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Donald Trump Continues Attacks on Republican National Committee System; Massive Earthquake and Rescue Operations in Ecuador; U.S. to Step Up Military Campaign Against ISIS; Police Investigating Whether British Airways Plane Hit Drone on Landing at Heathrow; Trump Expected to Win Big in New York; Firefighter Killed Trying to Help, But Shooter Will Not Be Charged; U.S. Officials Angry over Another Dangerous and Provocative Run-in with Russian Military in Baltic Sea; Supreme Court ot Hear Oral Arguments about President's Use of Executive Power on Immigration. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired April 17, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (INAUDIBLE). And you know, they are always saying, would you endorse Trump? And it's like, well -- like he is tortured. I don't care. I want the people. I just want the people. These guys, you know, it's so phony. Like, do you ever watch political campaigns? All my life I have watched them. I have always been fascinating. And they will be fighting and fighting and saying horrible things about each other. It's vicious. Then one wins, one loses. And they go to make their speech. And that one that loses, I would to congratulate. He is going to be a great governor or senator or president.

I don't think I'm going to be doing that, folks. You know? I don't think so. Number one, I don't think we're making any concessions, I'll be honest. And you know, we're doing so well, we're leading by millions of votes. We are leading by hundreds of delegates. I think we are going to make it without having to, you know, rely on the bosses. As you saw what happened in Colorado where people are picketing and going crazy? Well, in Colorado -- and I said, don't waste my money.

Here's the nice part. I'm self-funding, right? And may because we are (INAUDIBLE). But I have spent less money just about than practically anybody and I'm in number one position by a lot. Don't you want that for your president? Don't you want that? I spent less.

You know, we went up to New Hampshire. We won New Hampshire. That was my first big - I love New Hampshire. We won it. And I spent $2 million and Jeb Bush spent, I don't know, many, many times that. And I came in first in a landslide and let's not use names but Jeb Bush was -- wow, did he get beat.

And then I went to South Carolina and all of the bosses came out and they were all like, you know, pushing one guy because the one guy had a lot of contributors. I won in a landslide. I thought Nikki Haley was for him, everybody was for him. And you know what? Well, she is very weak on, I will tell you what, she is very weak on borders and she's very weak, very, on illegal immigration. And you know what folks, we are going to have strong borders. We are

going to have strong voters and we are going to have the wall. We are going to have the wall, 100 percent. Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready?

CROWD: Build that wall! Build that wall!

TRUMP: You better believe it. You better believe it.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. All fired up. What you see is what you get. That's what Donald Trump is saying in Poughkeepsie, New York, there from the name calling to spending less than his opponents but still coming out front. And then, there again, is talk of the wall.

Let's talk more about this rally Donald Trump just two days now ahead of the New York primary outside the rally in Poughkeepsie is CNN Chris Frates. Also with us from State Island where Trump stumped earlier today is CNN politics reporter, Jeremy Diamond.

All right. Chris, you first. There was a lot of chanting going on. He is getting a whole lot of support. And it seems very excited there in that crowd just a couple of days ahead of the primary.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly right, Fred. I mean, he is firing up his crowd here. And we have seen black lives matter protesters outside so we will see if there is any fireworks that erupt here going forward.

But remember, Donald Trump has lost a couple of contests now to Ted Cruz. Just recently in Wyoming yesterday, Cruz took all 14 of those delegates. And Trump continues to rail against this idea of a rigged system. And that's because Ted Cruz has been winning at the state conventions. And Trump saying, you know, there should be primaries, there should caucuses, people should vote. But Ted Cruz is doing very well where organization matter and that's in places like these state conventions. Here's what Donald Trump had to say about the whole system a little bit earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When it's up to the bosses, we didn't play in Colorado because I heard that was going to be for the bosses, for the RNC, for the people. So I'm not going to spend and waste a lot of money. Don't forget, I'm self-funding. So we didn't play there. We didn't play in Wyoming because the game was rigged. And that I don't want to go six, seven months before. That's what you have to do. Take them on trips, put them in hotel rooms, do the whole thing. I don't want to play that game. I'm winning with the voters. And we're winning big and I think we'll get to the 1237.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: So there you have Donald Trump explaining that he thinks he can still get there and that New York primary on Tuesday is going to be huge. But Ted Cruz took the opportunity to take a little bit of a poke at Donald Trump on twitter just a few minutes ago. If we can put that tweet up here, and I'll read it to you.

