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Trump Leading Polls in Indiana and California; Government Encouraging Anyone with Expired or Unwanted Pills to Turn Them In; Exclusive Interview with Jeb Bush; Exclusive Interview with Hillary Clinton; Sanders Sets His Sights Squarely on Remaining Presidential Nominating Contests. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired April 30, 2016 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:07] MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN HOST: CNN Jason Carroll was at that location at the Trump protest and joins us now -- Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Martin.
You know, Ted Cruz received a warm reception, is expecting to receive a warm reception when he speaks to folks here later on today. John Kasich also warm reception last night when he came here to the state convention. Donald Trump for his part, warm reception, some could say. Some here who came out thought he should have done a little more to reach out to the party. He did make light of what was happening outside in terms of all of those demonstrators who showed up. You heard in the joke he made to the folks at the state convention, but also in terms of reaching out to the people who are in the room many of them GOP insiders, people he's been critical of in the past. He spoke about the need to try to unify the party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's going to come to an end very soon and really and I speak to the people in the room because there has to be unity in our party. There has to be unity in our party.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And if there's not, it is going to be, if there's not unity and I mean really good solidarity, unity, relationship, friendship, we have people like Jim where they do such a good job all over the country, we have some great people, but there should be and there has to be unity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: John Kasich saying in terms of unity he is the best candidate to do that. John Kasich basically saying that what happened outside, Martin, is another example why Donald Trump in his words is someone who cannot unify but is more of someone who is dividing people, not bringing them together.
Having said that, Trump leading in the polls in Indiana and here in California. Trump telling his supporters there in Indiana if he can win there basically this race is all but over -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: And he's probably right. Jason Carroll, thank you very much.
Trump has broken the thousand delegate mark and you've heard him predict he will break the record for votes. His totals so far are impressive. But the numbers also show where his campaign needs some work if he wants to go all the way.
CNN Tom Foreman has more on that.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Trump could prove to be a record breaker in this GOP primary season. He already had roughly 10.1 million votes cast for him in all the primaries and caucuses and there are only about 80 percent done. That compares very favorably to the total primary and caucus votes for some other recent contenders.
Mitt Romney for example had 10.1 million votes. John McCain, 9.9 million votes and George W. Bush, 12.6 million votes. That's more yes but by the time the season is done, Trump very well could hit that number.
Granted, everyone here had a lot of people running against them when they started their campaigns, but in the case of these three, the most robust competition dropped off earlier than it has against Donald Trump. So you can argue that's actually won these votes while fighting longer and harder through a denser pack of contenders. He does, however, have to bring over a lot more support if he's going to go into the general election if he becomes the nominee.
Look at this. Yes, he has 10 million or so votes out there so far. But Ted Cruz has almost seven million. John Kasich, more than 3.5 million and all the others combined almost five million. Wrap that all together and what you have is more than 15 million people who have voted in the Republican primary in caucus process who do not support Donald Trump. If he really wants to become the nominee and wants to make history, he's going to have to get an awful lot of those people up in his camp.
SAVIDGE: Always interesting. Tom Foreman, thanks very much.
Coming up, police release the logs of nearly fifty 911 calls from prince's paisley park complex including the one made the day he died. Do they give us any insight to what happened to the music icon?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:07:14] SAVIDGE: Police have released dozens of 911 calls made from Prince's Paisley Park studios over the past five years. They include everything from suspicious activity to harassing phone calls, but four were for medical issues including the one made the day Prince was found dead.
We are also learning powerful prescription painkillers were found on Prince's body and in his home. But investigators have not been find a valid prescription for the drugs. The CDC says that more people died from overdoses in 2014 than any other year on record. More than 60 percent of those involved a painkiller.
To combat this growing problem the government is encouraging anyone with expired or unwanted pills to turn them in at collection sites around the country. No questions asked.
CNN's Rachel Crane has more from New York.
RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't hear anything. I don't hear anything right now.
