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Sen. Ted Cruz Withdraws, Kasich Plans to Stay; Where Will "Never Trump" Campaign Go from Here?; President Visits Flint, Michigan; Prince's Team Set Up Meeting with Addiction Counselor; Navy SEAL Killed in Iraq Identified; Detroit Schools Reopen After Two-Day Closure; Fort McMurray, Alberta, Evacuates All 80,C00 citizens in Wake of Severe Wildfire. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired May 04, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:31:40]

CAROL COSTELLO: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Senator Ted Cruz might be out, but John Kasich is still in. He will speak to reporters in just minutes. And I suspect he will say what his campaign manager did, via Tweet, last night. "Until someone has the 1,237 bound delegates, there is no presumptive nominee. California, here we come."

Governor Kasich is asking California to ignore the fact both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have more delegates than he's earned. And yes, Mister Kasich only won one state to Donald Trump's dozens. Voters are a tad perplexed. Many tweeting their confusion and of course, poking fun. Take a look. This one, "Kasich staying in the race to take advantage of the free food." And another, "Leave the race? I'm in the middle of breakfast, I'm not making any statements until I'm done!"

Phil Mattingly is at Dulles Airport this morning, outside of Washington, where Kasich is expected to speak soon. Good morning, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Carol. Online commenters are one thing, but the reality of the race in general is another, entirely. Trailing Donald Trump by more than 900 delegates right now, lagging finances, no real pathway to the nomination. And yet, John Kasich is not going anywhere. That's at least, what his advisors are saying last night. That's what we're expecting him to say here in a couple minutes when he comes to Dulles Airport.

And the rationale I've been given is this, John Kasich, when he's on the campaign trail, Carol, often tells a story about what Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Hollywood star, former California governor, told him during one of his governor's races. "Love the beatings." Kasich's staff basically says, Kasich is willing to take the beatings, love the beatings. Even whether it's online commenters, or people questioning why he's still around. So long as it gives him an opportunity to challenge Donald Trump.

That's the concern he has about a Trump candidacy, what a Trump candidacy would do up and down the ballot, to the entire party. And he believes he will hold himself out there as the only alternative left. Even if the path is very unclear. And Carol, for those questioning, even this morning, whether or not he'd show up here and decide to drop out of the race, his campaign deciding to do a little jump off of National Star Wars Day, with the famous Star Wars crawl (ph) talking about what would happen if Donald Trump was the nominee. Having a little fun with it, but also making clear, Carol, that at least as of now, John Kasich has no intention of getting out of this race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: So Carol, as you see, having a good time with it. But I think one of the interesting things going forward is, John Kasich has about a dozen fundraisers already scheduled, a trip out West already scheduled, as well. So he has plans to keep going. What we're looking for in a couple minutes when he shows up here is, "OK, what's your pathway, how do you win?" There's a big question of if he can even answer that question. But as of now, Carol, still staying in the race, no matter what Donald Trump or even the Republican National Committee Chairman are willing to say about it.

COSTELLO: I'm just, I'm still pondering Arnold Schwarzenegger's advice, "you gotta love the beatings." Doesn't that make you a masochist?

MATTINGLY: A little bit probably, but I think if you're running a presidential campaign, maybe you already are. And certainly if you're at this point in the presidential campaign, you certainly are, as well. Carol, one thing quickly to point out, what the RNC Chairman, Reince Priebus did last night by calling Donald Trump the presumptive nominee is no small thing. It's a very loaded term, it means Trump gets the RNC support, he can start working hand-in-hand with the RNC on their finances, on their ground game, on the convention.

That was more damaging than perhaps anything else, to John Kasich's campaign. When Reince Priebus said that last night, John Weaver, John Kasich's Chief Strategist, pushing back on that, saying that's not going to change their calculation at all. Again, a lot of questions John Kasich has to answer as to why he still believes this is worth it when he shows up here in a couple minutes.

COSTELLO: OK and we'll get back there when John Kasich shows up at Dulles Airport. Phil Mattingly, thanks so much. Of course we are waiting for John Kasich to speak. I'll be right back.

[10:35:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right, we're keeping an eye on Dulles Airport there, John Kasich set to speak at any moment now, and he will explain -- I guess to the entire country -- why he's decided to stay in the race and not drop out like Senator Ted Cruz did. We'll see what he has to say in minutes, I hope.

Let's talk about that "Never Trump" campaign, shall we? $75 million, more than 64,000 attack ads, and none of it was enough to stop Donald Trump, as he's won over Republican voters from just about every corner of the country. Where does the "Never Trump" movement go from here? Some top Republicans say Trump is leading them to the Democrats. Last night the former top aide to Senator John McCain tweeted, "The GOP is going to nominate for President, a guy who reads the National Enquirer, and thinks it's on the level. I'm with her."

And a contributing editor for the conservative blog RedState simply posted Clinton's hashtag, #ImWithHer. So let's talk about this. I'm joined by political editor for theroot.com and Professor of Political Science, Jason Johnson. Along with Sunlen Serfaty, and Phil Mattingly who's been following the candidates. Good morning to all of you.

