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NEWS STREAM

Cruz Drops Out; Projecting General Election Scenarios; 5-Year-Old Afghan Messi Fan Flees Country After Threats; Pyongyang Works to Prepare for Workers' Party Congress. Aired 8:00a-9:00a ET

Aired May 04, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:15] KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and welcome to News Stream.

Now, winning with a knockout blow. Donald Trump all but wraps up the Republican presidential nomination as Ted Cruz bows out.

A victory for Bernie Sanders keeps Hillary Clinton's campaign on its toes, but is it enough to give Sanders any chance of winning the

nomination?

And CNN takes you inside North Korea ahead of the secretive state's party congress, the first of its kind in decades. We've got a live report

from Pyongyang, straight ahead.

It was game-changing night in the race for the White House. Donald Trump scored a decisive win in the Indiana primary knocking his top

Republican rival Ted Cruz out of the race and becoming what the party is calling the presumptive nominee.

And as the Republican primary contest all but comes to an end, the Democratic race is getting more contentious. Democrat Bernie Sanders have

been given a boost after his narrow victory over rival Hillary Clinton in the Indiana primary.

Now Cruz's announcement that he is suspending his White House bid caught many off guard.

Now, CNN politics reporter Sara Murray has more on the stunning announcement of what lies ahead on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: The voters chose another path.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The voters chose another path.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Indiana marks the end of the road for Ted Cruz.

CRUZ: We are suspending our campaign.

MURRAY: And a major victory for Donald Trump as he becomes the Republican Party's presumptive nominee.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What Ted did is really a very brave thing to do. We want to bring unity to the Republican Party.

MURRAY: After months of battling it out with the RNC.

TRUMP: It's all a rigged system.

It is really a disgusting system.

MURRAY: The billionaire finally getting a message of support from the very top. Party Chairman Reince Prebus tweeting "Trump will answer the

presumptive nominee. We all need to unite and focus on defeating Hillary Clinton." Now there's only one other candidate refusing to leave the race.

GOV. JOHN KASICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I love California.

MURRAY: John Kasich's chief strategist tweeting "Until someone has 1,237 bound delegates there is no presumptive nominee. California, here we

come." But Trump is largely ignoring the Ohio governor and now focusing squarely on the general election.

TRUMP: We're going after Hillary Clinton. She will not be a great president. She will not be a good president. She will be a poor president.

MURRAY: Trump solidifying his position at the top just hours after this litany of attacks from Cruz.

CRUZ: This man is a pathological liar. Donald Trump is a serial philanderer. The man is utterly amoral. Donald is a bully.

MURRAY: After a rough and tumble day on the trail, Trump adopted a friendlier tone in his victory speech.

TRUMP: I don't know if he likes me or he doesn't like me, but he is one hell of a competitor. He is a tough, smart guy.

(APPLAUSE)

MURRAY: But if Trump was hoping for an endorsement, he may have a long wait.

CRUZ: I am not suspending our fight for liberty. Our movement will continue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And now with Ted Cruz saying good-bye, many are questioning if the Republican Party is really going to rally behind Donald Trump. So

far, the party establishment has not embraced his campaign.

Now earlier the leader of the Republican National Committee spoke to our Alisyn Camerota about unifying behind their presumptive nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. in terms of party unity, there

seems to be something of a mutiny among high-profile conservatives who are basically jumping ship this morning. let me read a couple of the tweets to

you.

Here's John McCain's former adviser Mark Salter says "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," meaning he will vote for Hillary Clinton.

Steve Deace, conservative talk radio host, says, "well, there goes my time as a Republican. We'll be changing our party affiliations tomorrow.

Frankly, I feel relieved to do it. I feel free, even.

What do you say to those guys?

REINCE PRIEBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Well, look, there's going to be time here in the next few months to heal and come

together. And that's what today is all about. It's just starting that process. It's not easy.

I mean, it's -- you know, we had two candidates that had very serious operations with deep support, both on the ground and on the air, everywhere

for 24 hours a day, 7days a week, every 6 minutes on cable. Everybody fighting about this. And it's going to take some time, but we're going to

get there, because Hillary Clinton and the Supreme Court and getting our debt under control and signing a budget bill that Paul Ryan drafts up is

going to be important to the future of our country.