SAVIDGE: And as you can tell she doesn't hear us. But we'll fix it and get back to her.
Rachel, can you hear me now?
CRANE: I can hear you now but I can't -- I didn't hear an intro or anything.
SAVIDGE: All right. You're already talking to me. I'm the anchor so go ahead and start the report.
CRANE: Martin, we're here at the tenth precinct in Lower Manhattan and this is just one of many drop-off sites across the country where people are allowed to dispose of their unwanted medication. And over the past hour we have seen a steady stream of people dropping off their medication here. This is the 11th time the DEA has held this event. And actually the DEA agents who are manning at the box right there. They actually had to change out the bag because there was such a high volume of medication being dropped off. And earlier the DEA held a press conference urging the entire nation to take part in this event. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA J. BOENTE, U.S. ATTORNEY, EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA: Everyone has a role in stopping this epidemic. Citizens who have prescription drugs, especially opioids, need to safeguard the drugs when you finish with them, you should dispose of them properly. These drugs have a place in medicine but they are easily abused and they are dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CRANE: Now as you heard the DEA point out this is truly an epidemic. According to a 2014 national survey about six million Americans abuse prescription pills. And the vast majority of them, they obtain those pills from a friend or a family's medicine cabinet.
Now, this program here is not the antidote but it has certainly made a difference in getting these prescription pills off the streets. Last time they held the event which was in October they confiscated over 700,000 pounds of pills. And in the entirety of the program they've confiscated over five million pounds of pills -- Martin.
[13:10:02] SAVIDGE: Rachel Crane, thanks very much for that. Appreciate it. The record number of opioid overdoses we're seeing this country has
also garnered the attention of Hollywood. Actress Allison Janney who maybe best known for playing the White House press secretary C.J. Craig on "the West Wing" stopped by the daily briefing to shed light on what she's doing to try to raise awareness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLISON JANNEY, ACTRESS: Today here at the White House ten individuals from across the country will be honored as White House champions of change. They've been selected for -- from over 900 nominations for their leadership in preventing prescription drug abuse and heroin use and for increasing access to treatment and to support their fellow Americans in recovery, for supporting them in recovery. This is a disease that can touch anybody and all of us can help reduce drug abuse through evidenced based treatment, prevention and recovery. Research shows it works. And courageous Americans show it works every day. I'm so nervous. I can't believe.
So thank you for the opportunity to be here today and highlight this important issue and now I return the podium to its rightful owner -- Josh. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: C.J., I have a question.
JANNEY: Yes, sure. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is President Bartlett supporting in the Democratic --?
JANNEY: I think you know the answer to that question. Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Next in a CNN exclusive, Jeb Bush speaking out for the very first time since dropping out of the presidential race. He talks with our own Jamie Gangel about Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, Donald Trump was -- still is a phenomena.
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: And if Donald Trump is the nominee, should the Republican party, will you rally around him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Before the answer we will go to break and give it to you afterwards.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:15:36] SAVIDGE: No regrets, that's what Jeb Bush has to say in his first interview since leaving the presidential race. Jeb was endorsed or has endorsed Ted Cruz and he says this in this exclusive CNN interview that he supports Cruz's decision to select a running mate early and he says that Carly Fiorina is quite or to quote him rather, "a smart choice." As to what he thinks about Donald Trump, well, you need to watch Jamie Gangel's exclusive interview. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GANGEL: Donald Trump appears to be getting closer to the magic number. Do you think the race is over? Is he the presumptive nominee?
BUSH: No, not yet. He is close. He's got to win Indiana and, therefore, five other states. If he doesn't get to 50 he might -- 50 percent, he might have problems garnering the delegates.
GANGEL: Do you think there's still a viable stop Trump movement?
BUSH: Yes, I think there's a possibility that he won't get 50 percent on the first ballot. And if he doesn't do that, there are a whole lot of people that don't believe he's the proper guy.
GANGEL: Do you think the Republican Party should get around him if he's the nominee.
