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Erin Burnett Outfront
Donald Trump Speaking at First Post-Victory Rally; Cruz Looking to Rebound, Names Fiorina VP Pick; Trump Bashes U.S. Foreign Policy: "Total Disaster"; Cruz Names Carly Fiorina as VP Pick; Trump Doubles Down: Clinton Playing "Woman Card"; Adviser: Sanders Slashing Staff by 200+. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired April 27, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:59:56] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This guy is terrific. This is a winner, he's a champ. He's been so great for Indiana. He loves Indiana. He loves Indiana. And to have his endorsement is just an honor. And I just want to give him a little special hand.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
Special guy, folks. There aren't too many of them. I want to tell you, I know a lot about the world. There aren't too many of them. There are very few. And you certainly don't find them very often in politics, that I can tell you. You know, you've been seeing these crazy deals that they're making. They're like desperate. They make the deal where Cruz calls. He's losing badly. He's losing all of them. In fact -- lying Ted, right? Lying Ted.
He's an outright liar. Boy, you know, I watched him the other night. Now, I always start off by saying we will repeal and replace ObamaCare. We'll going to cut common core. We're going to bring our education local. We're going to preserve our second -- but you know, everybody knows. So I watch him the other night. Donald Trump loves -- absolutely loves ObamaCare. I said, what? He's telling this to an audience. Believe me, folks, we're going to repeal it and replace it. OK?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
Then he goes, he doesn't want to bring education local. He wants it coming out of Washington, D.C. I mean, the guy is going one after another after another. And, of course, last night he called the rim a ring, so he doesn't know too much about the basketball world.
But one after another -- and I mean, literally, he would take what I said and say the exact opposite, and I'm watching the screen. I said to my wife, that is a terrible thing. That is a terrible -- and, you know, it was interesting. When I was on the debate stage, because we had 11 debates I was in. And won every single one of them, according to drudge "and time" and all of these great places. And won every single one. But I was with my wife and I'm watching him and I'm watching his stuff -- I can't watch him for long periods. You know, we will this -- the flourish. Ay-yay-yay. You get such a headache watching this guy. Boy, it's terrible. But I said to my wife, it's terrible that he can get away with it.
Where he can say everything I said, exactly the opposite. And some people believe it. And I said, isn't that terrible? She said, nobody believes it, darling. Really. Nobody believes. They have heard your speech before. Believe me, they don't believe it. He even said I'm not going to build the wall. Can you believe it? He said, he is not going to build the wall. Folks, we're going to build the wall, believe me. Believe me. We're going to build that wall.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
We're going to build that wall. And you know who is going to pay for that wall?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
Not even a question of a doubt. You know, they called me over after the debate, some of the politicians a few weeks ago, when we had some left. Now we're down to two stragglers. Let's be nice. Two stragglers. They're straggling along. But they called me over. And they said, you know, six months ago, Donald, you know you would never be able to build a wall. Of course, you can. You know, China -- you know the story. A 13,000-mile wall, 2,000 years ago. We have 2,000 of which you need one, because you have a lot of natural barriers. And we're talking about $10 billion.
And they are was, if you look at the trade imbalance, just take a look at it. Not only with China, where it's $500 billion a year, we're going to end that, folks, very quickly, OK? But Mexico -- Mexico -- with Mexico, we're talking about $58 billion a year, OK? I mean, on trade. On trade. Fifty eight billion. Right? They do better -- they have the good side. We have the bad side. You know what that means. They're doing very well. That doesn't include all the drugs that are being sent across the border and poisoning our youth. Now, I have respect for Mexico. I have respect for the Mexican leaders. I love the Mexican people. I'm leading in certain polls. You saw in Nevada, I was leading in the polls with Hispanics.
And the reason is, I'm going to bring jobs back. We're bringing jobs back to our country. We're not going to let carrier leave. We're going to take numbers, we're going to do numbers. There are consequences. When you leave, and we'll talk about carrier. Because say what you want, Indiana. I've been talking about carrier now for four months, right? Before I even knew that we were going to be coming. I mean, literally, from the day -- literally from the day. So with all of the things that are going on, and with everything that we're seeing, and with all of the people that we have seen, there's nobody that's going to be able to do what we're going to do together as a movement.
[19:05:07] We have a movement going on. Nobody has seen -- nobody has seen anything like it. And when I can get somebody like Coach Knight and when we get other people -- we have tremendous people supporting us. You know Jeff Sessions. OK? Now, when Cruz gets up, he always talks about -- he doesn't anymore, because about four weeks ago, he endorsed me. But the man he most respects in the United States Senate is a great man, Senator Jeff Sessions, from Alabama. And he came out and endorsed Donald Trump. And I don't believe he's ever endorsed a presidential candidate before. And Dr. Ben Carson has been phenomenal. And Chris Christie and Sarah Palin. And Jerry Falwell Junior of Liberty University. The job he has done. We have such unbelievable support. And no matter where we go, but what happens, and I watch, and I watch as these horrible stories are being told by -- by even -- I mean, look.