It says, Donald, over 1.3 million people just voted in Utah, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Colorado and Wyoming, you lost all five in a row by huge margins. #nowhining.

So Cruz taking a bit of a victory laugh there. And he should. I'll tell you why, Fred, because he is not, if you believe the polls, going to do as well here in New York. Donald Trump has a double-digit lead. The recent "Wall Street Journal" poll showed him with 54 percent of the vote. Ted Cruz just at 16 percent. So he has now a lot of ground to make up here. And Donald Trump could win all of the delegates, 95 delegates at stake here. If he can win more than 50 percent of the vote statewide and in each of these congressional delegates, that would be huge for him to get to that magic number. And as you can hear behind me firing everybody up to get out there on Tuesday, Fred.

[15:00:00] WHITFIELD: My goodness.

OK. Well, from Ted Cruz, them, are fighting words. He is ready to get into the mix there and scrap a little one, Donald Trump.

So Jeremy, you know, Donald Trump, you just heard him. You know, he is still using that name calling, you know, from lying Ted and now there's a new one for Hillary Clinton. He really is speaking to his supporters, is he not? I mean, or is he trying to send his message, you know, much more broadly and trying to steal Clinton supporters or, you know, Ted Cruz supporters by this kind of name calling or is it just, you know, play, you know, schoolyard brawl?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, I think we have seen so far Donald Trump's prowess at being, you know, this massive brander where he is able to had a brand his opponents in certain ways. I think he is certainly looking ahead to the general election talking now about Hillary Clinton being crooked Hillary. It looks like that is sticking. He was talking about that first yesterday during a rally. He tweeted it out this morning. And again, he talked about it in Staten Island and now we're hearing him in Poughkeepsie.

So, it is certainly seems like that's what Donald Trump is going to trying and brand Hillary as if he does faces her in a general election. Certainly Donald Trump kind of trumping at a bit here as he is kind of trying to whiz his way through this made of the delegate process to get the Republican. He is looking towards the general election and he is certainly ready and prepared and hoping that he is able to be the Republican nominee and take Hillary Clinton on. So I think this kind of crooked Hillary stuff is the same kind of thing we are going to hear from Donald Trump going forward if, in fact, it does turn to a general election between the two.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, Chris Frates, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

So the Republican race for president certainly has grabbed the nation's attention. But its divisiveness also has one Republican leader very concerned. We're talking about New York congressman Peter King. I asked him if he sees the Republican Party being broken. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: These are tough times. In the past, there was Reagan/Ford. That was a tough year to fight. But basically they had respect for each other and their positions were not that far apart. They did represent different segments of the party but that was within the conventional structure of the Republican Party.

Now you have Donald Trump who until recently wasn't a Republican. He endorsed John Kerry back in 2004. Then you have Ted Cruz who calls the fellow Republicans liars and led the move to shut down the government and makes a point to say that he's fighting with everybody in Washington.

So you have two who are outside the traditional Republican mold. The only one who is within that, really right now, is John Kasich. So if it's Trump or Cruz, and not only that, their supporters intensely dislike each other. Certainly Trump and Cruz do. So neither one of them gets the nomination that survives the party. But if they don't get it -- and so, I guess what I am trying to say is we are in as close to fairly situation as I have seen only because of the dynamics of it and because of the cast of characters involved. If it comes down to Trump and Cruz, I would certainly support Donald Trump in a heartbeat over Ted Cruz. If it's John Kasich, that could be a different story.

WHITFIELD: And I remember a while back, it was over a year ago when you and I spoke, and there were lots of rumors about whether you would throw a hat in the ring and he regret and he talked about what you could have been the 18th Republican.

KING: It could have been a contender.

WHITFIELD: It could have been a contender.

