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384 Delegates At Stake For Democrats Today; Trump Tweets Sanders Should Run As Independent; Sanders Has Released 2014 Tax Return; When Clinton Releases Transcripts, Sanders Will Release More Tax Returns; Jane Sanders Wants To Keep Focus On People's Needs; Presidential Primaries in Five States; Interview with Clinton Campaign's Kristina Schake. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 26, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Chernobyl, Ukraine. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

Millions of voters here in the United States will have their say today as five states hold 10 primaries. These are live pictures you're seeing right now of polling stations in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

For the Democrats, there are 384 delegates at stake in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maryland, Connecticut, and Delaware. Hillary Clinton already holds a sizable lead in both pledge delegates as well as total delegates, when you include the so-called super delegates. A sweep today would put her one step, a major step I must add, closer to ending the race.

On the Republican side, it's the same five states and 172 delegates up for grabs. Donald trump is expected to do well in this -- the northeastern corridor.

Here's where the Republican race stands. Trump will likely add to his lead, adding more immediacy to the partnership between John Kasich and Ted Cruz.

I want to take a closer look at what's at stake for the Republicans right now. David Gregory is our newest CNN Political Analyst. He's the host of "The David GREGORY SHOW" podcast. He's joining us from New York. First of all, David, welcome to CNN. Good to have you on our team.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: What will it mean -- what will it mean for Donald Trump's campaign, if he can, as the polls suggest, put up big numbers in all five states today, have basically a clean sweep?

GREGORY: Well, I think it means a couple of things. One, he continues to dust off the loss in Wisconsin. He had a big win in New York. If he builds to that, I think he can add to the idea that he's not just a weak front-runner which has what he's been. He has not hit 50 percent, except for in New York. If he could do that, I look to his margins today to be important as he moves forward. He continues to build up that momentum because the stop Trump forces are really trying to gather and put a line down in Indiana to be able to deny him getting to the magic number.

BLITZER: The stop Trump alliance, as some are calling it, between Ted Cruz and John Kasich, not even, what, two day -- two days old. It's already showing some serious strain.

As you know, the plan is to have Kasich focus in on New Mexico and Oregon out in the west. Leave Indiana to Ted Cruz. But Kasich is fund raising in Indiana today. He's already told voters there he'd make the best president. Donald Trump, of course, mocking all of this. Is this alliance really an alliance or could it actually backfire on these two Republicans?

GREGORY: Well, it'll backfire if there's not a clean opportunity for Cruz to go up against Trump. Because, right now, Trump's doing well in the polls. It gets tighter if it just becomes a two-man contest.

But, as you say, Kasich is not completely pulling himself out. There's so much money getting poured in, from all sides, right now into Indiana. But this is really an important moment because if you do have Trump winning in a conservative state, like Indiana, it's not just that it shows he can win beyond the Northeast and more moderate Republican territory, it's also 57 delegates. And if he has a big night tonight, he gets within a couple hundred delegates at 1,237, then it gets very difficult to stop him.

So, I think this alliance is weak. I think that it's probably a little too late in coming. But it's still possible to give Cruz enough running room to try to make it very close in Indiana. Winner take all there. That's important. So, getting close is not enough for the anti-Trump forces.

BLITZER: Are you surprised that Kasich has basically given up on Indiana which is a neighboring state to Ohio? Basically, it doesn't look like he's going to do well in another neighboring state today, Pennsylvania.

GREGORY: Right.

BLITZER: What's going on over here?

GREGORY: Look, Kasich has one play here and that is to get to Cleveland and have an open convention and make an argument that he is the best person to beat Hillary Clinton. He is certainly not winning the conservative primaries.

And I think one of the reasons he stays in is that he thinks those more moderate voters on the Republican side who are for him probably go to Donald Trump and not Ted Cruz, if he were to go out of the race.

So, however weak this alliance is, he still has an opportunity to play in other parts of the state with modern Republican voters and try to do his part to deny Trump.