I don't like the way that Kasich eats, OK? But that's OK. But I don't like the way that Cruz talks. And then they outsmarted themselves. They went out -- don't forget, Kasich, he signed -- he raised his hand and voted for NAFTA. Perhaps the single-worst deal economically made in the history of this country. It emptied our country of jobs. Our manufacturing jobs are a disaster. And in this area, you see what's happened to your manufacturing. You're down 40 percent. Everybody is down. All over the country. I just left New York State. Down. I just left Pennsylvania. I left Connecticut. I left Maryland. Everybody down. NAFFTA, a disaster.
Signed, by the way, by Bill Clinton. Just so you understand. One of the great disasters, so what Cruz did is, he was losing and losing so badly. He was losing so badly the New York thing was a great embarrassment. And you know, it's interesting the weekend that we had -- you had Utah and you had Arizona that same weekend. By the way, speaking of great endorsements, Jan Brewer, great, the governor. And she's great. She's been so great. And how about Joe Arpaio? How good is he? Sheriff Joe. The toughest man -- and the fair -- I mean, he's fair. But he is tough on the border, right?
So Cruz, when they did this little marriage of the two of them, boy, did that backfire, right? What a disaster. And then on top of it, Kasich comes out and says, well, I'm going to continue. I want them to vote for me. What a disaster. So, they were embarrassed. They are getting terrible press. And what it is is an act -- it's collusion. It's an act of desperation. But you know, in business when you collude, they put you in jail. Politics, it's just a rigged deal that is probably one of the few places that you can collude and get away with it. But they went out and they collude and it has been catastrophic. And I can only tell you my people, I have the best people in Indiana working for us. Wanting to make sure. Because what bobby said is true. If we win Indiana, it's over. It's over. And I can only promise you -- it's over.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
And they have these phony groups, you know -- No Trump or Never Trump or whatever. And they follow me. I mean, these people are terrible. And I mean -- and by the way, you notice they're getting smaller and smaller. They spent in Florida -- they had 15,000 ads. Negative. And they weren't true. Some had a little truth, but most of them. A little bit. But 15,000. I've had 55,000 negative ads. And a guy like -- as an example, Kasich, he says, well, I do very well. And by the way, we had a poll yesterday with Hillary Clinton where now we're even. I haven't even started on her. We haven't seen started. We haven't started. You know, it's sort of funny. It's like Bobby knows how to win and some people -- I know how to win.
And you know, I start off with 17 people. And they're governors. And they're senators. And they're people like -- as an example, Dr. Ben Carson. Highly, highly competent. Smart, great. Wonderful man. But smart. And -- but I start off with 17 people. And I knock off a senator who was going to win. I knock off a governor who was going to win. Then a senator, then a governor. Then a governor, then a senator. One, two, three, four, five. And then Bobby jokes about presidential. I'm a little afraid to be too presidential. Because maybe we'll stop winning. We have to win.
So now we're down to the end. We're down to the end. We're down to the end. And we are just doing -- we have something that's never happened, they say, in the history of our country. We have a movement going just like all of these people -- look at that. All the way up top, just like all -- all of the people. No matter where we go. Pennsylvania, we had a crowd in Pennsylvania, it was unbelievable. We turned down -- we had 25,000 people, and 10,000 people couldn't get in. It's crazy. It's wild. And you know what? We're looking for the answer. The answer is, we're not going to let the world take advantage of us anymore.
[19:10:38] We're not going to let our very incompetent politicians take advantage of us anymore. We're not going to do it. So these guys formed a group and they formed, you know, a little deal. And it turns out to be a disaster. I get a call at 11:30 two nights ago. And one of my people, great person. Says to me, "Mr. Trump, bad news." "What?" "Cruz and Kasich just formed like an alliance, where Kasich promises never to step foot in the state of Indiana. Has to stay out." I said, what about all the people that have been working for him? You know, he's got workers like I have. We all have workers. That's not very fair to them.
By the way, they're out there striking now. They're very angry. They said, what happened? That's a politician. Number one, they can't make a deal. Number two, they can't keep a deal. And number three, they treat their people very badly. They don't get it. But what happened is, they make this deal, and I said to the guys, I said, they have -- they want a response, the press. I said, let's do it. So, 11:30 in the evening, I'm typing up a press release, I'm giving this little dictation. And we put out a press release. And I said about after two seconds of thinking, I think that's a really bad idea that they're doing this. Because it shows total weakness, they're admitting that they're done. They're done.