BUSH: I think they should support Ted Cruz.
GANGEL: So yesterday Ted Cruz announced that his vice presidential pick would be Carly Fiorina. Was that a Hail Mary pass?
BUSH: He is behind, but after the first ballot, anything could happen. And I believe that the likely occurrence if Donald Trump doesn't win the nomination on the first ballot is that Ted Cruz is the only other candidate that's likely to win the nomination. So picking a candidate that is talented, tough, you know, she takes on Trump really well, I think, and she takes on Hillary Clinton very well, as well, someone who's got a proven record and who's been vetted as a candidate, I thought was a smart move by Ted Cruz.
GANGEL: You think it was the right pick?
BUSH: Yes, yes, I do. I think -- I'm impressed with her.
GANGEL: You've said in the past that you didn't think that Donald Trump was ready to be president. But if he is the nominee, apart from whatever else you think might happen, whether he would beat Hillary or not, will you support him?
BUSH: I don't think he's a serious person.
GANGEL: You haven't changed your mind.
BUSH: No, I have seen nothing -- the speech, recent speech about foreign policy was -- you can't -- I don't know which Donald Trump to believe. The one that read from a teleprompter, a speech that was inside the lines or the one that wants to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it or a 45 percent tariff on China or abandoning NATO or saying that it's, you know, it's -- it would be a smart thing to have Japan and Korea kind a go it alone and build their nuclear capability to deal with China, which Donald Trump is the one that is expressing these views? There's two of them. And I think we need a president with a steady hand.
GANGEL: It sounds like you wouldn't vote for him.
BUSH: I hope I won't have to be faced with that dilemma. And until I am, I'm not even going to think about it.
GANGEL: Do you think there's a case to be made for Republicans voting for Hillary Clinton if he the nominee?
BUSH: No. No, I mean, a third term of Barack Obama's hyper aggressive use of executive power to create massive uncertainty for our economy really restricting ability for people to have growing income, more control and power in Washington, D.C. would be a disaster.
GANGEL: Looking back at the campaign, how do you feel about how you did, what you did.
BUSH: Yes. Wow, I mean I don't think about it too much. I've concluded that whatever mistakes I made and I certainly made them, probably wouldn't have changed the outcome.
GANGEL: What do you think happened?
BUSH: It's definitely a crazy year. Look, Donald Trump was -- still is a phenomenal.
GANGEL: And if Donald Trump is the nominee, should the Republican Party -- will you rally around him?
BUSH: I am hopeful that he won't be the nominee.
GANGEL: You think you can ever run for politics again.
[13:20:00] BUSH: Who, me? I've learned to never say never but, you know, this was my chance. This was the chance and I ran into a storm.
GANGEL: No regrets though.
BUSH: No, none at all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: That was CNN's Jamie Gangel reporting.
Another CNN interview, exclusive, is next. Hillary Clinton, she responds to Trump's women's card accusations making that response to our Jake Tapper. You'll hear the conversation next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:23:49] SAVIDGE: Hillary Clinton feeling backlash today from a comment that she made that native Americans are taking offense to. Clinton saying quote "I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation," unquote.
And now Bernie Sanders' campaign is calling Clinton's choice of words quote "disappointing." Clinton made the controversial comment while brush off attacks from Donald Trump in an interview with CNN. Our Jake Tapper has that exclusive interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Madam Secretary, thanks so much for doing this. Congratulations on Tuesday night.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks a lot, Jake. It was terrific. We really --
TAPPER: Four for five.
CLINTON: Yes. We had a great campaign and all the states. It felt good.
TAPPER: That night Donald Trump said that he considers himself the presumptive nominee of the party. Do you consider yourself the presumptive nominee?
CLINTON: No, I consider myself as someone who is on the path and obviously I'm very far ahead in both the popular vote and the delegate count. So I think the path leads to the nomination but, you know, I'm going to keep competing in the elections that are up ahead of us.