And I think people are going to understand that the words President Hillary Clinton is something that we can't stand for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: The RNC chairman there.

Now Ted Cruz put everything into the race in Indiana, and still Donald Trump trounced the

senator from Texas. And adding insult to injury, Ted Cruz accidentally elbowed his wife's face after announcing the decision to suspend his

campaign.

In Cruz's final weeks as a presidential candidate, they were marked by these kind of awkward

moments. He named Carly Fiorina as his runningmate, an unorthodox move so early in the race and the Indiana governor offered kind words for Donald

Trump, despite endorsing Ted Cruz.

Now Trump's big win is, of course, dominating media coverage. Now, here's a look at the front cover of The New York Post."

Now, people in Indiana are known as Hoosiers and based off of a popular mascot. And it's playing off asking someone who's your daddy, a

statement to show your complete dominance over someone.

Now, rival tabloid The Daily News instead marked the end of the Republican Party, because of

Trump's win, its cover showed its funeral.

Now, let's get more now on Media coverage in this campaign. Our senior media correspondent Brian Stelter joins me now live from New York.

And, Brian, before -- good to see you -- and before we saw.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: You, too.

LU STOUT: And before we saw Trump's win in Indiana, before Ted Cruz made that stunning announcement stepping aside, Trump cited a conspiracy

theory about Ted Cruz's father. Could you just remind our international audiences what did he say, and fact check for us.

STELTER: Yeah, this is something that is rooted in fringe right-wing websites about a

month ago. It's this idea of which there is no proof or validation, that Ted Cruz's father spent time

with or around Lee Harvey Oswald in the months before Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s. So, that's the theory.

There's no proof of it. There's no evidence of it. In fact, there's lots of contrary evidence for it.

But that idea took root online last month. It made its way to the front page of the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid late last month.

And then, yesterday morning Trump brought it up on Fox News, sort of invoking it and casting aspersions on the Cruz family.

He said it was horrible, and he said it had been reported, never actually mentioning the Enquirer by name.

This is just the latest example of Trump citing conspiracy theories, citing dubious sources of information. And although we now know he's now

the presumptive GOP nominee, I think there are many people even among Republicans, among conservatives, that are troubled by his kind of links to

the darker corners of the web or his inclination to believe dubious stories.

LU STOUT: That's right. He does have this tendency. He's done this before many times before

citing an internet rumor as if it's the truth.

STELTER: Right.

LU STOUT: And that is, as you said, it causes a lot of people to worry, because what does that reveal, what does that say about Donald Trump

as the presumptive nominee, as the potential next president of the United States?

STELTER: Yeah, you might think about it this way, all politicians are only as good as

the information they take in and the information they trust. Certainly, let's be fair here, other candidates, other politicians, have been known to

believe dubious claims or to exaggerate stories on the campaign trail, but with Trump, it is measurably different. With Trump,

there have been many cases of this, where he believed false memes from Facebook and Twitter, where he retweets information that is false or where

he believes claims that are not true.

A couple examples over the months. At one point when a protester rushed one of his stages and he suggested the protester had ties to ISIS.

That was not true. At another point in the past, he said thousands of Muslims cheered the 9/11 attacks in New Jersey on the day of the attacks.

There's no evidence that thousands of people cheered on that day.

So, those are examples of stories or falsehoods that took root online, usually on obscure websites and then somehow reached Trump and reached his

aides and that then he gave national attention to. And what he does here is he drives the news cycle by bringing these stories up, by reciting

conspiracy theories, he gives themselves oxygen. And that is what's so concerning to even to some of

his conservative critics.

LU STOUT: Yeah, he does, indeed, use this tactic to drive the news cycle. It makes it really hard for journalists to pin him down.

What should the media do, then, when reporting on Trump and his tendency to cite tabloids and these internet rumors?

STELTER: Yeah, I think it's important to look straight into the camera and say when we don't have any evidence to back up what Trump is

saying, and to ignore it, right, to pretend like he's not making these comments doesn't seem effective, because in my view, it's that these sorts

of claims, whenever they're from any candidate have to be taken on, straight on.