KING: As you watch the debates or I watched the debates, and certainly it's an opportunity that you could have. The fact is, I didn't run. Maybe if I had more money or more support on the ground, different groups I would have. But the fact is, it was always a long shot. I put my name there, went to New Hampshire seven or eight times, Vermont, Rhode Island just to see if lightning would strike, but it didn't.

And so I got out of the race last summer. In fact, I announced on CNN I wasn't running. But I would -- again, I think it could have been a place like someone for me in the party, a blue collar conservative who can work within the Republican structure, but also appeals to Democrats. I thought Marco Rubio, you know, could have been that candidate but again it didn't happen.

It is what it is. There is an angry electoral out there. Donald Trump has able to tap in to it. Ted Cruz did in his own way and Bernie Sanders has on the Democratic side. But yes, I wish I would have run, but I didn't. So that is it. And nobody else cares on whether you ask the question. But, you know, if you don't do it, you don't do it. So I absolutely --. [15:10:17] WHITFIELD: Sometimes you have to reflect before you look

forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. He's a good sport about it. More on my conversation with New York Congressman Peter King next hour. He agrees with Ted Cruz when he calls for increased monitoring of Muslim neighborhoods.

And on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is hosting an event in Staten Island later today and Bernie Sanders is on his old stamping ground in Brooklyn. For the last few days, Sanders has been doubling down on his attacks against Clinton's wealthy donors.

Here he is on "STATE OF THE UNION" with CNN's Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Can you point to a decision Hillary Clinton made as senator that shows she favored banks because of the donations she received?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As a matter of fact, she voted for a bad bankruptcy legislation and whether that's a result of contributions from Wall Street or elsewhere, no one can say that, Dana. But what I would also repeat to you is the most important issue is, what is your stand on Wall Street? You're not going to have government that represents all of us so long as you have candidates like Secretary Clinton being depending on big money and trusts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's go now to Brynn Gingras who is at that Sanders rally in Brooklyn now. And lots of big crowds there as I guess he is getting used to this particularly in New York. So what's the campaign expecting today?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Fred, it is about to get just as ready as we were seeing with critics at the Trump's rally. We just have some live entertainment ahead of Bernie coming on the stage at about 4:00. So in just under an hour.

And we did have a chance to kind of go out and talk to some his supporters. One person, he was from Norway. That's how global this is reaching, Bernie's message. Of course, he can't vote on Tuesday but he says he is a huge supporter. And part of the reason he says that is because of his campaign contribution policy. And many of these rallies we actually see Bernie take a minute and stop and let the crowd answer how much the average campaign contribution is to his campaign. And everyone yells $27, which, of course, pales in comparison to Hillary Clinton just yesterday attended a fund-raiser held by George and Amal Clooney in California and there were a group of supporters throwing bills at her motorcade as she headed to that star-studded event. So this is something that people are really passionate about. We talked to one gentleman said he thought that theatrical

demonstrations was hilarious. We have another one who said that, you know what, everybody knows what Hillary is like. And actually, we come to people just be hypothetically speaking, will be vote for Hillary if she gets the nominee. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would cross over or not vote at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's going to change the tide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: So certainly we are getting ready for the 4:00 Bernie Sanders rally. And of course, we will see you then, Fred.

WHITFIELD: My God. Brynn, you deserve a gold medal today because those speakers are really booming, but you completed with them. We appreciate it. Thanks so much. We'll go back to you when they have to, you know, I don't know, switch deejays or something when there's little silence in the air.

All right. Thanks, Brynn Gingras. Thank you.

All right. Still ahead, we are following breaking news out of Ecuador. A massive earthquake and the race to find survivors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:53] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: We are following breaking news out of Ecuador where crews are scrambling to reach survivors after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed at least 238 people. The first pictures of rescues coming in to CNN showing emergency workers pulling out a young girl from the rubble of a collapsed building. It reportedly took them hours just to locate her underneath this fallen concrete. Scenes like this are playing out all across the quake zone. There are no reports of any Americans killed.

Joining me right now, CNN senior Latin American affairs editor Rafael Romo with us now.