TAPPER: Senator Sanders issued a statement that suggested he's not necessarily running to win anymore. He is running to advance progressive causes on the democratic platform. Specifically he named $15 minimum wage at the national level, Medicare for all, breaking up the bank, changing our trade policy, and passing a tax on carbon. Are these issues where you think you could make a deal with senator Sanders, find some common ground and get those issues on the platform should you be the nominee.
[13:25:18] CLINTON: Well, I certainly look forward to working with senator Sanders in the lead-up to the convention in the lead-up to the platform that will represent the Democratic Party. It will be a progressive platform. I've run on a progressive agenda. I really welcome his ideas and his supporters' passion and commitment because the most important thing for us is to win in November. There is no more important goal and I was pleased when senator Sanders said the other day. He is going to work tirelessly seven days a week to make sure that Donald Trump is not president and I really welcome that because that has to be our primary objective.
TAPPER: Are there any other specific issues that you think, yes, I could do that? I know Medicare for all, you've already ruled out.
CLINTON: Well, we are going to talk. We are going to work together because, look, we want the same goals. We both want to raise the minimum wage. The Republicans led by Donald Trump don't want to. We both want to get to universal health care coverage. The Republicans don't seem interested in that. We both want a deal with climate change, something they deny. So if we go down the list. We have so much more in common. I said that in my remarks Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
The connection between my supporters and myself and senator Sanders and his supporters are very strong. We really are going to be unified and have a tremendous progressive agenda to run on in the fall and I really think that will help us win the election and it will also help us govern.
TAPPER: Do you think if he withholds his support until the convention that will hurt your chances in November should you be the nominee.
CLINTON: I don't have any reason to believe that. I know when I dropped out in early June, I immediately endorsed senator Obama. We had differences in our campaign. We had differences on issues. We had run a really tough race all the way to the end but I endorsed him. I began working for him. And, of course, we talked about the platform. We talked about t convention, he asked me to nominate him at the Denver convention.
So, you know, we went through some of the same process. And, in fact, I think when I drop the out the polling was that 40 percent of my supporters said they would not support senator Obama. Thankfully the vast majority of them did. So this is a natural kind of process that I think will play itself out.
TAPPER: It's interesting because of all the people in the world there is probably no one who knows what Bernie Sanders is feeling more than you.
CLINTON: Right. Right.
TAPPER: Take us back to 2008. What you think senator Sanders is going through it's like, I came so close but --
CLINTON: It's hard, Jake. I mean you throw yourself into these campaigns, body and soul. You work 24/7. Your family, your supporters, - everybody is so invested in trying to win and I'm very proud of my campaign, grateful I have such strong support, but I absolutely understand that, you know, senator Sanders has been a passionate advocate for positions that he cares deeply about. I think that's been helpful to the democratic primary process. He has brought millions of people into the process, which I think is also very good or the Democratic Party.
But there comes a time when you have to look at the reality, in fact, in '08 I was much closer in both popular vote and pledge delegates to senator Obama than is the case right now. But eventually I just decided that I had to withdraw and support senator Obama because the goal was to make sure we had a Democrat in the White House.
TAPPER: Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in his view and probably in reality, as well, is saying that he is going to go after Sanders' supporters. A lot are independents. You've had trouble winning over in the open primaries were independents and Democrats could vote that they have similar views on trade, on big money in politics, how are you going to counter that? How are you going to prevent him from getting the Sanders supporters?
CLINTON: Well, we are going to be outreaching to senator Sanders' supporters, as well. And I just don't see how the calculation adds up. If you don't believe in climate change it's pretty hard to go after people who passionately believe in it. If you don't believe in raising the minimum wage, in fact, you think wages are too high in America I don't think you have much of an argument. If you are demeaning women, you don't believe equal pay is an issue, you are really insulting to women, I don't see how that adds up either. If you have a kind of reckless, loose, dangerous view of foreign policy, I don't think that is very appealing.