BLITZER: Yes, I would have thought he would be doing better in both Indiana and Pennsylvania. He was actually born --

GREGORY: Yes.

BLITZER: -- in Pennsylvania. He -- the only state, so far, he's won is this home state of Ohio.

David Gregory, thanks very much. Once again, welcome to CNN.

GREGORY: Thank you.

BLITZER: And, David Gregory, I want to remind our viewers, is the host of "The David GREGORY SHOW" podcast. Check it out. I think you will enjoy.

Let's take a closer look at some of the expectations on the other side right now. We're talking about the Democrats. Hillary Clinton is looking to run the table in the five northeastern states that are voting today. She's been active on social media today, encouraging people to get out and cast a ballot. While Bernie sanders has been out on the streets of Philadelphia shaking hands, taking questions, including from our own Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Just curious what you're thinking about today. It's expected to be a big day for Hillary Clinton. Are you feeling any pressure to get out of this race?

[13:05:04] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Have a nice day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now from Burlington, Vermont, is Jane Sanders. She's the wife, of course, of Senator Bernie Sanders. Jane, thanks very much for joining us.

JANE SANDERS: Good to be here, Wolf.

BLITZER: So, realistically, five states, five Democratic contests today. What are you expecting today? Any surprises?

JANE SANDERS: I think we'll do well in several of the states. As you know, four of them are close primaries. So, a lot of the people that we've brought into the process to try to enter the Democratic Party are -- they're having the door shut on them so they're not able to vote. So, that hurts us and we know that.

In the open primaries, where independents who are willing to move into the Democratic Party get a chance to vote, Bernie does very well. He sometimes wins by landslide victories. In Rhode Island, it's an open primary so we expect to do best there. BLITZER: Because that's the only open primary today. The four other

states are all closed. They're only allowing, as they always do, only registered Democrats to vote. So, you think you might win Rhode Island but maybe lose the other four?

JANE SANDERS: No, we hope that Pennsylvania and Connecticut look good. I mean, we will -- we will see. I think, as you know, it's proportional delegate count so we'll split the delegates. And we'll see what happens.

BLITZER: And see where you go from there. Is there a scenario that you see where the campaign, this whole presidential campaign between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, could end before the convention in Philadelphia, where one of these two candidates has it all wrapped up? And, clearly, Hillary Clinton has a lot more delegates right now.

JANE SANDERS: No. I find it interesting that everybody keeps on asking us to unite the party behind Hillary. Ten votes haven't -- 10 states haven't even voted yet. And Secretary Clinton did line up behind President Obama but that was in June and it was after a little bit of negotiation.

So, we feel, very strongly, that what we need to do is allow everybody to have the opportunity to vote for the candidate of their choice and also to vote for the direction of this country. You know, everybody keeps on paying attention to the horse race.

Honestly, Wolf, have you ever heard anybody in the mainstream media, from day one since Bernie announced, say that he could win? Even after a string of eight victories, it still was the second sentence, but he can't win. Well, you know, we've been -- we've been doing a lot better than anybody ever thought and we hope to continue and to win.

And if we don't, it's very important that the issues that Bernie is talking about are carried forward and he is intending to do that, giving people a chance to vote on the issues that he has -- he has talked about.

BLITZER: Yes, but you -- I think you make a fair point. A year ago, no one would have expected the independent senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, to be doing as well as he is against Hillary Clinton in this kind of contest. He is doing amazingly well but she still has several hundred more pledge delegates. And if you add the super delegates, she has now over 500. He still has only about 40. She's still way ahead in that all-important delegate count. That's why she's the front-runner, right?

JANE SANDERS: Yes. But I think, you know, I -- everybody just keeps on talking about delegate math, delegate math. And I think I'm more of a fan of history and social studies and literature. I mean, I think that what we need to recognize is how do we move this country forward? How do we deal with the fact that 20 percent of our children are living in poverty? How do we deal with the fact that our young people are bankrupting themselves just to get an education? All the issues that Bernie is talking about need to be addressed. And they need to be addressed now.

