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Trump Looking for Northeast Sweep Today; Clinton Leading Polls, Sanders Voters Say Won't Support Clinton; U.S. Message to Russia from Romania. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 26, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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


[13:30:00] BOB BARR, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN & TED CRUZ SUPPORTER: He may lose a state to Mr. Trump occasionally 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, but still a long way to go. And the Cruz campaign is not going to focus just on today. They're focusing on Indiana and particular, on California, in order to make sure that the voters are not steam rolled by Mr. Trump.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Lou, Trump has dismissed this Cruz/Kasich coalition that some are calling it an act of collusion and desperation. Governor Kasich said Trump is afraid of an open convention and teaming up with Ted Cruz is about strategy and resources. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KASICH, (R), OHIO GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We want to husband our resources for other places the same way that the Cruz people want to do that as well. I don't see this as that big of a deal. I know it's like a bombshell to everybody. And I heard what you said in this race, everything is always unchanging. But I like to see an open convention. Ted Cruz would like to see an open convention. And I think Trump would not because he's afraid if he goes to an open convention, he's got no chance of winning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Is Trump worried about the possibility of an open convention, Lou?

LOU GARGIULO, TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.H., CO- CHAIR & 2016 GOP DELEGATE: I don't think he's worried about it. He would prefer not to have one, as I would prefer not to have one. It's really curious of governor Kasich to even say that. Here's a man who has won his home state and that's it. He has not demonstrated the ability to win voters across the United States and for him to think that even in an open convention, that if he were to get the nomination, he would be successful in November is ludicrous. And I think he should get real and succeed the fact he's not going to win the presidency and at this point in time, Mr. Trump is well on his way to the 1237 and I think also well on his way to a substantial race in November.

BLITZER: If he wins all five states tonight, it will certainly an added boost for Donald Trump.

Bob Barr, as you know, this so-called deal worked out between Senator Cruz and governor Kasich. Governor Kasich is going to avoid campaigning in Indiana -- that's a week from today -- to avoid campaigning in New Mexico and Oregon, which come up in subsequent weeks. Here's a simple question. Does he want, Senator Cruz, want voters in Oregon and New Mexico to vote for Governor Kasich?

BARR: Look, Senator Cruz is never been out there telling people who to vote for or whether to vote for some other candidate or not. He wild continue to do what he has been doing all along very consistently and that is going to the grassroots voters, the grassroots delegates in those states in which the delegates are chosen by conventions, for example, rather than just in an open vote. Consistent conservative message is much better for Republican voters in particular and general election voters down the road than Mr. Trump's flip-flopping back and forth and deciding one day he's going to be presidential and then he's not.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Let me interrupt. Bob Barr, simple question, in Oregon and New Mexico, does Senator Cruz want voters to vote for him or someone else?

BARR: Senator Cruz's campaign consistently recognizes there are two tracks that you have to run in a campaign. You have to play offense and you have to play defense as well. The offense is going out and winning elections for Senator Cruz. The defense is making sure that Donald Trump does not get the 1,237 votes in order to steam roll the convention, which we don't anticipate in any realistic scenario that he'll be able to do.

BLITZER: So answer the question, please, does he want --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- Republicans in Oregon and New Mexico to vote for Senator Cruz or does he wants them to vote for someone else?

BARR: Senator Cruz wants people to vote for the consistent conservative and that is Senator Cruz.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: So he wants Oregonians and voters in New Mexico to vote for him?

BARR: I can't speak for the campaign. The campaign has put out a statement from Jeff Roe that outlines what we're talking about here. All I can tell you is, as a surrogate for Senator Cruz, is that he is consistently telling people and voters, Republican vote in particular to vote for consistent conservative and that certainly is not Donald Trump who is more consistent liberal.

BLITZER: I'll give you the final word, Lou. Go ahead. GARGIULO: The establishment collusion that is going on is only

fueling Mr. Trump further. And it will only lead to a greater margin at the convention in July. If they believe that people who have voted are going to sit back and watch Senator Cruz attempt to steal the election in the manner he is, they're in for a rude awakening. And if he were to get the nomination, which I think is very unlikely, he would not be successful in November because the people have spoken.

[13:35:12] BLITZER: Lou Gargiulo, Bob Barr, thank you very much for joining us.

GARGIULO Thank you.

BARR: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Hillary Clinton holding a sizable lead right now as voters in five states head to the polls. A sweep will put her one step closer to the nomination. And if she wins, some Bernie Sanders supporters say they won't back the presidential Democratic nominee. The chair of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, standing by to weigh in live.