So I'm going to be very aggressive in, you know, reaching out to senator Sanders' supporters but we have so much more in common and we have far more in common than they do with Donald Trump or any Republican. And we're going to work together. I really respect the important point of getting money out of politics. Remember, citizens united was an attack on me so I take it very personally. And even before senator Sanders got into the campaign, way back in April of last year, I said we are going to reverse citizens united and if we can't get the Supreme Court to do what I think would be the right decision, then I will lead a constitutional amendment. So we have a lot in common and we are going to work together.
TAPPER: You talked about Donald Trump's foreign policy. He gave a foreign policy address recently. I'm wondering if you had a chance to see it or read about it and what you thought.
CLINTON: Well, I certainly read about it and I think it's quite concerning. His talk about, you know, pulling out of NATO. His talk about letting other countries have nuclear weapons which runs counter to 70 years of bipartisan national security policy. His idea that, he, quote, has a secret plan to get rid of ISIS that he's not going to tell anybody. I found it disturbing because I, you know, as a senator from New York for eight years, as secretary of state for four year, I know that the stakes are high. That we face some real challenges and dangers in the world and I don't think loose talk about loose nukes. I don't think turning our back on our strongest ally. I don't think pretending you have some sort of secret plan is a very smart way to go forward in leading the world which is what we must do.
TAPPER: On some issues it seems like he'll run to your left on the populist left and one might be the use of force and military intervention. And whether it's Libya or Iraq, what will your response be when he says, Hillary Clinton is part of the group that gets us into these wars.
CLINTON: Well, look. I think that I'm always someone who uses military force as a last resort. It's not a first choice. As secretary of state I talked a lot about smart power, about diplomacy and development. I'm the one who put together the coalition that imposed sanctions on Iran, brought them to the negotiating table, which led to putting a lid on their nuclear weapons program and that's exactly what we need to do because there was a very real potential that military action might have been taken in order to try to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
So when you have somebody who says he is going to be tough and he is going to get results but he doesn't tell you how he's going to do it, you know, I think we'll have a lot to contrast with.
TAPPER: He also said that if you were a man you would be at five percent in the polls. What did you think when you heard that.
CLINTON: You know, I don't respond to ace attacks on me. I think it's kind of silly. I was elected to the senate twice from New York. I was someone who got more than 18 million votes the first time I ran. I now have two million more votes than Donald Trump has, more than 12 million votes to his 10. So it doesn't really square with reality.
What I worry about is the way he attacks all kinds of groups of people. And I want to be, you know, their spokesperson. I'm going to stand up for them. You know, attacking me, demeaning me, you know, talking about playing the woman's card, well, there are a lot of women out there who are really struggling, you know, women working on minimum wage, women not being paid fairly, women ting to balance family and work and finding it really, really hard. Women who are worried about security in their neighborhoods, women who have a lot of legitimate concerns. And as I said Tuesday night, if playing the woman's card means standing up for the concerns that women have and that they express to me deal me in because that's exactly what I've always done for decades, what I will do in this campaign.
TAPPER: He has taken politics to a new place with his negative branding of people, whether it's saying Jeb Bush is low energy, or talking about lying Ted Cruz and for his supporters it's worked and he called you corrupt Hillary and he's had some rather personal and pointed tweets. Have you learned anything from watching the way that Republicans dealt with him in the primaries that will inform how you will deal with such an unconventional candidate?
CLINTON: Well, you know, remember, I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave and how they speak. I'm not going to deal with their temper tantrums or their bullying or their efforts to try to provoke me. He can say whatever he wants to say about me. I could really care less.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Tomorrow morning on "STATE OF THE UNION," Jake will go one- on-one with Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz. Don't miss "STATE OF THE UNION" tomorrow at 9:00 eastern time only on CNN.