The -- he is winning the 45 and under. What his agenda is is the future of the Democratic Party and the future of our nation. Because, as I said before, there's a lot of independents out there that are not even being able to vote.

And, as you know, the polls, for the last three months, has had Bernie way ahead against all the Republicans, much more than Hillary because independents and Republicans vote in the general election. That's something that needs to be taken into account.

Mostly, we want to see these issues carried forward. You know, Bernie's all about the issues. He has been running for the presidency and making it very clear winning the presidency is not enough. We need a political revolution. We need a political movement. And we're going to continue that and have it in all 50 states. There's 10 more states to go. We want to bring people into the process and we want their voices to be heard, not just to the convention, but after the convention.

And if Bernie is the candidate, they will be. And if he isn't, we will help to make Secretary Clinton an even better candidate for the general election. And a Republican cannot get the White House. We're committed to that.

[13:10:04] BLITZER: I want to get your -- so, you're going to be -- obviously, if he doesn't get the nomination, you'll be out there campaigning very aggressively, assertively for Hillary Clinton to be the next president of the United States. And I'm sure your husband will as well, right?

JANE SANDERS: We have always said that we will support the Democratic nominee but not in April, in July. And that nominee can still be Bernie sanders. And the issues that he talks about should be at the center of the campaign, of anybody's general election campaign.

BLITZER: Let me get your react -- let me get your reaction to what the Republican presidential front-runner, Donald Trump, just tweeted in the last hour or so and let me put it up on the screen. Bernie Sanders has been treated terribly by the Democrats, both with delegates and otherwise. He should show them and run as an independent. That's the tweet from Donald J. Trump. What do you think?

JANE SANDERS: I think that we've been very clear right from the beginning that we will not play the role of spoilers. The reason that he was active and he decided to run in the Democratic Party was just that. We cannot afford a Republican in the White House. We cannot afford a Republican appointing Supreme Court justices. So, Bernie will not be running as an independent.

But his political revolution, the political revolution, that millions of people are a part of will be a force to be reckoned with. Not just in the presidential race but in the down ticket areas as well. So, you know, I mean, Donald Trump -- honestly, the -- one of the things that we will be fighting for on the platform, whether he's the candidate or not, is electoral reform. We know shutting people out of the process, when they're actually excited about politics, is not smart. It's very -- it's really shortsighted throughout this process. So, millions of people have not been able -- well, hundreds of thousands of people have not been --

BLITZER: All right.

JANE SANDERS: -- able to vote, not to mention all the voting irregularities. But --

BLITZER: We're out of time. But, very quickly, Jane, has your husband been treated fairly by the Democrats?

JANE SANDERS: Yes.

BLITZER: OK. That's a simple answer.

JANE SANDERS: Yes, but the process -- the process needs to change.

BLITZER: Because I --

JANE SANDERS: We need an open electoral system, same day registration and open primaries.

BLITZER: I know you would like those independents, millions of them, who can't vote in Democratic primaries in certain states. You'd like them to vote because, clearly, you think you would do much better with them than Hillary Clinton could. But those are the rules. They've been around --

JANE SANDERS: But it --

BLITZER: -- for a long time, as you know.

JANE SANDERS: -- but it's not just that. It's not just that. The -- we know. We knew those rules. We're not complaining like Donald trump is. But the concern is it's shortsighted and it's not good for our democracy, Wolf. What we want to do is when people are excited about the process, we want them to be able to participate. And we want to keep them involved in the process. The system today is not. It's not good for democracy. And we are going to work very hard to change it.

BLITZER: One final question. Your husband keeps saying you're the one who prepares the tax returns every year. He's counting on you to release them. You did release the 2014 tax returns. What about earlier years? How's that looking?

JANE SANDERS: Well, you know, what's interesting is we released the early -- 2014. Secretary Clinton hasn't released a transcript yet. So, why don't we wait and see what happens?