So you got bad weather, lack of communication, crumbling infrastructure. This is very hard.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICA AFFAIRS EDITOR: Yes, that's right, Fred. And we are talking about a one-two punch situation here. Ecuador has had to wrench the raise for the last several weeks due to the weather pattern known as Celenio (ph). So the ground was unstable already. Add to mix a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and the result is the images we are getting from Ecuador including a bridge that collapsed in the city of (INAUDIBLE) killing at least one person. Officially, the death toll stands at 238. There are more than 1500 people injured in six provinces, take a look

at this map, are under a state of emergency. In the province of Manabi, 200 people died out of a total 238 fatalities as a result of the earthquake.

We are also getting lots of images from (INAUDIBLE). This is the largest in most populist city of the entire country and also Ecuador's main port. A 19-year-old young man died when a piece of concrete hit him at a shopping mall there. The earthquake hit last night just before 7:00. So Fred, many shopping centers were packed with lots and lots of people.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. And then this comes on the heels of another very significant that of earthquake in Japan.

ROMO: That's right. And I was looking at the data in this situation in Japan. And in the span of about 25 hours, there were three earthquakes. There was one that hit Thursday 9:26 p.m. in the city Kumamoto, 6.2 magnitude. And then only three hours later, another one, magnitude 6.0 and then Saturday, this morning, at 1:05, there was a third one 7.8. So they are talking about aftershocks and foreshocks because it was just a series of earthquakes that hit essentially the very same area in 25 hours and they are talking about 41 people killed and as many as 91,000 people that had to be evacuated.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. Terrible situation.

All right. Thank you so much. I know rescue teams around the world really are being mobilized in these two very different locations.

All right. Thank you so much, Rafael. Appreciate it.

ROMO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. To help those impacted by the earthquake in Ecuador, visit CNN.com/impact.

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:23:36] WHITFIELD: All right. "The New York Times" is reporting the U.S. plans to step up its military campaign against ISIS. It would increase special operations forces advising Syrian rebels and might add more army attack helicopters to fight off militants in Iraq. Defense secretary Ash Carter said Saturday that U.S. forces would help, but not replace Iraqi security forces or Syrian rebels.

CNN military analyst lieutenant Rick Francona is joining us now.

So, how do you see this playing out as an addition of more special forces, smart good strategy?

RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think it's a smart strategy but if we're going to adhere to the president's admonition against boots on the ground, I think they are relaxing that restriction because this is truly boots on the ground. They are talking about adding another 200 special forces to the 50 that are already in Syria. That's a quantum leap.

But what that tells us is what they are doing is working. The Syrian rebels on the ground working with the Kurdish counterparts have really been able to do a lot of good against ISIS because they are able to control American air power much better.

On the Iraqi side, the addition to the helicopters, that's a real dangerous proposition because if we're going to use attack helicopters to support the Iraqi invasion and the retaking of Mosul, that's going to put American pilots in the threat envelope of weapons that ISIS has.

[15:25:04] WHITFIELD: Yes. Low flying and slower moving targets very dangerous.

Secretary of state John Kerry and President Obama, you know, or saying that the U.S. is winning is really making some ground in this fight. Take a listen to the president this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, on the ground in Syria and Iraq, ISIL is on the defensive. Our 66 member coalition, including Arab partners is on the offensive. We have momentum and we intend to keep that momentum. So once again, we are sending a message. If you target Americans, you have no safe haven. We will find you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, it really says momentum. Is that the same as saying winning?

FRANCONA: No. Winning momentum is semantics. But, you know, we are having success against ISIL or ISIS. But a lot of that is due to the capability of the Kurds, and this, both the Syrian Kurds and Iraqi Kurds. They are the ones that are taking ground back from ISIS. We see Iraqi force having some success. They were to take Ramadi. They are still having problems there. Now, they are moving up the Euphrates (ph) valley. That will be the next one. But they still have to clear Editha (ph) before they can make that pivot and really put the resources necessary to drive up the tigress valley and go into Mosul. And that is going to be a long hard-fought battle because ISIS has had over than a year to prepare the battlefield.

