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Ted Cruz's last campaign day in Indiana; Prince's family in court to address his estate; Special set to air with President Obama, others, discussing the 5-year anniversary of Bin Laden raid. Aired 10:30-11a

Aired May 02, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:29:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are seeing the Republican Party unite. We are seeing us unite behind positive values and real solutions to bring jobs back to America. If you care about jobs, if you care about wages, if you want to see manufacturing jobs coming back to Indiana, there is only one campaign that has real economic policy solutions to make that happen.

There is only one campaign who has been fighting for the working men and women over, and over, and over again. This is a fundamental decision for our nation and I have tremendous faith in hoosiers across this great state.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, you heard Senator Ted Cruz, he's on the stump in Indiana hoping for a very good day, and tomorrow's primary. John Avlon I want to bring you back into the mix here. Something Ted Cruz said, a reporter asked him if he'd get out of the race if he doesn't win in Indiana. And he said, "I'll stay in the race if there is a viable path to victory." So I guess my question is, what is Ted Cruz's definition of a viable path to victory?

JOHN AVLON, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "THE DAILY BEAST": That's the $60,000 question. And that was the parenthetical aside that gave him some wiggle room to get out. Look, the Cruz team, it's their intention to fight through Cleveland. But the viable path to victory, presumably is precluded by; a. Trump not getting the 1,237. And b- believing that they can cobble together enough delegates to win on a second and (ph) third ballot. But there was wiggle room in that statement. We hadn't heard that before from Ted Cruz.

But then in that speech he just gave, Carol, there were a lot of things we hadn't heard from Ted Cruz. I mean here is Ted Cruz's last day in Indiana, he is campaigning as a uniter, not a divider. Quoting Democratic Presidents, talking about his appeal across the aisle. It was quite something to hear that whitling (ph) from Ted Cruz. -- COSTELLO: I thought he sounded a lot like Hillary Clinton at the NAACP.

AVLON: Well, yeah, right? But there's something else you saw. He began doing it this weekend. He is trying to essentially meld Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton into the same person, rhetorically. Which is a tough thing to do, if you're talking about differentiation. But that's the frame he's offering up in Indiana at this crucial, must win state for him. That Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are essentially the same candidate. Which I think would be news to both Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton.

COSTELLO: All right. John Avlon, thanks so much. Coming up in the Newsroom, Prince's family inside a Minnesota courtroom to fight for control of his empire. Stephanie Elam was inside the courtroom. She'll tell you what was said, next.

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[10:36:50]

COSTELLO: Prince's family inside a Minneapolis courtroom to fight over his fortune. Did it get ugly? Stephanie Elam was inside the courtroom. She joins us now live with more. What did they say?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, it was completely procedural here, in Carver County in Chaska, Minnesota where this court is. This is the county where Prince lived, and also where he passed away. The entire proceeding was about 12 minutes long. There were 11 attorneys inside representing the siblings, and also Bremer Trust, which has been named a special administrator.

And the big takeaway from this was that, a; they continue to search for a will for Prince, but have still not turned up one. And b; the point of this hearing, the judge said, was so that if there were any heirs out there, that they could have time to be notified, and to be added to the petition. They also said that the siblings there had all signed, saying that they were fine with Bremer Trust being the special administrator of all of Prince's estate.

They said they had consent forms from all of them, except for one sibling, John. But looking at what this means, you know a lot of us wanted to find out what was in the estate. Was there -- what is in that vault, that music catalog. We didn't hear any talk of that at this point.

And that is what, of course, a lot of people were hoping for. And at this point, the judge asking for the attorneys to stay in contact with each other, and to stay in touch with the court. But no future court date has been set at this point, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Stephanie Elam reporting live from Minnesota this morning. Thank you. Still to come in the Newsroom, Senator Cruz bets on the evangelical vote in Indiana. Will his faith be rewarded?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:41:44]

COSTELLO: If Ted Cruz wants a chance at winning Indiana, it is crucial he win over one group. That would be evangelicals. There are more evangelicals in the hoosier state than in Wisconsin, a state where Ted Cruz scored a victory. He's well aware of that, it's why he's hitting hard on social issues like the transgender bathroom bill, and abortion.