BLITZER: So, is that the linkage now?

JANE SANDERS: But, Wolf, what I want to tell -- BLITZER: When she releases the transcripts of her speeches before Wall Street firms, that's when you'll release the earlier tax returns? Is that what you're saying?

JANE SANDERS: Yes.

BLITZER: Well, that's a new development. That's a new development in all of this, I think it's fair to say.

JANE SANDERS: But mostly important -- but honestly, Wolf, these are not the issues that are of concern to --

BLITZER: Right.

JANE SANDERS: -- the American people.

BLITZER: We're not --

JANE SANDERS: They're concerned about having no jobs, about bad trade policies, about foreign policies that are not making sense. We need -- I implore you, as a leading wonderful host of a major show, please talk about the issues that concern the American people instead of delegate math and who can win or who can lose. It's more important as to what people will be doing. Secretary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have a lot more, as she says, that unites them than divides them. The Republicans need to be beaten. But there are things that differ and we need to talk about that.

BLITZER: Fair point. All right, Jane Sanders, as usual, thanks very much for joining us.

JANE SANDERS: Thanks for having me, Wolf.

BLITZER: Jane Sanders, the wife of Senator Bernie sanders, joining us from Burlington, Vermont. We're going to get reaction. We're going to speak with a top official of the Hillary Clinton campaign. Lots of news coming in. We'll be right back.

[13:14:47]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:18:37] BLITZER: They're getting ready to vote. In fact, they're voting all over these northeastern states, Mid-Atlantic states today, five states, ten presidential primaries. We're watching all of this. These are live pictures coming in from Bluebell, Pennsylvania. That's the state with the biggest delegate prize of the night.

Hillary Clinton certainly hoping for a sweep of all five states. Kristina Schake is the deputy communications director for the Hillary for America political campaign.

Thanks very much, Kristina, for joining us.

KRISTINA SCHAKE, DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIR., HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Hi. Hi, Wolf. Great to be here. BLITZER: Thanks. All right, you just heard Jane Sanders, the wife of Senator Bernie Sanders.

SCHAKE: Yes.

BLITZER: Say that -- several things. I want to get your reaction. First of all, they're not going to release earlier tax returns, his earlier tax returns -- they did release his 2014 tax returns -- until your campaign releases the transcripts of Hillary Clinton's speeches before major Wall Street firms for which she received hundreds of thousands of dollars. Is that a deal? Can you accept that?

SCHAKE: You know, I -- first of all, I just want to say, I always appreciate listening to Jane Sanders speak. She's such a passionate advocate for her husband and for the issues that they care about. So I always enjoy listening to her interviews.

And I have to say, I thought what was really important in what she said today is there's so much more that unites us as Democrats than divides us. I thought that was the most meaningful thing she said in this interview.

I have to say, on the transcripts and the taxes, I think it's pretty standard in campaigns when someone's running for president to release your taxes. Hillary has released hers going back to 1977. She has the last eight years on her website. I think that's pretty standard thing to do. And so we -- we hope that they do that and we'll see what happens.

[13:20:07] But on her transcripts from the speeches, you know, I think that that's kind of a double standard. That's not something that any candidate has ever been asked to do before and it's a little bit of a double standard to demand that of Hillary when no one else is doing it.

BLITZER: What about the other point she was making? She made several important points. Open up these Democratic contests, not closed to just Democrats, but let independents register and vote as well. They really -- the Bernie Sanders campaign feels frustrated that independents can't vote in a lot of these states. Are you OK with that? SCHAKE: You know, I think those are decisions to be made for future

elections. Right now, we're really focused on these primaries and we're really proud of the fact that Hillary is the candidate who's put together the biggest, broadest coalition of voters. She's ahead by 2.7 million votes. She's ahead by 240 delegates. And that really reflects the coalition that she's put across this country. You know, she's solidly winning with women, with African-Americans, with Latinos, with Asia Pacific islanders, with seniors, with women, with labor households. You know, she is really the candidate, the only candidate in this race, who's been able to put together that kind of coalition and we see that reflected in how far ahead she is at this point.

