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Trump: Requiring 1237 Delegates is "Very Unfair"; Amtrak Train Derailed; Cruz Tries to Win Conservatives in Wisconsin; Donald Trump Blasted on Abortion Flip-Flip; Mississippi Governor to Decide on Religious Freedom Bill; NCAA Championship Weekend; Previewing "Race for the White House". Aired 4-5p ET

Aired April 03, 2016 - 16:00   ET

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


[16:00:03] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

A very candid Donald Trump hit the campaign trail today as he and his rivals canvas the state of Wisconsin just two days ahead of the state's primary. Trump made a pit stop at a diner in Milwaukee. The frontrunner gave reporters his two cents on the delegate math needed to clinch the nomination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The reason it is very unfair, and I think I'll get there, I think I'll get there, but the reason it is very unfair is the following. When I started, there were 17 candidates. People never say this. I've never heard it said. I didn't have two candidates or four, I had 17 candidates. Most of those candidates were accomplished people. You had governors, you had senators, you had people like Dr. Ben Carson who has endorsed me, and is an amazing guy. You have a lot of accomplished people. You had a lot of people.

The biggest field ever in the history of what we are doing. When I went to those first primary states, we had many, many people on the ballot and I won, I could win with a small, basically a small number, and the small number is a phenomenal number that you could get that much. But what's unfair is this. We had 17 candidates, the early states, so many people, one was getting two percent, one was getting five percent, and four percent. And while I would win most, they took so many votes away from me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Our Jason Carroll is in West Alice, Wisconsin, where Trump has an event later this evening. Jason, what else was heard from Trump at the diner?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a number of things at the diner. As you know, Fredricka, there's a great deal of concern in terms of whether or not his recent statements are going to hurt him among women voters, specifically those statements on abortion when he said women should be punished for that, then changed his position several times on the issue.

So some concerns about how women voters are going to respond to that. Yesterday in Racine, Wisconsin, where we heard him speak "look, no one has more respect for women than I do," that's what he told the crowd. He also says that he's going to do, "great with women."

Earlier today at that diner, Fredricka, he seemed to leave the door open for how well he would do with women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The past week and a half will hurt with women voters?

TRUMP: I'll tell you, I've been doing very well with women voters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: As you know, Fredricka, Trump is trailing in the polls here behind Ted Cruz by 10 percentage points, according to one poll. But Trump is not paying attention to any of the polls here. He says he's going to have an upset here. He's going to win here just like in other states where folks said he wasn't going to do well. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: He's making, I guess, some comparison to New Hampshire, thinking it's going to be very similar. So what about the event that's scheduled later on for Donald Trump, what's the format, what's expected there?

CARROLL: Well, another town hall like we saw in Racine yesterday. Big question is what will he say today, will he say similar things like he said yesterday. You know, he had touched on the history of abortion yesterday when he was speaking in Racine, saying that he feels as though there's a double standard. That's what he told the crowd in terms of the way the press treats him versus the other candidates. He also said when you're asked about the question of abortion, he told the crowd he said that 50 percent of the time people like what you have to say, 50 percent of the time people don't like what you have to say.

One thing you can be sure what he will touch when he speaks here later on today, he will talk about jobs. He will talk about the economy. He will also talk about building that wall. He will talk about repealing Obamacare, some of those issues that are popular with those who support it. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Jason Carroll, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

Meanwhile, we are learning more about Trump's vision for life in the oval office if elected. In a revealing 96 minute interview with "The Washington Post," Trump laid out some bold and some would describe bleak predictions. He said the country is headed for a "very massive recession," that the stock market was inflated, and that he could eliminate the a 19 trillion dollar national deficit in just eight years. He also says "it's precarious times, I think we are sitting on an economic bubble, a financial bubble."

So are Trump's economic predictions accurate? Regardless, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus says the economy is the most concerning issue for voters right now. He was on CNN's "State of the Union" this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: Well, certainly people are afraid in this country and they're angry with a president that hasn't delivered. Whether you're on main street, whether you're in Milwaukee, Wisconsin or wherever you're from, things have not improved.

[16:05:04]

I think when people are afraid and they're angry, sometimes we will say things that they'll regret. But the truth is that people are concerned about the future and every candidate is going to communicate their message differently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Let's talk more about this with Larry Sabato. He is the director for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, and CNN political commentator Jeffrey Lord. All right. Good to see both of you.

