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Trump and Clinton Win Decisively in New York; President Obama Headed to Saudi Arabia; Latest on Ecuador Earthquake. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired April 20, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Great to have you all with us. Decisive wins for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, as they move closer to a potential November showdown for the White House.

I'm Rosemary Church.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: And I'm Errol Barnett.

We are steering CNN's special coverage of the New York primaries for the next hour. And yes, Donald Trump says it's not even much of a race anymore. He is celebrating an overwhelming win there in his home state.

Meantime, Hillary Clinton with a better-than-expected victory over Bernie Sanders.

CHURCH: Now it's always about the numbers. So, let's take a look at them. Hillary Clinton with 57 percent of the vote. Bernie Sanders has 42 percent. Clinton is projected to add 139 delegates to her total. That brings her to 1,930. She needs 2,383 to win the party's nomination.

BARNETT: Now, she has captured some of his momentum. Some say this is a major turnaround for Clinton, after losing eight of nine contests to Sanders. Now, she's begun her appeal to his supporters. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That you trust me with the awesome responsibilities that await our next president. And...

(APPLAUSE)

And to all of the people who supported Senator Sanders I believe there is much more that unites us than divides us.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And an impressive win for Trump in his home state. Trump far and away the winner with 60 percent of the vote. Ohio Governor, John Kasich in second with 25 percent. And Texas Senator Ted Cruz in third place with 14 percent. Now, Trump is projected to add 89 delegates to his total, bringing him to 847. He needs 1,237 to win his party's nomination.

BARNETT: We should all know this by now at least write some of that down. And listen here as Trump says the republican nomination is all but his.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have won millions of more votes than Senator Cruz. Millions and millions of more votes than Governor Kasich. We've won and now especially after tonight, close to 300 delegates more than Senator Cruz. We're really, really rockin'.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: All right. So, let's turn now to CNN's M.J. Lee in New York with more on the primary results. So, M.J., convincing wins, as we've been telling everyone from both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. And with math apparently on their side, how likely is it that they will both reach the necessary delegate count in the contest ahead to clinch their party's nomination?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICS & CNN MONEY REPORTER: Yes, that's right. This was a very big for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Both of the candidates really needed this win. They needed to come into New York and essentially show their rivals that they were well on their path to clinching the party's nomination.

And for both Trump and Clinton, this was sort of a moment of a sweet homecoming. As you know very well, Trump is a well-known figure in New York State and New York City. He was born in Queens. The Trump name is almost everywhere around New York City.

And for Hillary Clinton, as well. She was a New York Senator here for many years. And she now owns a home here. And so, for both of them, I think these victories were especially sweet and especially meaningful.

But when you talk about the delegate math, this is very important because heading into Tuesday, I think for Trump and his campaign, the big question was how big of a margin could Donald Trump have. There were, remember, 95 delegates that were at stake on the republican said. And he ended up getting most of those delegates.

So, heading into the rest of the week, he now can say that he is well on his way to getting the republican nomination outright. Which is of course it means that he is avoiding a contested convention, heading into the republican convention this summer.

And similar for Hillary Clinton. Look, she has always been well-ahead in the delegate race. However, she now gets to say that Bernie Sanders no longer really has the momentum. He has been out there saying for a while that he has won eight of the last nine democratic contests.

[03:05:02] And she essentially gets to say heading into Wednesday, that she has sort of stopped Bernie Sanders momentum right in his tracks.

CHURCH: Yes. Worth noting, too, that Trump didn't actually win Manhattan, his home turf. But I guess in the end, it doesn't matter. But, M.J., if we do see Trump and Clinton going head-to-head, and it is looking that way but you can never make these assumptions.

But how is that going to play out, if they do -- if they do end up being the nominees for each of their parties? What are the various polls tell us?

LEE: Right. Well, we have certainly gotten many previous of a potential Trump versus (TECHNICAL PROBLEM) Hillary Clinton well.

CHURCH: Yes. It's going to be an incredible race, once it gets down to one on each side. And people here in the United States and of course, our viewers right across the globe watching this very closely. M.J. Lee, many thanks to you. Great to talk to you from New York.

LEE: Good to see you.

BARNETT: Joining us now from Los Angeles, Dave Jacobson, a democratic strategist and campaign consultant with Shallman Communications, you see him on the left.

