Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump and Clinton Win Big in Northeast; Political Delegate Counts; Ted Cruz Speaks in Indiana. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 27, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:32:18] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

The battle for Indiana already heating up. You're looking at live pictures out of Indianapolis, where Senator Ted Cruz is getting ready to meet with supporters at a breakfast spot. These are actually not live pictures. That's Ted on tape. But soon he will be live at that pancake spot and he will -- we're expecting him to announce an announcement, whatever that means, but -- but that -- but that will happen a little later on this morning.

Mr. Trump is also expected to make his mark on the Hoosier state today. The GOP frontrunner holds a rally just two hours later, about six miles away from the Cruz event.

Tuesday's primary was a major defeat for the stop Trump movement. The GOP frontrunner now dubbing himself the presumptive nominee, telling his rivals it's over. And, well, it was just -- while Mr. Trump was just shy of a clean sweep, Hillary Clinton is even closer to being named her party's pick for president.

Christine Romans is digging into the exit polling data from the northeast.

Tell us more.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Carol, what I see is this exit polling is that the frontrunner really built on their bases last night. Hillary Clinton finding new support among Democratic white voters. In Pennsylvania, Clinton winning more than half of that demographic. We saw the same thing in Maryland, moving in on a group that until now has tended to favor Bernie Sanders. Clinton also performing better with lower income voters. Sanders had a grip on this group in earlier primary states, but 54 percent of Democratic voters in Pennsylvania making less than $50,000 a year, they broke for Clinton.

In Connecticut we asked, does Wall Street help or hurt the economy? Only 29 percent of voters, Democratic voters there, say it helps. More than 60 percent say it hurts. Clinton, though, swept both of those groups. Interesting in light of Sanders' Wall Street attacks and attacks on her about her ties to Wall Street. Connecticut, of course, is in Wall Street's backyard, lots of money tied to hedge funds there, especially in the southern most counties.

Same question to GOP voters in Connecticut, Carol, different answers. Fifty percent of the GOP voters say Wall Street helps the economy, 41 percent say it hurts. Donald Trump dominated both of those groups. From Wall Street to Washington, Maryland -- did you know this, Maryland has the highest median household income in the country. The wealthy counties around D.C. really at play here.

COSTELLO: Potomac. Bethesda.

ROMANS: Yes. Yes. Contractors. Lots of government money. Fifty-one percent of GOP voters say they make more than $100,000 a year, 81 percent are making more than $50,000 in Maryland. Those voters broke decisively for Donald Trump. Just 19 percent making less than $50,000 a year. That's always been a trouble spot for Trump there. Now, not this time. Trump won 49 percent of the lower income Republican voters in Maryland. Meaning, across income, Donald Trump really dominated here.

[09:34:49] Voters also showed they do not want a fight at the Republican National Convention. This was a really interesting turnaround from earlier primaries. We asked, if no one gets to 1,237, who should the GOP nominate? Sixty-seven percent of voters in Maryland said the primary winner should get the nomination. They don't like this talk of a contested convention and all these ballots and shenanigans, as some Republicans would say, in the -- in the nominating process. Even more supported, Pennsylvania, 70 percent say the primary winner, just 28 percent say best candidate.

COSTELLO: Wow.

ROMANS: That's a change. I think that shows that either these Republican voters are more comfortable with Donald Trump as their -- as their nominee, or they don't want the fight that could happen if he doesn't get to 1,237.

COSTELLO: Or they believe what Donald Trump is saying, right, that system is rigged, right?

ROMANS: Right. You're right. Right.

COSTELLO: Yes. So it's been very effective for Donald Trump.

ROMANS: Yes, it has.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: OK, so Donald Trump only needs to win half of the remaining delegates to lock up the nomination, but quirks in the way delegates are awarded could be the key to Trump's nomination, or an impending fight at a contested convention. So let's talk about that. Michael Toner is CNN's delegate analyst. He's a former chairman of the Federal Elections Commission and former council for the Republican National Committee. Welcome.

MICHAEL TONER, CNN DELEGATE ANALYST: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so let's start with the big picture. Trump took Tuesday 5-0. Do you think he can get to 1,237 by primaries alone?