Monday, by the way, marks five years since President Barack Obama gave the order to kill the most wanted man in the world. And for the first time in an exclusive interview with CNN's national security analyst Peter Bergen, the president speaks from the situation room about the operation that led to the death of Osama bin Laden. The mastermind behind the September 11th attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[13:35:09] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After the discussions with the principals, it was clear to me that this was going to be our best chance to get bin Laden, that if, in fact, we did not take the action that he might slip away and might be years before he resurfaced.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: You are not going to want to miss the Anderson Cooper 360 special "We Got Him: President Obama, bin Laden and the future of the war on terror." It airs Monday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. We will be back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[13:39:24] DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Tower running, it is a growing sport where people race up staircases of the world's tallest buildings.
LISA ZEGEL: You have to train to the point of pain because you're going to feel a lot of pain in a race.
GUPTA: Lisa Zegel ran her first race 15 years ago days after September 11th.
ZEGEL: We felt that it was important to show that we weren't afraid. I can only think of the people going down the stairs and the horror of it but when we got to the top it was just like no other feeling I've ever experienced.
GUPTA: She was hooked. Now at age 57 she's ranked seventh in the United States and 21st in the world.
[13:40:04] ZEGEL: The empire state building is the ultimate race. You get up into the stairs and you try not to look at the floors. It's just a feeling of accomplishment. Just self-affirmation.
I would like to keep doing this into my 80s, 90s, I just want to all over the world and keep doing this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Bernie Sanders is going to be in an unusual position tonight. Instead of being in the spotlight on stage the democratic candidate will be in the audience as an invited guest at the White House correspondents' dinner. But the campaign break won't last long as Sanders sets his sights squarely on the remaining presidential nominating contests and particularly California where there are a whopping 475 Democratic delegates that are up for grabs June 7th.
Let's bring in Julian Zelizer, a historian and professor at Princeton University and Basil Smikle, executive director of the New York state Democratic Party. Basil, did I say that right? BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Yes,
absolutely. Thank you.
SAVIDGE: All right. He is a former senior aide on Hillary Clinton's Senate staff.
Julian, let me start with you, Sanders says that, of course, he is still focusing on winning the race. I would ask how critical is California but that's a given. It is critical. He would have to win California. But what's his strategy to try to pull ahead of Clinton there right now?
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I mean I don't think is going to win the race for his candidacy at this point. I think what he can do is win space for the ideas he has been promoting and also and keep his coalition, his supporters in the democratic fold. So I think realistically that's what he's aiming to do and to make sure going into the convention that the Sanders campaign is not forgotten.
SAVIDGE: And Basil, I think it's pretty obvious that Hillary Clinton is sort of, you know, shifted her campaign focus here. She has already looking ahead to November. She is attacking Donald Trump. And I'm wondering if in doing that there's some risk as well that perhaps, you know, she might be overlooking some important states still to come. Overlooking perhaps Bernie Sanders' backers.
SMIKLE: You know, I don't think she's overlooking any important states. Bear in mind also that California votes the same day as New Jersey, so in total, there are a tremendous number of delegates that are up for grabs.
And look. I think Jeremy's point on coalition are really - is really important here because even if Bernie Sanders does sort of keep his coalition intact among college students which is a very rich community in the state of California, what Hillary Clinton has to do is build on the coalition she had in 2008. She beat Barack Obama by eight points there back in 2008. If she picks up a large chunk of the African- American community, maintain the lead she had over women during that race and the Latino community, I think she does very well. And I think she can use a lot of those talking points to look forward to November, especially because it's a very important Senate race involving an African-American woman out in California too. So I think a lot of what she will be looking at is to raise both her profile but also the race's down-ballot.
SAVIDGE: Right. Kind of a two for one there.
Julian, you know, Sanders is also it seems somewhat looking ahead, speaking now about a plan b if his agenda -- if she clinches the nomination referring to Hillary Clinton. So he is planning to fight for every delegate he can to, as he says, get his progressive agenda in the party platform at the convention. Do you think that, you know, he really stands much of a chance here or do you think the Clinton campaign is saying we were competing but we've won, we move on.