Joining me now is Ron Johnson, Executive Director of the Indiana Pastor's Alliance. Welcome, sir.

RON JOHNSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INDIANA PASTORS' ALLIANCE: Hi Carol, thanks for having me on the show.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being with me, I sure appreciate it. Ron, some polls show Ted Cruz is fading in Indiana. Is the evangelical vote there for Senator Cruz?

JOHNSON: Well we're believing so. You know, the polls have been all over in our state. It's kind of hard to figure out or nail down really accurately where a candidate is. But all I can tell you is there's a great deal of excitement, first of all just because Indiana, for a change, is actually involved in this election of the next President of the United States. So it's kind of exciting for all of us hoosiers to have all the candidates here, in Indiana.

COSTELLO: It is exciting. This has been some election, right? Some say the economy, and trade issues matter more to evangelicals this time around, than social issues do. And perhaps that's why Ted Cruz maybe doesn't have the strong support he needs among evangelicals in your state. Is there something to that?

JOHNSON: I don't think so. I think Ted Cruz has a great plan for bringing jobs back to America. I think Ted Cruz is solid on all the issues. And he's certainly solid on the issues that we, as evangelicals, hold dear. You know, I've been talking to all of our constituency about what I call the holy trinity of candidate selection. And these are issues that are foundational issues, not just to the health of America, but to the health of every civilization throughout society.

And those would be number one. The candidates that understand and acknowledge the sacredness of life. Number two, candidates that acknowledge the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. And number three, the foundational issue is, candidates who understand the supremacy of religious liberty. That religious liberty is the cornerstone of all of our freedoms. And out of all the candidates remaining, there's only one candidate who gets it on religious liberty, and that's Senator Ted Cruz.

[10:45:30]

COSTELLO: Well if all of that holds true, why do you suppose that evangelicals, for example in Pennsylvania, went more for Donald Trump than Ted Cruz? JOHNSON: I can't explain all that. I think you hit on some issues

that appeal to all evangelicals across the board. We're concerned about national security. We're concerned about having a strong military. We're concerned about dealing with the immigration crisis in a way that's fair and equitable, but closing our borders.

I think candidates are, across the board -- or evangelicals across the board -- are concerned about all these things. But I think when you get down to the essence of what it means to be evangelical, that's where it gets to be a little bit mirky. I'd like to suggest that, first of all, as evangelicals we're not looking for a savior. We believe we have one in Jesus Christ. But we are looking for a great candidate who is able, and competent. And we believe Ted Cruz is that.

Someone who is God-fearing and respects the word of the Lord. We believe Ted Cruz is that. Somebody who is truthful. And the fourth recommendation from scriptures, people who hate covetousness. Somebody who's honest, and somebody who's not motivated by greed.

And these are foundational principles for evangelicals that are non- negotiable. And again, I think when you look at the candidates across the spectrum, you have to land with Ted Cruz on those issues.

COSTELLO: All right, Ron Johnson, thanks so much for being with me this morning.

JOHNSON: Carol, thank you. Have a great day.

COSTELLO: You're welcome, you too. Puerto Rico will not be making its debt payment, due today. The island was supposed to pay over $400 million. That's on top of billions of dollars in debt they've already racked up. As Puerto Rico's economic woes continue, Congress is debating whether or not to step in to help the U.S. territory. We'll keep you posted.

Still to come in the Newsroom, the President says he was willing to risk international embarrassment to make it happen. Five years later, the President looks back at the daring raid that took out Osama Bin Laden.