CHURCH: Also in L.A., John Thomas, a republican consultant and founder of Thomas Partner Strategies. Welcome to both of you, gentlemen.

BARNETT: Yes. And, John, let's start with you. This was a real win for Donald Trump. It puts him closer than anyone on the republican side to the nomination. Is it time for the republican establishment to stop resisting him now?

JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Yes. Tonight, what Donald Trump did was he reset the narrative in this race to prove that he has big mo as we head into the following states and really the make-or-break for Donald Trump, which is going to be California.

And so, what he did really smartly tonight as we saw a shift in his rhetoric. He started instead of calling Ted Cruz a lying Ted, he called him Senator Cruz. And that's to underscore the fact that Donald Trump wants the Republican Party and the republican voters to know, there's only one anti-establishment candidate.

And look, I think the party is going to have a really hard time if Donald Trump picks up more and more steam to block him from the nomination.

CHURCH: And, Dave, it seems like mathematically impossible for Bernie Sanders at this point to win the democratic nomination. But he is insisting he will be in the race right after the summer convention, essentially a thorn in the side of Clinton. She has reached out to his supporters. How likely is it, in the long run that they will eventually come onboard if she's nominated?

DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look, had Bernie Sanders won New York, it would have been the biggest political earthquake of the decade, right? I mean, this was a devastating blow for his campaign. There's no doubt about it.

I think, look, Clinton's objective is to capitalize on the momentum from New York, win all of the states next week in the northeast, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania, and do whatever she can to not alienate the Bernie Sanders supporters.

You know, we have the same challenge in 2008, where everybody said after Hillary Clinton got out of the race, oh, Hillary, there was a select set of voters for Hillary Clinton who were not going to support Barack Obama. We even saw polling that indicated that.

But over the course of the general election campaign, when voters had a choice between Barack Obama or John McCain, they swiftly moved over to Barack Obama. And so, I think as long as Hillary Clinton doesn't sort of alienate, you know, Bernie Sanders' supporters moving forward, I think she will be able to do precisely what Barack Obama embraced in 2008.

THOMAS: Dave, I think it's the different -- respectfully, I disagree. I think it's different case than 2008. First of all, a poll as of last week, 25 percent of Bernie Sanders' supporters said under no condition were they ever support Senator Clinton.

And I think in 2008 it was a different story. Bernie Sanders supporters support him not just on policy. But they support him because they fundamentally believe that there's too much money in politics. And Wall Street and the establishment is controlling our politicians.

[03:10:02] And the fact is, Hillary is beholden to Wall Street and Sanders' people believe that and Donald Trump isn't. So, I think Hillary has a more unique challenge than Barack Obama did.

BARNETT: Well, let me ask you both, what you expect to happen next week, the next Super Tuesday contest, where five states head to the polls. What are the essential points that we should be looking out for?

JACOBSON: Well, I think Pennsylvania is the most delegate-rich state. And I think that was one place where Bernie Sanders might have had a possible pathway to sort of running up the score against Clinton.

But I think because of her commanding victory in New York it's going to be hard for him to make a case that he is viable moving forward, that there is sort of a pathway for him to get to the 2,383 threshold needed to get the nomination.

And I think slowly but surely, you know, his national poll number is going to start to dip. I think his fund-raising is going to start to lag. And I think his case that he's got a pathway moving forward is increasable going becoming -- become more difficult. CHURCH: And you know, it's interesting, despite Trump's big win in

New York, he is still insisting the system is corrupt. I want to take a listen now to what he had to say about that very issue Tuesday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Nobody can take an election away from with the way they're doing it in the Republican Party. And by the way, I am no fan of Bernie. But I've seen Bernie win, win, win. And then I watch, and they say he has no chance of winning. So, they have their super delegates. The republican system is worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: OK. John, how long will he keep pushing this line as he builds on his lead in the delegate count? It's clearly resonating, though, with some voters, isn't it?

THOMAS: Yes, Rosemary. I think -- I think he's going to push this all the way until he thinks he wins the nomination into lockdown. He is doing it for two reasons. One, it's an insurance policy in case he doesn't win outright. He has an issue that he's going to take to the convention.

And secondly, look, this is on -- certainly on the republican side, this is an election about outsiders. And you're seeing even Ted Cruz tonight, start saying that he and Bernie Sanders both have something in common because they're outsiders.