Larry, to you first, Trump says among the things he would do - he would get rid of the deficit in eight years. And "The Washington Post" is also saying their economists who dispute that that's even possible. So how bold of a prediction, a statement, a promise is this for Donald Trump?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: It's very bold. Of course it is also ridiculous. There's zero chance, and I mean zero, that the $19 trillion national debt can be eliminated in eight years, unless you want to throw the whole world into a depression, not recession. I am not an economist. (INAUDIBLE) so I will leave that to the economists.

But Fred, if people want to see more about Donald Trump and understand Donald Trump better, they really should see this interview which was conducted by Bob Woodward of Watergate fame and Robert Costa. It is extraordinary. I learned things about Trump that I certainly never knew before.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it is interesting, Jeffrey, this approach that Donald Trump is the willingness to do this with Woodward and Costa, and this really comes off the heels of Donald Trump meeting with the editorial board just over a week ago at "The Washington Post" and then also with "The New York Times."

So what is it about this kind of lengthy open discussion meetings with these two powerful national newspapers?

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, and of course it is interesting. One of the interesting things about it is, of course, you can be fairly certain that neither "The New York Times" or "the Washington Post" are ever going to endorse him. It will be a sub zero colder than hell before they do that.

What I suspect is that Donald Trump has been very, very open with the media and always has been. He will sit down with just about anybody and talk about his plans and his future and what he thinks, et cetera. This is what he has done here. It is remarkably interesting, very candid.

I think in terms of the debt that he is talking about, I really do think. He has said to me personally that he feels if we get to a point where we are 24 trillion in debt, that there's no turning back, the country can go bankrupt.

He is very concerned about that. I think that this comes out, not only in this particular interview but in the various different policies that he has been advocating, it all comes back to the debt.

WHITFIELD: Jeffrey, I would love to follow up on something you just said, the media or his availability, talking about he is very open. At the same time, how many times have we heard Donald Trump describe that the media in general really is his nemesis?

LORD: Right. I would say he's also said that to me, as a matter of fact and said if he ran, couple years ago when I interviewed him for the "American Spectator," he said if he felt he were being treated unfairly, he would say so. Criticism from Republicans is that their candidates like Mitt Romney and John McCain don't do that. He is very much a believer in calling people out. He said he would do this. I have to say frankly this is a strain of thought within the Republican Party. I can remember President Bush 41 running for re-election against Bill Clinton.

One of his slogans, annoy the media, vote Bush. This kind of thing the Republican Party sells. Newt Gingrich did very well on it four years ago. There's nothing in that sense unusual about it except that there's perhaps more accent on it with Donald Trump.

WHITFIELD: And so Larry, when you go to "The Washington Post".com, you can listen more about the interview. When you listen to Bob Woodward and you know, Robert Costa talking about this conversation, Bob Woodward goes as far as saying it is a very dreary outlook, that really is a springboard for conversation of usually you talk about presidential candidates or you think of presidential candidates, and you think of their message of optimism, what they can deliver.

Does this come at great risk that Donald Trump would say, you know, this is a pessimistic view of the next eight years?

SABATO: Fred, not among his followers. His followers already believe that. Part of the attraction to him is that they also have a pessimistic outlook on where the United States has gone. It is all in the slogan. Make America great again.

Well, if you believe it has to be made great again, you also believe that (INAUDIBLE) that things have gone downhill. He and his followers are in sync there. The problem with Trump is that large numbers of people who are not among his followers simply disagree with that message and it is tough to meld them and his backers together.

[16:10:06]

WHITFIELD: All right. Larry Sabato, Jeffrey Lord, thank you very much, gentlemen. Good to see you.

LORD: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

All right. Turning now to breaking news out of Chester, Pennsylvania. Two Amtrak construction workers are dead, dozens of other people have been injured after an Amtrak train carrying more than 300 people collided with a backhoe on the tracks. The lead engine of the train derailed.

Joining us now on the phone, is Christine Starke. She was a passenger on that train. Christine, how are you feeling, what do you remember about this?