Jake Tapper on CNN yesterday did so very effectively by going through in detail the claim about Ted Cruz' father, explaining why sthere's no

proof of it, and really almost ridiculing the assertion. He called it shameful for anyone to suggest that Ted Cruz's father was linked to the

Kennedy assassination.

So, by addressing that head on like that, hopefully viewers and readers come away with a better understanding of what's really going on.

[08:10:13] LU STOUT: Yeah, thanks for citing that as an example -- Jake Tapper's fact-based rebuttal, a very strong example of what

journalists should be doing. You can find it off of Brian Stelter's Twitter feed, also CNN politics.com.

We'll leave it at that, Brian, thank you so much. And take care.

Now, the Sanders campaign said after their Indiana win, that they are expecting more victories in the weeks to come.

Now, Sanders rejects any notion that he is hurting the Democratic Party by staying in the race.

Joe Johns has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I understand that Secretary Clinton thinks that this campaign is over. I've got some bad news for her.

(APPLAUSE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bernie Sanders pulling up a stunning upset victory in Indiana over Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

SANDERS: We understand, and I do not deny it for one second, that we have an uphill battle in front of us. But I think we have a path to a

victory, although it is a narrow path.

JOHNS: That path, mathematically impossible without swaying some of Clinton's 513 super delegates to his side.

SANDERS: Super delegates are supporting Clinton in states that we have won landslide victories. I think that's wrong.

JOHNS: But Clinton is looking past Indiana.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm really focused on moving into the general election, and I think that's where we have to be,

because we're going to have a tough campaign against a candidate who will literally say or do anything.

JOHNS: Fundraising on the back of Trump's triumphant night, tweeting "Donald Trump is the presumptive night. Chip in now if you agree we can't

let him become president." As some Democrats criticize Sanders, saying he is impeding the Democratic path to the White House by prolonging the

Democratic primary. The senator making his case to CNN's Dana Bash last night.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: By staying in this race, aren't you effectively making it harder for the Democrats?

SANDERS: You've already conceded the race for me, and I don't accept that concession. We are in this race to win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Joe Johns reporting there.

So, with a win in Indiana is it still mathematically possible for Sanders to clinch the Democratic nomination? Now CNN's chief national

correspondent John King explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What happens to Bernie Sanders? Well, he picks up some but he doesn't pick up enough, is essentially it. It's a

start. It's a morale booster. It gives his campaign momentum. Online, his supporters are all saying if he keeps winning the super delegates will

switch. There's zero evidence of that. Would they? If Bernie Sanders could run the board? Of course. That would cause jitters, if not panic in

the Democratic Party. Do we expect Bernie Sanders to run the board? Do we expect Bernie Sanders to win New Jersey after Hillary

Clinton won all up in here? I think West Virginia, Kentucky will be interesting contests.

But at the moment, at the moment, here's about where we're going to end tonight. We have a few more delegates to allocate, but at the moment,

513 super delegates, they get votes at the convention. Yes, they don't vote until the convention, but they have publicly declared their loyalty

for Hillary Clinton. Their votes count as much as the pledged delegates. 513 for Clinton, only 41 for Senator Sanders.

As long as this math does not change, she will get there.

(END VIDEOTAPE0

LU STOUT: All right. John King with the math there.

Now, News Stream is covering every angle in the race to the White House. Later in the show, we'll look at all the possible scenarios on

election day. And one county, which has a knack for picking the next U.S. president.

But before that, we are going to take you into North Korea. Now buildings are getting final touch-ups, citizens are rehearsing ahead of one

of the most important political events there in years.

And an American serviceman killed in Iraq. We have the latest on the battle to push ISIS out of the country next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:17:30] LU STOUT: Coming to live from Hong Kong, you are back watching Nnews Stream.

Now, we are just two days away from the start of a rare political event in North Korea. Now delegates are arriving in the capital Pyongyang

as the Workers' Party is to hold its first congress in nearly 40 years.

The last one took place in 1980 when it was announced that Kim Jong- il, father of the current leader, would eventually take power.

