Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Clinton, Sanders War of Words Escalates; Interview with Bernie Sanders Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver; Trump Courts Voters on Home Turf; Cruz Faces Heat for New York Values Remark. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired April 07, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:01] HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it's kind of a silly thing to say, but I'm going to trust the voters of New York who know me and have voted for me three times, twice for Senate, once in the presidential primary. Look, I didn't -- I don't know why he's saying that. But I will take Bernie Sanders over Donald Trump or Ted Cruz any time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So let's talk more about this with CNN's Brianna Keilar and Joe Johns.

Good morning to both of you. I'll start with you, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you see Hillary Clinton there trying to take the high road after things got very contentious. I was at this event in Philadelphia yesterday. Bernie Sanders was before about 10,000 of his supporters, and there was also an overflow. So many people came to see him at Temple University. And clearly he had gotten to the point where he had had enough. Hillary Clinton had been seizing on his remarks that he said to the "New York Daily News" in an interview where he was really lacking specifics and even was just unclear on how he would break up the big banks and a number of other things that are important to some key promises of his campaign.

So it seemed like he sort of had enough. He fired this at Hillary Clinton. Her campaign jumped on him. She's sort of ratcheting it down or she's sort of bringing it down a little bit this morning, as you see, but this is really the most contentious we have seen this fight on the Democratic side.

COSTELLO: Definitely so, and I'll guess I'll go to you, Joe Johns, for the Bernie Sanders side.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, Bernie Sanders is not backing down. In fact, he is doubling down on the comments he made at a news conference here just a little while ago. He cited written reports, including one from my colleague at CNN, Jeff Zeleny, saying the Clinton campaign is beginning to step up its attacks on him, and he said in turn that he has ample evidence to question the credentials of his opponent. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, because "The Washington Post" had a headline that said, quote, "Clinton Questions Whether Sanders is Qualified to be President," end of quote. That was what was thrown at me.

Now the other thing is that I believe the Clinton campaign told CNN, and I quote, that their strategy as we go into New York and Pennsylvania, I guess, is, quote, "disqualify him, defeat him and unify the party later."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: What it all points to is that the tensions now are increasing as we move toward the New York primary. Sanders on his way to the AFL-CIO to speak there. Hillary Clinton spoke there yesterday. That group has decided at least so far to remain neutral in the race for the Democratic nomination, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Joe Johns, Brianna Keilar, thanks to both of you.

Let's talk more about this with Jeff Weaver. He's the campaign manager for Bernie Sanders.

Hi, Jeff.

JEFF WEAVER, CAMPAIGN MANAGER, BERNIE SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT: Hey, how are you?

COSTELLO: I'm good. What do you make of this back and forth? Some people might say it's getting downright nasty.

WEAVER: Well, look, Carol, Bernie Sanders has run from the very beginning a very issue-oriented campaign. There are obviously big differences between the candidates on a lot of substantive issues, including how to deal with a rigged economy, a corrupt campaign finance system, issues of war and peace, breaking up the banks, trade, and that's the kind of campaign that he has run from the beginning. The Clinton campaign having lost seven of the last eight contests now has taken a very nasty turn. And I think what Senator Sanders wanted to demonstrate and did demonstrate that if that's the kind of campaign they want to run they can expect it in kind.

COSTELLO: But calling Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, a former U.S. senator, not qualified to be president, I mean, is that going too far?

WEAVER: Well, I think if you look at her record, if you look at her campaign, you know, her campaign is funded by millions and millions of dollars from Wall Street and other special interests. You know, she really made a deal with the devil and we all know the devil wants his money in the end. So that's the kind of campaign she's running. You know, she's supported these terrible trade deals which have devastated American manufacturing in this country. She supported the war in Iraq. She continues to have a very, very hawkish foreign policy which has led to the rise and expansion of ISIS throughout the Middle East. So on issue after issue, Secretary Clinton has really been on the

wrong side of things. You know, she supported DOMA. She supported impoverishing poor children with a welfare reform bill. She fought in New York state to keep undocumented workers from getting driver's licenses. So on issue after issue, she has been on the wrong side, and it's certainly fair to point that out.

COSTELLO: Something you said caused Secretary Clinton to laugh out loud. I'd like you to listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEAVER: Don't destroy the Democratic Party to satisfy the secretary's ambitions to become president of the United States. Right? We want a party at the end of this so we can unify.