By the way, neither of them have a path to victory. There is no path. And we're going to win, as you know. You know, you read all this stuff from the world's most dishonest people right back there, the media. They are so dishonest. They are so bad. But you read all this stuff about, you know, Cruz, trying to get delegates. It's getting delegates on the second, third, fourth, fifth round. It's never going to get there, folks. Let him work. You know, they're taking the people for dinner. They're putting them in hotels. They're taking them for rides around town. They're putting them on boats. Let's take a tour of the rivers. I've got to tell you. It's disgusting. You can bribe your way into the presidency. I don't want to do that.
And nobody has better toys me. Believe me, if I wanted to do it, nobody can compete. It's just so wrong. It's so wrong to do it. But they're talking about second, third, fourth. We're not going to get there. We're on the first round. And especially, by the way, after last night. Because last night, we said if we get 75 delegates, we'll be happy. Well, we got -- I think 109. And -- we've got 109. We wiped the slate. And actually -- and more to come. And more to come. It's a rigged system. And I tell this story, and you people like it, because Indiana loves its sports. But it's a rigged system and it's like the prize fighters.
And I know Mike Tyson endorsed me, I love it. He sent out a tweet. Mike -- Iron Mike. You know, all the tough guys endorse me. I like that, okay? But Mike said, I love Trump, I endorsed Trump and that's the end. I'm sure he doesn't know about your economic situation and that's okay. But Mike -- everybody. And I like it. When I get endorsed by the tough ones, I like it. Because you know what, we need toughness now. We need toughness. Hillary Clinton said recently, I don't like Donald Trump's tone. Oh. Look, they're chopping off heads of Christians in the Middle East. And anybody else that gets in their way, by the way. And we will rebuild, we will have when I finished the strongest most powerful military anywhere in the world.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You're listening to Donald Trump, live at his first post victory rally in Indianapolis after winning all five states, overwhelming victories, every single one of them. More than 50 percent. In Indiana now, which is, of course, a must-win thing if he wins Indiana it is over. All of this as Ted Cruz made that surprise announcement today naming his former rival Carly Fiorina his choice for VP. (INAUDIBLE) tried to win Indiana. Trump immediately calling it, quote, "a pure waste of time." And you heard him talking there live about the colluding as he calls it between Ted Cruz and John Kasich. But he did not yet speak about Carly Fiorina.
So we're monitoring. I'm here with my panel tonight, Republican commentator Tara Setmayer. Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany. President of the pro-Cruz Super Pac, Kellyanne Conway and of course, our executive political editor Mark Preston.
[19:15:11] So, Mark, let me start with you. You just heard Trump there saying, look, it's not getting to any other round of balloting. We're going to win it, we're going to win it on the first round. We expected to only get, he said, 75 delegates. Last night he's saying they got 109. What do you say?
MARK PRESTON, CNN EXECUTIVE POLITICAL EDITOR: In many ways, he's right. You know, he said this last night where he said that he thinks he's going to win it outright. I mean, right now, if you were to look at the numbers, there's 502 delegates in ten more states that are still on the table. Donald Trump only needs to win 246 of them. Now, obviously, there's this big effort to try to stop him in Indiana. But not only does Kasich and Cruz need to stop him there, they also need to stop him in California. And right now, there's a lot of wind behind Donald Trump's back.
BURNETT: A lot of wind behind his sails. So, what do you say? Kellyanne, you hear him here. Very confident. Yes, going after -- going after Ted Cruz. But not in his nasty -- I didn't hear lying Ted, not once yet in this speech.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It could be going on right now.
BURNETT: Right. It could be going on right now. But we haven't heard it, so in terms of the tone, it was the -- on the trail, Donald Trump. But a little bit tempered.
CONWAY: A little bit tempered and of course the foreign policy speech tonight, today, Erin. But this is the Donald Trump that he enjoys being I think, the no notes, no -- Donald Trump.
BURNETT: Uh-hmm.
CONWAY: Where he gets the oxygen from the crowd. I thought today, though, basically Ted Cruz got the new cycle again in his announcement of Carly Fiorina. I thought he did a clever thing today when he announced her, which I hadn't expected when we first heard the announcement earlier. And that is this. Ted Cruz is allying himself with Carly Fiorina. But he also allied Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump. He tethered them together. He basically telling everybody there are two twosomes left. The big government liberals, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton over there, take your pick. And then Carly Fiorina and me, the conservative alternative. Unifying a Republican Party, et cetera. And I think anybody who uses the word desperate or even woman tonight is completely dismissing the value of Carly Fiorina as a surrogate on the step -- and potentially a running mate.
BURNETT: We're going to talk a lot more about Carly Fiorina in just one moment. What would you say though, Tara, about the speech tonight. Donald Trump, is he doing a better job being more tempered? You know, he got the big endorsement and the big lead in from Bobby Knight.