TONER: Well, the magic number remains 1,237. I think there are a couple of states that are really important for Senator Cruz. There's been a lot of discussion this morning. The first one, Indiana. Thirty delegates in Indiana next Tuesday will be awarded to the winner of that state overall. So that's a real opportunity for Senator Cruz to cut into Donald Trump's delegate lead. The other 27 delegates will be awarded in Indiana congressional district by congressional district. So the candidates are likely to split that delegate pool.

The next big opportunity for Ted Cruz is the following Tuesday, May 10th, the Nebraska primary. Thirty delegates, again, winner take all. Two opportunities for Cruz to cut into the lead. And then if you look a little farther, real, I think prime opportunity for Donald Trump, the New Jersey primary the first week in June, 51 delegates, again, winner take all. You know, the Republicans have more of these winner take all primaries, particularly in the latter stages of the calendar, so those are opportunities for both Cruz and Trump in the next several weeks.

COSTELLO: Interesting. OK, so let's focus on Pennsylvania, because Mr. Trump won big there. But the delegates there can throw their support to another candidate at the Republican Convention on the second ballot. So voters might ask, especially you since you're the expert, is that fair?

TONER: Well, a couple of things that I think are important about these delegate rules. First of all, for Donald Trump so far he has actually won a higher percentage of delegates than his percentage of the popular vote. For example, if you look at the New York primary and then the primary results last night, Mr. Trump received about 60 percent of the popular vote, but he won over 90 percent of the delegates. So many times these rules work in favor of the candidates that are rolling up a large margins night after night. And Mr. Trump's no exception. In fact, throughout this entire primary, he has a higher delegate percentage than he has the popular vote margin.

I do think, though, when you look at the arithmetic, this race is still going to come down to the California primary on June 7th. There's 172 delegates in stake in California. And what's interesting is, only 13 of them are awarded statewide. The other 159 of these delegates are award congressional district by congressional district. As you know, there are 53 congressional districts in California. In many ways we're going to have 53 micro primaries in California, and that's where this race is going to end up being decided one way or the other.

COSTELLO: Oh. OK, so my head is spinning. So Mr. Trump could still be thwarted, potentially, and it appears that he actually knows that because his campaign is spending a lot of money in the state of Indiana. In fact, Trump will spend more than $1 million on ads in Indiana. So Ted Cruz, of course, it all hinges on Indiana for Ted Cruz. So Mr. Trump knows that and he wants to thwart Ted Cruz, or does Mr. Trump really need to win as many delegates as he can in Indiana on the way to California?

TONER: Well, they're talking about Indiana is a real opportunity for both Senator Cruz and Donald Trump because 30 delegate will be awarded to the statewide winner in Indiana, whether you win by 2 percentage points or 20 percentage points. So that's a good collection of delegates. It makes sense that both campaigns, spending a lot of time and resources there. And then I really do think the Nebraska primary the following week is another pivotal opportunity because, again, winner take all, 36 delegates there. Either Ted Cruz is able to cut into Donald Trump's lead or Donald Trump continues to extend his lead. But regardless, I think this race is going to come down to the New Jersey and California primaries, which are both on the same day, the last day of the primary season on June 7th, and New Jersey being winner take all, like we were talking about earlier, and then California with its 172 delegates. You know the math just dictates that we'll have to wait until June 7th to know where these candidates stand.

[09:40:03] COSTELLO: OK. So I'm glad you're on board and I need a direct line to your office so that I can call you at any moment.

TONER: It's a pleasure, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much, Michael Toner.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, officials in Seoul saying North Korea is planning a bizarre display of military power. Get this, North Korea built a replica of the South Korean presidential palace and they're going to blow it up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right, I want to take you back out to Indianapolis. You see the big old campaign bus there. That's Ted Cruz's campaign bus, "cruzin' to victory." Indiana is a very, very important state for Ted Cruz. If he doesn't do well in Indiana, it's likely his campaign will be over, although some analysts say it's pretty much over already. But he's pulling into this parking lot. And you can see reporters waiting there. And they're waiting for a reason. We expect them to say something. We don't know what. Maybe it will just be a campaign speech. We'll just have to see.