When they go up there, they are going to have to go house by house, street by street through everything that's been put there, obstacles, IEDs, suicide bombers. It's going to be a very tough fight. ISIS knows they are coming and they are getting ready.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lieutenant Rick Francona, thank you so much.

All right. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:29:55] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: We are following breaking news.

Police are investigating whether a British airways plane was hit by a drone as it was landing at Heathrow. British airways telling CNN quote "detectives are investigating after an object hit the front of the passenger plane as it approached Heathrow's terminal 5 at around 12:30 p.m.

CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen is in London.

So Fred, what more do we know about what happened?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that both the British Airways as well as the British metropolitan police and the London metropolitan police do believe that it was possibly a drone that struck this aircraft. They say that this aircraft, which was a fairly small airline, an airbus A-320, was coming in to land around 12:30 local British time. And that it was struck by some sort of object, thy say at the front of the aircraft.

Now, at this point in time, the plane was carrying 132 passengers. It also have five crew members on board and indeed was in its final approach. So only about, let's say a couple hundred feet off the ground.

Now, the pilot says that he believes that what struck the aircraft was in fact a drone. And now both the police here in London as well as the airline themselves are saying they believe that could be the case as well. What we know is that the police have been investigating the incident at this point in time. They say no arrests have been made just yet. But certainly this is something that they are taking very seriously.

Now, as for the aircraft itself, Fredricka, it was evaluated after this happened and they say that they deemed that the aircraft was fit to fly and it has actually been flying since all of this happened, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Has something like this happened before?

PLEITGEN: Well, you know, that's a very good question because it actually has. And the British pilot union do say that especially around Heathrow airport, this is something that is a grave concern to them. They say that they have requested some sort of study or some sort of survey about what could happen if in fact an airliner was struck by a drone. They say that they have had 23 incidents where drones came close to aircraft in the past six months alone, including one incident where a 777, which of course, is a very large airliner, took off from Heathrow airport and had a drone about 70 feet next to the airplane. So very, very close.

And they say, through this study, they want to find out, what for instance, would happen if a drone would not strike the front. But for instance, the engine of an aircraft, get sucked into the engine. What would happen then? Could it indeed be a very a catastrophic engine failure that could indeed be a very bad obviously for the safety of the plane?

But it is a recurring problem. It is something that pilots have been complaining and talking about for quite a while, especially around Heathrow airport and certainly something that is going to be taken even more seriously now that apparently this incident will happen -- that has happened. But, of course, the police are still investigating and see who might be behind all of this and how it could come to this.

WHITFIELD: All right. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much from London. Appreciate it.

All right, here in the states, we are in the final sprint before Tuesday's New York's primary. Donald Trump is holding a rally in Poughkeepsie at this hour. And he is leading big in the polls in New York. The Republican front-runner, that front-runner doesn't appear to be taking voters for granted. He continues to hold numerous campaign events around the state.

Let's bring in our political panel, Ron Brownstein, a CNN senior political analyst and Julian Zelizer is a CNN contributor, historian and professor at Princeton University.

All right. Good to see both of you.

All right. So Julian, you first. You know, Trump is expected to win big in New York. Does he need to sweep with this, you know, 95 delegates at stake in order to keep him in first place?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think it's very important he is in first place and, you know, even without that kind of sweep, he would remain there. But you know, he had two difficult weeks. It allowed Cruz to gain some strength and grain some legs to his campaign, especially with what happened in Colorado. So I think this would be very important to kind of change in the media narrative and give a boost to Trump supporters going toward California.

WHITFIELD: And Ron, I mean, talk about momentum, we have been talking about this, you know, and putting so many candidates at an advantage. It's Ted Cruz who really says he has got the momentum right now given that he's done so well in some of the most recent races. But New York, you know, the polling is just not showing very favorable potential numbers for Ted Cruz.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, I think the evidence is very clear that in a modern primary system, Fred, demography Trump's momentum. Momentum doesn't really exist. What really exists are states that favor one candidate or another based on the patterns of support that they have developed. And Ted Cruz's problem is that what we saw in Wisconsin increasingly looks like a one-time anomaly. He was able to broaden his coalition more than he has been able to do anywhere else. It was the first state with an exit poll of the 21 of them that he won voters who are not evangelical Christians. And what we are seeing in the New York polling is that in falling back into the 15, 20 percent range among voters who are not evangelicals. The problem he has got is that, you know, after New York follows the week after, a series of northeastern states which, again, there are very few of those evangelical Christians who have been central to his support and he could be facing a rough stretch with Donald Trump.

