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Sanders Campaigning in California Today; Republican Congressmen React to Trump as Presumptive Nominee; Ted Cruz Holding onto Delegates; Trump's Muslim Ban Sours Relationship with London's Muslim Mayor-Elect; Russian Forces in Syria Bigger than Thought; North Korean Leader Gets New Title, Bigger Grip on Power. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 10, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:30:11] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Take a look at these live pictures of the Bernie Sanders campaign stop in Stockton, California right now. But the battle today between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton is taking place in West Virginia which is holding its primary. A new poll taken among voters in three key swing states shows Sanders edging out Donald Trump in a head-to-head match-up in all three states. Clinton only beats Trump in two of those three states.

I want to bring in Jeff Weaver, the Bernie Sanders campaign manager.

Jeff, thank you so much for joining us.

Obviously, all within the margin of error but can you parlay Sanders lead in those three polls in these three key battleground states? We're talking about Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida. He does better against Trump than Hillary Clinton does. Can you convince super delegates in the Democratic Party to switch and go with him as opposed to her?

JEFF WEAVER, BERNIE SANDERS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: That's the point we've been making, Wolf. The polls have been consistent for months, national polls, as well as state level polls that Bernie Sanders does better against Donald Trump than Secretary Clinton. I think these three polls today are extremely troubling. You have the secretary losing in Ohio. She's up by only one in Florida and Pennsylvania. Trump is -- he's winning all three against Trump. And super delegates at this end of this process and going to have to take a hard look at these candidates because neither one is going to the convention with enough pledged delegates to win. Super delegates will decide who the winner is and I think this is compelling evidence why Bernie Sanders would be a much better candidate for the Democrats in the fall.

BLITZER: We'll see if other polls are consistent with the Quinnipiac University poll.

But let's talk a bit about taxes for a moment. Donald Trump, he says he wants to reduce taxes for everybody. The highest wage earner is going down from 39.6 percent to 25 percent. How high does Bernie Sanders want that highest wage earner to be taxed? WEAVER: His highest rate is 52 percent. That's for people over $10

million a year in earnings. That's a small group of people who would be paying that highest rate.

But look, the truth is that almost all new wealth and income is going top 1 percent in the country and those people should be paying their fair share of taxes. We've seen stories on CNN and elsewhere where you have wealthy investors and others paying lower than secretaries. It's not right. It's not sustainable. And you can't run a country like that.

BLITZER: What about people making more than $250,000 a year? Would their income -- their tax rate go up from 39.6 percent?

WEAVER: It's graduated. It's a progressive system. But above 250, it goes up a couple of points and then would lift the cap on taxable income above 250 so that we not only save Social Security for the long term but also expand benefits for people at the bottom who are making very, very little right now. A lot of seniors are trying to get by at $11,000, $12,000 in income a year, Wolf, and you just can't do it. The cost of the kind of goods and services that they buy, largely health care, keep going up much faster than the cost of everything else. The coalers (ph) aren't keeping up and they are falling further and further behind.

BLITZER: He's campaigning, as we mentioned, in California today. June 7th is the primary there. You've made it clear he's staying in this race until at least the convention, right?

WEAVER: Absolutely. We anticipate it will be beyond the convention, Wolf. There's a general election in November. But, yes, he's been campaigning all over the country. He's going to campaign for every vote, for every delegate. He's going to go to the convention, hopefully, with a pledged delegate lead, but certainly having had closed the gap substantially with the secretary. And then I think he's going to have to make the case, which he will make. The Quinnipiac polls today are, again, a good justification for why super delegates -- you know, many of whom, Wolf, announce to the secretary before there was even the campaign going on. So, you know, they really haven't had a chance to look at this race and to really judge the candidate side by side who can best lead the Democrats in the fall, keep the White House, and expand Democratic numbers in the House and Senate.

BLITZER: Jeff Weaver is the Bernie Sanders campaign manager. Jeff, thank you for coming in.

WEAVER: My pleasure as always, Wolf.

[13:34:30] BLITZER: It's a major issue out there on the campaign trail. Tomorrow night, Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta will hold a special town hall on prescription drug abuse in America. That's a special right here on CNN.

Ted Cruz, he's back up on Capitol Hill today. The Texas Senator has suspended his campaign for the White House but still plans to play a big role in the Republican convention. We're going to tell you what he's saying today when we come back.

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BLITZER: Senator Marco Rubio has been speaking in Washington at the Hudson Institute think tank here. And he was just asked about Donald Trump's campaign. Listen in.

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SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R), FLORIDA & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wouldn't put it that way. As I said before, my policy differences and reservations about Donald's campaign are well established and I said them often and I stand by those. But those remain. I hope they'll be addressed, but those remain.

