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Donald Trump Accuses Republican Party of Corrupt Delegate System; Sanders, Clinton Battling For New York; New Clinton Ad Attacks Trump, Not Sanders. Aired 9:-9:30a ET
Aired April 11, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:00:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big day because in the game of life, you just he just got a win.
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CAMEROTA: There you go. That is beautiful. What a great message.
CUOMO: Right?
PEREIRA: Thank you, Chris.
CAMEROTA: Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. Good morning, Carol.
PEREIRA: Happy Monday.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Did you say happy Monday?
PEREIRA: I sure did.
COSTELLO: That is not possible. You know Friday is my favorite day of the week.
CAMEROTA: We do know that.
COSTELLO: You guys have a great day anyway.
NEWSROOM starts now.
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COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump back on the trail, back on the attack.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll say it to the Republican Party. The people that don't like what's going on.
COSTELLO: His camp accusing team Cruz of using Gestapo tactics in the delegate race.
Plus Bernie Sanders says he is going all the way to the convention. SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We think we have a
path toward getting more pledged delegates than Secretary Clinton.
COSTELLO: But Hillary Clinton says not so fast.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I intend to have the number of delegates that are required to be nominated.
COSTELLO: And now zeroing in on Donald Trump.
Plus, road rage murder or something else? A Super Bowl champ shot dead after a crash. What we know about his suspected killer.
Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail and his words and elbows are sharper than ever. Trump railing at the GOP's delegate system in Colorado. The convention handing Ted Cruz a weekend windfall without a single vote being cast in a primary or caucus. Trump going on the attack this morning.
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TRUMP: This was changed in the summer to help a guy like Cruz and it's not right. You know, I won -- as an example, South Carolina, I won it by a landslide, like a massive landslide, and now they are trying to pick off those delegates one by one.
That's not the way democracy is supposed to work. And you know, they offer them trips, they offer them all sorts of things. And you're allowed to do that. I mean, you're allowed to offer trips and you can buy all these votes.
What kind of a system is this? Now I'm an outsider. And I came into the system and I'm winning the votes by millions of votes. But the system is rigged. It's crooked.
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COSTELLO: Phil Mattingly is here with more on that this morning. Good morning.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Carol. Well, the system is confusing. It's somewhat convoluted and right now it's being owned by Ted Cruz and that is creating major problems for Donald Trump's campaign.
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TRUMP: We've got a corrupt system. It's not right. We are supposed to be a democracy.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump back on the campaign trail in New York after spending four days laying low.
TRUMP: We've got to have a system where voting means something. Doesn't it have to mean something?
MATTINGLY: Criticizing the delegate system after a string of losses, state battles dominated by Ted Cruz's campaign organization, and issuing a warning to the Republican National Committee.
TRUMP: You're going to have a big problem, folks, because there are people that don't like what is going on.
MATTINGLY: Trump's top adviser, Paul Manafort, echoing his boss's concerns alleging that the Cruz campaign is threatening Trump's delegates.
PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CONVENTION MANAGER: You go to these county conventions and you see the tactics, Gestapo tactics. We're going to be filing several protests because reality is they are not playing by the rules.
MATTINGLY: The Cruz campaign calls it sour grapes writing in a statement, quote, "It's no surprise Trump's team will lash out with falsehoods when facing a loss to distract from their failure."
Trump taking to social media to express frustration with the delegate fight, tweeting, "The people of Colorado had their vote taken away from them by phony politicians. Biggest story in politics. This will not be allowed."
This back and forth coming just a day after Cruz went after Trump over electability while courting top donors in Las Vegas.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If Donald is the nominee poll after poll after poll shows him losing by double digits. We're looking at a blood bath of Walter Mondale proportions.
MATTINGLY: These attacks coming as Trump tries out a new strategy, playing it safe. The Republican frontrunner was absent from the Sunday talk shows yesterday for the first time in four months.
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MATTINGLY: Now, Carol, one of the more amazing things is when Colorado Republicans change their state rules back in 2015 there was a lot of concern that they wouldn't be relevant anymore because of how they were moving away from the caucus system. Well, go figure. They are now very relevant.
And what this underscores really is this. This is very legal what the Cruz campaign is doing. And they are better organized, they are outmaneuvering and they are outplaying Donald Trump's campaign really in every one of these states right now. That is a major problem for the Trump campaign as we look forward to, can you get to that magic 1237 number and if you can't, and it's an open convention, the second, third and fourth ballots. Trump campaign now working hard to try and recover on this front, but they have a lot of work to do -- Carol. [09:05:03] COSTELLO: All right. Phil Mattingly, thanks so much.