ZELIZER: Well, look, he has leverage. The more delegates that he has going into the convention, the more leverage there will be or the perception of that, I do think people in the Clinton campaign are still worried. They don't want a divisive post primary season. They certainly don't want Sanders sitting out the contest in the fall and not actively supporting Hillary Clinton.
So I think in the interview she is already kind of sending signals she wants to build a coalition and repair. You know, the divisive words that have been spoken and the divisive feelings that do exist among many Democrats. So she can't take it for granted. And I do think he does command a certain amount of leverage because of how well he has done in this unexpected candidacy.
SAVIDGE: And Basil, that brings me to sort of, you know, an olive branch. What kind of olive branch could the Clinton campaign could Hillary Clinton offer Sanders as they try to heal things u here.
SMIKLE: Well, I think she talked about it in the interview. She talked about giving him a wide sort of berth with respect to engaging and making prescriptions for what the democratic platform is going to be for the fall. But one piece that I would mention, however, is that I think what -- one of the things I would like to see is him not to continue this tune of values of Democratic politics, big "d" democratic politics because as I talked about earlier we have all those down-ballot races in these local state election that is are so incredibly important. So what I think, what I would love to see is how -- is if Hillary can convince him and talk about how you get his supporters engaged in these local elections too.
[13:45:22] SAVIDGE: Julian, I want to bring up that you wrote in a CNN op-ed before we let you go and it goes, so even if this is the end of the Sanders campaign, the impact of what he has done will continue to be seen for years to come. The campaign tactic, the policy issues and connections between campaigns and the grassroots will never be the same again. What do you mean by that?
ZELIZER: Look, there's a long list of losing candidates, such as a George McGovern or Howard Dean who still have an impact on the party. I think what he has shown in terms of raising small donations can be a model for Democratic fund-raising in years to come. I think he has put certain issues on the table from campaign finance to economic inequality that. But Hillary Clinton has now joined him in but are quite important for the party for its identity for its mission. And finally, look, if a lot of these young people don't turn away after he is gone, he might have excited a new generation of Democrats into the party. All of this is extremely important for the long term.
SAVIDGE: And Basil, real quick before I let both of you go. We have been listening to Donald Trump apparently try to reach out to Bernie Sanders or at least those who support him. Do you think that would actually work?
SMIKLE: Good luck. I think in some ways, in some ways Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are -- have very similar messages.
SAVIDGE: They do. SMIKLE: The system is rigged. They obviously go about it in very
different ways. I don't think a Bernie Sanders supporter is going to end up supporting Donald Trump. Donald loses women across the board, incredibly misogynistic. He has insulted communities of color across the country. And so, I just don't see that that coalition -- the Bernie coalition easily transfers to a Donald Trump, but I wish him luck in his attempt.
SAVIDGE: Yes, well, I'm sure he thinks he will appeal to them.
All right. Basil Smikle, thank you very much. Julian Zelizer, as well. Thank you both.
SMIKLE: Thank you.
ZELIZER: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: CNN is going to have complete coverage, of course, of the White House correspondents' dinner tonight. This is a chance for President Obama to show off his comedic skills. And he has quite a few of them. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I am determined to make the most of every moment I have left. My advisers asked me, Mr. President, do you have a bucket list? And I said, well, I have something that rhymes with bucket list.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Take executive action on immigration, bucket. New climate regulations, bucket.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: CNN's coverage of the White House correspondents' dinner will begin tonight at 7:00 eastern. That will be with John Berman.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:51:39] SAVIDGE: Tonight, a first of the kind screening in CNN's "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" with Kamau Bell. We go inside (INAUDIBLE) and meet the inmates and get a rare look at prison culture.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I am looking around, I see sort of different groups of people in different areas. Are they broken up in any way?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The areas are broken up in a way. Just beyond to this corridor and where the little white guys are. There are couple different areas for those guys. And at the basketball court, it is primarily where all of the African-Americans are. There is a little land are there just behind us near the shack where the Pisus (ph). So those individuals who are from Mexico south, the Hispanic inmates who are not Californian so to speak. And then (INAUDIBLE) which are northern Hispanic. There is an area where they are at. And so, for the yard, it is segregated based upon some underground rules.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. So it seems like the black guys have the basketball court. No surprise there. But if you are a white guy who wants to play basketball, it is just not recommended that you go over there? I mean, do the white guys with a good jump shot, will they welcome you in there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe it will feel that way, and may not be that these guys have an issue with me. It is that the guys who look like you may have an issue of you coming over there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any sort of effort to try to create that cross poll nation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are many other. What are they doing? Education opportunities and other programs. We have work assignment. We do try to bring our population together and we successfully put people next to each other who traditionally are not next to each other.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: And there you can to get a sense of just how unique this is. But what is also unique about this is that the inmates will screen the episode.