CHRISTINE STARKE, AMTRAK PASSENGER: Hi, I'm OK. I'm about to check into the hospital actually, after the adrenaline wore off, feeling a little tight and a little woozy. I was in the first passenger car, the very first passenger car, the one that actually was impacted. I am not exactly sure how - I think we crumpled under the pressure. If you look at a picture, you can see there's a hole. Looks as if the train (INAUDIBLE) - it felt like an explosion. I ended up on the ground and -

WHITFIELD: You were thrown from your seat?

STARKE: Excuse me.

WHITFIELD: You were thrown from your seat? You were sitting at the time of this collision and you ended up on the ground?

STARKE: Yes. I was half asleep so I remember sort of waking up. All of a sudden, it looked like snow on the windows, but it was just debris. Like I said, the train car sort of crumpled in. The next thing there was just metal everywhere, glasses shattered. One of the Amtrak workers yelled to get on the ground. I remember reaching for my phone. I called my mom because the train hadn't yet stopped, the engine car in front of us had gone off the tracks, we were sort of leaning. So I thought we were in the middle of it still, I expected it to get worse and then we finally stopped.

I stamerred a couple words to my mother, told her what happened, hung up, and sort of triaged the situation, saw what happened. In my train car, there were three injuries that were pretty bad. There's a physician on the train car that managed the woman that hurt, injured the worst on our train car, then I dealt with an older man who had a large laceration on his arm, was on blood thinners and was very confused. We wrapped his arm and held it tight until the EMS got there.

WHITFIELD: And was there screaming, were people shouting, yelling anything? I know this stunned everyone as you described the older man who seemed for a moment in shock. But audibly what was going on?

STARKE: Yes, so it was really interesting, what I noticed immediately was that people on the train, other passengers, everyone handled the situation very well. I heard screaming in the back of the train from other cars, the charts sort of swerved. What happened was the Amtrak worker screamed everybody get off the train because it looked and smelled like it was on fire. And then almost immediately as I was dealing with this man, trying to get the glass away from him and his face, the Amtrak worker retracted that, said nobody get off the train, they were worried about downed power lines. So we kind of just waited there for awhile. Nobody was really sure, but mainly we were taking care of people that were bleeding pretty bad.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness.

STARKE: But like I said, I was really, really surprised by all of the passengers. Everyone was so selfless, just taking care of people that need help. The guy I was with was so chipper. He looked at himself and he was stuck under - he couldn't move because there was so much debris and sharp objects on him, but he just looked up at me and was like wow, can you believe this, I only have a cut on my arm. And he handed me his phone and said "can you call my wife and daughter."

WHITFIELD: Well, this was a very close call. We are so sad two of the workers were impacted by that train and that backhoe, did die. Some 35 people injured and we're wishing the best of all of those and to you, Christine Starke, for a speedy recovery as well. Thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.

All right. Back to politics after the break. Bernie Sanders stumping in Wisconsin, making a last ditch effort ahead of Tuesday's primary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What this campaign is about is talking about a corrupt campaign finance system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:55]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

Two days before voters in Wisconsin cast ballots, and the democratic race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is heating up. This morning on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper, Senator Bernie Sanders renewed his criticism of Hillary Clinton's oil and gas contributions and vowed to release his tax information very soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "STATE OF THE UNION": Well, you have taken $50,000 from individuals who work for the oil and gas industry. Why is it OK for you and not for her?

SANDERS: Because I take money in and she takes money in from individuals, that's right, workers in an industry. Nothing wrong with that. Jake, that is very different from taking money from lobbyists, people who are working day and night in defense of that industry. And that has been a confusing point. Workers, yes. We get money from workers in every industry in the country, so does Clinton. But there is a difference between getting money from a worker and somebody whose job it is is to represent that industry. I believe we got to take on that fossil fuel industry.

I think that their greed and their willingness to acknowledge the crisis of climate change is something that has to be dealt with and I am prepared to do that.

TAPPER: Let's talk about taxes, specifically your tax returns. I have to say I'm kind of surprised that you haven't gone further on transparency. You released the summary page of your 2014 tax returns. Hillary Clinton has posted on her website the last eight years of her personal returns, all other returns. Before the New York primary, will you match her, will you post your returns for the last eight years?