So, whoever can claim the mantle as being the real outsider in this race is going to have a distinct advantage. So, I think we're going to see this narrative go all the way to the convention.

BARNETT: And just quickly John, why is John Kasich still in this thing?

JACOBSON: That is a great question. But, you know, tonight was his night to shine. Because obviously, New York might -- a moderate republican might appeal to New York voters. He didn't get it.

BARNETT: On one hand. But that was it.

JACOBSON: Right. I think the problem he's going to have going forward is people are going to ask that exact question, they are going to say he can't win. He has no delegate shot. But here is the real kicker. He didn't -- he wasn't a good fund-raiser before. But after a night like tonight, his money will dry up and campaigns need money to keep going.

CHURCH: Interesting. All right. Well, republican consultant, John Thomas, and democratic strategist Dave Jacobson, thank you to both of you.

BARNETT: Yes.

CHURCH: There will be more discussion about all this in the hours and weeks ahead.

JACOBSON: Thank you.

BARNETT: Thanks for staying up late for us, guys. We appreciate it.

THOMAS: I appreciate it.

BARNETT: Now with her victory in New York, Hillary Clinton is shifting (TECHNICAL PROBLEM).

[03:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Don Riddell with your CNN World Sport headlines.

New castle and Manchester City have played a 1-1 draw in the English Premier League which could be huge point into fight against _15_[00:00:59]. City took an early lead through Sergio Aguero who actualy had 100 Premier League goal in just 147 games.

Newcastle equalized on the half hour through Vurnon Anita. Man City are now surely out of the title race in England. But it's anyone's guess who will win La Liga in Spain.

Not so long ago, it looked like Barcelona had sewn up the title but (Inaudible) has coincided with Atletico and Real Madrid is making a fight of it. All three teams play on Wednesday but the pressure is really on the Catalans who are only tough by a virtue of a better head-to-head goal difference against Atletico. Barce are away at Deportivo La Coruna and Atletico are also on the road at Athletic Bilbao. Third place real, are at home against the team in fourth, Villa Real.

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has quoted more controversy by saying that female drivers in Formula 1 would not be taken seriously. Speaking at an advertising conferencc this week, Ecclestone said that women aren't physically able to drive an F1 car. Quickly adding that wouldn't be taken seriously.

But he hasn't closed the door completely. Apparently, there are opportunities within F1 management. Because according to him, women don't have massive egos.

That's a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.

BARNETT: And that was the moment, the Empire State building in New York lit up in red to signify Donald Trump's victory in the republican primary.

CHURCH: Yes. Trump had a commanding 60 percent of the vote in his home state. Ohio Governor John Kasich in second with 25 percent. And Ted Cruz, Senator Ted Cruz in third place, with 14 percent.

BARNETT: Now Trump spoke to supporters at Trump Tower in New York just a few minutes after the polls closed. He said it's not even much of a race anymore. CHURCH: And then on the democratic side, a major win for Hillary

Clinton as she stop Sanders string of recent victories.

Brianna Keilar reports that Clinton's focus is shifting now to the general election.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton savoring victory here in her home state of New York and trying to pivot yet again to the general election, talking as if the democratic nomination is all but wrapped up. She said that the race for the nomination is in its home stretch. She said victory is in sight. Something her top aides have been reiterating. And she made an overture to Bernie Sanders supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: It's humbling that you trust me with the awesome responsibilities that await our next president. And...

(CROWD CHEERING)

And to all the people who supported Senator Sanders, I believe there is much more that unites us than divides us.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I'm told by a source close to the campaign that many in the campaign, were upset. Even incensed recently by what they see as increasingly personal attacks by the Sanders' campaign against Hillary Clinton.

But at the same time, I'm told the campaign is trying to keep its eye on the prize, the nomination and trying to urge its backers not to ratchet up some of this rhetoric.

BARNETT: Brianna Keilar there. Senior CNN reporter for media and politics, Dylan Byers joins us now to talk all of this. Dylan, Trump and Clinton are declared the front-runners after today. But which candidate does this New York win help more? Who gets a bigger boost?

DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR MEDIA AND POLITICS REPORTER: Well, look, I think Donald Trump certainly got an enormous boost, just solely on where his campaign was going into New York and where it's going heading out of New York. For Donald Trump the last two weeks have really been about headache, hitting a reset button. He, you know, got rid of some stuff, hired Paul Manafort.