[09:45:06] But Ted Cruz, actually he's been vetting vice presidential candidates. He vetted Carly Fiorina. He started to do that a couple of days ago. And he's very excited about maybe possibly adding Carly Fiorina to his ticket. Maybe that will give him a boost in light of this fact that Donald Trump is maligning, playing the woman card. Perhaps Carly Fiorina can help him there because she's a very effective speaker.

All right, so we will await Senator Ted Cruz. We'll await him to get -- we're going to wait for him. We're going to wait for him to get off the bus, and we'll take you back to Indianapolis.

Checking some other top stories now at 45 minutes past.

A Texas woman is dead after a tree falls on to her home. That's according to CNN affiliate KTRK. Officials say strong winds are likely to blame. Severe storms ripped across several states overnight. In all, five tornados spotted. Huge hail pummeling airports in Missouri and ice chunks the size of baseballs flying in Kansas City.

Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam is back in France. The Paris prosecutor's office confirming he was handed over to French authorities this morning. Today Abdeslam will see the investigating magistrate and will then be placed in provisional custody.

A new security warning for Americans in Turkey. The U.S. embassy in Ankara says there are credible indications that terrorist groups are seeking to attack popular tourist destinations in the country. No specifics sites are mentioned in the embassy's message, though.

All right, let's head back to Indianapolis now. Maybe Senator Ted Cruz has gotten off that bus. Manu Raju, is that who's there? Errol -- Errol Louis, you're going to join me live.

Errol.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, hi.

COSTELLO: Oh, there you are.

OK. So, Ted Cruz, of course, announced his visit to this pancake house and announced his presence soon in this parking lot to do something. What do you suspect that something is?

LOUIS: I'm tempted to joke and say maybe he's going to eat some pancakes and show John Kasich the right way to eat pancakes without stuffing the whole thing in his mouth. I have absolutely no idea. I've been sort of scouring e-mail, looking at social media. I didn't stoop to begging my sources just because there wasn't quite enough time to try and start pressuring them. And we'll find out in just a couple of minutes. But my guess is that he's going to, whatever he says, try to advance his chances in Indiana, because that is absolutely critical for the Ted Cruz path to victory, if there is one, to play itself out.

COSTELLO: Well, he has to do something splashy, doesn't he, to capture attention?

LOUIS: You know, at this point, he's got quite a lot of attention and he did nothing more splashy than pull that RV into a pancake parking lot. On the other hand, look, after the failed abortive and probably rushed alliance with John Kasich that really blew up in their faces earlier this week, I would think that they'd be a little more careful about pulling political stunts and maybe focus a little bit more on hard, political strategy. Probably the thing that would make the biggest difference would be if he has the governor of Indiana stand beside him and endorse him. That would help cement -- an endorsement from Pence would really help cement his credentials. COSTELLO: Yes, but -- but isn't that unlikely since Governor Pence is

running for re-election himself? I mean it wouldn't really exactly be smart to get behind either candidate because you -- you run the chance of alienating voters on both sides.

LOUIS: Well, I haven't seen Governor Pence's numbers or his internals, certainly. And, you know, of course, it's up to him to decide where his base is and who he wants to keep happy and in what fashion. So I could easily see him taking a gamble either way and saying, look, my conservative evangelical base is important enough to me that I will cater to them by throwing my arms around Ted Cruz. You know, stranger things have happened. And it really does depend on the kind of strategic considerations that, you know, involve a little bit of risk taking.

COSTELLO: Interesting. So you see my bet is Carly Fiorina will come out of that bus, along with Ted Cruz. Maybe that's why you're the political analyst and I'm not.

LOUIS: Well -- well, Carol, I'd say, unless you've seen some polling numbers for Carly Fiorina in Indiana, I'm not so sure she's going to bring a whole lot to the party. I mean now, look, if you want to talk about other GOP candidates who have fallen by the wayside, there are some that you and I could both put our heads together and imagine might do quite well in the suburbs of Indianapolis. You know, there are a number of different congressional districts that all clusters around Indianapolis. Indiana's an amazingly rural state and -- I think something like half of the congressional districts are all clustered there around the capital. So if there's anybody you can think of whose name might, you know, rhyme with bubio, who might pop out of there, there are any number of different ways that you can make news this morning.