TARA SETMAYER, REPUBLICAN COMMENTATOR: No, I mean, this is Donald Trump in his glory. This is what he likes to do. And when you saw his speech today, saw how uncomfortable he was reading from a prompter. It was brutal to watch. But this is what he does. He likes the shtick. He likes to put on a show. And people respond to it. There is no substance. He is -- you know, he has his insults. He makes his little comments. He gets the oxygen like Kellyanne said from the crowd. This is what's fueled his entire campaign. So I'm sure we're going to hear -- I mean, his son tweeted out earlier today about, you know, how desperate the Carly Fiorina pick was.
And we're going to see more and more of that. But this is who Donald Trump is. And this notion that being a decent person and knowledgeable about things is somehow boring, that's actually being presidential, I don't understand why he thinks -- why he is so reticent to actually learn what's going on and behave like, you know, an adult in the room running for president instead of like some entertainer like Charlie Sheen on a one man show here.
BURNETT: We're going to talk a lot more about the foreign policy speech because it is crucial. And in fact we're going to talk to the Muslim man who introduced Donald Trump today. Kayleigh though, when you look at Donald Trump, he has won more votes at this point than Mitt Romney won and John McCain won.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Absolutely. And you look last night, his smallest margin of victory was 29 points. So the Never Trump movement, which has gone on an endless course that he has a ceiling, it's 20, it's 30, it's 40. Well, that's the only -- has been busted out. He had a 29 margin of victory, was the smallest. He was winning in some states by 60 points. That is huge or at 60 points, I should say. It was a good night. He's probably going to win Indiana. He's definitely going to hit 1237. California looks good. West Virginia, the math, quite frankly, looks good. And the Never Trump movement died last night.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you all very much. But you're all going to be staying with me. Because we have more on the breaking news that surprise announcement late today from Ted Cruz about Carly Fiorina going to be his VP. Is that a Hail Mary?
And OUTFRONT next, the reaction that went viral. Chris Christie's wife giving whatever you want to call it, side eye, slant eye, to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she would get five percent of the vote. The only thing she's got going is the woman's card.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus the man who introduced Trump before his big foreign policy speech today. The highest-ranking Muslim ever to serve in the United States administration. So what does he really think of Trump? Well, he's my guest.
And breaking news, Bernie Sanders laying off hundreds of campaign workers tonight. Our live report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:23:25] BURNETT: Breaking news tonight. Ted Cruz announcing Carly Fiorina will be his running mate. Obviously, something that never happens at this point in the cycle unless you are at a do or die moment coming into what you hope is a contested convention. Ted Cruz's situation.
Sunlen Serfaty is traveling with the Cruz campaign. She's OUTFRONT from Indianapolis. Sunlen, you just actually spoke to Carly Fiorina, and you know, she's defending this, right? She's saying this is smart, not a Hail Mary pass? SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. She is clearly
defending this move by the Cruz campaign this very unusual, and nontraditional move. And what it reveals about the state of the Cruz campaign right now. If it's trying, just a move trying to refocus attention, kind of give them a boost of momentum. And right after she stepped off stage here today with Senator Cruz when he announced that he has chosen her as his vice president, I talked to her, and I asked her specifically about this criticism today, that this move is seen as desperate. Here's how she responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLY FIORINA, TED CRUZ'S VICE PRESIDENTIAL CHOICE: Everything about this campaign. Everything about this election, is unprecedented. Let's face it. These are unprecedented times. And we face unprecedented challenges and dangers. I think this is a confident leader who knows what he wants to do for this nation. And who wants the nation to understand who he is, what he believes, and who he wants by his side to fight this fight on behalf of the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: So Carly Fiorina really trying to brush the criticism today aside, for what it reveals about the Cruz campaign and the status of their campaign right now. You know, describing it just as this being an atypical election. And Fiorina really also pushing back on Donald Trump's specific criticisms today that he says that Senator Cruz is wasting his time in choosing Fiorina or making any sort of vice presidential pick given that he has no path to the nomination before a contested convention. And Carly Fiorina coming back with a very appointed -- I should say, in sharp rebuttal, see you on the campaign trail, Donald -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Sunlen, thank you very much. And back to my panel. Mark, what do you say? I mean, this is a Hail Mary pass. The question is, does it possibly have a chance of working?
PRESTON: I mean, look. If I was a betting man, which I am. If you were to bet on this race, I mean, you would put your money on Donald Trump. I mean, this was a Hail Mary pass.
BURNETT: Right.
PRESTON: I mean, there's no question about it. The question is, what does Carly Fiorina bring him? I mean, she is well-liked by conservatives. But so wasn't he? You know, does she serve as a very effective attack dog? In many ways, probably so. But is it too late for that to work? And I think at this point, you know, he had to do anything that he could do to try to stop Donald Trump. So you can't fault them for at least trying to do something.