Now let's take you live to Pyongyang. CNN's Will Ripley has reported from there many times. He joins us now live. And Will, ahead of the party

congress, what does it look like there in Pyongyang? Have you seen any campaigns or propaganda touting the big meeting?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kristie, we were -- producer Tim Schwartz (ph) and I were just counting. This my tenth trip

here in the last two years. And I have noticed a difference this time. Number one, the morning wake up call, the alarm that goes off citywide

is going off at 5:00 a.m. now instead of the normal 6:00 a.m. People for the last couple of months have been getting up an hour earlier and working

far later than usual as part of a 70-day campaign to complete infrastructure projects, and get the city, get the capital city, spruced up

and ready for this Workers' Party Congress coming up on Friday.

More than 400 or so political slogans have been released by the government, and you see them

up on banners all over the city glorifying the party and the upcoming event. The streets are immaculate. There are brand new flowers planted

everywhere and basically the entire city has been mobilized.

People tell me they have not taken a day off in 70 days, because they're working their regular jobs and then they're off in joining work

crews to refurbish different buildings and different infrastructure items across the city. So it's really remarkable to see.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. An entire nation mobilized for this big event, with this mandatory 5:00 a.m. wake-up call for everyone in the country to

get ready for the first Workers' Party congress in 36 years.

Why has the congress been called?

RIPLEY: The reason that the congress has been called is because it was an order from the supreme leader Kim Jong-un. And the leader also is

the one who has told his citizens to mobilize and prepare for this event. We saw this morning the video on North Korean state TV of those 3,000

Workers' Party members arriving in the city. I was standing along a major boulevard when a bus caravan of them drove by and they were escorted by

this van that had loud speakers blaring talking about the big party event coming up.

I asked one young woman who has been working so hard why it is that citizens are doing this for their leader and listen to her answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:20:10] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are -- Korean people think leader Kim Jong-un is our father, just like our father and just like mother, and

so we trust him, only trust him, and we do best for the building the strident country, and our country, in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: And at this congress, the leader, who is in his early 30s, is expected to consolidate his power. He will reinforce his ideology, which is

to develop the country's nuclear program simultaneously. And of course, you saw earlier this year that purported H-bomb test in January, a number

of missile launch attempts just in the last few week, Kristie, all apparently attempts to project strength ahead of this event.

LU STOUT: So, should we expect a possible additional missile or nuclear tests in the run-up to

this congress? The United States and officials there seem to think so.

RIPLEY: Yeah, and the reason for that is, one intelligence, from spy satellites, showing activity

at North Korea's nuclear sites. Also just the rhetoric in general and the fact that three out of the four past missile launch attempts were believed

to be failures, according to South KLorea and the United States.

There was a partial success, a submarine missile launch, where the missile traveled some 30 kilometers, or about 18 miles, but given the fact

the other three missile launches did not succeed, and that the leader Kim Jong-un's ideology is about the nuclear program and the economy it's

leading to a lot of speculation in the military and government level in South Korea and the United States that another nuclear test could be

imminent really at any time now.

LU STOUT: All right, CNN's Will Ripley reporting live for us inside Pyongyang. Thank you so much, Will.

Now, the U.S. has suffered its third combat death in Iraq since deployed personnel to carry out special operations against ISIS.

Now, the victim has been identified as Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV, the grandson of Savings and Loan financier Charles Keating, Jr..

Now, the Pentagon he was killed by dozens of ISIS fighters north of Mosul.

Let's get more now on this from Jomana Karadsheh. She is following the story from Amman, Jordan and joins us now. And Jomana, this was a

major, coordinated attack by ISIS. What does this mean for the greater battle against ISIS in Iraq?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, in this case, this coordinated and complex attack, we're talking about

multiple suicide car bombs and bulldozers with about roughly 100 ISIS fighters involved in this attack on Peshmerga targets about 30 kilometers

north of Mosul.