SANDERS: You know, to be very honest with you, you know, who does our tax returns? My wife does our tax returns. We have been a little bit busy lately. We will get out as much information as we can. There aren't going to be very much exciting in that. I get a salary from the United States Senate. There's not going to be anything new in it that there hasn't, that people haven't seen for the last many years. We will get it out as soon as we can.

[16:20:00]

TAPPER: Nobody has seen them at all, I guess, is the point. Whether or not there's anything exciting in them.

SANDERS: That's not true. That is not true. We have released them in the past. Our financial situation, the best of my knowledge has not changed very much. We will get out all of that information as soon as we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That was Bernie Sanders this morning on CNN's "State of the Union." On the other side of the aisle, it is an all out war over delegates this week. Senator Ted Cruz has been making his case to Wisconsin voters. If he takes Wisconsin, what does that mean for frontrunner Donald Trump? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. So Ted Cruz and Donald Trump both campaigning in Wisconsin today. The big primary there just a couple of days away. Cruz just wrapped up a rally in Green Bay and he made a joke about Donald Trump and the Packers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So many lovers of liberty. So many Packers fans. I'm just picturing the shy, retiring Donald J. Trump, back in the pocket. Looking and jumping over the offensive line, and coming in for a sack. Let me tell you, I think Donald hair wouldn't stay on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:25:07]

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's bring in Sunlen Serfaty, following Cruz today. OK. It was a full room, not so more now. But what was the reception for Ted Cruz who really rolled out big support with Carly Fiorina as well as the governor?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Fred. He did have a full contingent of his surrogates up with him today, in addition to his wife and his two young daughters. I felt like Senator Cruz got a little reflective up on the stage today, saying this has been quite an election season so far, anything but boring.

He said even he himself would never have guessed some of the topics and the things that have happened during the course of this campaign, he as thinking back to just last year around which when he declared his candidacy. So a little bit of reflective thinking from Senator Cruz today but certainly going into Tuesday's Wisconsin primary here, the Cruz campaign is feeling good, they're ahead in the polls. Certainly, a big win here would go a long way in terms of delegate math, so important for Senator Cruz going forward.

But equally as important in terms of bringing their campaign momentum. We are entering a stage in the primary season where there's longer stretches between the contests. Going forward, coming out of Wisconsin with a firm grasp on the argument that he is the alternative to Donald Trump, will do a long bit of good for Senator Cruz's campaign. We saw him make mention of this, so to speak, at the end of his speech today, he said, you know, "Wisconsin is - this is going to be a decision point." He called it a decision point here going forward. He said that will resonate around the country. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And so many conversations about whether endorsements matter. But then you got Ted Cruz who according to polling is doing very well, some were attributing it to the fact that the governor, Scott Walker, is behind him.

SERFATY: Yes. Scott Walker is widely popular in this state. We have seen him campaign for him at many events since he declared earlier last week, something Cruz campaign has been touting from all corners. It is interesting, today we spent time talking to some of the people here at Cruz's event, some who are not yet supporters, which kind of shows how late in the game many voters decide to make it a decision or not. Here is what a few of them told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE FINCH, CRUZ SUPPORTER: Senator Cruz is the man who can do the job. You know, I like everything he has to say so far. I get a good passion and a good feeling when I listen to him speak. I don't get that from any other candidate.

MARTHA SPICE, CRUZ SUPPORTER: I like his political views, his plan for where he wants to talk us as a family, where he wants to take our country, not just politically but biblically.

LYNN SCOTT, UNDECIDED VOTER: I wanted to see Cruz speak in person. I think that makes a difference. He comes across as a little remote sometimes on television.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: That last woman there tells us that she's still undecided, she hasn't made up her mind. Again, Fred, really shows you how late in the game so many of these voters here decide, and how many votes are still on the table, large part we see Senator Cruz and Donald Trump, a lot of the candidates here in Wisconsin this weekend.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, thank you so much.

And after the break, Donald Trump and his latest message. How his words on the campaign trail translate to voters at home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello again and thanks so much for being with me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. It's been a pretty tough week for Donald Trump. He has been blasted for flip flopping stances on abortion restrictions.

The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan is speaking out in an opinion article writing this, "The Mess is something a candidate occasionally brings with him that voters can tell is going to cause trouble down the road. The Mess is a warning sign; it tells potential supporters to slow down, think twice. The Mess might be a pattern of scrapes with the law, a series of love affairs or other scandals. Voters will accept normal flawed human beings, but they don't like patterns of bad behavior. They don't like when they see a Mess, because they don't want to elect trouble to high office. Donald Trump's Mess is his mouth, his indiscipline, his refusal to be serious."