[09:50:10] COSTELLO: Well, Donald Trump does have Bobby Knight by his side and also his campaign is dumping more than a million dollars in ads in the state of Indiana. So Ted Cruz is probably in for quite a fight.

LOUIS: Well, that's right. And that's really what the (INAUDIBLE) alliance with John Kasich was all about. They both mentioned -- the one part of the story they got straight was that they're low on resources and they don't have a lot of money to spend if it's not going to really get them some bang for the buck. So if he's going to make, for all intents and purposes, a political last stand or an important stand in Indiana, he's going to have to really throw everything into it and spend quite a lot of time there and be as smart as he can and maybe hope that the super PACs who are supporting him come in with some fire power as well because, you know, Donald Trump hasn't spent a lot of money, but if he's opening up the checkbook and he's got a lot of momentum and he's got one state that he wants to focus on, Indiana would be it.

COSTELLO: OK, I think I see senator -- there, yes, that's Senator Cruz, and he's with his wife, Heidi, not Carly Fiorina. So, Errol Louis, I think you were right. But it's smart to bring his wife Heidi out because she is quite popular among voters. So, let's listen. SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John's (ph) looking a

little tired here. He may need -- may need to take that chair from you.

(CROSS TALK)

QUESTION: Hey, listen, I -- I was there late with you last night and early this morning.

CRUZ: Yes, that's what I mean, I'm looking out for you.

QUESTION: What's the big announcement today?

CRUZ: Well, good morning. It is -- it is great to be with you. Last night was Donald Trump's night and today is Indiana's day. Indiana now has the chance to speak. Not only for Hoosiers across this state, but for people across this country that value Midwestern common sense, that value good judgment. Indiana has an opportunity to make a decision that is going to impact the Republican Party, it's going to impact the country. It's a decision of which path we should go down. Do we want to go down the path of a campaign that is based on yelling and screaming and cursing and insults, or do we want to unify behind a campaign that is a positive, optimistic, forward-looking, conservative campaign based on real policy solutions to the challenges facing this country?

I am thrilled, Heidi and I together are thrilled that the people of Indiana will be making that choice. And we are barn storming this state, traveling across the state and seeing tremendous support from the people on the ground. Now, as you mentioned, John, we have an event this afternoon, 4:00 p.m. at the pavilion at Pan-am. We'll be making a major announcement at 4:00 p.m. So I encourage folks, come join us at 4:00 p.m. Hope to see all of you all there. It will be inside. You won't need your jackets. You won't be cold in there.

QUESTION: Is this your running mate or is it an endorsement?

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) your decision on a vice presidential pick?

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

QUESTION: Have you made your decision on a vice presidential pick?

CRUZ: You know, if we were making an announcement at 4:00 p.m., then it wouldn't make sense to announce it at 10:00 a.m.

QUESTION: Yes, but (INAUDIBLE).

CRUZ: And so the entire purpose of this is, you guys should come. And at 4:00, you can find out what the major announcement will be.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

QUESTION: What -- what -- what are looking for in a running mate?

QUESTION: Senator, (INAUDIBLE) -- QUESTION: What are the attributes that you would be looking for in a running mate, which eventually you (INAUDIBLE)?

CRUZ: Well, I have said from the beginning, the most important attribute for any running mate is that he or she should be prepared to step in and fulfill the role as president, be commander in chief, keep this country safe, and champion jobs, freedom and security. My number one priority as president is jobs, freedom and security. I think those are the priorities of the people of Indiana and the priorities of this country.

We've got real problems in this country. You look at jobs. The people of Indiana are hurting. Carrier has moved hundreds of jobs to Mexico. Wages have been stagnating and there have been two incredible governors, Mitch Daniel and Mike Pence, that have reduced taxes, that have reduced regulations, and that has helped the job situation here in Indiana. But Indiana struggles with the 800 pound weight of the federal government still holding down job growth.

My top priority as president is jobs and economic growth. Reducing the burdens of the federal government on small businesses, cutting taxes and allowing small businesses to thrive, bringing manufacturing jobs back to the state of Indiana, raising wages for working men and women. That's my priority. I think it's the priority of the men and women of this state.

(CROSS TALK)

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Donald Trump cannot win over a majority of conservatives. You've said that again and again that he has a ceiling. Last night we saw him break through that ceiling. He did win a majority in states other than his home state. So how do you argue against him now? How do you say that he can't bring Republicans together?