And we understand from U.S. officials the Navy SEALs were not on the front line as they say is standard practice. They were about three to five

kilometers back from the front line at a Peshmerga base where they were temporarily visiting, providing assistance, they say, to the Kurds in that

area, but the ISIS militants were able to break through the Peshmerga defense lines

and a firefight broke out, and that is how the Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV, was killed. And we're also hearing from Kurdish officials, Kristie,

that there were Peshmerga casualties in this attack. No specific numbers.

Now, the U.S. responded in this case with an F-15 and drones, and dropped more than 20 bombs

on the ISIS fighting positions.

A short time ago, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter was speaking at a press conference

in Germany. He vowed that the U.S. will continue this fight against ISIS saying that the group will be defeated. And he also paid tribute to the

fallen Navy SEAL. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHTON CARTER, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: This fight is far from over. And there are great risks. We were reminded of this yesterday when

an American service member, Petty Officer First Class Charles Keating, a Navy SEAL, was killed while providing advice

and assistance for the Peshmerga forces north of Mosul who were directly in the fight.

These risks will continue. And we greatly regret his loss. But allowing ISIL safe haven would carry greater risk for us all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARADSHEH: And, Kristie, of course, this was a reminder here that U.S. forces in Iraq more

than 4,000 now might not be on the front lines of the fight against ISIS there. They're there as advisers in an advisory role, but they still face

these risks. And also, really, this incident, Kristie, highlighting that ISIS abilities. The group may have lost territory in Iraq and Syria in

recent months, but they still have the ability to carry out attacks like this.

And we're hearing from Kurdish commanders that was not the only attack that took place in northern Iraq on Tuesday morning. This was part of

multiple attacks, similar to this one that were carried out by ISIS militants on several Peshmerga front lines but with the help of coalition

air power they managed to push them back for now -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. Jomana Karadsheh reporting there. And the threat still posed by ISIS in

Iraq. Thank you, Jomana.

Now, you may remember the 5-year-old Afghan boy who earned worldwide affection after being pictured wearing this homemade Lionel Messi football

jersey. Now sadly, he and his family have now been forced to flee their home and their country.

Lynda Kinkade has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The 5-year-old boy playing football wearing a Lionel Messi shirt made out of plastic. These

images of Murtaza Ahmadi became an internet sensation earlier this year. He became an even greater celebrity after Messi sent him two autographed

jerseys and a signed ball. The gifts arrived with a promise from the Argentine superstar that the two would one day meet.

But now young Murtaza is learning that his sudden rise to fame has come at a price -- his own safety. Several members Ahmadi family were

forced to flee Afghanistan and settle in Pakistan after Murtaza's father said he received kidnapping threats against the 5-year-old child.

WAHID AHMEDI, MURTAZA'S UNCLE (through translator): These people felt that the different gangster and terrorist groups in Afghanistan might

kidnap him. There are such gangs that can kidnap him and then demand ransom. His father does not have so much money,

and that is why they have moved from Afghanistan to here.

KINKADE: The family initially moved to Islamabad, but found the pakistani capital too

expensive. They're now settling into the city of Quetta.

However, if things go their way, the boy may soon be playing football somewhere else.

MURTAZA AHMEDI, 5-YEAR-OLD AFGHAN REFUGEE (through translator): I like Messi very much. I want to go meet him. I love Messi.

KINKADE: Until the day he meets his idol, Murtaza will keep honing his football skills.

Lynda Kinkade, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, police in Kenya say a student doctor, his wife and one other person have been arrested for planning an attack similar to the one

at Westgate Mall almost three years ago when gunmen systemically killed 67 people.

Now, police say the cell is linked to ISIS and was working on a biological attack using anthrax.

You're watching News Stream. And up next, another defeat for Ted Cruz brought his campaign to an end while Donald Trump has all but locked up the

Republican nomination. Coming up, what's next for Trump?

And desperation grows in Venezuela. CNN's Paula Newton stood in line with those trying to just wait to get the basics. That story straight

ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

[08:32:03] LU STOUT: Now back to our top story this hour -- the U.S. race for the White House. Now, many campaign watchers are predicting we

will see a Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton faceoff in the general election.

Now, CNN's chief U.S. correspondent John King runs us through possible election day scenarios.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Donald Trump tonight, the presumptive Republican nominee, that's what he thinks, it's what the Republican National Committee says.