That's from Peggy Noonan. Let's talk more about this. Republican strategist Brian Morgenstern and columnist and co-author of "The Party's Over: How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat" Ellis Henican. All right, Brian, you first. When you hear Peggy Noonan, who is, you know, a staunch supporter of many a conservative camps and a big supporter of Ronald Reagan when he was in the White House. You know, she's talking about this overall message. She's essentially giving a warning to voters to look a little more closely about Donald Trump and what he is revealing.

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yeah, that's right and a couple of points in this takeout (ph), one, is that as we have noted over the course of this campaign, each individual incident hasn't seemed to weaken Trump, when he insulted John McCain it didn't matter, when he insulted Megyn Kelly it didn't matter, when he started a second and third feud with Fox it didn't matter, his misstep about the KKK it didn't matter.

But the accumulation of these things has lead to what you refer to as the Mess, which has now left many voters I think, in a sense, exhausted. And in addition to that, not just in absolute terms that it's driven up his negative to something like two-thirds of Americans have a negative impression of Trump.

Also in relative terms, it has made Hillary Clinton who to most Republicans, you know, is dishonest and corrupt and all of the rest, it's made her seem normal. It's made Ted Cruz, who is viewed as the extreme right winger, seem reasonable by comparison. And so, the accumulation of the Mess has left, you know, many Republican leaders in a state of disbelief and struggling to figure out where to go from here.

WHITFIELD: And then earlier we saw Donald Trump talking about the issue that has gotten him in whole lot of hot water lately particularly his comments as it pertains to women and issues that are important to women. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:35:00] WHITFIELD: All right, so Ellis and Brian, you know a couple of things. That comment and what he's saying about, you know, doing very well, you know, Brian when there are so many other polling, you know, that are showing that there's a diminishing support among a certain segment of women out there.

And then secondly, we're seeing him in a diner, he's you know, conversing with people, having orange juice, that's not the Donald Trump that we've been seeing, who is usually guarded. Now we're seeing a much more interactive Donald Trump. What is going on here in your view?

MORGENSTERN: He is becoming a candidate, a real politician and he's, you know, we know he's a germophobe, he doesn't like to shake hands but he started, you know, doing it more and more and getting down into the nitty-gritty and meeting voters on a personal level. One thing that hasn't changed is that when there is some bad news out there like his poll numbers with women, like his poll with minorities.

His strategy is deny, deny, deny, and say, "Oh, no, I'm doing very well" and just, you know, untether himself from reality and the facts. So, that is one thing that is consistent, although, like I said, this has been quite an evolution I guess we'll call it of his candidacy. And this is I guess entering a new phase of what he views as presidential behavior.

WHITFIELD: All right, well here's another example perhaps of this evolution brand you're talking about. More of Donald Trump in the diner, talking to people, touching people, and listening to their comments. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody wants to talk about it.

TRUMP: (Inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, apparently in paraphrasing, I'm told, because it's very hard to hear what this photo may be saying is, you know, he's happy, you know, that Donald Trump is talking about the issues that a lot of others are not, Ellis.

ELLIS HENICAN, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, yeah, I mean that's the appeal. But you know, if it takes a village of insults to sink Donald Trump, as Peggy Noonan suggests, right? It's kind of hard to figure out what he's going to do about it if the fundamental problem is his mouth, right. That's not going to change. There is no other Donald Trump than the one we've been seeing. He is not going to shut up for the next four months.

WHITFIELD: Okay, and then we'll kind of flip the script a little bit and we'll talk about the latest on Hillary Clinton's e-mails, long time Clinton aide, Huma Abedin says she hasn't read any of the fresher (ph) released exchanges with her and Hillary Clinton. Abedin had this response to the fact that her e-mails with Hillary Clinton are now public.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HUMA ABEDIN, HILLARY CLINTON AIDE: Terrifying. I can't even imagine what's in those e-mails but I'm sure I would be - I would be - I would probably be mortified. I have no idea.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, and that came from a podcast of the interview, by The Way. All right, so Brian does this add fuel, you know, to the discussion about Hillary Clinton, what she knew, what she didn't know, what she was revealing, what's classified, et cetera, who around her may or may not be complicit or is this just, you know, a moment of humanizing someone else who has also been in the spotlight by association of Hillary Clinton.