[10:05:03] CLINTON: I mean, it's just ludicrous on the face of it. You know? I have been campaigning for Democrats, fundraising for Democrats, recruiting Democrats to run and win for a really long time, I think about 40 years, and Senator Sanders by his own admission has never even been a Democrat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So Senator Sanders knew the rules when he got in the game. Yet he's the one wooing super delegates and trying to move toward a contested convention. Isn't Bernie Sanders the one who's trying to disrupt the Democratic process here?

WEAVER: No, the Democratic process should be run by the voters. We want the voters to decide who gets to be the Democratic nominee, not the Clinton campaign. When they told Jeff Zeleny, you know, of CNN, that they're going to disqualify Bernie, they're going to defeat him and then they're going to try to unify the party later, that's a strategy for disaster in November. What we need is a sharp discussion of the issues in this campaign that separate Secretary Clinton from Bernie Sanders. We need to have that discussion. But that kind of like scorched earth, Clinton policy of disqualifying, defeat, and then try to re-unify the party later, that's a disaster for Democrats.

Look, all these young people who are coming out that the secretary and her campaign of late have been dissing on, who are supporting Senator Sanders, you know, if she will become the nominee, she's going to have to bring those people into the party. And the way she's treating them and Senator Sanders and those other supporters I think is not the way that we build a unified party to defeat Republicans in November.

COSTELLO: All right. So let's talk about issues. Jeffrey Immelt, he's the CEO of General Electric. He wrote an op-ed in the "Washington Post" this morning and this is what it's titled. "Bernie Sanders says we're destroying the moral fabric of America. He's wrong." Mr. Immelt goes on to write that Sanders never mentioned the GE is one of the United States prime exporters annually selling in excess of $20 billion of American made goods to the world, and our sales around the world, he says, support our manufacturing base here at home along with the thousands of U.S. companies in our supply campaign.

So Sanders accuses GE of being greedy and selfish. GE says it pays billions of dollars in taxes. So is there Immelt lying?

WEAVER: Well, what Mr. Immelt doesn't say is one of their major exports is U.S. jobs to countries overseas. How about that export? I don't think that's an export that he's so proud of. Or GE's role in polluting the water of New York state. So GE, obviously Immelt took umbrage with what Senator Sanders said, but the truth of the matter is that GE under Jeffrey Immelt has not been a paragon of virtue, let me tell you that.

COSTELLO: So nothing GE does is virtuous?

WEAVER: No, no, of course not. You know, they make good products. The truth is we want them to make more of those products here at home rather than shipping good-paying American jobs overseas where they pay people pennies an hour. That's what we want. We want companies to have more loyalty to the United States and to the workers here.

COSTELLO: And just a final question, because Hillary Clinton --

WEAVER: Sure.

COSTELLO: She said that Bernie Sanders is not a real Democrat. If he's not a real Democrat, what is he?

WEAVER: Well, he is a real -- he is a real Democrat. You know, I mean, if you look at -- she also says she's a real New Yorker. So, you know, he is a New Yorker, he's a real New Yorker. Son of Brooklyn and he's a Democrat --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Yes. But he left when he was 18 years old, right?

WEAVER: What's that?

COSTELLO: Bernie Sanders left when he was a teenager. He's lived most of his life in Vermont.

WEAVER: Well, the secretary spent most of her life somewhere else also.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Point taken. But again, Bernie Sanders does describe himself as a Democratic socialist. Does he still describe himself that way? Because he was at one point an independent and then he called himself a Democratic socialist. And now does he just call himself a Democrat?

WEAVER: Well, he's a Democrat, it's his party affiliation. He is a member of the Democratic Party, he is running for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. He's caucused with the Democrats in the Congress for two decades. He was a Democratic chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. He's raised millions of dollars for Democratic candidates. He's campaigned for Democratic candidates.

So in fact he has made a major contributions to the Democratic Party over the years, and he is a Democrat and running as a Democratic and will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, and in November the president.

COSTELLO: All right. Jeff Weaver, thanks for stopping by. I do appreciate it.

The next debate between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton is one week from tonight. It will be moderated by Wolf Blitzer live from Brooklyn, 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz go head-to- head in New York. How Trump is hoping to regain momentum in his home state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:13:37] COSTELLO: The Republican fight for New York gets fierce as Donald Trump hammers Ted Cruz about that now infamous New York values comment. Later this hour Cruz is expected to hold a rally on Trump's home turf. But will it be enough to win over voters?

We're covering all of this with our team of political correspondent. Let's begin, though, with CNN's Phil Mattingly.