That said, I don't view myself as a guy to sit here for the next seven months taking shots at him. People know where stand and know how I feel and know what our differences are. He's the nominee of the Republican Party, via the voters. I respect that, and accept it. But that's not going to change the reservations I have about his campaign or about some of the policies that he's established. But I'm not insisting he change anything. He needs to be true to who he is. And that's what he believes in, and maybe he'll have a chance to make that argument to the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:40: 14] BLITZER: Congress, meanwhile, is back at work here in Washington and up on Capitol Hill, but the talk in the halls isn't necessarily about legislation. A lot of that talk involves Donald Trump and how Republicans in Congress are reacting to him being the presumptive presidential nominee.

Manu Raju is our senior political reporter and he's joining us live from Capitol Hill.

What are you hearing up there, Manu? Is anybody coming out to support Donald Trump?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Not quite at this point, Wolf. We're seeing a lot of reservation in the halls of Congress. Folks say, I guess he's the nominee, I guess we'll support him. Not an enthusiastic level of support.

I caught up quickly with Rand Paul, the Kentucky Senator. He said, I'll support Donald Trump because I pledge to support the Republican nominee.

Others wouldn't take questions about him.

Mark Kirk, of Illinois, in a very difficult Senate race, said, I'm not taking questions about Donald Trump today.

And some said they want Trump to do more outreach. Susan Collins, of Maine, I asked her about whether she'll support Donald Trump, and she said that Trump needs to change his rhetoric and incendiary rhetoric and to give a clearer vision where he wants to take the country.

So that's really just showing the hurdle that Donald Trump has in getting sort of the party establishment to line up behind him because, right now, it's looking like a difficult sell on Capitol Hill -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Senator Ted Cruz suspended his campaign last month. He now says he'll hold on to the delegates from Texas and Oklahoma. Why is that?

RAJU: It looks like there's a lot of ill will still from this very bitter contentious campaign. In that interview with Glenn Beck earlier today, he really criticized Donald Trump. He did not put out an olive branch at all towards Trump. Actually suggested, didn't even suggest -- or that he could get back in the race if there was a viable path for him to take the nomination.

Here's a little bit more, Wolf, of what he had to say.

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SEN. TED CRUZ, (R), TEXAS & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice- over): The voters in the primary seem to have made a choice and we'll see what happens as the months go forward, but I think we need to watch and see what the candidates say and do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: It will be interesting, Wolf, how much is actually positioning for 2020 if Donald Trump does not win in 2016 because we'll know in 2020 will begin and we'll see Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio back on the stump -- Wolf?

BLITZER: I see Trump just tweeted an hour ago, he said, "I look very much forward to meeting with Paul Ryan and the GOP party leaders on thursday in D.C. Together, we will beat the Dems at all levels."

Maybe a bit of an olive branch thrown out in that tweet.

You'll be covering that.

Manu, thanks very much.

RAJU: Thanks, Wolf.

Coming up, London's mayor blasting Donald Trump in what he called his ignorant views on Islam. The details next.

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[13:46:56] BLITZER: Donald Trump's proposal to ban, temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States has now soured relations with one of the most senior Muslim politicians in Europe. Sadiq Khan is the first Muslim mayor of London. Today, he condemned Donald Trump for his suggestion the mayor could be an exception to the U.S. Muslim ban that he has he put on the table.

Our international correspondent, Phil Black, joining us live now from London.

Phil, the potential relationship between Sadiq Khan and Donald Trump already off to a relatively bad start. What else has Khan said about Donald Trump and the overall situation?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Sadiq Khan isn't interested in being Donald Trump's exception. He says the issue is not whether or not the mayor of London can visit the United States but the fact that under Donald Trump's proposed policy that no Muslim will be able to visit the United States. So it's not about Sadiq Khan, he says, it's about his family, his friends, indeed, the Muslim everywhere. The problem he says is the policy. And he wants Donald Trump to rethink it.

This was Sadiq Khan speaking in London earlier today.

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SADIQ KHAN, MAYOR-ELECT, LONDON: Look, I think Donald Trump has ignorant views about Islam. It's not just about me. Donald Trump has said I'm the exception to his rule, but if you're a Muslim from any part of the world, you can't go to the USA. My point is this, there are many Muslims that want to go to America to go to Disneyland, who are business people who want to do business in America or people who want to be students in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: Ignorant views about Islam. It's pretty strong stuff, really. But more than that, Sadiq Khan believes that Donald Trump, through this policy, is making both the United States and the United Kingdom less safe because he is alienating mainstream Muslims and, therefore, playing in to the extremist narrative in that way.

But Sadiq Khan is simply the latest high-profile British politician to criticize this whole deal. Remember, in parliament, at the time that Donald Trump was first suggesting this, the British prime minister, David Cameron, described this policy as divisive, stupid, and wrong, and he stands by those remarks -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Phil Black, in London for us, thank you very much.

Coming up, we're going to bring you -- take you inside Syria right now to witness the growing presence of Russian military forces. We're going to live to Damascus.

A CNN crew granted unprecedented access inside North Korea's secretive Congress. We're going to Pyongyang, North Korea, as well.