Many voters would agree with the question raised in one of Mr. Trump's tweet, quote, "How is it possible that the people of the great state of Colorado never got to vote in the Republican primary? Great anger. Totally unfair," end quote.
It is true no voter cast a ballot for Trump or Cruz. Instead Colorado Republicans gathered at their state assembly to elect national delegates. Each person who wished to be a delegate in Cleveland had 10 seconds in which to state their case. Watch.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patrick Davis, Trump conservative. Patrick David, Trump conservative, Patrick David, Trump conservative, Patrick David, Trump conservative, 114.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote Charlie (INAUDIBLE), 27.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 38. Number 38. To go stand up unpledged in Cleveland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please vote for me, we're going to go for Ted Cruz all the way. He believes in God, family, protecting our amendments and just giving us a new government that we need.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Sure. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see how easy it is? They hear you, they believe you, they go for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
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COSTELLO: A little taste of what happened in Colorado.
With me now Trump supporter and CNN political commentator, Jeffrey Lord, and Bob Vander Plaats, a Ted Cruz supporter and executive president of the Family Leader.
Welcome to both of you.
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Happy Monday, Carol.
COSTELLO: I told you, Jeffrey, that is not possible for it to be a happy Monday. Thank you.
Jeffrey, I want to start with you. Mr. Trump accuses Senator Cruz of shady tactics in Colorado. Can you be more specific about that? LORD: You know, I can't in Colorado only because I'm just hearing
about this today. But I do know -- for instance, I was just reading before I came on about a delegate in Virginia, the district went for Donald Trump. The delegate by law is pledged to Donald Trump for one ballot but he's a Ted Cruz supporter. And so he says if he can just get past the first ballot he's going to support Ted Cruz.
There is something more than screwy about how this works. And what Donald is saying about the delegates being offered anything, I was at the last -- the last time we had a convention of this nature in 1976 I was there, I very well remember that there was one delegate undecided from somewhere in the Midwest who found himself dining with Queen Elizabeth at the Ford White House. You can offer these people just about anything except a federal job and it's all kosher.
COSTELLO: Well, we did check it out, Bob. And so I'll ask you that question. Is it possible Cruz's camp could be offering incentives to delegates? It's not exactly illegal, as Jeffrey said. There are limits but according to FEC rules delegates can accept contributions for travel and FEC rules are kind of murky when it comes to political PACs contributing other kinds of gifts to potential delegates. So was all of that part of Senator Cruz's strategy in Colorado?
BOB VANDER PLAATS, TED CRUZ SUPPORTER: Absolutely not. What you're seeing, you're seeing another loser lip from Donald Trump. He's getting beat. His narrative is all he does is win and now Cruz is winning and Cruz is winning and winning and winning. So it makes it a happy Monday for the Cruz campaign.
But the only incentive Ted Cruz is offering the delegates is better leadership for the country and someone who can actually beat Hillary Clinton in November. That's the only incentive delegates need to rally behind Ted Cruz. Yes, we're seeing the whole party unite around Ted Cruz right now. So I think Cruz is showing -- it's very legal, he's got a better ground game, he's better organized. And this makes for a quality candidate going into November.
COSTELLO: So, Jeffrey, on the other hand Mr. Trump's camp can read FEC rules just as I can.
LORD: Right.
COSTELLO: Shouldn't Mr. Trump's team have known this all along and have gone to Colorado and rally the troops?
LORD: I mean, it would have been helpful I think if they were there. There's no question about that. But they do have Paul Manafort on the job. Paul has done this both for President Ford and for -- I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who got the guy to have dinner with the Queen. And he also did it for President Reagan. So he knows how this works. He can play the political hard ball that the Cruz team is playing.
And let me just point out here that Donald Trump is not losing. He's ahead both in delegates and in votes -- in primary votes. So he is ahead. COSTELLO: It's true and Bob, I want to ask you this question because
-- so, you know, some Americans might be questioning this whole system and they might be saying well, Donald Trump is ahead in the vote count by two million votes. So why should Ted Cruz get the nomination if we head to Cleveland if Mr. Trump is still ahead? But Mr. Cruz's team has done a better job of rallying the delegates?
VANDER PLAATS: You know, Carol, I used to coach basketball and you play within the rules of the game. These rules aren't new to Jeffrey. They're not new to me. They're not new to Ted Cruz.
[09:10:04] They may be new to Donald Trump because Donald Trump is new to the Republican Party, and he's now trying to say he's a conservative and a conservative brand. The fact is the rules have been laid out and whoever gets to 1237 whether that's before Cleveland or at Cleveland is going to be our party's nominee.