He's really sort of changed his focus on -- in terms of sort of corralling as many delegates as he can heading into that supposedly contested convention.

[03:20:06] By winning New York and by winning it so handily, he is able to create a narrative that he might even be able to get to this convention with the 1,237 delegates that he needs. Or that he'll at least get just short of that. It's very hard to see now how Senator Cruz can get there and be on more sound footing than Trump.

Trump basically is in a 2.0 stage of his campaign. And that gives him a lot of significant momentum. You can see a scenario now where he can sort of barn storm through the rest of these states. So, now for the Cruz campaign it's about time to reset.

But I don't want to undersell how significant this was for Hillary Clinton. It's a huge win for Hillary Clinton. She needed to shut up Bernie Sanders, which is what she did. And again, now she is starting to pivot or at least try to pivot once more toward a sort of general election stance. And I think winning big in New York has enabled her to do that.

BARNETT: And Donald Trump 2.0 seems to have removed all of the insults with this software program as he is referred to his opponent by that official names rather than coming up with creative ones. Now Senator Sanders he railed against the voter irregularities that took place, estimating roughly 125,000 people were turned away in Brooklyn.

There is an investigation into it. But if you look at the numbers he would have lost even if all of those people would have voted for him. So, where does Sanders go from here?

BYERS: Well, he would have lost even if those voters had gone for him. And we should also point out that it's not necessarily the case, that all of those voters would have gone for him. We don't know how many of those voters were Sanders supporters and how many of them were Clinton supporters.

Now look, where Sanders goes from here, he's going to the convention. It's very, you know, he's got tons of money. He know -- he's created a movement or at least he's tapped into a very significant movement in this country. It's not like he just packs it all up and leaves solely because he can't win the big states like New York.

But what he's going to have to ask himself now id does he continue sort of going more and more negative against Hillary Clinton? Or does he try and continue to sort of more positive message? Because, you know, what Sanders has been doing for so long he's been trailing against the establishment. He's been railing against Wall Street. He's is now starting to rail against Clinton, be somewhat dismissive of her.

And you know, it's not clear that that going to move him pass where he needs to go. He talks about momentum. Right now, his momentum is in smaller states. If he really wants to -- if he's really serious about taking this to convention as his campaign manager said earlier tonight, he is going to have to expand his base and show that he win states like New York. And that's not what he did.

And in fact, Hillary Clinton made inroads with some of his voters in New York State. So, he's got his work cut out for him, no question.

BARNETT: And the fact that Clinton was able to win over some Sanders supporters perhaps is the most damaging aspect of the political climate landscape for the senator. CNN senior media reporter for media and politics, Dylan Byers, thanks

for joining us from L.A.

BYERS: Sure.

CHURCH: And as we just touched on, the Sanders' campaign is blasting New York State's board of elections over reported voting irregularities. The board stripped 126,000 democrats from voting roles in Brooklyn.

Its executive director defended the removal saying this most of the voters were inactive and didn't respond to notices or they moved out of the area.

BARNETT: Now meanwhile, Sanders said, other New Yorkers not only democrats were also blocked from voting. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Almost 30 percent of the eligible voters, some three million New Yorkers were unable to vote today because they had registered as independents, not democrats or republicans. And that makes no sense to me at all. People should have the right to participate in a primary and vote for their candidate for President of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: And as we just discussed, Bernie Sanders is now looking forward to the primaries next week, which is centered mainly in the northeastern U.S.

CHURCH: CNN's John King ran the numbers and shows us why Sanders is optimistic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have contest in Rhode Island and Connecticut next week. Rhode Island is an open primary. Sanders best state if you think about past stat where independents can come in and vote. But it's a relatively small basket of delegates. Connecticut is a state that Sanders campaign says it will compete in, and the Clinton campaign think it will win.

The biggest prize is still Pennsylvania and Maryland. And if you go back and we think about that contest in 2008 we come back to the democratic primary. The interesting this is this Barack Obama winning in the African-American vote and winning out the Philadelphia suburbs and winning in Harrisburg and Lancaster.

The darker blue is Hilary Clinton who won the state. It will be interesting to see if we get a bit of flip this side as Bernie Sanders tries to sell his economic especially trade message in the more blue collar areas.

