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Obama Speaks at Gulf Summit; Trump Returns to Attack Mode on Trail; Kasich Vows to Stay in Race; Clinton, Sanders Make Big Northeast Push. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired April 21, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And the countries that are represented around this table. Thank you for your hospitality.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good morning, everyone. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for being here.
You just heard President Obama speaking in Saudi Arabia where he met with leaders there about the tensions, you know, in the Middle East that we have and also the fight against ISIS.
We're efforting Nic Robertson to kind of like bring us through what happened here because if you listen to the president, it doesn't sound like very much, but tension has been rising between Saudi Arabia and the United States, especially in light of the 9/11 victims. The families of the victims who want to be able to sue the government of Saudi Arabia if they can prove that Saudi Arabia had anything to do with supporting the 9/11 terrorists.
Nic Robertson is up and ready to go. Anything surprising from the president's remarks, Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: No, I think what he is trying to do there is really emphasize the positive, emphasize the agreement, emphasize the progress that's been made in the year since the talks in Camp David made last year with the GCC as well, talk and bring in the sort of wider issue of cause that there should be, you know, in a time of low oil prices, trying to deliver economic prosperity and deliver on the expectations, of a growing young population, really talking to the broader issue here of democracy in the Middle East.
But he couches everything here in a very, very careful terms of knowing where he is, knowing who part of the audience is here, his Gulf allies, the Saudis who are hosting him here. So I think, you know, what we have heard here, he was thanking for the warm reception. It really is, is so much talk about how tough the relationship is at the moment, and it is -- but it is important, you know, the Saudis look to the United States, if u look at the Saudi newspapers today, they're talking about how they are hosting this summit, how it's important to be strong allies with the United States, so for both sides here, the importance and the key is to show the positive that they are working together. And that I think is generally in keeping with what we were expecting.
But you have to understand here really the tensions exist. And while they've talked about working together on Syria, countering Iran's threats in the region, the importance of tackling ISIS and al Qaeda growing in the region, there are still remain, you know, some fundamental differences there -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Nic Robertson, thanks so much.
We do expect the president to take questions from reporters in Saudi Arabia. When the president begins to do that, we'll bring you back to Riyadh.
All right. Back to the United States for now, though, and politics. Donald Trump is back on the attack. But his rivals say they're not backing down. Fresh off a commanding win in New York, Trump says voters can expect -- this is what he says -- a more presidential tone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's easier for me to be presidential than for me to be doing what I've been doing for the last really nine months. But at the right time, I will be so presidential, you will be so bored. You will say, can't he -- can't he have a little bit more energy. But I know when to be presidential. We have two more left. They are really -- they have absolutely no path to victory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He's going to be so boring, he'll be low energy. Who knew?
The Trump campaign is expecting a big victory, though. An internal memo predicting the GOP frontrunner will have 1400 delegates before the convention. All of this as Trump sends his top aides to court RNC insiders.
Let's get right to CNN's Jason Carroll. He has more on this. Good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You notice in that sound bite there, he said he knows when to be presidential. It doesn't mean he's going to be presidential all the time. I mean, Trump says his campaign is definitely going to evolve over time. But he says don't look for him to change his personal style, when it comes to how he addresses people who come out for his rallies. So for now, it might be a little bit more of that name-calling.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: We got lying Ted, we have crooked Hillary.
CARROLL (voice-over): Donald Trump back at it.
TRUMP: I'd love running against Crooked Hillary. In the case of Lyin' Ted Cruz, Lyin' Ted, lies, oh, he lies, CARROLL: Reviving some of his favorite nicknames less than 24 hours
after delivering a more measured victory speech in New York.
TRUMP: I thought it would be very undignified for me to get up at that particular moment.
CARROLL: The Republican frontrunner doing a victory lap in Indiana and Maryland Wednesday and continuing to rail against the Republican primary process.
TRUMP: So it's a rigged system. It's rigged for the lobbyists. It's rigged for the donors and it's rigged for the special interests.
CARROLL: Reince Priebus fighting back again.
REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, RNC: It's not a rigged system. In fact, the rules are clear. I'm not going to do anything to help anyone and I'm not going to do anything to hurt anybody.
CARROLL: Priebus insisting that he's enjoying preparing for a potential contested convention.
PRIEBUS: I think people assume, you must be miserable. I'm not pouring Bailey's in my cereal, I'm not sitting here trying to find the Johnnie Walker. I mean, this is -- this is fun.