JASON JOHNSON, POLITICAL EDITOR, "THE ROOT": Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Wow. So Jason, do you think that those Republicans who say that they'll switch over and vote for Hillary Clinton, will that hold until the election?

JOHNSON: Carol, I don't think it's going to hold, but it's certainly going to hold Donald Trump back. He may be the huge empire that's taken over everything, and he beat down 15 different additional candidates. But at the end of the day, he really hasn't won over enough of the Republican base. And I think the fear isn't so much that you're going to have Republicans voting for Hillary Clinton -- I don't think they're going to switch sides that way -- but I do think you're going to have Republicans who stay home.

And if they stay home, that doesn't just hurt Donald Trump's chances, that's all those down ballot races. That's why you've got people right now worried that Republicans could lose the Senate, and not have a chance at the White House.

[10:40:50]

COSTELLO: Interesting. So Sunlen, exit polls in Indiana show 71 percent of Cruz voters would not vote for Trump if he's the GOP nominee. Why?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well this is such an interesting question. And I think that clearly shows that the wounds are still very raw, from what can only be described as a very brooding (ph) primary campaign. I think that there is a sense within the Cruz campaign world, that at some point, Senator Cruz will make a stand on whether he supports Donald Trump as a nominee or not, in whatever form that takes place.

Whether he just does not say, and that's the answer, or whether he actually makes some sort of formal remarks about this. And certainly that would be important for his supporters to get a signal from Ted Cruz, whether he believes that they should go on to support Donald Trump. You know it's interesting, I asked him at his last campaign event here, in Indianapolis -- on his way out, en route back home -- if he would support Donald Trump as a nominee. Very clear he does not want to engage over that. He would not answer repeated questions.

So this will be interesting to watch from him going forward. This is always the thing that haunted (ph) him in the last days of his campaign, "will you support Donald Trump as a nominee?" Aides really admit that was -- it certainly struck a chord that Donald Trump went after his family, not only Heidi Cruz, but his father (ph). And that really had a big resonance on him, and potentially his decision going forward. Carol.

COSTELLO: So Phil, I want to talk a little bit more about John Kasich -- who I said is, was who's set to speak at the Dulles Airport moments from now. I think a lot of voters are just scratching their heads. I mean, Marco Rubio has more delegates than John Kasich. He won one state. I'm just not getting it.

MATTINGLY: I think that if you want to look at what John Kasich is thinking, what his top advisors are thinking, it's that the race has become kind of bigger than perhaps winning the -- getting to 1,237. The race has become about the choice between Donald Trump and the choice between another direction. Of which John Kasich believes he represents.

One of the most interesting elements of this though, Carol, is if you look at the "Stop Trump" movement, or the "Never Trump" movement. That was a movement that dumped cash into Ted -- into backing Ted Cruz in a number of different states, and largely ignored John Kasich. Now I think the hope from the Kasich team is, in the wake of Cruz pulling out, perhaps that money will start to come his way. They need it very, very badly.

Now I've talked to a number of Republican donors over the last 12 hours or so. And they're for the most part saying, "we're closing up our wallets." But one thing you hear consistently from the Kasich team is the frustration that they haven't gotten the same outside support that Cruz has. And the hope that maybe Cruz backing out sends that support in their direction.

But Carol, you do have a good point. Donors are thinking exactly what you're thinking right now. Why are we going to give money, when we don't see a legitimate path forward? That's the case Kasich is going to have to make over the next couple days, just to keep this campaign financed.

COSTELLO: It's just so strange -- so, Jason, I suppose there's still a little bit of time for a third party candidate. Is that next for this "Never Trump" movement?

[10:45:55]

JOHNSON: I mean, they can try. But who are they going to put their money behind? Like, John Kasich ends up fourth in a three man race. Like, how bad can you be? So the "Never Trump" movement, I think, is going to say -- it's going to become the "Stay Home" movement. They don't have anyone that they can support.

People never really liked Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio was the little boy that could, but never really made it. And so at this point, you either have to vote for Donald Trump -- and we're going to see this, Carol. All these people are going to slowly pivot over the summer. They're going to say, "all right, well I guess Trump is better than Hillary." We've already heard that from Bobby Jindal.

So the issue is going to be, who decides eventually, hold their nose and vote for Trump, and who decides they're just going to stay home. Because the "Never Trump" movement is over.

COSTELLO: So Sunlen, might Ted Cruz back the "Never Trump" movement? And you know, actually, the more interesting question is, does he regret going off on that tangent against Donald Trump on the day of the Indiana Primary?

SERFATY: I think he has --

JOHNSON: I think so, I think that Ted Cruz regrets a lot of things.

COSTELLO: Sunlen, go ahead.

SERFATY: I was going to say, if I could, I think it probably was very cathartic, almost, to him. I think at that point it was very clear he felt very unshackled to speak his mind. And he said that -- there was this one phrase in that press conference, that rather remarkable press conference yesterday morning, where he said, "let me just speak my mind on this, and tell you what I really think about Donald Trump."