The Democratic race is going to go on.

But imagine, we could talk about this hypothetically Trump versus Clinton, we could talk about this Trump versus either Clinton or Sanders.

Because you start with this. You start with the map of the last election. Bboth campaigns, both candidacies will do this. This Obama

versus Romney, 332 electoral votes for President Obama, 206 for Mitt Romney. So, a landslide from electoral college perspective for Barack

Obama.

Now, if you're Hillary Clinton, you think, OK. Is there anything on this map that I might lose? If you're Donald Trump you're saying, how do I

get from 206 to 270?

Well, again, Democrats will argue with this because these have been reliably Democratic states for quite some time, but Donald Trump thinks he

can appeal to blue collar working class voters, especially with his trade message, his immigration message, and change Pennsylvania. Can he? We'll

see.

But let's just say hypothetically, that one is in play.

What does it do to the math? It makes it a little closer. Donald Trump thinks Ohio, always the biggest battleground state. No Republican

has won the presidency in the modern era without Ohio. Let's say Donald Trump if he can compete there. What does that do? Well, that's still a

Democratic victory and Donald Trump wants to go here and recreate what we used to call Reagan Democrats, blue collar workers up in Michigan and do

it.

At that point, even if Donald Trump, even if -- remember, Obama won all of these states twic. Ohio went for Bush once, but most of these

states -- Bush twice, excuse me -- but most of these states -- Michigan and Pennsylvania has been reliably Democratic since the late 80s. But if he

won all three of those, even that's not enough.

So, where would he go? Wisconsin? That would give Donald Trump -- Donald Trump could win four states across the Rust Belt, if you will, and

win the presidency based on this map, assuming Hillary Clinton took away none of the red states.

This is where the campaign calculations will start.

If you're the Trump campaign, you view this as your wheelhouse, use your economic message, to a degree your immigration message, your strength

message, try to turn blue collar white voters, especially blue collar white man, which is a deficit, a problem for Hillary Clinton

Now, is that realistic? Any Democrat would tell you no.

But this is what Democrats worry about. They say Hillary Clinton would have some work to do here.

Now, if look at the map and you say, let's assume for a hypothetical Ddonald Trump could actually pull that off. If you're Hillary Clinton, now

you're losing 270-268. If this is happening where do you get it back?

Where do you get it back? Well, one thing the Democrats will look at, they've been talking about this for some time.

In Nevada and New Mexico, used to be swing states. Now, some people still think Nevada, but most Democrats think because of demographics, the

Latino vote, these are pretty solidly Democratic states now, especially new Mexico and more and more Nevada.

So, what would Hillary Clinton try? Maybe Arizona. Right? Maybe Arizona. It has a Latino population.

Now, a Republican will say, no way. I can tell you, the John McCain campaign is nervous with Donald Trump as the nominee.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: He's up for reelection.

[08:35:03] KING: He's up for reelection.

So, could the Democrats turn Arizona? If so, even if Donald Trump had the success changing the map here, Hillary Clinton, if she could find a

place to change the map that one takes it back.

Another one -- and again Democrats have talked about this, President Obama talked about

this, Senator Obama talked about this, is the state of Georgia. Bill Clinton won Georgia once, it was when Ross Perot was in the race, but they

talk about if let's say the Never Trump movement, the conservatives in the south stay home, Georgia is a state you have a significant African-American

population, if you had a combination of high African-American turnout, a Never Trump movement that keeps some conservatives home, is it conceivable?

Sure, it's conceivable.

But these are the calculations that now will be going on in all the war rooms and these are the calculations that people will be poring over

the polling data, not just battleground polls state to state, but how can Trump improve among Latinos? What is Hillary Clinton's support among

working class men?

This is now -- some of this work has already been underway. But now that's pretty clear -- crystal clear Trump will be the Republican nominee

this is now going on, Wolf, at full bore. What states can he potentially change? Is there anything he -- I mean, she or Bernie Sanders could turn

back? We go -- it's a fascinating race.

BLITZER: You've heard Donald often say he thinks his home state of New York would be in play as well.

KING: I believe that one when I see it.