[03:25:02] Hillary Clinton needs the African-American vote here. This is the key test for Senator Sanders. If he losses in Pennsylvania with the blue collar message this is a decent fit for his message. If he can't win in Pennsylvania, you expect Hillary Clinton. Obama carried Maryland in 2008. You see it doesn't want to pop up for me there. OK, there we go.

Obama carried Maryland in 2008 quite handily. You would expect Secretary Clinton based on what we've seen, African-American voters, Latino voters not to do well here. So, Pennsylvania, the big test for Senator Sanders next week on the democratic side. Hillary Clinton believing, Wolf, that if she continues this trek up here in this part of the country, she does -- she believes the math is insurmountable.

Now she thinks it will be even more so next week. And then just quickly on the republican side, much like Secretary Clinton does. Donald Trump essentially has done very well in this area of the country. So, Donald Trump thinks a big win tonight, projects to him running the board and winning all five next week.

And the big challenge Ted Cruz shut out tonight in New York. John Kasich getting only a few to a handful of delegates. Can they slow Trump down? Can Trump, like he did tonight, win 80 or 90 percent of the delegates in this state? If he does, he has a conceivable chance to get there or get really close by the convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: John King, breaking down the numbers for us there. And sometimes all this political math can be a little daunting. But our colleagues at cnn.com have broken it down for you. For a clear explanation of the delegate count, find the special page at our web site, cnn.com/politics.

BARNETT: And coming up next, we will take you to the Trump headquarters in New York, where he continues to blast the Republican Party's delegate process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Thank you, New York. We love New York. We love New York. Thank you very much, everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: The race of the democratic nomination is in the home stretch and victory is in sight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Hillary Clinton surrounded by supporters there, celebrating a decisive double-digit win over Bernie Sanders in New York primary.

Take a look at the numbers here, Clinton had 57 percent of the vote, with Bernie Sanders at 42 percent. You see the difference is roughly 250,000 votes, as well.

CHURCH: And Clinton of course, moving closer than ever to mathematically eliminating Sanders from the race. She is counting on her momentum from New York to extend in the next week's primaries in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.

BARNETT: Now of course, Donald Trump's crushing victory in his home state isn't stopping him from going after his own party.

CHURCH: Yes. Jim Acosta, our senior White House correspondent has the details from the Trump headquarters.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump scored a major victory in the New York primary that will result in a massive hold of delegates for his campaign. Trump blew out Ted Cruz and John Kasich all across the real estate tycoon's home state. The GOP front- runner noted he is on the verge of mathematically eliminating Cruz from the race.

But Trump, once again, went after the GOP system for awarding delegates, calling that process rigged. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Nobody should be given delegates, which is a ticket to victory. And it's not a fair ticket. And even though we're leading by a lot and we can't be caught, it's impossible to catch us. Nobody could should take the delegates and claim victory unless they get those delegates with voters and voting.

And that's what's going to happen. And you watch. Because the people aren't going to stand for it. It's a crooked system. It's a system that's rigged and we're going to go back to the old way. It's called you vote and you win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Trump top adviser, Paul Manafort showed reporters the GOP front-runner wants to see the party rules changed for the next election cycle. But Trump officials say they are confident they will reach that magic number of 1237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. He has to Indiana and Maryland for events in those days next.

Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: Joining us now is Tharon Johnson, who was a regional director for the Obama 2012 campaign, and a former adviser to Atlanta's democratic Mayor Kasim Reed.

BARNETT: And you see him sitting next to republican Jackie Gingrich Cushman, she is the daughter of former republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich and was also an adviser to his presidential campaign. She says she doesn't have any dog in this fight right now. But we'll push to see if we can get your opinions. Welcome to you both.

THARON JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Thank you.

JACKIE GINGRICH CUSHMAN, NEWT GINGRICH'S DAUGHTER: Thank you.

CHURCH: And, Jackie, we want to start with you. Because it was very early in the game, about 9 o'clock Easter Time that CNN projected a win for Donald Trump on the republican side. That was not long after the polls closed. So, a very convincing win for Donald Trump. Is this a turning point for him or do you still see that there is a possibility of a contested convention in July?

CUSHMAN: Well, this is a huge night for Donald Trump. Don't be confused. He won very, very big in his home state. He needed to win big. He had a string of not-so -- you know, not win recently. But what this means for him if we set him up for the next day? Next week we have five states that are up on republican side.