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[13:53:47] BLITZER: A cease-fire remains in effect in the Syrian city of Aleppo after it was extended a second time. Both the U.S. and Russia instrumental in trying to secure these truces, but questions remain about Russia's political motivation. In March, the Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the majority of forces in Syria to return home to Russia.

But as senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, found out, the presence of Russian forces is bigger than you might think.

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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the Russian intervention the world has come to know. But Russia's footprint in Syria seems to be far bigger than just combat jets.

There are thousands of troops stationed at its main air base, disciplined and highly motivated.

We caught one this first lieutenant during his boxing practice.

"I'm glad to serve my country," he says, "and I'm not afraid. What is there to be afraid of in Syria?"

The West has criticized Russia saying its air strikes target mostly moderate anti-Assad rebels. The Russians claiming they bomb only ISIS and other terror groups.

But while Moscow says it's withdrawn most forces from Syria, on an embed we saw, what appeared to be several bases in western and central Syria with a variety of attack helicopters. Also a brand new base in Palmyra for its demining crews with dozens of fighting vehicles and even anti-aircraft missile systems.

On top of it own assets, the military spokesman says his forces closely cooperate with Bashar al Assad's troops.

"We receive a great deal of information from the Syrian general staff," he says. "They're on the ground and close to the rebels. As for the military technical cooperation, of course, we help them as well."

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[13:55:40] PLEITGEN: None of this seems to indicate a full Russian withdrawal from Syria anytime soon. And for many in the government- held parts of Damascus, that's just fine.

(on camera): The people here in the government-held part of Damascus seem to be very well aware of the extent to which Russia's military has helped Bashar al Assad's forces, but they also say that if there's going to be a solution to the Syrian crisis, it has to come from Syrians themselves and not from outside powers.

(voice-over): Violence still rages in most of the country. Reconciliation seems nowhere in sight, and neither is an end to Russia's involvement in the conflict.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Fred is joining us live now from Damascus. Fred, Russians say they're the guests of the Syrian regime. Do they

follow the lead of government forces, or do these Russian troops act on their own authority?

PLEITGEN: They absolutely act on their own authority, Wolf. One thing that struck us when we were going around Syria, they're with the Russians was ease with which they move there. They don't really ask the Syrians for permission to go anywhere. They might tell them they're going somewhere but they don't ask for permission. They fly wherever they want, drive wherever they want, and they have access to any sort of area that is controlled by the Syrian government at this point in time.

And, you know, one of the big questions we've been asking is, why they have so many ground forces around the country. And some of it could be for force protection. But, of course, one of the reasons for that is that they have such a big footprint now. That new base in Palmyra is pretty big. It's state of the art, very well maintained, and needs a substantial force to be able to protect it, as well. A lot more hardware there on the ground, and the Russians.

And one thing we didn't see, Wolf, an army that seems to be ready to leave very soon. In fact, the opposite seems to be the case.

BLITZER: Do they release numbers? How many Russian troops are still on the ground?

PLEITGEN: It's impossible to tell at this point. There's no real numbers out there. There are some people saying they believe it's between 6,000 and 8,000 at this point in time, but it's difficult to tell. The U.S., for instance, believes that the Russians might be moving artillery into the Aleppo area. The Russians haven't confirmed that in any way, shape or form. So at this time, it's difficult to tell. But I would say from what we saw, it's at least several thousands on the ground there for the Russians in various parts of the country -- Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Fred Pleitgen, in Damascus for us, thank you.

In North Korea today, hundreds of thousands flocked to the main square in Pyongyang for a highly choreographed parade. It's celebrating the end of the Workers' Party Congress, the first in decades. During the historic meeting, the leader, Kim Jong-Un, got a new title and a tighter grip on power.

CNN's Will Ripley is inside North Korea. He was at the Congress for us -- Will?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a dramatic finish to the first Workers' Party's Congress in 36 years. Two huge celebrations in the square. One in morning, attended by this country's supreme leader, Kim Jong-Un, and waving from the stands to hundreds of thousands of North Koreans who have been practicing for months to make sure every move is perfect. In the evening, the teenagers did the same thing, except they were holding up torches, they were dancing. And there was a huge fireworks display. All of this to celebrate what happened over the weekend at the seventh Congress of the Workers' Party of Congress.

There is very little transparency in the North Korean government, aside from updates on state television. We in the media came here to cover it, pushing for access, and on the final day of the Congress, a handful of us were told to board a bus, put on suits, and bring our passports, but we didn't know where we were going. We passed the security check and rows of bodyguards and then we entered the venue where the Congress was being held. We walked in and, moments later, the leader and his highest-level party officials took the stage to thunderous applause.

And that's when it was announced he has this brand-new title, created for him to give him even more authority, though it's hard to imagine him getting more power in a country where he already has absolute power. The vote, as you might expect, was unanimous, as the votes always are here in North Korea. Even though the citizens who were out celebrating in the capitol had no direct role in the political process -- the only people who had a vote were the 5,000 delegates in attendance, everybody else could only watch, listen and accept what the government was telling them.