CRUZ: Hallie (ph), I recognize that the New York media executive --

QUESTION: That's not the question. That's not the question.

CRUZ: Hallie, Hallie, you get to ask it, I get to answer it.

I recognize that the New York media executives and the Washington lobbyists running Donald Trump's campaign both want the campaign to be over. They're desperate for it to be over because they recognize that this campaign has now moved into much more favorable territory. Yes, he --

[09:55:13] QUESTION: I didn't suggest (INAUDIBLE) --

CRUZ: Hallie, I'm not going to debate you. I'll answer your question, but I'm not going to debate you.

I recognize that Donald Trump did well at home. That's fine. The choice for this country is which road do we go down? As I laid out last night, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are flip sides of the same coin. Hillary has made millions of dollars selling power and influence in Washington. Donald Trump has made billions buying politicians like Hillary Clinton. And on issue after issue after issue, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are indistinguishable.

On jobs, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both support raising taxes. Donald said just last week on the "Today" show that he supported raising taxes. I disagree with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. As president, I'm going to cut your taxes.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both support the individual mandate in Obamacare. Obamacare is the biggest job killer in the country. I disagree with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. As president, I'm going to repeal every word of Obamacare.

And, you know, today, Donald has planned a big foreign policy speech. It will be interesting to see what Donald says in his foreign policy speech, whether he highlights the fact that Donald and Hillary both agree that America should be neutral between Israel and the Palestinians. I disagree with that position. As president, I will not be neutral. America will stand unapologetically with Israel.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton also both agree that the Iranian nuclear deal should stay in place. That is a profoundly dangerous left wing position of Donald Trump. As I understand it, Donald believes the deal should be in place but he's going to negotiate it to make it better. I don't know, maybe he'll make it great. Anyone who thinks that does not understand the nature of the Ayatollah Khomeini. As president, I will rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal.

And I would note, his campaign is run now by a Washington lobbyist who was paid hundreds and thousands of dollars to lobby for Saudi Arabia, against Israel and against moving the American embassy to Jerusalem. As president, on the very first day in office, I will begin the process of moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

(CROSS TALK)

QUESTION: From last night, the uproar over that statement, that comment you made.

CRUZ: Well, listening, it was wonderful to be in the Hickory Gym (ph). "Hoosiers" is one of my favorite movies of all time. And I have to say, I have no doubt that my high school basketball coach, Coach Dalman (ph), was horrified that I stumbled in speaking and called the rim a ring. I -- you know, look, sometimes when you're speaking and you guys have cameras in your face, you say things, you stumble over words. I know nobody in the media has ever stumbled over a word. You've never said anything on air that was the wrong word at the wrong time.

You know, I'll tell you, in high school, when I played basketball in high school, when we did something wrong, Coach Dalman would have us run laps and laps and laps until we fell over. You know, I think my campaign team, after I messed up the reference to Hoosiers, I think they wanted to have me run laps. But, thankfully, Coach Dalman wasn't there to enforce that. Let me say, the purpose of that reference right there, when I asked

Bruce to climb up and measure the height of the rim, as Gene Hackman so powerfully said, I think you'll find those are the exact same measurements. Now, of course, they do that in the big city gym to show the big city gym is the exact same size as that gym there in Hickory. But the point of that observation is, the power brokers in Washington want this race to be over and the media, over and over again, is repeating Donald Trump's spin that the race is over. Washington and New York want this general election to be between two rich liberal New Yorkers who agree on virtually every issue. Indeed that's not surprising given that Donald Trump contributed repeatedly to Hillary Clinton to her presidential campaign. It is not surprising that Washington and New York want both of the candidates, the supposed Republican and the Democrat, to be supporters of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. That's called, heads I win, tails you lose.

[09:59:49] But the point I made, as you will note, that basketball rim is the exact same distance, 10 feet. And here in Indiana, the people of Indiana have good sense. The people of Indiana have good judgment. The people of Indiana, I don't believe, are simply going to say, Manhattan has spoken. Therefore, we must get behind a New York (INAUDIBLE). I don't believe the people of Indiana want to do that.