Hi, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. For Donald Trump this is the moment to recover. 95 delegates at stake. His home turf and a gift from Ted Cruz offered in January at a debate. New York values. It was a critique at the time of Democratic politicians and Donald Trump's relations to them. But that doesn't mean Donald Trump is not going to roll it out over and over again over the next couple of weeks. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There was never anything like it in this country. The worst attack in the history of the United States. The bravery that was shown was incredible. We all lived through it. We all know people that died, and I've got this guy standing over there looking at me, talking about New York values with hatred, with hatred of New York. So, folks, I think you can forget about him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now, Carol, Donald Trump's advisers feel very good about how they stand in the state right now, a possibility that they could even sweep all 95 delegates. But one interesting thing that just occurred, his campaign cancelling a trip to California including a press conference that we were all expecting, staying in New York to campaign.

[10:15:05] Now whether that's because they are starting to have some concerns or because they recognize after the last couple of weeks that maybe they need to change things up a little bit, that is an unusual shift for his team. Again, a very important state, particularly in the wake of Wisconsin.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Phil Mattingly reporting. Thanks very much.

OK. Let's head out to that Cruz event. Dana Bash is there.

Does this New York values thing really matter that much, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, this is an issue that Ted Cruz obviously is having to deal with down state, this whole question of New York values that obviously is now coming back to haunt Ted Cruz there. But this is upstate New York and it's probably one of the main reasons why he was not only able to fill this pretty large high school gymnasium, but also there's a line snaking outside and around the corner.

And so the people here tend to be a lot more conservative than people down in the city, in Manhattan, and that is part of the reason why Ted Cruz thinks that he can still do OK in this state. And on the issue of his comment, he was asked about it last night, and here was his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's be clear. The people of New York know exactly what those values are. They're the values of liberal Democratic politicians like Andrew Cuomo, like Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer, like Charlie Rangel, all of whom Donald Trump has supported and giving tens of thousands of dollars throughout the years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And, Carol, I just have to show this to you because I was talking to some of these voters who are coming here about the comment that Ted Cruz made asking, were you offended by that New York values comment, and almost to a person, the answer was no, that's not here. This is upstate New York. We don't consider ourselves New Yorkers like that. And so you understand because you are now a New Yorker. You get the very deep divide.

But this is what I want to show you. A local politician actually brought this piece of paper to give to Ted Cruz so that he can use it, to show what they mean about New York. He let me borrow it for you. This obviously is blue and that's New York City and you see the majority of the state is not blue. So that is ammunition that Ted Cruz is likely to get when he gets here later.

COSTELLO: That's why I wondered, why did he go to the Bronx to campaign? Why didn't he state in upstate New York?

BASH: That's an excellent question. But he is going to Brooklyn later today so we'll see how it goes there.

COSTELLO: That will be interesting, too. Dana Bash reporting live. Thanks so much.

So as Senator Cruz battles for votes in New York, Mr. Trump is hoping to gain momentum in the state he calls home. Sources telling CNN Trump met with one of his top strategists on Wednesday to discuss staffing and the direction of his campaign.

With me now Trump supporter and CNN political commentator Jeffrey Lord. I'm also joined by CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp and Peter Beinart. He's a CNN political commentator and contributor for "The Atlantic."

Welcome to all of you.

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So, Jeffrey, explain this meeting Mr. Trump had with his staff.

LORD: Well, I assume this report is that what we're talking about here?

COSTELLO: Yes.

LORD: Yes. Yes. I know Paul. I've known him -- I talked to him. He's a terrific guy. He's extremely competent. This is what -- as I understand, they're handing the delegate count --

COSTELLO: Jeffrey, I'm going to interrupt you for just a second because your signal is bad so we're going to fix that.

LORD: OK.

COSTELLO: So while we fix that little, like, technical problem snafu, I'll ask S.E. Cupp that question.

Do you see kind of like instability in the Trump campaign, S.E.?

CUPP: Yes. There have been a number of reports about discomfort in the Trump campaign, some low morale, some confusion over the organization, some frustration that, you know, Trump's promises to be more presidential, to be more unifying, haven't really happened yet, and frustration over a very bad week where, you know, Trump and his team were really having to do damage control on a number of fronts. There was the Heidi Cruz re-tweet. I mean, how do you stop your candidate from re-tweeting, you know, dumb photographs. Then there were, you know, these policy proposals that were openly mocked that they had to sort of recover from.

His flip-flop on abortion they had to -- you know, recover from that. And then a bruising, a bruising loss in Wisconsin. There's two weeks, give or take, until New York where Donald Trump looks good, but that's two weeks where he can make a lot of mistakes so I think the campaign is trying to figure out, OK, how do we make the most of the next two weeks going into New York without doing more damage like we did in the past week.