[09:05:02] CARROLL: Republican Party leaders sitting down with both Ted Cruz and John Kasich Wednesday night, as Cruz's irritation with Kasich boiled over on the campaign trail.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John Kasich has no path whatsoever to the nomination. Now it may be that John is auditioning to be Trump's vice president. But a Trump-Kasich ticket loses to Hillary Clinton.
CARROLL (voice-over): Kasich defending his decision to stay in the race in an interview with CNN.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, if he's so sure of that, why is he attacking me all the time? All I know is if we pick these two guys, according to virtually all the polls, we are going to get creamed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Trump's wife Melania has said repeatedly that she wishes her husband would be more presidential at times. She also says she would like him to stop re-tweeting. Well, he didn't re-tweet this morning but he certainly did tweet, tweeting about Kasich and Cruz, saying the following, "Senator Ted Cruz has been mathematically eliminated from the race." He said, "Kasich should get out for the same reason. I think both should get out."
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Al right, Jason Carroll, thanks so much. CARROLL: You bet.
COSTELLO: So Donald Trump says he will win it all and more. Ted Cruz says he can't win, but he will win at the convention, and John Kasich says he can't win either but he will win because only he can beat Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KASICH: I don't think the Republicans want to pick somebody who has no appeal to independence and no appeal to conservative Democrats. That's what my appeal is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: With me now, Trump supporter and CNN political commentator, Kayleigh McEnany. I'm also joined by Bob Barr, he's a Cruz reporter and former Georgia congressman.
Welcome to you both.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. Thanks for being here. Thanks to both of you. If you look at the polling, John Kasich is the only Republican candidate who can beat Hillary Clinton. This is a poll from NBC News and the "Wall Street Journal." And hopefully we can put it up because I don't have the numbers in front of me but there you can see it. John Kasich can beat Hillary Clinton 51 percent to 39 percent.
Yet Ted Cruz says he can beat her easily as well, but as you can see from the polls there, Bob, it won't be an easy task for Ted Cruz to beat Hillary Clinton. So I guess this is my question. Is that why voters should elect their man not on policy, but on whether each could beat Hillary Clinton?
BOB BARR, TED CRUZ SUPPORTER: First of all, I think it's important to keep in mind that these pre-convention polls have been notoriously off the mark. The dynamics change considerably in the period between the conventions and the fall election. We saw that with Michael Dukakis and George H.W. Bush. We saw it with Ronald Reagan. We saw it with Gerald Ford. So the dynamics change dramatically.
What Senator Cruz is trying to do is to remind Republican voters that being presidential is more than just turning on and off a light switch. It means understanding the issues, the substance, and understanding grassroots politics, and these are areas in which Ted Cruz is way ahead of Donald Trump. He is not asking people to, you know, vote for him based on what he says or how he acts on one particular day. He is asking for them to look at his record, his substance, the way he has organized his campaign. And these are things that will be extremely important in the fall election.
COSTELLO: So, Kayleigh, I want to go back to beating Clinton because if that is the metric, because Donald Trump says that's the metric all the time. He can beat Hillary Clinton, right? But if that's true, well, actually it's not according to all the polls, which you heard what Bob Barr says, he doesn't believe the polls and maybe you don't either. But if the polls hold true, doesn't Trump need someone on his ticket like John Kasich to actually beat Hillary Clinton?
MCENANY: I think it would be helpful, absolutely, to have someone like John Kasich on the ticket. He is a formidable candidate. He brings so much to the Republican Party and to the table. But I do agree with Congressman Barr that polls have been notoriously wrong. It is April now. And I think we all remember that at certain times, Mitt Romney was beating Barack Obama in the polls and we know how that turned out. It didn't turn out so well for the Republican Party.
So I think polls are inaccurate now. They don't tell the whole story. And it's worth mentioning that Hillary Clinton does not have an opponent who is willing right now to attack her on e-mails, in Benghazi and the Clinton Foundation. Donald Trump will do all of those things and I think we will see the polls shift. So I just don't think it tells the whole story.
COSTELLO: OK. So back to Ted Cruz now, Bob. Because he needs some mojo, right, because the next states up for grab may not be kind to Ted Cruz. So he wants to debate Mr. Trump. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: Donald concluded the people of New York didn't deserve a debate. Well, you know what, I think the people of Pennsylvania deserve a debate. I think there ought to be a debate before the vote next Tuesday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So, Bob, Mr. Trump is cruising right now. Why does he need to debate Ted Cruz?