But this was all the way through until June. (TECHNICAL PROBLEM)

[03:35:03] JOHNSON: ... disappointing about Bernie Sanders, is that this is a guy who at the beginning of the race was saying, you know what, I'm going to keep this race very positive. I totally have bought into the DNC process.

And now, he's starting to complain about the debates. And there's even rumors that he is now -- he has already filed a lawsuit. But now he's basically encouraging his supporters to try to contest the democratic convention.

So, I think what Hillary Clinton has got to do is win tonight. But also there has to be a meeting of the minds. Because unlike what we're seeing in the republican side the democrats, we got to be united when we go to Philadelphia and make sure that we don't have a brokered convention.

And I hope that Bernie Sanders will do what Hillary Clinton did in 2008, and that was on the floor of the convention, she told all of her delegates and she publicly came out and endorsed then-Senator Barack Obama, who became the President of the United States of America. I think that opportunity for the Sanders campaign to do...

(CROSSTALK)

BARNETT: The democrats need that moment.

JOHNSON: We need that moment.

CUSHMAN: Therefore, yes, but aside from that moment. But the reality is recently, Donald Trump said that about Sanders. It helps him or whoever the nominee is, for Sanders to stay in as long as possible.

BARNETT: OK.

CUSHMAN: This has been a long, grueling primary for Hillary Clinton. Now we knew on the republican side, but for Hillary that have to comment and work this hard, this long. And if you look at her numbers recently, she was net favorable of 63 percent on democrat side in October and November.

She is now net favorable only 36 percent. So, this is really hurt her image even on the democratic side, this long process. So, she really needs for Bernie to get out. Trump obviously wants to keep Bernie in as long as possible because it helps the republicans with the general election.

BARNETT: Well, that's a good point.

CHURCH: But up on the republican side, because it looks like now pretty much there is sigh of relief for Clinton and her camp. But with the republicans, still that problem, isn't it? Three of them and you got Kasich who is way behind. There is absolutely no way that he can catch up.

BARNETT: Why is he still in this?

(CROSSTALK)

CUSHMAN: Well, why he is still in the race. But do you remember, Kasich, you know, he's from Ohio, he's a hard worker.

BARNETT: Right.

CUSHMAN: He's seen on canvassing. And the reality is it's not very probable but it's possible. So, more than likely, Trump will have that all of the delegates who will be in the convention will lock it up or close to it. If it happens to go to a contested brokered contention, we have to, you know, think about the second, third, fourth ballots. There is a very small chance that Kasich could actually -- depending on the rules and what happens, could come out as the nominee.

BARNETT: Yes.

CUSHMAN: Not to be...

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: The reaction...

BARNETT: But the Trump supporters what would be.

CUSHMAN: Well, I think the challenge we have and this is a real challenge you see here. I mean, you see it in Georgia while on this past weekend they went through the process where the republicans has actually picked the delegates even though Trump won.

BARNETT: Right.

CUSHMAN: And I think what's going to happen if you get to the convention, republican convention and it doesn't reflect the popular vote, I think there's a real challenge that it may actually disenfranchise some of the republican voters. They need to be really careful about that. JOHNSON: Yes. But, listen, if we really look at the bylaws and the

rules of the republican convention, it states, and correct me if I'm wrong, the candidate who even is invited and has a chance to be the republican nominee, he or she has to win at least five states.

Kasich has only won one state.

CUSHMAN: Once.

JOHNSON: So, until he can win four states, it's inconceivable that he can be the nominee. Now let's get back to something that she said earlier about Trump. I mean, we'll be here all night if we talk about the image of Donald Trump.

And one of the things that Jackie and the republicans like to do, is try to paint this bad picture of Hillary Clinton having this bad image. Listen, she's got 1.5 million more votes than Donald Trump has gotten. She's got two million more votes than Bernie Sanders has gotten.

The American people are showing every single day that they want Hillary Clinton to be the nominee. And if you put her against Trump right now, and Jackie knows this, she beats Trump. So, the longer the republican convention -- I mean, the longer the republican process goes on, the better for Hillary Clinton.

CUSHMAN: Absolutely.