I mean, look. There is very little chance that either of these candidates are going to overcome Donald Trump's lead among delegates. The only real issue is that Donald Trump reached that first ballot majority or not and that remains on the night's edge.

[15:35:20] WHITFIELD: And Julian, you know, what is the strategy here for, you know, Donald Trump to kind of shift the dialogue, talk about and continue to keep hammering on the point of the system being rigged? He's not talking issues. He continues to be able to evade the issues. But what is this doing? It is just simply drumming up, you know, his supporters? Is it setting the stage for something else potentially if there is a brokered convention? What do you think is going on here?

ZELIZER: Well, Trump is weak on organization in the same way that he is very strong in terms of the media. And he realizes that this is one of his great areas of vulnerability. So the first thing I think he is trying to do is push back against these challenges that are taking place to select delegates that will not be favorable to him on the second and third ballot.

The second thing is to set up the argument for the convention. Supporters say this has to be a legitimate process. And, finally, if things go really poorly for him, it sets up an argument for a third candidacy - third party candidacy. So I think it works on many fronts to overcome this weakness.

WHITFIELD: And Ron, Donald Trump has made it a business of the name calling on the campaign trail. And he has got a new name for Hillary Clinton. And in fact she actually responded to his new nickname for her. This is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I don't respond to Donald Trump and his string of insults about me. I can take care of myself. I look forward to running against him if he turns out to be the Republican nominee, if I am the Democratic nominee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Ron. So Hillary Clinton, you know, she is, I guess, has taken a lot of hits all week long, not just from Bernie Sanders but now Donald Trump, too. Is this an admission, so to speak, Donald Trump seeing that it is going to be Hillary Clinton he is going. He may potentially be up against come general election?

BROWNSTEIN: Sure. And you know, running as Donald Trump would be a miserable experience in many ways for Hillary Clinton because he has shown that he will say or do almost anything and he has shown enormous capacity to drive media narrative.

But on the other hand, if you're Hillary Clinton, NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll out today, again, she is looking at historically, extremely high negatives that I think would be setting off red alarm bells among Democrats if not for the fact that Ted Cruz and especially Donald Trump are looking at comparable and Trump's case even higher negatives among voters.

So while running against Trump would be a grueling experience. I mean, I've described it as crawling over broken glass for six months. It would be one in which she would be favored more than she would against any of the Republican nominees simply because he is facing such resistance among the group of the core of the modern Democratic coalition millennials, minorities, college-educated white voters. And so, it would be difficult, but she would have the comfort of knowing that she would be the favorite in that race.

WHITFIELD: Julian, how do you see it? Potentially the two -- I mean, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, they are both being saddled with some polling that gives them high negatives. How do you see it unfolding if it were the two of them duking out the general election?

ZELIZER: Yes. I mean, look. Both candidates almost wipe out some of the disadvantages each have with unfavorability and with scandal. But what she brings to the table especially in contrast with Trump is this record of experience, which has been at the core of her campaign. Both campaigns, actually, which I think will really be highlighted if Donald Trump is the nominee. As opposed to Cruz, where it will be more about someone being very, very far to the right compared to where the electorate is.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julian Zelizer, Ron Brownstein, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, a firefighter killed by someone when he was trying to help but the shooter is not being charged. We'll explain why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:46] WHITFIELD: All right. The man who shot two Maryland firefighters as they were trying to help him will not be facing any charges for now. One of the firefighters was killed. Another wounded Friday night as they responded to a call for medical help at the man's house.

Nick Valencia is with me with much more on this.