BARR: Well, he would need to if in fact he is interested in giving the voters in Pennsylvania and the other states that have primaries next week a look at the two candidates, how they respond to challenges, how much substance they have.
[09:10:07] Whether in fact they are deep down, not just on the surface, so-called presidential, but Donald Trump clearly does not want to debate. He is not going to do well, would not do well in a debate one-on-one with Senator Cruz. He knows that. So he is going to rely on what he has always relied on, and that is just the sort of bluster and public persona of going out there and calling people names, and taking kind of a low road.
Senator Cruz for his part in -- if in fact Donald Trump does not agree to debate, which we doubt that he will, will continue to do what he excels at, and that is working with grassroots Republicans and voters across those states to convince them that he is in fact the far better more substantive candidate.
COSTELLO: On the other hand, Kayleigh, Mr. Trump actually spent more money than Ted Cruz during the last month. He spent, what, he dumped $13 million into his campaign, compared to Ted Cruz $11 million? So does that indicate that Mr. Trump is a little nervous at the moment?
MCENANY: I don't think so because here's the thing. The never Trump movement, who has it as their goal to take down Trump, you know, at whatever cost, has spent $70 million, according to Politico, in negative ads against Trump. That is three times what the entire Trump campaign has spent on the campaign. That's an extraordinary amount of money. So the fact that Donald Trump has had to put in some extra resources to combat those negative ads is not surprising.
But the fact is, he's run a campaign on less money, on fewer resources and on earned media coverage really more than any other candidate in American history. He's fundamentally revolutionized the way a presidential campaign is run and I think he deserves some credit for that.
COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Kayleigh McEnany, Bob Barr, thanks to both of you.
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are both back on the campaign trail today making their pitches to voters who will head to the polls on Tuesday. Sanders making three different stops in Pennsylvania, while Clinton visits Connecticut where she'll hold a discussion on gun violence later this morning.
The 2016 campaign was in focus at the White House, too, where Michelle Obama weighed in on Clinton's background, her experience. That happened during a question session at a "Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work" day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: I think Hillary Clinton is a phenomenal woman. And I've gotten to know her. And I think she's made some pretty major contributions over the course of her life. She's devoted her life to public service. As have many people in, you know, who are seeking the presidency. But I -- you know, Hillary Clinton is an impressive woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is keeping track of all things Democrats this morning. She's live in Hartford, Connecticut. Good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. Well,. it'll be just a couple of hours when Hillary Clinton arrives here at this local YMCA in Hartford, Connecticut. It was three and a half years ago, a lone gunman entered Sandy Hook Elementary School, killing 20 children and six adults. But the people here in this state, it is like it was yesterday.
And we are actually going to see some of the families of those victims meeting with Hillary Clinton today. It is an issue that she has been pushing and pressing and worked well in New York. She believes it will work well here in Connecticut to raise that issue because they believe that their real significant differences between her positions and her policies and that of her opponent, Bernie Sanders.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Hillary Clinton wasting little time courting voters before the next round of Super Tuesday contests.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here I am in Pennsylvania because I really want to work as hard as we can together for the next week to get a good result on April 26th.
MALVEAUX: Protesters calling for Clinton to pardon all prisoners convicted as a result of a controversial 1994 Crime Bill, reaching out to African-American voters.
Secretary Clinton boldly assessing race relations during a gun violence event at the historic St. Paul's Baptist Church.
CLINTON: We all have implicit biases. They are in, almost, the DNA going back probably millennial times. And what we need to do is be more honest about that and surface them.
MALVEAUX: Clinton is garnering high praise from the mother of Sandra Bland, who says she supported Clinton. Clinton reached out to her after Bland was found hanged in a Texas jail.
GENEVA REED-VEAL, SANDRA BLAND'S MOTHER: When you're openly grieving and the secretary of state steps to you, you better endorse her because she already endorsed you.
MALVEAUX: While Clinton forges ahead, rival Bernie Sanders seemingly at a crossroads, a 16-point defeat in New York sending the Vermont senator home to recharge for the day, but Sanders is not backing down.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We believe we have the momentum and we believe we have a path toward victory.
MALVEAUX: The question -- will Sanders come out swinging or will he soften his attacks against Clinton during his first day back on the trail?