BURNETT: Right. Kellyanne, here's the thing. Eric Trump tweeted -- Donald Trump's son -- this move is, quote, one of the greatest acts of desperation I have ever seen. Certainly, Carly Fiorina, by virtue of her gender, you could see that's part of this, right? You go after the fact that Donald Trump has such huge unfavorables with women. But is that enough? You're going to see women suddenly flock to Ted Cruz because of Carly Fiorina?
CONWAY: Well, I didn't look at Carly Fiorina just as a woman. And I think if the Trump camp really thinks that it's just desperate, just ignore it. I mean, they're really making a lot of hay about it for people who think it's a nonstarter and it's irrelevant, it's not going to work. They sure got under their skin a little bit. Look, of course, she's a woman. And she's proven herself a very formidable, fearless defender of conservative values. But I think, more importantly, Carley are force a two-way conversation on abortion. You know, Hillary Clinton tries to own that, that Republicans are -- these White men are anti-women and anti-choice.
I think Carly Fiorina will get in there and say, you're really extreme on abortion, Hillary and the Democrats because you're for partial birth abortion, sex-selective abortion, tax fair funding abortion, fetal pain abortion, abortion anyone anytime anywhere. That's not something -- I don't think Donald Trump or Ted Cruz are going to do as comfortably. Secondly, let's give Carly Fiorina her due. Whether it works is a separate question. This woman calling her -- calling it a desperate move after she was the first Fortune 20 CEO. She's got a resume outside of politics that Hillary Clinton would dream of having. She is -- now we have a true feminist back in the race.
BURNETT: She does. She has got a very strong resume, but a very controversial one in the business world to be honest.
PRESTON: But it's not about her. It's not about her. It's about the acts. It's not about whether she has the qualifications to be. It's about their decision to do it at this point in the campaign.
BURNETT: Should it even a double down?
MCENANY: No, it won't help. This is unprecedented. You don't name a VP pick until you are the nominee or presumptive nominee. And you look -- Ted Cruz is desperate to get in the news. That's why Sunday night he leaked the story about the Kasich alliance. That's why he tried to do that silly basketball stunt last night, which fell flat. That's why today he's doing this VP pick. He's trying to get in the news, because he knows this is a Hail Mary. It's the last thing he can do. It won't work.
[19:28:20] BURNETT: Unusual press conference. For many ways. Carly Fiorina came out, she had the cheers, she had the crowd. And then there was this one rather strange moment. Let me just play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIORINA: We've been traveling. Around the country. And I've come to know Ted and Heidi and Carolyn and Kathryn. I know two girls that I just adore, I'm so happy I can see them more because we travel on the bus all day, we get to play, we get to play, I won't bore you with anymore of the song.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: She's a better singer than I am. I mean, no question about that. Listen, she is trying to soften a persona of Ted Cruz, who is seen as very rigid and doesn't seem like he has a whole lot of emotion inside of him. I mean, that's clearly what happens.
MCENANY: She beats screaming at the podium like Hillary does.
SETMAYER: Right. And it also beats barking which Hillary Clinton did. At least there wasn't that. Listen, Carly Fiorina is -- brings a political upside for Ted Cruz. I don't believe this is an act of desperation. I think it was smart politics. That's right. This is unconventional. This election, there's nothing traditional about this election. It actually has been done before. Ronald Reagan did it. It didn't work for him. But it has been done before. So why not? This way, the American people can see a stable ticket. You see what you get. Not, you know, behind closed doors on one way and in front of people I'm a different way.
And this week, I'm going to act one way and next week I'm going to act a different way. You have no idea what's going to happen every time he steps in front of a television camera. Ted Cruz is trying to show that this is a mature race and that we're serious about running for president.
[19:30:04] And this is what we bring to the table. She's an effective attack dog. And it did get under Donald Trump's skin for sure, Kellyanne, because let's not forget, Carly Fiorina is the only one who really smacks Donald Trump around on the debate stage when he tried to go after her looks. And she cut him down to size. And you know he didn't like that. So that's another reason why.
(CROSSTALK)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, KEEP THE PROMISE, SUPER PAC SUPPORTING TED CRUZ: The primary in California. I mean, she won over 4 million votes. Remember, California, is the big prize, 172 delegates. Republican primary voters.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you all very much. Of course, California so crucial with its delegates, coming up on June 7th.
Tonight, Donald Trump is bashing U.S. foreign policy. Today, he actually with a teleprompter laid out his own vision in a speech, all part of the major policy address by the frontrunner. Here's part of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our foreign policy is a complete and total disaster. No vision, no purpose, no direction, no strategy. If President Obama's goal had been to weaken America, he could not have done a better job. The legacy of the Obama/Clinton interventions will be weakness, confusion, and disarray -- a mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, is OUTFRONT. And, Jim, this is a major foreign policy speech for Donald Trump. He did it with a teleprompter, obviously edited himself that had some of the trademark phrasing. But this was very much a formal prepared speech.