We're looking at polling stations right now. This is in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:00] BLITZER: We're digging deeper in the Democratic race. Bernie Sanders is staying in at least until the California primary on June 7th and probably all the way to the convention.

Joining us now, from Davie, Florida, just outside of Miami, the Florida Congresswoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She's the chair of the Democratic National Committee. A tough job.

Congresswoman, thank you very much for joining us.

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL), DNC CHAIRWOMAN: My pleasure. Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Does Senator Sanders staying in the race complicating the timetable to get ready for a general election?

SCHULTZ: No, not at all. We have been getting ready for the general election alongside managing our primary for months now. We are focused on making sure that our state parties have the resources they need and to stand up and coordinate a campaign particularly in the battleground states where we are focused on making sure that the digital and technological advances we have are able to be spread across the country. So we can walk and chew gum at the same time and certainly haven't been hanging back and waiting until the outcome of the primary. We've been getting ready as is our responsibility.

BLITZER: As you know, Senator Sanders, he does well, especially let's say on some of the states upcoming in California, for example, New Jersey, that maybe some of those super delegates who overwhelmingly now are aligned with Hillary Clinton will switch at the last moment on the convention floor in July in Philadelphia and vote for him. She's up by about 500 super delegates to 50 that he has. Is that realistic?

SCHULTZ: Well, you know, it's not for me, as the DNC chair, to comment on the strategy or likelihood on the outcome for either one of the candidates. My job is to make sure I get us ready for the general election and neutrally and effectively manage the primary and we have polls in five states who are going to be able to choose who the best candidate is in their mind to move our country forward and build on the success that we've had under President Obama and those choices are going to be enthusiastic decisions in contrast to the Republicans who are basically going to the polls to decide on which option they want based on who they dislike the least and that's the contrast. Our candidate, whoever our nominee is going into the general election. The enthusiasm gap is significant.

BLITZER: Senator Sanders said he looks forward to going to the Democratic convention arguing about the platform he sees this effort under way right now not just about getting elected as president but a political revolution. How much say will Senator Sanders and millions of supporters have on the party platform assuming he doesn't get the nomination?

SCHULTZ: Again, we're letting this primary play out and I have for a long time expected we would have a primary continue to the last primary on June 7th. But the platform is an expression of our party's values and as such, our process for developing the platform is going to be open and inclusive and expansive. Each have representation on the drafting committee, a smaller committee that actually writes the draft of the platform for the broader platform committee and we have hearings around the country to take input from people who are interested in providing us with their feedback on what they think our platform should look like but it will be what the Republican looks like and what the Republican platform which will be a reflection of how extreme and off the deep end right wing the Republicans have gone in recent years.

BLITZER: I don't know if you were listening to my interview with Jane Sanders here on CNN just a little while ago this hour. She said and she prepared but not going to release anymore tax returns. They've released 2014 only that year and not going to release any earlier years until Hillary Clinton releases the transcripts, the full transcripts of her paid speeches before Wall Street firms. Is that a fair deal?

SCHULTZ: Again, those are a back and forth between our two candidates and their campaigns. Look, Donald Trump hasn't released any of his tax returns. So there is not a whole lot of transparency to speak of at all side of the aisle. And I don't understand how he's gotten away through this whole primary releasing absolutely none of his tax returns and, you know, simply saying that he's being audited, which does not preclude or stop his ability in releasing those returns. It has nothing to do with his ability to release those. So let's see transparency on the Republican side. That's what I'd like to see.

BLITZER: Do you want to see transparency on the Democratic side also? The Bernie Sanders tax returns, the Hillary Clinton paid speech transcripts?

[13:45:12] SCHULTZ: Again, that's a back and forth between our candidates at the national party. We're focused on the general election and also focused on making sure that when you're listening to the whining on the other side of the aisle about their process being rigged, what we're real concerned about at the national party for Democrats is the process being rigged by Republicans all over the country to keep certain kinds of voters from being able to cast ballots.

That's why we filed suit last week against the state of Arizona and elections officials there, because they have aggressively adopted policies that make it much harder for people to vote in the primary that they had a few weeks ago. You had a shrinkage of the number of precincts that were available by 70 percent and in Maricopa County, you had 1 precinct open for every 21,000 voters and they stood in line for five and six hours. By design, that was intended to stop minority voters and poor voters from being able to cast ballots. That's unacceptable. And we're filing suit because the federal government should intervene.

BLITZER: Debbie Wasserman Schultz --

SCHULTZ: That's what we're trying to stop.

BLITZER: -- is chairwoman of the DNC and a Congresswoman from Florida.