[09:15:04] HILARY ROSEN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Bernie Sanders is still going to be on the campaign trail, still going to be trashing her, doing a lot of things that will not be particularly helpful for Democrats, but I think he's going to do it anyway because he really wants to win.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And Carol, we learned from the Bernie Sanders camp that he is not going to be holding back in any way. He's going to be pushing forward in Pennsylvania, continuing his attacks against Hillary Clinton -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks.
I want to take our viewers right out to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The president answering questions from the press here about his meeting with Saudi leaders. Let's listen.
OBAMA: The generosity and all my counterparts within the GCC who devoted the time and the energy to make sure that this was a successful summit. You already heard my statement, so I'm going to take a couple of questions starting with Kathleen Henessey of AP. Where's Kathleen? Where are you? There you are.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Talk about strains in the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, some of it stemming from your comments about Gulf partners being free riders and specifically that Iran and Saudi Arabia should share the neighborhood. I'm wondering if after your meeting you feel like you've eased any of those tensions, if that was your goal, and if you can point to any evidence of greater cooperation or engagement in the campaign against ISIL. Do you feel now that the Gulf partners are carrying their weight?
OBAMA: The fact of the matter is, friendship and cooperation between the United States and the Gulf countries has been consistent for decades. During the course of our administration, the GCC countries have extensively cooperated with us on counterterrorism, on curbing the financing of terrorist activities. They are part of the ISIL -- counter-ISIL coalition that has made progress both in Syria and in Iraq.
If you think about last year, when we had the Camp David meeting, you were already seeing the onset of conflict in Libya as well as in Yemen as we come to this meeting in part because of the collective efforts of the members of the GCC. We have a new government in Libya that is very (INAUDIBLE) but has the opportunity to finally organize itself in a way that we haven't seen in a couple of years.
That would not have happened had it not been for the effective diplomatic pressure that was supplied by all the GCC countries as well as the United States. In Yemen, we now have the cessation of hostilities that allows us to build a peace process that can lead to the people inside of Yemen. That would not have happened had it not been for the GCC-U.S. cooperation.
We would not have gotten an Iran deal and get their nuclear weapons out had not the GCC been supportive of it. So what is true between the United States and the GCC as is true with all of our allies and friends, is that at any point in time there are going to be differences in tactics. And part of the goal here as well as the meeting at Camp David is to make sure that not only do we share a broad common vision about prosperity and stability and peace are achieved in this region and how we counter extremist activity, but that we have knowledge of what each party is doing on an ongoing basis.
I think it is no doubt true that when we entered into negotiations with Iran around the nuclear deal, there was concern that in the interest of getting the deal done, we would somehow look the other way with respect to their other destabilizing activities. And in fact, what we were able to report is not only have we seen Iran do what it was supposed to do under the deal, and the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon -- COSTELLO: Of course, it's difficult sometimes to get perfect, you
know, audio from so far away. We're going to work on this. But I don't know that we can fix it this time. But we're going to try. We're going to listen to this internally and then we're going to turn some louder sound so that you can hear what President Obama is saying, at least a little more easily.
[09:20:04] I'm going to take a break. I'll be back with much more in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Bernie Sanders may be down in the delegate count, but his campaign says he is definitely not out. The Vermont senator vowing to fight on until the convention. A top aide says he can still win a majority of pledged delegates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAD DEVINE, SENIOR MEDIA ADVISER, BERNIE 2016: We're a little farther behind in delegates than we hoped to be. But I think if we do well next week, then we can get back on course to have a pledged delegate lead by the time the voting ends.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So you're acknowledging that that's a slimmer and slimmer possibility at this point?
DEVINE: Yes, it's -- obviously we lost more than we thought we would be yesterday. We thought the race would be a little bit closer. We'd pick up some more delegates, but we can still do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: If that doesn't work, team Sanders says it can win by flipping superdelegates to their side. But that strategy is raising eyebrows -- raising eyebrows, rather, among even some Sanders supporters.
Joining me now, Ben Wikler, Washington director of MoveOn.org and a Bernie Sanders surrogate, and Bakari Sellers, Hillary Clinton supporter and a CNN political commentator.
Ben, I want to start with you because MoveOn did endorse Mr. Sanders, but in a statement, you wrote, quote, "Superdelegates shouldn't overrule the will of the Democratic grassroots. If the primary and caucus winner is Hillary Clinton, then Clinton should be the nominee. If it's Bernie Sanders, then Sanders should the nominee."
Ben, do you still feel that way?