How was it received?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It was prepared and more yellow in tone, no question, but very familiar positions. Listen, there was tremendous amount of criticism, but also praise from people like Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the house. He talked about how, yes, he mispronounced the word Tanzania, but he pronounced America right. Earlier, he said he started a profound rebellion. Ari Fleischer coming out in support of him.
And let's be honest, Erin, we know there are critics even within his own party of Donald Trump. Many of the positions he laid out today, even though they had that characteristic Trump brashness, are familiar Republican Party establishment positions. For instance, criticism of the Iran nuclear deal. So, a lot of this was not out there -- at least from a foreign policy perspective.
BURNETT: Now Trump mentioned radical Islam several times today, Jim. Used it as a way to go after President Obama and Secretary Clinton. He said, look, they are afraid to use the word. He's not. Here's how he put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're in a war against radical Islamic, but President Obama won't even name the enemy. Hillary Clinton also refuses to say the words "radical Islamic", even as she pushes for a massive increase in refugees.
We must stop importing extremism through senseless immigration policies. A pause for reassessment will help us to prevent the next San Bernardino, or, frankly, much worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: A pause for reassessment there, Erin. That's really referring to his ban on Muslims coming to the U.S. he didn't say it in so many words but in effect doubling down on that position. And at the same time, hitting on points that really have resonated with many of his supporters, this idea of calling it radical Islam, which the president has been reluctant to do, saying it's not the faith, it's a bastardization of the faith.
But these are positions that resonate and that -- as you know, many people said, when he for instance mentioned the Muslim ban, that he couldn't survive this, and yet he is the presumptive Republican nominee at this point. And perhaps taking that in, these again are campaign-tested positions. He's sticking with them.
BURNETT: All right. Jim Sciutto, thank you very much.
And this was such a crucial speech.
I want to go now OUTFRONT to the man who introduced Donald Trump today, Zalmay Khalilzad. He is the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Afghanistan and Iraq and the author of "The Envoy".
Ambassador, thank you so much for being with me. Look, just to be very blunt here, you are the highest-ranking Muslim ever to hold office in an American administration. You introduced Donald Trump today. As you are well aware, you were immediately criticized on social media. Why did you do it?
ZALMAY KHALILZAD, INTRODUCED TRUMP DURIGN FOREIGN POLICY ADDRESS: Well, first, I'm glad you called me by my name because I thought you may continue to refer me as "the Muslim man".
But I did it because I'm on the board of the National Interest Foundation, and that foundation hosted Donald Trump to give his speech. And they asked me to chair it, and I did, and I'm glad that I did it.
BURNETT: Let me ask you, though, because I understand your frustration. Look, you don't want it to be about your religion, but nonetheless, the fact that you were the highest-serving Muslim. A lot of people -- when you look at Trump's proposed policies, that's a significant thing, to be, to go ahead and announce him. He said, today, if there were a pause in allowing Muslim immigration into the United States, it could prevent the next San Bernardino.
[19:35:04] You heard that little clip there in which he said that.
By your introducing him, given your faith, are you saying that he's right? Do you think that there is something to that policy? Or no?
KHALILZAD: Well, I think we as Americans, irregardless of what religion we have, what our faith is, should support policies that can protect America. And if we don't know who is coming in, whether that person -- regardless whether he's a Muslim or she's a Muslim or from another faith, then not allowing the person to come is not a bad idea until we can figure out to know who we are admitting to the country.
So I think I don't see it so much as a ban on Muslims as a ban, as he explained it -- if he meant something different, I would disagree with -- is that we should know who we are admitting so that that person doesn't pose a threat to U.S. security.
BURNETT: Right. Of course, he had proposed a temporary ban on Muslims, because, you know, he says that Muslims --
(CROSSTALK)
KHALILZAD: He doesn't say that today. He didn't say that today.
BURNETT: So you think today was a change, then, in his policy, but the way it was originally put forth, you would not agree with if it was specifically a ban on Muslims. KHALILZAD: I agree with you that if it was a ban on all Muslims, I
would disagree with because we need Muslims, moderate Muslims, anti- extremist Muslims, to defeat the extremists. We by ourselves cannot defeat extremism. Muslims generally have to defeat them and we have to support those moderate Muslims.
BURNETT: So, would you serve in a Trump administration?
KHALILZAD: Well, if I thought that I could make a positive difference, to help U.S. national security, I would do so. But I would also serve in an administration that was led by someone else, as well, including by Hillary Clinton.
I have benefited from this country. I love the United States. And I will do what I can to help the United States. So --
BURNETT: OK.
KHALILZAD: But today wasn't -- I wasn't there to endorse him.
BURNETT: OK.
KHALILZAD: I was there to introduce him.
BURNETT: Right, right. And, of course, it sounds like you at least disagree with the way he has put forth the policy in the past.
Have you had a chance to speak to Donald Trump about his comments on Muslims?