In talking to aides, how he came to this decision, and made that decision, it was something that he battled with Monday night, going into Tuesday. Didn't make his final decision and drop out until late in the day, Tuesday. But it was very clear that Donald Trump really got under his skin. And certainly in the final hours, that specific attack on his father really struck a chord, aides said.

So I don't know if there's a regret. I think he felt like he was unloading. And going forward, aides say that the tone that he took in that final message he intended to send to Donald Trump, it's very -- something very important going forward. So when we're talking about him potentially throwing his support behind the "Stop Trump," "Never Trump" movement, or potentially supporting him as a nominee, I think we can give a lot of weight to those words he said yesterday.

COSTELLO: Uh-huh. So Phil, you know Ted Cruz has been saying that John Kasich's real motive is to be Donald Trump's VP, right? So Donald Trump came out today, and he said that his running mate will be a Republican, and will have some government experience. So is that possible at all, you think?

MATTINGLY: Well it certainly -- if anything has been proven over this election cycle, Carol, I think anything is possible. John Kasich has been very definitive. He does not want to be the Vice President, he is not seeking the Vice Presidential nomination or being announced as the running mate. And his aides have been very clear he would say no.

Now everybody more or less says that when they're running an active campaign. But I think the way John Kasich has set himself up the last three weeks with the alliance with Ted Cruz, making this -- almost the entire campaign that he has left, about stopping Donald Trump, about what a bad candidate -- in John Kasich's way of thinking Donald Trump is -- really should take him out of the running, you would think. Now Donald Trump has said nice things about John Kasich in the past,

but I'd be surprised at this point, Carol, if that's something he would ever consider.

COSTELLO: All right, Phil Mattingly, Sunlen Serfaty, Jason Johnson, thanks to all of you. Still to come in the Newsroom, President Obama is heading to Flint, Michigan. Will he drink the water?

[10:50:25]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Michigan's governor wants the President to drink Flint's water. Mister Obama is traveling to Michigan for a first-hand look at the city's water contamination crisis. Athena Jones with more. Good morning.

ATHENA JONES, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Carol. The White House has been asked whether the President is going to have a big photo op drinking Flint water to show that it's safe. They say no big photo op is planned, but I wouldn't be surprised if the President drinks some water while in Flint. We'll have to be watching for that. But he does have a big pack -- jam packed day ahead when he lands just a short time from now.

He'll meet with federal officials who've been responding to the crisis in Flint. He'll also hold a round-table with families affected by the lead contamination crisis. As you know, lead exposure in young children can cause behavioral problems, low IQ, developmental problems, and that sort of thing.

He was invited to visit the city of Flint by a young girl, 8-year old girl, Mari Copeny, who's known as "Little Miss Flint." She wrote to the President, talking about the lead crisis. Here she is reading from that letter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARI COPETY, "LITTLE MISS FLINT": I am one of the children that is affected by this water, and I've been doing my best to march in protest and speak out for other kids that live here in Flint.

I was very excited because I didn't know he was going to write me back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Said she's very excited the President wrote her back. He told -- he wanted her to be the first to know he was coming to visit today, and that he hopes to meet her. Later in the day he'll hold a speech at a high school in North Flint -- a predominantly African-American neighborhood -- talking about the importance of investing in infrastructure and public health. Back to you, Carol.

[10:54:25] COSTELLO: Aww, I hope he meets that little cutie. Athena Jones, thanks so much. Still to come in the Newsroom, startling new details about the final hours in the life of Prince.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 58 minutes past. The Minneapolis Star Tribune is reporting, the day before Prince's death, the musician's team reached out to an addiction expert to meet with him. The specialist's son flew overnight to Minnesota, but failed to reach Prince in time. He later discovered Prince in an elevator. He's the one that made that 9-1-1 call. CNN is reaching out to the doctor, and Prince's representatives for comment.

We now know the identity of the U.S. Navy SEAL killed by ISIS forces in Iraq. He's 31-year old Charles Keating IV, from Arizona. He's the grandson of well-known savings and loan financier, Charles Keating Jr. Keating was visiting the Peshmerga base North of Mosul to advise Kurdish forces, when 100 ISIS fighters broke through defense lines at the base. They used bulldozers and suicide car bombs to do it. Keating died in the gun battle that ensued.

Detroit schools reopen today after a massive sick-out over teacher pay forced a two-day shutdown. Teachers now being assured they will be paid for the full school year. Many say this latest dispute highlights school-wide problems including overcrowding and poor classroom conditions.

A massive wildfire forcing and entire city in Alberta, Canada to evacuate. All 80,000 people in Fort McMurray forced to flee in the largest wildfire evacuation in the province's history. Fire crews say they're battling explosive conditions, including high temperatures and low humidity. And those conditions are expected to get much worse today. We'll keep you posted.

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

[11:00:35]