JOHNSON: But the point you made earlier about Donald Trump's sort of message tonight. Donald Trump is preparing himself to basically say, listen. If you guys try to steal this election away from me at the convention, that was a message to his supporters to say, listen, let's challenge the republican establishment.

This is the establishment that's been against his campaign the entire time. And make sure that I'm the nominee. And now listen, we all know, Donald Trump is a republican nominee. I feel really good about Hillary Clinton's chance as being the president of the United States.

BARNETT: He's like the true Hillary Clinton's supporter.

CUSHMAN: Absolutely. He's been a Hillary Clinton supporter for a very long time. But let me point out regarding the vote. I mean, the difference is, Hillary has had Bernie Sanders run against. Trump had a whole bevy of people to run against. That's really different, it hard to compare those different votes.

BARNETT: Yes. He has very high unfavorable as well.

CUSHMAN: Absolutely.

BARNETT: But that's everything making this election that looks very interesting.

JOHNSON: Yes.

BARNETT: But it will be great to speak to you, guys, at length about this.

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: All right.

CUSHMAN: It's fascinating.

BARNETT: Thank you both for coming here. And Jackie Gingrich Cushman and Tharon Johnson, thanks so much.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

CUSHMAN: Thank you.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

BARNETT: I hate to do that. But we run out of time.

CHURCH: Always do.

BARNETT: All right. The U.S. President heads to Saudi Arabia. Coming up, why other issues between the two nations could overshadow discussions about ISIS. Stay with CNN.

[03:40:01] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: And we will have more on the New York primary in just a moment. But first, parts of Houston, Texas, are starting to recover from the torrential rain and flash floods that paralyzed the region. At least seven people were killed.

BARNETT: And officials warn the danger isn't over yet. More rain is forecast for Wednesday. Scott McLean reports on rescue efforts there.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's unimaginable. Water rescues in places where there shouldn't be water. This very relieved woman spoke to local media just moments after being brought to safety.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're alive. We woke up to water up to our knees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCCLEAN: The storms caused by a stalled low pressure system, hit parts of Texas with little warning on Monday. Houston, hoping additional federal assistance for the area will come as early as Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEILA JACKSON LEE, TEXAS REPRESENTATIVE: We've asked Secretary Johnson, President Obama, to expedite an assessment of Houston and the other counties as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: As home still with this water, mattresses and refrigerators literally flow people to safety. A lifeline yesterday, scrap metal today. A small step in recovery that will not come quickly.

Patricia Anderson was rescued in a boat yesterday. She showed us the inside of her friend's apartment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICIA ANDERSON, RESIDENT RESCUED FROM FLOODS: This you can see where the water is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: Hers looks just like it. Water damage, more than waist-high. Her car was also flooded. She has no flood insurance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Some people lost their lives. So, I can't speak and worry about a car when some people actually didn't wake up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: In Houston, I'm Scott McLean.

BARNETT: And the death toll from Saturday's earthquake in Ecuador is up to 480. And officials warn that number will likely rise. About 21,000 people have been displaced. Some families have set up tents next to what's left to their homes.

CHURCH: Hundreds of rescuers from at least eight countries have traveled to Ecuador to help with relief efforts. But getting crews to the affected areas that is a huge challenge.

[03:45:03] BARNETT: Now U.S. President Barack Obama will arrive in Saudi Arabia in just a few hours to discuss wrapping up the battle against ISIS. But this visit comes as relations between the two countries are increasingly strained.

CNN's senior diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Riyadh and joins us to discuss this. And, Nic, the discussions over the classified pages of the 9/11 report are clouding the view of this trip in the U.S. Do we know what each side plans to say about that during this visit?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. Not clear that that's actually going to be addressed. I mean, it's a point of huge tension at this time that it comes on top of already deepening mistrust from the Saudis in particular that Gulf hours towards the United States and President Obama.

But, you know, what we're going to hear here and the effort will be to find compromise, to find common ground where both sides want to make process. Tackling ISIS is going to be a key thing for President Obama's agenda here. He will after he arrives early this afternoon meet with King Salman, that's expected towards an hour or so.

And in that meeting, I think you can expect the two leaders that probably have a frank exchange of views. But at the same time what we'll hear publicly, I am sure is it's going to be how they work towards tackling ISIS. And also, address some of the Saudis' concerns.