So what are police saying about how to move forward at this stage?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to investigators, this all could have just been a horrible, horrible tragedy. This man, who police say, opened fire and killed the firefighter and critically wounded, a paramedic released from police custody on Saturday night. He didn't have to bond out. There were no charges there.

That got us interested in looking deeper into Maryland's use of deadly force. And under Maryland law, there is a duty to retrieve if you feel that your life is in danger. Meaning, that if there's a way out of a situation, you have to take that way out. But there is an exception. And that caveat has to do with one's home. If you're at home and you feel like your life is in danger, you can use deadly force. It's called the castle doctrine. And earlier, I spoke with CNN legal analyst Page Pate and he explained to why the castle doctrine may help this individual from facing any charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If you're in your house, you have in duty to retreat. And so, if you have a reasonable belief that someone is trying to get into your home, under circumstances that would lead you to believe that they are there not for good reasons or bad reasons or criminal reasons, you can use deadly force. So you do have a duty to retreat, but not in your home and that's where it's called the castle doctrine, a man's home is his castle. So there's no requirement that you retreat or avoid deadly force if you're in your home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Ultimately, it's up to the state's attorney to prove that it's not self-defense. It works against the case of this individual who fire the shot that these first responders announced that they were there to respond to this 911 call, whether or not the 61-year-old man who fired the shots heard him. That's up for debate. But this could be in legal limbo for months, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And what more can you tell us about the firefighter who was killed?

VALENCIA: Yes. We have a memorial on Tuesday. We have a funeral on Wednesday. And the firefighter, that 19-year-old paramedic who was also critically wounded on this, he is still recovering. But then he is telling his colleagues, when can I get back out there in the fire truck? I was speaking to some firefighters there locally from his unit. They said, you're a firefighter. You never think that something like this could happen to you. And it was a shock when you heard about it and this friend of his says it was a deeper effect on him when he realized that this is somebody that he knew. So they are all kind of shaken by this right now that these first responders got shot.

[15:45:10] WHITFIELD: Understandably.

All right. Thanks so much, Nick Valencia, appreciate it.

All right. Disturbing, dangerous and provocative. That's what U.S. officials are saying about a couple of close calls with Russian jets in the Baltic Sea. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:49:10] WHITFIELD: U.S. officials are fuming over what they call another dangerous and provocative run-in with the Russian military in the Baltic Sea. They say in an aerial close call, a U.S. air force reconnaissance plane was barrel rolled by a Russian jet that came within 50 feet of the aircraft's wing tip. Just a few days before a Russian jet buzz the "USS Donald Cook" as it was sailing in international waters in the Baltic Sea.

CNN's Brian Todd has more on what is being called a dangerous game being played by the Russians.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Below the bridge wing.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some call these moves strapping runs without the firing. U.S. officials still furious over the buzzing of an American Navy ship by Russian combat jets. America's top diplomat calling the incidents in the Baltic Sea reckless, provocative.

[15:50:01] JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Under the rules of engagement, that could have been a shoot down. So people need to understand that this is serious business. And the United States is not going to be intimidated.

TODD: In wave after wave, Russian jets buzz the USS Donald Cook at certain points coming within 30 feet of the ship.

No margin for error, right?

REAR ADMIRAL TERRENCE MCKNIGHT (RET.), FORMER STATE GROUP COMMANDER: That's correct. I mean, you are talking feet. We're not talking yards or miles. We're talking feet. And basically, if this pilot, you know, sneezed or looked a different direction and the plane went another way, bang, it could have heat the shift.

TODD: The Russian jets were not armed. Russian officials are defending their actions saying these fly-byes are in accordance with international rules but analyst say, we're in a very period.

OLGA OLIVER, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIOS: That's absolutely the worse it has been since the end of the cold war.

TODD: The USS Cook was operating in international waters. But only about 70 miles off the Russian territory of (INAUDIBLE) where the Russians have military ports. That, plus the capabilities, of the American destroyer likely got under Vladimir Putin's skin.