KHALILZAD: Well, I met him for the first time today, before the speech. So I have not had the opportunity to discuss it in detail. But I was encouraged by the evolution in his approach, given what he said before.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Ambassador Khalilzad, thank you very much. I appreciate your time and certainly in making it very clear, far from an endorsement, to stand there and introduce Donald Trump today.
OUTFRONT next, more breaking news. The Sanders campaign announcing tonight, they are laying off hundreds of workers. We have that report ahead.
And Donald Trump charging Clinton is playing the, quote/unquote, "woman's card". Clinton firing back. We have a special report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:02] BURNETT: Breaking news tonight: Donald Trump responding moments ago to Ted Cruz's surprise move today of picking Carly Fiorina as his vice presidential running mate. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: First of all, you have to look. Cruz can't win. What's he doing picking vice presidents? Can't win. Can't win. You know, on television, they say it nicely. He has no path to
victory. That's a nice expression, right? No path to victory -- he's got no path to victory!
He's mathematically eliminated. It's like if you're playing tin the World Series and your team loses a game, a certain game, he's mathematically eliminated.
He has set a record, though. He is the first presidential candidate in the history of this country who's mathematically eliminated from becoming president who chose a vice presidential candidate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But if Cruz has any chance to keep his campaign alive, it does come down to Indiana, where Trump is tonight, where Cruz is.
So, what is the path ahead for Trump and Cruz?
John King is OUTFRONT with the delegate math.
And you hear Donald Trump's logic on it, John. But just how important is Indiana?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Critical. Ted Cruz has now set up, Erin, as his firewall, not only saying before the big announcement with Carly Fiorina, that he had to win Indiana, doubling down by making the announcement of his running mate if he's the nominee in Indiana.
How critical is it? Donald Trump, Erin, for the first time, Donald Trump can say this -- he needs 49 percent, fewer than 50 percent of the remaining delegates to get to the magic number of 1,237. After that huge night last night, Indiana could be critical, one from a math standpoint.
Donald Trump leads in the polls right now. He can go in, this is a 60/40 split. If Donald Trump can go into Indiana and essentially bust the Cruz/Kasich alliance, bust the buzz Cruz is trying to get out of this Carly Fiorina announcement and start to stretch out his lead, number one, he takes away any Cruz morality play of winning the state of Indiana and stopping the Trump momentum.
Then, next week, among the states up is West Virginia, Erin. Donald Trump thinks he's going to win the ball there. Ted Cruz might win out Nebraska.
But let's play this out. If Trump wins Indiana, watch if we play it out all the way until June. Here we have Oregon and New Mexico for Kasich because of that alliance. But what's to say if Trump can break that in Indiana, let's just pick New Mexico.
Let's say Donald Trump wins because it's proportional. Let's say Donald Trump wins, we'll give Kasich Oregon. Then, California is at the end of the road. If Donald Trump can go in with a lot of momentum at this point, a lot of Republicans if Trump wins Indiana we think this is over.
If he can go into California and win a victory there, under this scenario, Erin, he's at 1,232. You need 1,237. But last night in Pennsylvania Donald Trump won not only the statewide, at least 36 of the 54 non-committed, unpledged delegates and said, hey, Trump won our state. We're going to vote for Trump on the first ballot. So, with those 36, with a big win in California and if he can use Indiana as a springboard next week -- game over. Donald Trump crosses the finish line.
And with enough of a cushion, that even if a couple things I just played out didn't go exactly that way, he could still cross the finish line or get so close, that it would be pretty easy to negotiate that last 10 or 12 delegates he would need.
[19:45:06] So, Indiana could be decisive in this race.
BURNETT: Indiana, decisive, and, of course, as you put it, Pennsylvania with its utterly bizarre set of rules.
And now, the surprise announcement from Ted Cruz, John. Carly Fiorina, his running mate. Where does that help him?
KING: Well, he's hoping, because we're talking about it tonight, that it gets him some buzz and changes the conversation in the race. That's one place he hopes it helps him.
He also obviously -- Indiana is so paramount, Erin. If it doesn't help in Indiana, it may not matter it helps anywhere else. Ted Cruz is hoping with Carly Fiorina, he can do better in the Indianapolis suburbs, for example, with women. Donald Trump is doing well with Republican women in recent contests. Ted Cruz hopes this helps.
He also hopes this is 13th in the country in terms of evangelical chemicals, Indiana. Ted Cruz hopes Carly Fiorina with him campaigning helps him here. He needs Indiana.
Another place where it could help, of course, you know this better than me, Carly Fiorina when she was the Hewlett-Packard CEO was out here in California, she ran a Senate race in California a couple years ago. She's a known entity, she's good on television. A lot of media markets out here.
So, perhaps could help in California, as well. But two words tonight, "Indiana first."
BURNETT: All right, thank you very much, John King.