On Thursday here, President Obama will attend a USGCC meeting with Saudi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar. All will have their respective there. And what they would like to see is a ballistic missile defense shield to defend against the activities from the growing threat that they perceive from Iran.

So, while President Obama will come in looking to the issues in the region wanting regional stability, regional security and this is what will be on there. So, I think we can expect this to be the main topics of discussion that we get to hear about afterwards, Errol.

BARNETT: And do we know how President Obama will try and convince Saudi Arabia to work better with Iran? Of course, these two Middle East and superpowers are essentially fighting proxy wars in a number of places. Do we have any sense of how he may convince them?

ROBERTSON: You know, to be frank, Errol, I don't know if you can hear me over the helicopters here, the helicopter are doing sweeps over this area of Riyadh at the low level right now an expectation of President Obama's arrival.

I think the reality of the relationship between Saudi Arabia right now and the United States, is that it's going to be very, very difficult and only impossible, for President Obama to convince the Saudis to trust him, to trust U.S. policy, that the United States will stick up for them in advent of Iran creating more instability in the region.

They have support for United States right now in Yemen, where the Saudis tackling a civil war there inspired in parts supported

[03:50:00] (TECHNICAL PROBLEM)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Weather watch time across the Americas. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. Watching a storm system across the Central U.S. that is really produced an incredible amount of rainfall across parts of the State of Texas where soil saturations have reached well-above average for this time of year.

And you notice the storms continue firing up into the afternoon hours. The vast majority of the storm is not exhibiting any sort of severe characteristics as far as the damaging hail or say tornado activity. But still producing rainfall that's been life-threatening across this region certainly has been fatal in a few spots, as well.

And around Houston especially point northward as you approach Dallas over the next couple of days you could see about 50 to 100 millimeters of rainfall that will go with the upper 20s around Dallas. While Atlanta warms up to almost 30 degrees by the afternoon hours. And just a stunning day from Montreal towards New York. We know you

deserve across some of the northern latitudes temps there, making it into the teens and 20s. So, here's our storm system, there is a line of active weather firing up ahead of it. It is back towards the western U.S.

We're watching for some wet weather also to enter the picture towards at least the approach of this weekend. And notice it does brings in more Sierra snow. That is wonderful news. Any time you can tap into the wintry weather as we work our way to the warm season. It's always good news across that region.

And notice as you work your way to the south, around Mexico City, Guatemala City are we surprise to see some thunderstorms that is going to be mainly after say, 2 or 3 p.m. Take care.

[03:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: So, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have cemented their front-runner status with decisive wins in the New York primaries.

CHURCH: Yes. And Tuesday's results bring us one step closer to a Trump/Clinton race for the White House in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[03:55:07] WOLF BLITZER, THE SITUATION ROOM SHOW HOST: State republicans are enormous tonight especially for Donald Trump.

JAKE TAPPER, THE LEAD SHOW HOST: If he gets more than 50 percent in all of the 27 congressional districts here, he will win all 95 republican delegates.

KEILAR: You know, it's really starting to feel like a party here. The cash bar is open. The wine and beer is flowing. Yes, that's a live band that is just started up.

TAPPER: Tonight, the winners of the New York primary will have their victories displayed on one of the most famous landmarks. That of course will be the Empire State building.

DANA BASH, CNN'S CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That is I feel like I'm in front-runner with me. That is cool that we can see that.

TAPPER: Now let us turn the top of the Empire State building the color blue that we have assigned to Hillary Clinton.

CLINTON: Thank you, New York. New Yorkers, you have always -- you have always had my back.

TAPPER: Since CNN has projected Donald Trump will be the winner of the New York republican primary, we are turning the Empire State building the dark crimson, the red.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We're really, really rockin'. I can think of nowhere that I would rather have this victory.

KING: Donald Trump we do project not only as the winner but will win with above 50 percent statewide.

BASH: If Donald Trump does get the nomination before the convention, we're going to look back on tonight and say this was the turning point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: And you know, things are getting good when the cash bar opens, Rosie. So, we're getting to that point in this election.

CHURCH: Exactly. New York done. Onward and upward. Thank you so much for watching our special coverage. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Please do connect with us on Twitter anytime. It is wonderful to hear from you all. Early Start is next for those of you stateside.

CHURCH: And for those of you elsewhere, so stay tuned for CNN Newsroom. You have a great day.

BARNETT: See you.

[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)