Thank you so much, Congresswoman, for joining us.

SCHULTZ: My pleasure, Wolf. Thanks so much.

BLITZER: Coming up, the U.S. sending a strong message to Russia, deploying the military's most secretive and advanced aircraft right near its borders. We have new information. The details coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:50:30] BLITZER: The United States sending a message to Russia, and delivered in the form of highly advanced F-22 Raptor fighter jets. The war planes landed at a strategic Romanian air base near the shores of the Black Sea on Monday. It is close to the Ukraine border where Russia's rapidly building up its own military presence.

CNN's Clarissa Ward was on board the refueling plane that traveled with the F-22s. She has more on the signal that Washington is sending.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These Air Force pilots are preparing for a unique mission. They will be accompanying two U.S. fighter jets to Romania, a NATO ally on the Black Sea. It will be the first time America's fearsome F-22 Raptor has landed there, an opportunity for the U.S. to show it is bolstering NATO defenses on Russia's doorstep.

Flying one of the two is squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lehoski. He explained what makes the F-22 special.

LT. COL. DANIEL LEHOSKI, SQUADRON COMMANDER: A combination of stealth, super cruise, increased situational awareness that the aircraft allows us, which all that adds up to a unique asymmetric advantage on the battlefield.

WARD (on camera): So basically, you're saying this is the best fighter jet in the world.

LEHOSKI: The aircraft is truly incredible and is indeed the best fighter aircraft in the world.

WARD (voice-over): The technology is so advanced that Congress has banned their sale overseas. En route to Romania the jets must regularly be refueled. A delicate balancing act we got to see close up. A nozzle called a boom is lowered from the tanker. The jet then moves into place directly below it, and the gas starts pumping.

(on camera): Officially, this is a training exercise to move U.S. fighter jets from a fixed base to a forward operating base. But it's the symbolism that is important here. This is intended as a show of force to an increasingly assertive Russia.

(voice-over): Earlier this month, Russian jets repeatedly buzzed a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea in maneuvers the U.S. called provocative and aggressive.

Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has steadily built up its military footprint on the Black Sea, unnerving many NATO allies in the region, as Romanian Air Force chief of staff, Laurian Anastasof, told us.

LAURIAN ANASTASOF, ROMANIAN AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF: Increasing air activity, increasing training. This is a thing we are seeing every single day. So we need to get ready for what's going to happen, how to get ready for what's going to be next day.

WARD: Like many here, he hopes the U.S. will continue its commitment to its NATO allies, whatever tomorrow may bring.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Our senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, is joining us live from Constanta, Romania.

Clarissa, good report. Thank you.

Does Russia have a similar amount of air power at its disposal over there?

WARD: Well, Wolf, Russia is projected to spend more than $2 billion by 20 on essentially revamping its Black Sea fleet and it does have some serious weaponry, their most missiles travel nearly 2,000 miles but they don't have anything like the F-22. In fact, really, it is not an exaggeration say nobody in the world does. That's exactly why the U.S. is so protective about this technology. When we were looking at the jets on the ground, even, we weren't allowed to have the cameras out 20 feet of the jets -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Will the Kremlin see it as a provocation? Clearly, the U.S. wanted to advertise what it was doing. They invited you aboard and we had this report. So will Russia presumably respond in some way?

WARD: Well, it remains to be seen how Russia will respond. But I think it's fair to say they see it as a provocation and the narrative is different than the U.S. They see NATO as the aggressor and bothered them for decades now and interesting to see how they react precisely to this event, if they do at all -- Wolf?

BLITZER: You're in Romania right now. That's a key NATO ally. How are the folks there, Romanians, reacting to the latest round of tension between the U.S. and Russia, some aspects of it reminiscent of the Cold War?

[13:55:11] WARD: Well, it's interesting, Wolf. Talking to people here, there's very real concerns, there are very real concerns, specifically as NATO allies, that they feel vulnerable, that they don't feel perhaps in the past the U.S. has done enough to show the full effect of its force, to stand up against Russia. And they're keenly aware of the fact that Russia is expanding its presence since the annexation of Crimea. We have just seen it grow more and more powerful on the Black Sea. We have seen how audacious the Russians can be. Remember, earlier this month, the U.S. naval destroyer, "USS Donald Cook," in the Baltic Sea, the Russians flying very low over it. Certainly fair to say they're feeling pretty vulnerable -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Lots of tension right now.

Clarissa Ward, in Romania for us.

Clarissa, thank you for your excellent reporting, as always.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

The news continues next right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)