MCKNIGHT: This ship has the most advanced radar capability in the fleet of the United States Navy. It not only can detect missiles but can also shoot down missiles. And this is probably what irritated the Russians, not only that it was operating out in the seas, but also close to their shores. TODD: Putin is being as aggressive as ever using his ramped up

military to threaten his neighbors, provoke the U.S., push every envelope, all with a clear message, we must be respected.

OLIVER: Putin's narrative is one of strength, right? At home, he got us off our knees. Internationally, it is we are capable of standing up to the United States and other countries to assert our interests.

TODD: The danger of course is a miscalculation or mistake that causes a provocation. And U.S. officials are now worried about a possible intelligence breach. During those fly-bys, these helicopters also came very close to the USS Cook. It was probably taking high roads pictures of the radar, the weaponry, and the communications on board to give to Russian commanders and defense contractors.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Also coming up, did President Obama violate the constitution when he let millions of immigrants avoid deportation? The U.S. Supreme Court decides on this major case this week. What's at stake? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:56:07] WHITFIELD: Immigration reform is one of President Obama's biggest priorities during his second term. And tomorrow its fate lies in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices will hear oral arguments about the president's use of executive power to bypass what he considers to be congressional inaction on immigration. The ruling will affect millions - of people.

CNN Supreme Court reporter, Ariane de Vogue join me now from Washington.

So Ariane, what exactly are the issues the court is considering and what is at stake?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Well, it's interesting. It's over a year ago that President Obama unveiled what he thought would absenter piece of his next term and that's immigration reform. The executive actions were meant to shield what could be millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation.

But that all came it a screeching halt when Texas and 25 other states sued trying to block the programs from going forward. And a federal district court judge in Texas agreed and did block the programs from going forward nationwide. The administration says, look, we have broad discretion here. We have the ability to prioritize but the states came back and say you may be able to prioritize but you can come back and make law. And that is what occurred here.

And in a usual move, the House of Representatives have been granted 15 minutes to argue. And their lawyers say, look, Obama went to Congress. And he was frustrated by Congress inability to move and what did is try to bypass Congress and he can't do that. That's the argument.

WHITFIELD: So will the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia affect the potential outcome?

DE VOGUE: Well these programs -- there are two programs. And one really targets parents of those citizens and lawful residents and another targets noncitizens who were brought here as children. If the court does go 4-4, then it's left to uphold the lower court decision and that blocked the programs. But this case has an unusual threshold issue here. And that is the administration says that the states don't have the standing or the legal right to be in court. And if the court dismisses on standing, that would be the program's would-be allowed to go into effect and the Supreme Court would have ruled on the issue without really getting to immigration itself.

WHITFIELD: And when potentially could there be a court ruling?

DE VOGUE: Well the death of Justice Scalia has skewed everything. But we will expect by the end of probably the end of June, early July, we will hear from the cot on this.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ariane de Vogue, thank you so much from Washington.

DE VOGUE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We have so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. And it all starts right now.

All right. Hello again, everyone. And thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. It is the final countdown in New York where the candidates are holding campaign events in a last push to woo voters ahead of Tuesday's primary. Donald Trump just wrapping a rally in Poughkeepsie, New York.

And Bernie Sanders is in his own stumping grounds of Brooklyn. That event about to get underway.

CNN's Chris Frates is in Poughkeepsie and Brynn Gingras is in Prospect Park.

All right. Brynn, let me begin with you. Oh, yes, sounds so much better now, now we have a lull in all the music. So tell me about what is happening there.

GINGRAS: Yes, I was ready to send it back to you and let me start dancing at that point, Fred. But yes. It is getting a little rowdy here and it is about to get even more rowdy. We are actually seeing the journalists who travel with the Sanders' campaign coming in so that's a sure sign he is about to take the stage. And he is expected to at 4:00.

But this crowd, I got to tell you, 27,000 people in Washington Square Park last week. And I'm not the best that crowd estimate, but I got to say we are close to that or at least definitely more than that at this point. And I have got to give the Sanders supporters a lot of credit. Because it is extremely hot out here for this spring day. But that is actually probably fuel the crowd. Many of them started lining up at 9:30 this morning for his 4:00 speech. So yes, these are die hard supporters --