So I think we're playing within the rules. I think Ted Cruz has got a great strategy moving forward. I think right now most people see him as the likely nominee coming out of Cleveland.
COSTELLO: So, Jeffrey, do you still stand by the Gestapo tactics thing that was thrown out about Senator Cruz's team?
LORD: Yes. I mean, I'm sure that they are doing some things here. I don't know what. And I intend to get up to speed on exactly what's going on here with the tactics and all of this kind of thing. But clearly they are playing hard ball. I mean, when you listen to that Colorado sound bite and they have, what 10 seconds or something to state the deal, and the voters don't get to vote? I mean, this is going to be a huge issue here moving forward. There's just no question about it.
VANDER PLAATS: You know, Carol --
LORD: And if 50 different systems, I'm talking to you from Pennsylvania. We have a whole different system here in Pennsylvania where the beauty contest so-called is disconnected from the actual votes for delegates at the congressional district level. You've got to have people on here on the ballot. It's just their name. It's not the name of the candidate they support. So you really do have to get into the weeds of this. There's no question about it.
COSTELLO: Well, Bob, it doesn't make people very excited to vote, frankly.
VANDER PLAATS: Well, you know what, I have a lot of respect for Jeffrey. I like him. But the hard ball is Ted Cruz is playing to win. And that's what we expect out of a candidate for president is play to win. And he's given a great message.
As a matter of fact, we just had our convention yesterday or excuse me, Saturday in the state of Iowa. The district conventions. And the "Des Moines Register" reported Cruz has nearly a clean sweep in the state of Iowa in the district conventions. That's a candidate that's organized, that's a candidate that's playing to win, that's a candidate that can win in November. But that's on message. That's not on any Gestapo tactic. That's on playing to win. And I think Americans want somebody who wants to win for the country.
COSTELLO: All right. Thanks to you both. Bob Vander Plaats and Jeffrey Lord. Beginning tonight --
LORD: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
VANDER PLAATS: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Beginning tonight a --
VANDER PLAATS: It's a great Monday.
COSTELLO: You're welcome. It is for Senator Cruz. I will agree with that.
There's a unique event happening on CNN. Town halls with all three Republican candidates, their wives and their kids. John Kasich tonight, Donald Trump tomorrow, Ted Cruz on Wednesday. Starts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton? Who is more New York? The Democratic battle for the Empire State cred heats up.
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COSTELLO: It's an all-out Democratic dash across New York. Bernie Sanders and Bill Clinton both speaking next hour. Today's blitz just days before CNN's Brooklyn debate where Sanders and Clinton will face off, Hillary Clinton that is.
Perhaps their biggest battle right now proving who is more New York, Clinton takes the subway, Sanders (inaudible) hotdogs, and then this new ad.
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COSTELLO: Chris Frates is in Rochester with more on this. Good morning.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. So Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton continue to barn storm across New York though they continued to down play their attacks at the other is unqualified to be president.
Here's Hillary Clinton talking about Bernie Sanders just yesterday.
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HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I have said repeatedly that I take him over Donald Trump or Ted Cruz any day. I think people know that I will be a president who will follow through on what I have said.
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FRATES: So Clinton taking a swipe at Bernie Sanders there suggesting she is the president to get things done. Sanders continuing to question Hillary Clinton's judgment, for instance, pointing out that she voted for the war in Iraq and a vote that Clinton says she regrets.
Sanders also criticizing both Bill and Hillary Clinton after President Clinton defended his wife's use of the term super predator, which some see as a racist swipe against black youth.
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BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think we all know what that term meant in the context that it was said years ago. We know who they were talking about. It's exactly right. And I think that the president owes the American people an apology for trying to defend what is indefensible.
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FRATES: Now Bernie Sanders is trying to cut into Hillary Clinton's lead among African-Americans and minorities, two constituencies that have helped make her the frontrunner.
In fact she is still the frontrunner here. In New York, she is leading by double digits in the polls, but Bernie Sanders campaigning hard in upstate New York to cut the deficit.
Hillary Clinton will be in the New York City suburbs today. We continue to see the battle unfold all day long -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Chris Frates, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.
Hillary Clinton has taken herself out of the fray. Her camp releasing a series of ads attacking not Bernie Sanders but Donald Trump.
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[09:20:06]COSTELLO: With me now to talk about this and more, Nomiki Konst, a Sanders supporter and Democratic strategist, Errol Louis, New York One anchor and CNN political analyst, and Patti Solis Doyle, a Clinton supporter and former Hillary Clinton presidential campaign manager.