BLITZER: Last week Senator Sanders said he wasn't going to discuss getting out of the race because there were going to be contests in June, as you know, not only in California, but here in Washington, D.C., as well. And he said that it's important that his message get out. Earlier this morning he was on CNN. This is what he said when he was asked, at what point will he begin to merge his message with the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton on issues like free college and ending fracking, for example. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we'll see what happens. We are going to have, if we don't win this thing, we're going to have a lot of delegates in Philadelphia fighting their fight. And I'm not convinced, and you don't know, what the delegates there will do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, will Secretary Clinton be willing to listen to some of Bernie Sanders' policy issues at the convention in terms of drafting that party platform? He seems to have a condition, I'll be with you, but you've got to accept these issues.

SCHAKE: Well, as I said, and as Jane Sanders said, there is so much more that unites us than divides us as Democrats. And, you know, if she's fortunate enough to be the Democratic nominee, which we are pretty confident that she's going to be, but she's still working hard to win every vote, she's going to be listening to everybody and really be working to bring our party together.

BLITZER: How do you think she's going to do today in these five states?

SCHAKE: You know, she's not taking anything for granted. She is out there working her heart out in all of these states and, you know, we feel pretty confident that we're going to continue to build on our lead. As I said, she's ahead by 2.7 million votes over Senator Sanders at this point and we feel pretty confident that she's going to come out of these contests today gaining and building on that lead.

BLITZER: Kristina Schake is the deputy communications director for the Hillary Clinton campaign. Kristina, thanks for joining us.

SCHAKE: Thank you.

BLITZER: And coming up, the stop Trump alliance between Senator Ted Cruz and Governor John Kasich already showing some serious signs of strain. Will it fall apart even before taking shape? That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:27:57] BLITZER: Take a look at these live pictures coming in, West Hartford, Connecticut, Bluebell, Pennsylvania, polling stations. Voting now underway in five states, 10 primaries, along the Eastern Seaboard. We're talking about Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, and Rhode Island.

Donald Trump may need to get out the broom by the time the votes are counted tonight. The Republican frontrunner is poised to possibly sweep the five northeastern states holding primaries today. But the Ted Cruz/John Kasich alliance is hoping to stop Trump from clinching the Republican nomination in the weeks ahead.

Lou Gargiulo is Donald Trump's Rockingham County, New Hampshire, co- chair, a 2016 Republican delegate. He's standing by. He's joining us live. As is Bob Barr, he's a Cruz supporter, former U.S. congressman and Republican from Georgia.

Gentlemen, thanks very much for joining us.

Lou, do you expect a clean sweep today?

LOU GARGIULO, TRUMP ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.H., CO-CHAIR: I suspect it will be a clean sweep. I think it's going to be a tremendous night for Mr. Trump in all of those states. And I think we're moving forward beyond there and going on to Indiana and on to California. And I think the prognosis is outstanding. And I do believe that the 1,237 is within reach. And I think that the foolish move on the part of Governor Kasich and Senator Cruz to try to subvert the will of the American voter is going to go down in flames and I think it's a disservice to the Republican Party.

BLITZER: All right, Bob Barr, what do you expect tonight?

BOB BARR, TED CRUZ SUPPORTER: We expect Senator Cruz to continue to do what he's been going all along, and that is recognizing, as the Trump people apparently do not do, that running a national campaign is multi-faceted and multi-level. You have to look beyond simply the big picture always and remember that there are a lot of delegates, a lot of voters down there at the grassroots level that you have to work. And that is what Senator Cruz has always done and will continue to do. He may lose a state to Mr. Trump occasional here and there and some of those may be today in the northeast where Mr. Trump's philosophy resonates more with some of the voters than Ted Cruz's more consistent, conservative message.

[13:30:07] But there still is a long way to go and the Cruz campaign is not going to focus just on today.