MORGENSTERN: Well, I think maybe a little of both. Having, you know, one through a number of investigations and interviewed a lot witnesses myself over the course of my legal career, I know that it is very uncomfortable for a potential witness as Ms. Abedin is to have all of your e-mails subject to scrutiny, including public scrutiny. That is a nerve wracking thing to go through.

That said, when your reaction is, you know, this is going to be mortifying, this is going to be bad, she probably has something in mind there that is not going to be very favorable for Hillary. So, like I said, I think it's a little of both. It is inherently a stressful situation to go through, to go through an investigation as a witness, but when you know that there is some bad stuff in there, that's not a good start.

WHITFIELD: Ellis?

HENICAN: Oh, come on, guys. Seriously?

WHITFIELD: Is that a fair inference?

HENICAN: No. Come on, it's a lovely human answer, right. Wouldn't you hate someone to go through your e-mails? My God! What on earth have I said in e-mails to people? Any normal human being - that doesn't mean Hillary is guilty of some horrible crime to whom is his God (ph). No, I don't want anybody going through my e-mails, especially people at the Justice Department or congressional Republicans, which is the categories we're talking about.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ellis, Brian, thanks so much, always good to see you. Appreciate it. Have a great rest of your Sunday.

MORGENSTERN: Good to see you too.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, the battle over the so-called Religious Freedom Bills has been roiling states across the nation. We're live in Raleigh, North Carolina where government officials are under heavy pressure to repeal its state law. Stay with us.

[16:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 the Religious Freedom Bill that allows state employees to refuse to give same-sex marriage licenses. Private companies and religious groups could also refuse to provide some services to gay and transgender people.

Mississippi governor, Phil Bryant, has not said what he will do with that bill. The bill in Mississippi has similarities to a North Carolina law. It blocks anti-discrimination protection 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 is in Raleigh, North Carolina for us. Nick?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORESPONDENT: Hey there Fred. We spoke to one of the leading voices of the transgender community here in North Carolina who tells us there are tens of thousands of transgender people here in the state of North Carolina that will be affected by this new law that requires them to use the bath room based on their gender of their birth certificate, not how they identify. We spent the day with one of those transgender women who say now she fears for her safety now that this new law is in place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: It is Saturday in Raleigh, North Carolina, and this is a midday drag show, a fund-raiser for LGBT awareness. Candis Cox is the woman of the hour.

[16:45:00] CANDIS COX, TRANSGENDER WOMAN: The most important thing for me personally is that every time I close my eyes and say a prayer and I ask my god as a person of faith how he feels, he don'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 transgender woman in North Carolina is used to being sad (ph) so, it's in my back but not in my eye (ph).

VALENCIA: She says she's one of the tens of thousands of transgender people in North Carolina affected by the Public Facilities Privacy and Securities Act. It's a new state law that requires trans people to use the public restroom related to the gender on their birth certificate, not how they identify.

COX: This law affects us because it puts us in danger and it is open discrimination. It is no different than the Jim Crow Laws of the south.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look cute.

VALENCIA: At home, Candis and her husband, Adam Daniel, say now that she'll be required to use the men's room, they worry she'll be physically assaulted or worse.

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

VALENCIA: The statehouse Republican pro tempore, Stam, is one of the bill sponsors. Stam says the law is not about limiting the protections of the LGBT community but rather not giving them special rights.

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

VALENCIA: That's you as a boy.

COX: Yeah. Bill Cox, junior counselor.

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

VALENCIA: And while the pressure is mounting by many blue chip companies to have the state repeal the law, Republican lawmakers here in the state of North Carolina don't seem to feel that pressure. You heard there from Representative Paul Stam, he says the threats from businesses to boycott the state are simply veiled threats that will never come to fruition. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia in Raleigh, North Carolina, thank you so much. All right, coming up next on this NCAA championship weekend, more of my face to face interview with Sir Charles Barkley. It wasn't just the basketball that brought him to his feet last night. Find out what this moment was all about.