Welcome to all of you. Good morning. Nomiki, I want to start with you. So Hillary Clinton releases that ad yet Bernie Sanders intimates that she is a racist because she used the term super predators in 1994. Which is it?
NOMIKI KONST, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Bernie Sanders didn't use that term. Let's make that very clear and he has run a very positive campaign, hasn't issued any negative ads. COSTELLO: He said that Hillary Clinton should apologize for using the term super predator --
KONST: She should.
COSTELLO: Because we all know what that means -- and someone from the audience shouted black people.
KONST: That is the audience. To be fair that was in Harlem and it was a very large African-America community in there. They felt that they felt the effects of those terms when she campaigned for that crime bill in 1994. There has been no apology from her and there should be especially running for president --
COSTELLO: So you're saying in 1994, when Hillary Clinton said super predator she meant it as a racist comment?
KONST: I think she said a disparaging comment towards African- American youth and men. I think it is far too late for an apology at this point. She continues to own that line and so does Bill Clinton.
They are trying to go to the African-American community. Let's keep this in mind, in 2008 when the recession hit the banking policies were policies protected by the Clinton administration and Hillary Clinton.
COSTELLO: I want to stick to this super predator thing for just a second because that is a serious allegation, right. So I want to ask you, Patti. I think Hillary Clinton has apologized for making that remark, hasn't she?
PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: She has. She says she regretted using that term. Come on, the idea that Hillary Clinton is racist is one of the most absurd things I have heard.
This is a woman who has committed her public life, her public career to fighting systemic racism whether when working for the Children's Defense Fund, when she worked as U.S. senator, as first lady. This idea is just ridiculous.
Also, I mean, the votes that she has garnered across the country. Hillary Clinton is the one who has built a broad coalition of support across the country, African-American, Hispanics, women. So I think the attack is just ridiculous.
COSTELLO: Let me insert this and I want to post this question to you, Errol. Both Clintons were here in New York. They talked about that crime bill. It seems they are a little worried about that.
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure. It is a damming charge. Protesters coming out you have to have a response. There is the Bill Clinton response where he got into the back and forth with people. It looked terrible. The optics were terrible.
But also let's keep in mind there is this one phrase, one speech and then the underlying bill. President Clinton signed it. Hillary Clinton supported it. Bernie Sanders voted for it. If we want to talk about moving towards the future and unpacking what was in this bill, there was a lot in that bill. There was the assault weapons ban, which a lot of people liked.
There was domestic violence, more cops on the streets at a time when crack was spinning out of control. There was a lot of crime. We had 2,000 murders a year around that range in New York. We are down to under 400.
So it was a different world. It was a passionate debate. Everybody was on the same side. Bernie Sanders voted for that very bill. If he wants somebody to apologize he'll need to apologize for having voted for the bill, I would think.
COSTELLO: It's like Hillary Clinton does keep racking up these prominent African-Americans. She just wrapped up the endorsement of Elijah Cummings, right? Nomiki, so -- are African-Americans really that angry that in 1994, Hillary Clinton --
KONST: I think they are. I think especially if you look at the numbers of African-Americans under 50, you know, the family members, the children of parents that were put in prison.
When those private prison industry lobby Bill Clinton, and poured money into that crime bill, if they can connect the dots, they can see what cause and effective, and that's why Bernie Sanders is winning with minorities under the age of 50.
Now of course, he has to do a better job explaining issues to older generations of voters and that's where Hillary is leading. But if we look at how Wall Street affected communities of color a lot has changed in New York since 2008 when Hillary Clinton was in office.
A lot. We had a recession. Communities of color have been gentrified, housing prices have gone up. They lost their homes. The $15 minimum wage which Bernie Sanders is for and Hillary Clinton is against, it affects women of color.
If we want to look at her record and her policies they don't look very good for communities of color.
COSTELLO: Patti, last word.
DOYLE: I just could not disagree more. Hillary Clinton has campaigned statewide in New York twice. She has won twice.
[09:25:05]She was with Governor Cuomo when he signed the $15 minimum wage and the way New York State is working it is it is phasing it in.
That is what Hillary Clinton's proposal is, you know, $15 in the city, but in upstate where economic times are a bit more difficult they are phasing that in.
COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Nomiki Konst, Errol Louis, Patti Solis Doyle, thanks to all of you. After all of this fighting, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will meet on stage to fight some more just days before the New York primary, Thursday night's debate the first time they are face-to-face in more than five weeks.
It will be moderated by Wolf Blitzer. Errol Louis will be there too as a moderator so will Dana Bash only on CNN starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a Super Bowl champion gunned down after a car crash. New questions this morning about the suspect's motive and the connections between the two men.
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