BEN WIKLER, BERNIE SANDERS SURROGATE: Absolutely. Look, the Sanders campaign has inspired millions of people to get involved in politics, to fight for a system that works for everyone. Not just millionaires and billionaires. So no one can fault them for fighting until the closing buzzer. At the same time, superdelegates make their own decision. And for grassroots activists, it's clear that they should support the winner of the democratic process. If the primaries and caucuses go one way, they should go that way, if it's the other, they should go the other.
I think those two things are mutually compatible. I hope that Bernie Sanders wins on pledged delegates, becomes the nominee and goes to the White House.
COSTELLO: So has it changed your opinion at all of the Sanders camp that it's pushing to try to sway superdelegates?
WIKLER: You know, I think both campaigns are doing all they can to get every vote at the convention, whether it's superdelegates or pledged delegates. And it's clear that they have millions of supporters on both sides who they're fighting for. The Sanders campaign is working to change the debate and to win this campaign. At the same time, if you're a superdelegate, you have a decision to make, whether you want to support who wins the actual votes of the Democratic electorate, and I think that that's the decision that superdelegates should make, based on the Democratic principle that the winner should be the winner.
COSTELLO: So just one more question about this, Ben. I mean, is the Sanders -- is Senator Sanders in danger of turning off some of his supporters if his camp continues to say they're going to try to sway superdelegates?
WIKLER: You know, I don't -- I don't think there is any Bernie Sanders supporter out there who says, boy, I love Bernie Sanders, I love his vision of raising the minimum wage and expanding Social Security and making college tuition debt free, but he is trying to convince superdelegates to vote for him, so I'm not going to. I don't think it really works that way.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: I don't think it does, either. But still perhaps Secretary Clinton will use that against Sanders, and what do you say, Bakari?
BAKARI SELLERS, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: I don't think she's going to use it against Sanders per se. But I actually appreciate Ben and I appreciate all the work that MoveOn.org does and I look forward to when we're on the same side of this battle heading into the November. But even more importantly, I think that the race for all practical purposes is politically over. I think that Bernie Sanders' movement will live on, and Bernie Sanders has every right to stay in the race until the final votes are counted.
So I look forward to him doing that because he's tapped into something that's amazing in this country, and we're going to need Bernie Sanders and all his supporters if in fact we're going to tackle Donald Trump or Ted Cruz in November.
COSTELLO: But, Bakari, if Senator Sanders continues his attacks on Hillary Clinton, should she fight back at this particular time?
SELLERS: Definitely. I mean, this is -- this is politics. This is a contact sport. So if she's hit, she has to hit back. but I think that -- I think that both campaigns are going to change their tenor. I think both campaigns are going to elevate the discourse. We had a moment where we veered off track. But I do expect both campaigns to talk about those issues which Democrats win on. Those issues of access to women's health care and women's rights, those issues of raising the minimum wage. Those issues of climate change.
Those issues where we are in the mainstream of America, which we can push back on the lunacy and some of the asinine views and values that, you know, masquerade themselves as the Republican Party today
COSTELLO: Still, Ben, it appears that Hillary Clinton is kind of worried about Bernie Sanders' attacks, and she wishes he would, you know, go less on the attack and concentrate more on the issues. She talked about that on morning television. She was on "GMA," and she said she could unify the party and she said she could do that because she learned from her 2008 fight with Barack Obama. Here is what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: When I withdrew in June of 2008, polls were showing that at least 40 percent of my supporters said they weren't going to support Senator Obama. So I had to get to work, and I had to make the case. I nominated him at the convention. I went from group to group, even as late as the convention, convincing people who were my delegates to come together to unify.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So, Ben, it sounds like Hillary Clinton wants Bernie Sanders to do just that. Do you think he will?
WIKLER: Sanders has said all along that he'll support the Democratic nominee because someone like Donald Trump would be too big a disaster for this country to even contemplate. I'm confident that he's going to keep fighting no matter whether he is the nominee or not, for the values of the political revolution, for things like universal health care, for raising the minimum wage and expanding Social Security. That's going to happen and I think he's going to bring his movement along with him.
The question is, going forward, does a primary help or hurt the Democratic Party? I think it makes the party stronger. I think that any nominee is going to be stronger for being battle tested and I think the movement that brings millions of people into the process is only a good thing for the Democrats.
COSTELLO: Well, it certainly energizes the party, Bakari. There's no doubt about that. But I guess my question to you is, does Hillary Clinton have to cut some special deal with Bernie Sanders to give him -- I don't know.