Joining me now from outside of the San Quentin Prison in California is Kamau Bell.
Kamau, good to talk with you. Let me as you this. Have you heard feedback from the prisoners about your presence and everything you were doing?
KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, SHADES OF AMERICA: I mean, I have heard from people on the outside who were prisoners who are excited about the idea of this work, because they, you know, I think that they trusted that I am going to go in there with the right idea. And you know, we are going to go in there tonight. And I have heard of the people who work at San Quentin they say the men there are really excited to have us back. So I think we have a good time we have been there, excited to see the episode and have me back in there.
SAVIDGE: Were you surprised by anything as you went in there to shoot the episode?
BELL: Yes, I was very surprised. I mean, I went in, and I had never been behind the walls in a prison in any way, not to visit, not because I belonged there, not because I have been arrested and I was afraid. I was really afraid. I think I bought into the narrative of the TV and the film of how scary it is, you know. And then I went it there. And within a very few minutes, first of all, somebody recognized me from television, and that loosened me up a little bit. And then the guys were open and honest and revealing and intelligent and funny. And then by the time I left I felt sad about the fact that a lot of those guys aren't going to be ever get out of prison.
SAVIDGE: Presumably you are escorted. So, you know, had you left you and, you know, suddenly, there in the general population would you have felt as secure?
BELL: Yes, I mean, I really would have felt -- to be clear at San Quentin, there is also -- this is California's only death row in san Quentin. I did not get into that area. I did not get into - they did not take to the area that really where the guys I should be worried about. But in the general population where I walked around, I was not really looking for my escort most of the time. You know, last week in the "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA," we went and visit the Klan. That's how my head was on the swivel the whole time. I was very quickly relax in San Quentin. And I think that is what the important part of this episode is to show these guys in their natural element being humans.
[13:55:04] SAVIDGE: What did you learn about the population of the United States from this?
BELL: I mean, I had to do a lot of research for this show. And I knew it was bad. But once you are in there, you just -- it really is reflected in a stark way. I mean, you know, in America, we have five percent of the world's population, but 25 percent of the world's prison's population, you know. And as a black man, you know, with 13 percent of America's population, but we make up -- black men make up 40 percent of America's prison population. So it is very clear that our prison system is broken. And so, I hope that the episode can get out there, and sort of show that it also show that we have thrown away a lot of people's lives, people who did things that are bad and violent things, but they have been in prison for over 20 years. They worked on themselves. San Quentin has the best rehab programs in the state of California. Every person who wants to get here, and I mean, we have to have -- prisons should be about rehabilitation, right?
SAVIDGE: It should be, yes. Whether it is still, we will have to see. And thanks to your program, we will get some better insight.
Kamau Bell, thank you very much for joining us.
BELL: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: Kamau Bell will be at San Quentin tonight as the prisoners screen the episode. You can watch "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA, behind the walls." That will be tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:00:02] SAVIDGE: Hello, and thanks you for joining me. I'm Martin Savidge in for Fredricka Whitfield. Take a live look now from San Jose California where Ohio governor John
Kasich is set to hold a town hall here, just about any minute. We will take you there --