And as you talk about this vice presidential race, Donald Trump is now doubling down on his attacks that Hillary Clinton is playing what he says is the woman card in order to win.
Dana Bash is OUTFRONT with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Riding high and eager to turn towards the general election --
TRUMP: She is playing the woman card, left and right.
BASH: -- Donald Trump is unveiling a page from his playbook against the Democratic frontrunner, designed, of course, to get people talking.
TRUMP: Frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she'd get 5 percent of the vote.
BASH: Hillary Clinton's campaign clearly sees it as a political gift, trying to raise campaign cash off Trump's woman card comments with this new e-mail, saying, "Hillary Clinton has won more than 12 million votes. That's 2 million more than Trump, because she has the best vision for this country, the chops to get t job done and an credible team fighting alongside her."
And incorporating it into her stump speech.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If fighting for women's health care and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in!
BASH: When she ran in 2008, Clinton didn't play up the fact that she would be the first female president until it was too late.
CLINTON: Although, we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it.
BASH: This time, she is leaning in more.
CLINTON: I'm not asking people to vote for me, simply because I'm a woman. I'm asking people to vote for me on the merits. And I think one of the merits is, I am a woman.
BASH: Despite that, Hillary Clinton has some work to do with female voters. Half of women view her unfavorably. Still, that's pretty good compared to what women think of Donald Trump -- 73 percent, nearly three quarters of female voters, have an unfavorable view of him. And in a head-to-head match-up, Clinton crushes Trump with female voters 60 percent to 33 percent.
It's why a chief Republican worry about Trump is that he'll turn off women at the polls.
TRUMP: Well, I think the only card she has is the woman's card. She's got nothing else going.
BASH: And why Chris Christie's wife, Mary Pat, may be no fan of Hillary's, but her side-eyed glance went viral when Trump said this.
TRUMP: The only thing she's got going is the women's card and the beautiful thing is women don't like her, OK?
(END VIDEOTAPE) BASH: Clinton supporters quickly flocked to her testifies, noting she is the most experienced person to run for president, man or woman, in some time. While Trump boasts about his experience as a businessman where he says he promoted women.
It's clear gender politics will be front and center in any Clinton/Trump match-up and both see that as a political advantage -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Dana.
Mark Preston is back with me -- our executive editor for politics.
Look, coming into this, Donald Trump had a 73 percent unfavorable rating among women in our latest CNN poll, didn't need to go there last night. Went there.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: It's probably 83 percent right now. I mean, just the fact he would say something like -- this is a perfect example of Donald Trump right now, having this internal struggle about saying what's on his mind and thinking he can get away with saying what's on his mind and acting presidential.
Just think, if Donald Trump did not say these flippant comments all of the time, what would we be thinking about Donald Trump, and certainly what would voters who are turned off by Donald Trump right now be thinking about him.
BURNETT: Right. Because last night, he could have just talked about Ted Cruz and how he beat him by, what, 50, 60-plus percent. It's not mentioned but he did.
All right. Thank you very much, Mark Preston.
[19:50:01] And OUTFRONT next, the breaking news: Bernie Sanders laying off hundreds of staffers. We have a live report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news: Bernie Sanders slashing his staff across the country tonight. The campaign cutting its payroll by hundreds after losing four out of five contests in last night's primaries. The defeat gives Clinton a nearly insurmountable delegate lead.
Brianna Keilar is at Sanders campaign event in Bloomington, Indiana, where he is speaking live right behind you, Brianna. What is the campaign telling you about these cuts?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're really downplaying them. In fact, Erin, and Bernie Sanders is speaking behind me right now is making indications as if he is not going anywhere and he's going to take this to the very last primary. He's here at Indiana University. Voters are going to the polls here next week.
But you can't escape the numbers here. We are talking about a campaign that was sized at over a thousand. I'm told they're going down to a number of about 325 to 350. The campaign manager Jeff Weaver telling me recently they had been at 550. So, perhaps there had been some attrition in states following Iowa, but it wasn't well publicized.
[19:55:03] So, we have seen the number here is going to be dropping. A lot of staffers were on a phone call with top campaign aides where they found out this news earlier. But again, the campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, telling me it is natural evolution of any campaign because there are fewer states going forward.
But you look at this development, certainly not good for Bernie Sanders in the context of this being such a setback last night. You've also seen him sort of I guess tempering what he has been saying. He's been a little more conciliatory. He's been talking about how the party will be united later and he's been talking about having influence, being able to garner as many delegates as possible to influence the Democratic platform come this summer.
So, really, I think making the case not just for a campaign that is going to win, but for a campaign that is going to be influential, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Brianna Keilar, as we said, live with Bernie Sanders there at Indiana University.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: And thank you so much for joining us. I'll see you back here same time tomorrow night. Have a great night.
"AC360" with Anderson Cooper begins right now.