But first, here at CNN we recognize people who do extraordinary things. We call them CNN Heroes. This week, we're introducing you to Marquis Taylor, who is using basketball to help kids tap their potential on and off the court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUIS TAYLOR, BASKETBALL COACH: This program is not about creating the next basketball star. It's about helping young people develop skills that are going to prepare them for the next step. It allows you to navigate challenges that are in your face because that's what's going to happen when they hit life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, to learn more or to nominate someone, visit cnnheroes.com. We will be right back.

[16:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we had a blast bringing you the Newsroom from Houston for the Final Four. We lost count of how many special moments that the NCAA championship weekend there were, but one that really stands out in a unique way, being with former NBA power forward Charles Barkley, when in the middle of our face to face interview, Barkley spotted a very dear and famous friend. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES BARKLEY, NBA SUPERSTAR: Don Johnson, what's up, my brother?

WHITFIELD: Hi. You want to join us?

BARKLEY: Good to see you, my brother.

DON JOHNSON, ACTOR: How you doing?

BARKLEY: I'm doing great.

WHITFIELD: Hey, you want to pull up a seat? Hi, Fredricka. Good to see you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Yes, that Don Johnson, producer and actor of "Miami Vice" fame, opting instead to shoot the breeze with Barkley's fellow sportscasters. While Barkley returned to our interview, admitting he, too, gets star struck.

BARKLEY: One of the cool things that you like and you've seen somebody on television, they've been a big star and you get to meet them, and when they're really cool, it is spectacular. You know, like when I meet Denzel Washington, it's like oh, my god, I'm hanging with Denzel. Like, we don't hang out but you met him, like he's cool.

I met Clint Eastwood one time and like please be cool, please be cool and he was great. I met Sean Connery one time and it was like oh, my god, because you know, I'm a fan. Like I'm a movie -- I watch a lot of movies and so you watch TV shows - you just walked with a celebrity you'd meet to be really cool.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So you see, even big stars have big expectations of people that they admire. Thanks Houston for hosting a fine and very inspiring NCAA weekend. And of course you can see all the action tomorrow night between Villanova and UNC on TBS. Tipoff is at 9:19 p.m. eastern time.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We have so much more straight ahead right after this.

[16:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This year's race for the White House might seem like one of the most contentious races ever, but history proves otherwise. The executive producer of both the CNN Original Series and Netflix's "House of Cards" Dana Brunetti recently sat down with CNN's Dana Bash. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: What motivated you to do this project, to really dig into this history? DANA BRUNETTI, FILM PRODUCER: Well, I am a history buff for one and

the types of projects that I've always done are amazing minds doing amazing things, and there's nothing more amazing than a presidential race and there's no more amazing minds I think in the world than the people that run those campaigns and people that are involved in those campaigns.

BASH: It's kind of amazing because with every election we hear, oh, we've never seen it so dirty, we've never seen it so intense, but it's always been like that, it is just that we know about it more because of the media.

BRUNETTI: Exactly. The elections have always been dirty and that's one thing I've really learned, even with Honest Abe, the dirty tricks that his campaign did that you would never think that Abraham Lincoln would be involved in something like that. And you also learn that the guys that were the nice guys, didn't want to go that route, they lost.

BASH: You and Kevin Spacey also produce "House of Cards."

BRUNETTI: Yes.

BASH: Do you see parallels in that fiction versus all of the nonfiction you have been working on?

BRUNETTI: Yes, it's pretty fascinating actually. The first is when we were doing "House of Cards." We thought maybe we are pushing a little too far and then we go ahead and watched the news at night, then we -- maybe we're not pushing this far enough.

So yeah, there's a lot of parallels we take from the headlines, a lot of what we incorporate into our show, while it is fictional and we do push the boundaries a little further than what's probably realistic - maybe, maybe not, but yeah. We definitely -- there's definitely a lot of parallels between "House of Cards" and real life politics.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dana with our Dana. "Race for the White House" narrated by Kevin Spacey, airing tonight at 9:00 Eastern Time right here on CNN. Don't miss it. All right, thanks so much for being with me this weekend. I am Fredricka Whitfield. Newsroom continues with Poppy Harlow in New York.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: Hi everyone, 5:00 eastern, I'm Poppy Harlow in New York this Sunday evening. So glad you're with us.

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