But I will say this, if you look at all the recent general election polls, Hillary Clinton has a clear advantage.

However, if we've learned anything over the last nearly year, Donald Trump has been able to rewrite and change some rules. So don't count it

out. Assume, as most Democrats do, a competitive race.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: That's right. The rules may be rewritten.

Once again, that was CNN's John King.

Now, Venezuela's economy is on the brink of disaster. It shrank a percent this year and the International Monetary Fund is predicting a 10

percent contraction this year.

Now, low oil prices are particularly crippling. Two years ago, Venezuela exported $75 billion worth. Barclays projects just $27 billion

in 2016.

And making matters worse, the IMF projects that inflation will hit 481 percent this year. And the country's currency has plummeted. It now takes

1,125 Bolivars to make up one dollar. A year ago, it was 258 to the dollar.

Now, you only need to see Venezuela's streets to understand just how difficult this economic crisis has become. People are waiting in lines for

hours just to buy food.

Paula Newton joins some of them.

(BEIGN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): La cola, the line. This is how Venezuelans spend most of their time now, in line not

for luxuries but basics: your next meal, soap for your next load of laundry, diapers for your baby's next nappy change.

"And with a 2-year old, lining up, having to put up with this," she tells me, "we have no milk, we have no diapers, nothing. This is

impossible," she pleads.

She says she left her home at 4 am, like many here, waiting for government rations that are dwindling, ravaged by hyperinflation,

government mismanagement and an oil crisis.

(on camera): These types of lines are popping up all over Caracas. People here are looking for flour and pasta. Some were here this morning;

they were told the store had absolutely nothing. And that's the kind of scavenger hunt that's happening throughout Venezuela, people just trying to

find the basics can't find them.

[11:35:17] (voice-over): We're not allowed to shoot inside but outside people tell us they line up for hours and still get nothing.

"We are hungry, we have needs, we have no food. Look at this line, mothers who are hungry, we need food, medicine. We can't find anything.

"What's finishing us off? Hunger," she says.

Police are in control here, herding people and making sure they're shopping on their government-allotted two days a week. The only way around

this, buying from a bachaquero, a black market middleman.

We followed one customer on a shopping trip as covert as any drug deal. But he's buying food.

(on camera): And this is what goes on here. Black markets have opened up in so many neighborhoods. People just can't get the essentials; salt,

sugar, the basics, which they have to try and find on the black market.

(voice-over): Products are marked up at more than twice their fair value than on supermarket shelves. It's also illegal, another reason

neither buyer nor seller wish to be identified.

Few can afford it, though, so Venezuelans walk the line, spending much of their lives now in la cola, the queue, already one of the most detested

and humiliating rituals in this country's history.

Paula Newton, CNN, Caracas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: A court in Brazil has overturned a country-wide ban on WhatsApp.

Now, the service had been blocked since Monday following a judge's orderer. And WhatsApp refused to turn over user data linked to a drug

trafficking investigation. It says it is unable to do so, because it uses end to end encryption and doesn't store chat histories.

Now, Hollywood has been struggling in the past few months over its lack of diversity and recent casting choices in upcoming movies is stirring

up loud calls for change by the Asian-American community.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: ...is under fire on Twitter again. An organization called the Nerds of Color, they started the hashtag #whitewashedout to mark Asian-

Pacific American heritage month. It is criticizing Hollywood for casting white actors to portray Asian characters.

And more than 60,000 tweets with that hashtag rolled in on Tuesday.

Now, the outcry comes after a host of white actresses were cast as Asian characters in upcoming

movies, including Tilda Swinton who will be portraying a male Tibetan comic character in Dr. Strange.

Now, last month Scarlett Johansson was cast to play the Asian lead in Hollywood's rendition of

Ghost in the Shell, a popular Japanese graphic novel, and Elizabeth Banks was given the role of an Asian character Rita Repulsa in the upcoming Power

Rangers movie.

Now, the trend of white actors cast as Asian characters, it dates back decades, and it's not limited to female roles.

The 1961 film Breakfast at Ttiffany's has Mickey Rooney playing the lead's Japanese neighbor.

And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Alex Thomas is next.

END