is taking aim at a company, Worthington Industries and suggesting unsavory ties to the Ohio governor.

[14:45:04]The advertisement seems to reflect a strategic shift by Cruz's aides that Kasich poses some sort of threat to him in Wisconsin. How is the Kasich campaign responding to this? DUFFY: I think you're seeing both Senator Cruz and Donald Trump start to feel what we're seeing, which is that people are starting to get a look at John Kasich's record. He's the only one who has done all of the things that the other two say they want to do.

He's balanced the budget and has a huge record of job creations in Ohio and they are starting to realize they don't have those kinds of records and that's why they are attacking John Kasich. It reflects a sense that now that people are seeing and hearing John Kasich in his message that they hear that they can get traction.

WHITFIELD: Money is, in a large part, how a lot of candidates continue to go forward and John Kasich has already thinking about picking up more delegates when the primaries head east to New York, Pennsylvania. Is there that sustenance to keep him in the race to be competitive in New York or Pennsylvania?

DUFFY: Absolutely. Fundraising picked up ever since Marco Rubio dropped out and even Governor Christie. We picked up his funders. We are starting to get more appeals for former donors because they realize what is at stake. It's the presidency. It's not just the Republican Party, it is our country.

John Kasich is the best candidate to win in November. He's the only one that beats Hillary Clinton and he beats her in those swing states that decide general elections.

In Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, those swing states where you need to have a good, competitive person. So yes, fundraising is picking up and we are going to have the resources that we need.

WHITFIELD: All right, Trent Duffy, good to see you. Thank you so much for your time.

DUFFY: Thank you, Fredricka.

All right, now for this quick reminder, make sure to watch "Race for the White House" on CNN tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.

Coming up, my face-to-face interview with Sir Charles Barkley, what he has to say about the race to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are a much better country together than separate. Like I say, we have made this thing about rich against poor, black against white, white against Hispanic and that's just not the way the greatest country in the world should operate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:51:07]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. The NCAA men's championship, Villanova and the University of North Carolina tip off Monday evening. Among the former pro-players courtside taking it all in Houston, Sir Charles Barkley.

He's expressing his opinions on the NCAA, North Carolina's religious freedom law and the race to the White House. He told me face-to-face there in Houston, the latter has been particularly divisive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: What are your thoughts about the race for the White House right now?

CHARLES BARKLEY, RETIRED NBA PLAYER: I just feel sadness because I'm so lucky and blessed that it doesn't have a big effect on my life who's going to be the president. But I feel bad for the American people because what politics in America has become, it's the greatest country in the world.

But it's become about rich people screwing poor people, poor people in this country don't have the same economic opportunities, they are not in the same neighborhoods, they don't have the same schools.

So I just feel sad because their job as politicians is to take care of the people. So I feel sadness more than anything how they are dividing us up.

WHITFIELD: You usually vote Democrat?

BARKLEY: I do.

WHITFIELD: But you've also said that you like Republican John Kasich.

BARKLEY: I do like John Kasich because he's one of the fewer Republicans that talked about economic opportunity. Because like I say, everybody want to talk about Republican, Democrat, black, white. It's about giving people economic opportunity. America has done an awful job of taking care of people.

WHITFIELD: Do you like any of the Democrats?

BARKLEY: I don't dislike them.

WHITFIELD: What are they not saying to --

BARKLEY: No. I take -- I want to be inspired. I don't dislike Hillary. I don't dislike Bernie Sanders. They just haven't inspired me. Like President Obama inspired me. President Clinton inspired me. I really want to go vote. And I say -- like I say, I don't have a bad word to say about Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton. They just have not inspired me.

WHITFIELD: Donald Trump has inspired a lot of people.

BARKLEY: Yes. That's the great thing about this country. You can say whatever you want to. You can't do that in other countries. I think he's been -- he's hit on that nerve of race, people, who are frustrated financially and he's trying to get that demographic and it's been working for him. I mean, it's frustrating watching like -- there are many people out there that have real problems and they want economic opportunity. They want a better school and neighborhood.

WHITFIELD: Has it jaded the political influence in your view?

BARKLEY: We are a much better country together than separate. Like I say, we have made this thing about rich against poor, black against white, white against Hispanic. And that's just not the way the greatest country in the world should operate.

WHITFIELD: Has it enhanced the political process?

BARKLEY: It has not enhanced the process. I would like to hear -- instead of guys calling guys losers or talking about hand size, talking about guy's wives, like, we've got some serious problems.

WHITFIELD: Are you afraid it's going to turn off a lot of people, people who will say I am not going to vote because I don't like the choices or I don't feel like it's going to make an impact?

BARKLEY: Both. I think both of those are correct.

WHITFIELD: You've made strong comments about Indianapolis last year, what many people call the anti-gay legislation and now it's North Carolina under the microscope.

BARKLEY: I think the NBA should move their all-star game from there next year. As a black person, I'm against any form of discrimination for blacks, whites, gays, lesbians, however you want to phrase it.

[14:55:09]It's my job, with the position of power that I'm in, I'm supposed to stand up for the people who can't stand up for themselves.

So I think the NBA should move the all-star game from Charlotte. We can figure out I know Atlanta wants to host it, but they should move it out of Charlotte.

WHITFIELD: And to critics of Charles Barkley's expressed opinions on a host of things?

BARKLEY: I don't disparage other guys, but you see guys on television talking about sports who have never touched a ball in their life and we listen to their opinion and then when I say something, he's a loud- mouth jerked, that's when I get offended. When people don't value your opinions.

WHITFIELD: You just want to express yourself and be heard.

BARKLEY: Just like everybody else.

WHITFIELD: Charles Barkley, unlike everybody else.

BARKLEY: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: There is more coming up in the next hour. Charles Barkley's advice to the young men fighting for a spot in the NCAA Monday's championship. He calls them all winners this weekend. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All right, presidential candidates on both sides canvassing Wisconsin today, just two days before its primary. These are live pictures of the Bernie Sanders town hall about to get underway on the left, and then Ted Cruz will be campaigning in Green Bay, Wisconsin.