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[10:51:20]

COSTELLO: Today marks five years since US Navy SEALS killed Osama Bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan. And in a CNN exclusive, "We Got Him," airing tonight on AC 360, President Obama and key members of his inner circle talk to Peter Bergen about the raid that took down the 9- 11 mastermind.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On decisions like this you're leaning in a certain direction. I had been inclined to take the shot fairly early on, in the discussions. But you hold back the decision until you have to make it. And in the end, what I very much appreciated was the degree to which we had an honest debate.

One of the lessons I drew from that was that good process leads to good results. I could honestly say, by the time that I made the decision, that everybody had had their say. That we had all the information that we were going to be able to get. We had not looked at it through rose colored glasses. We knew the risks involved.

We had prepared as well as we could. And it was in that way, emblematic of presidential decision making, you're always working with probabilities. And you make a decision, not based on 100 percent certainty, but with the best information that you've got.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN National Security Analyst, Peter Bergen is with me now. The most amazing part is you were in the situation -- you were in the room where they were watching that video monitor ...

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes.

COSTELLO: ... when the raid going down. What was that like?

BERGEN: Well President Obama came in the room and said this is the first time that he'd done something like this, sit down with a reporter in the situation room. And it's interesting that -- the situation room's really complex. So this famous iconic picture is actually not the real situation room, it's a smaller office off the side. But he kind of walked us through it. You know, the main situation room where they have the final meeting about whether to go or not. He got conflicting advice -- that could redates (ph). Vice President Biden said, you know, urged caution.

We learned from the President in this interview that he was leading towards doing the raid early on. Then we went into the smaller room where that iconic photograph was taken and he kind of walked us through what it was like. And obviously, he knew -- yeah --

COSTELLO: Just looking at the President's face in that picture ...

BERGEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Did you ask him what was going through his mind at that moment, when he decided to say, "go for it."

BERGEN: You know, I mean, I think he -- that's a lonely place to be, right? Because in our system, Commander In Chief is, you know, it's not a group decision. And he, I think he -- he's a very careful guy. He weighed the pros and cons. He thought this was -- he was worried that the clock was running. I mean, you know, might the information leak, might Bin Laden leave? These were very real and accurate concerns.

COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton, she was also in the room, and since she is running for President, was she on the side of, "go for it?"

BERGEN: She was on the side for "go for it," as she tells us in the special that will air tonight.

COSTELLO: And were her reasons the same as President Obama's, or did they have differing opinions?

BERGEN: Well I think she would have come to the same conclusion. Don't forget she was Senator in New York, here on 9-11. She visited the World Trade Center the day after. For her, it was a very visceral, emotional thing. And she's tended to take hawkish positions in this administration. And she thought this was the right thing to do.

COSTELLO: You say highly emotional. I would think it would be very difficult to put your emotions aside and make this kind of decision when you're not a military person.

BERGEN: Well they had great faith in Admiral McRaven, who we interview at length in the special. He's a commander of Joint Special Operations Command. He came back to them, said, "look, we've rehearsed for three weeks. We can do this." So there wasn't a concern from a military point of view that this -- they thought that it would probably work out.

The real concern was we're going into a country that we're normally allied with. It's -- you know, we're not informing them. SEALS could get -- we could get in a fire fight with the Pakistanis, with the Pakistani army, had a major facility around the corner, pretty much, from where Bin Laden lived. That was the concern.

COSTELLO: Well so, just quickly. After it was all over and the raid proved successful, did they all cheer?

BERGEN: No, there were no high-fives, there were no -- this is, it was a very serious -- I mean, they were, they were still worried about getting the guys out, really making sure it was Bin Laden who was dead.

COSTELLO: And that helicopter, yes, I know, that backed out (ph). Peter Bergen, thank you so much ...

BERGEN: Thank you, thank you.

COSTELLO: ... I can't wait to see the special. Peter's special, by the way, "We Got Him." President Obama, Bin Laden, and the Future of the War on Terror," airs tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello, AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts after a break.

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[10:58:20]