[10:20:14] COSTELLO: Well, I think Peter that one of the idea must be to limit campaign appearance because Mr. Trump isn't hosting as many this time around preprimary.

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I mean, I think that what's interesting is that they had a strategy that, look, that's generally worked for them very well. It's been an untraditional strategy. It's been a strategy of trying to get on the media as much as possible and doing these huge rallies. Focus less on kind of traditional ground game kind of thing.

The problem is that now we are in this really different phase of the campaign, this kind of where you need a kind of micro ground game, really going delegate to delegate, focusing on this delegate selection process, and the Trump campaign was not built for that. The Cruz campaign was built for that. And so they're bringing in people to try to do that, but then it changes the balance of power in the campaign. And so I think that's part of what you're seeing now.

COSTELLO: Interesting. You know another interesting thing that's happening. And I'm going to bring this up with you, S.E. President Obama is increasingly inserting himself into the GOP race. He often talks negatively about Donald Trump, but yesterday the first lady jumped into the fray. Listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Right now when we're hearing so much disturbing and hateful rhetoric, it is important to remember that our diversity has been and will always be our greatest source of strength and pride here in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, S.E., is that -- I don't know. I guess that would help the Democrats more than the Republicans, obviously, but it's interesting that the first lady has jumped into this race.

CUPP: And why wouldn't they? I mean, this was the concern amongst conservatives with Donald Trump's campaign as he got more and more aggressive, more and more, you know, hostile with his rhetoric toward minority groups and women, by the way, that the Democrats would have a field day with this. I mean, you can see a glint in President Obama's eyes when he talks about Trump. Democrats are relishing this and I can't blame them.

That's been the concern for a general election against Hillary Clinton or anyone else with Donald Trump that Democrats will just have a field day with some of the things that Donald Trump has said. Some of the things that the Republican Party has been actively going, you know, against for the past cycle since 2008 and 2012.

COSTELLO: So, Jeffrey Lord, President Obama's approval ratings have also gone up, and some people credit Donald Trump for that.

(LAUGHTER)

LORD: I assume that President Obama's ratings are (INAUDIBLE) whatever President Obama does or do not do. Is there a little glitch here? Sorry.

COSTELLO: Oh, your signal is still bad. That's one of the reasons they really don't like Skype very much, but you heard, Peter, Jeffrey Lord laughing about President Obama's approval ratings going up in light of Mr. Trump's conduct, some say, that the contrast between the two has made people like President Obama more. Is there any truth to that?

BEINART: No. I doubt it. I think that probably his approval ratings have gone up a little bit because the economy is getting a little bit better. I mean, it's not great but it's a little better. I think that his approval rating has tracked that to some degree. But I think that, although S.E. is definitely right that the Democrats relish the political opportunity that Trump provides, I also think it's important to remember that the president and first lady are like a lot of people genuinely concerned about the cultural impact of what Donald Trump is doing.

There's been a lot of reports about rising bullying of Muslims kids in school, increasing -- rising number of Muslims calling into suicide hotlines, some really, really disturbing episodes of violence against American Muslims or people who people think are Muslims. And as president and first lady, that's something you have to be concerned about regardless of the partisan implications.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. And I apologize to Jeffrey Lord. Next time.

S.E. Cupp, Peter Beinart, thanks to both of you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, is Ted Cruz likable enough? That's what "TIME" magazine is asking in its new cover story.

[10:29:25]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Senator Ted Cruz is campaigning today in upstate New York and while he tries to garner support there, he's touting increasing support from the GOP establishment, although it still seems rather tepid. Listen to the Senator James Risch from Idaho.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES RISCH (R), IDAHO: At this point it becomes a matter of pragmatics for Republicans. I'm privy as most Americans are to the polling that's out there, and it is stunning, the defeat that Donald Trump would face against Hillary Clinton.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So you're not going to support Donald Trump. Is that what you're saying?

RISCH: I'm not going to support him.

BLITZER: What about the other two?

RISCH: Well, I would obviously -- Kasich is so far behind. It's impossible really for him to get the numbers. So by process of elimination, that gets you to Ted Cruz.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. So that lukewarm support isn't lost on anyone, including our popular culture. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen up, everybody. I'm Lindsey Gram. I got the name of a chick but you know I'm the man. You may know me as the guy from the news. I like to rag on that loser Ted Cruz. I hate how he talks and I hate his face. I hate everything about that rat in the race. In all honesty I hope that he dies. But Trump is the worst so Cruz is my guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)