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Clinton Wins Tight Kentucky Contest; Trump Wins Oregon; Chaos in Nevada Convention; Queen Elizabeth to Open Parliament Today; Brexit Vote on June 23. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired May 18, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Hello. Great to have you with us. We like now to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause. It has just gone midnight here in Los Angeles.
ISHA SESAY, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: And I'm Isha Sesay. Thank you for joining us.
Hillary Clinton is back in the win column in the U.S. presidential race after a nail biter in Kentucky's democratic primary. Clinton edged out Bernie Sanders by just half a percentage point. She breaks a string of recent losses to her rival.
VAUSE: Sanders does pick up the win in Oregon with 53 percent of the vote, but Clinton still has a sizable delegate lead, 89 shy of clenching the democratic nomination.
SESAY: We'll see in Tuesday night at a rally here in Southern California. Bernie Sanders says he is still optimistic about his chances, despite the delegate math.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We won a great victory in the State of Washington a few months ago. We just won Oregon.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And we're going to win California.
(CROWD CHEERING)
I am getting to like the West Coast.
(CROWD CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Donald Trump adds to his big delegate lead with a win in Oregon. The last delegate in the race with a commanding 66 percent of the vote right now. John Kasich and Ted Cruz, still on the ballot, not campaigning, trailing far behind.
SESAY: Donald Trump still to get total is now 1175, that is 62 short of the number he needs to officially win the nomination.
VAUSE: As the votes came in a highly anticipated interview went to air between Trump and his one-time adversary, Megyn Kelly. The Fox News host still clear of policy questions but did ask Donald Trump about any campaign regrets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGYN KELLY, THE KELLY FILE SHOWHOST: Let me just give you a list of a couple and tell me whether you have any regrets on it.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sure, go ahead.
KELLY: That the comment about John McCain, you prefer people who weren't captured. The comment about Carly Fiorina's face. But do you regret any of those comments?
TRUMP: Yes, I guess so, but you have to go forward. You make a mistake, you go forward and you -- you know, you can correct the mistake, but to look back and see ghee, whiz, I wish I didn't do this or that. I don't think that's good. I don't even think in a certain way, I don't even think that's healthy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Joining us now, republican consultant John Thomas, and democratic strategist Dave Jacobson. The wise man is also around here, welcome.
John, to start with you. What did you make of that interview with Megyn Kelly, especially that little bite that we played there. It couldn't even, you know, cross the line to admitting full regret.
JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: You know, regret is as close as we're ever going to get to an apology from Donald Trump. I think it was a big step. But, look, Donald Trump's brand is that he won't apologize.
In fact, he's made the case that America is apologizing too much. So, should he apologize? Absolutely. Am I waiting up at night for him to it? No. It's never going to happen.
VAUSE: OK. Let's talk about the campaign, the race especially there in Kentucky. You know, Clinton, she needed this win. She spent money that she didn't want to spend. She spent time in Kentucky that she didn't want to spend there. She spent Bill Clinton out of the campaign. He carried the state twice in a general.
She carried it by 30 points in 2008 against Obama. Tonight, less than half a percentage point.
So, Dave, to you, this is not exactly the result that they were looking for, but at the end of the day, a win is a win? DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I guess. I mean, all these
states are proportional. And so she just has to sort of move forward through this process. She's less than 100 votes away from locking up the critical 2383 delegate number to become the presumptive democratic nominee.
I think one thing that people aren't talking enough about tonight is the fact that she was polling 13 points ahead of Bernie Sanders just days ago in Oregon and he had a blowout victory there. And I think that's a testament to the fact that he actually register or helped to register, the thing was reported by the L.A. Times around 92,000 new voters as democrats for that election.
VAUSE: Yes.
JACOBSON: So, I think that's a really big deal that's not getting enough attention.
VAUSE: And Oregon also is kind of a ground zero for a lot of the Bernie Sanders national campaign, as well. They go to all phone banks, they had to go young people that are working for Sanders. So, even though that poll had had her ahead it wasn't entirely unexpected that he would win Oregon, right?
JACOBSON: Right. And it was right next door to Washington State where he had a huge victory a couple of weeks ago.
THOMAS: You know, Bernie Sanders is not going to be the nominee on the democratic side. But tonight is more symptomatic of a larger problem that Hillary Clinton has. She has a problem with her base. They're fractured. They're not in love with her.
And every single day that goes by that the base is not consolidate and Hillary Clinton cannot pivot to a general election, gives Donald Trump time to heal wounds with Megyn Kelly, with leadership. And the democrats is going to need all the time they can get.
SESAY: Well, they should be in front of mind for Hillary Clinton and the campaign. She chose not to speak this evening after her win in Kentucky.
[03:05:02] Instead, she put out a tweet. Let's put that for our viewers. She said, "We just won Kentucky. Thanks to everyone who turned out. We're always stronger united."
And that was followed up by a statement put out by Robby Mook from the Clinton campaign, and they go on to say, "We are confident that the passion and energy from the primary will be united in a common purpose, to move forward the ideals of our party and keep the White House out of Donald Trump's hands."
They've got to be talking about unity especially what we saw in Nevada on Saturday with those angry scenes involving Sanders' supporters. The question is, you know, has this just go on for so long, are they past the point of no return in terms of unifying this party, Dave? JACOBSON: No, I don't think so. I think it underscores that there is
sort of a fracturing, splintering in the party, for sure. But it's nothing like what we saw in the republican contest where you saw sort of character insults, bare knuckle tactics in the primary.
You're seeing some of that on the democratic side but not nearly what we saw in the republican side. But look, if you look at polling in 2008, 40 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters say they would never support Barack Obama. He obviously dominated and became president.
SESAY: But this is a different moment, though. Even you would acknowledge that. This is different from what they're tapping into is different than to 2008.
JACOBSON: Right. Absolutely. But only 25 percent of Bernie Sanders supporters are saying they won't ultimately support Hillary Clinton.
So, look, and if you look at the base vote that sort of comprised Barack Obama coalition to propelled him to the White House, women, minorities, older voters, those folks are coalescing around Hillary Clinton. And I think ultimately that's what's going to propel her to the White House in a general election.
THOMAS: But Hillary has a larger problem. Rasmussen Tracking poll came out this week asking the right track wrong -- track question for the direction of the country, 60 percent of Americans say we're on the wrong track and Hillary Clinton, to get through this democratic primary, has hugged Barack Obama's legacy and essentially running as a third term. That's a problem for her.
VAUSE: But Dave, to your point, about 40 percent versus the 25 percent are Bernie supporters who say they won't vote for Hillary.
Back in 2008, Hillary Clinton actively campaigned for Barack Obama, once the primary process was all over and told everyone to fall in line and didn't demand any concessions from Obama. Is that going to happen this time with Bernie Sanders?
JACOBSON: Well, look, I think ultimately he'll get there, but I think he's going to want some concession. He's already saying look, I want issues like social justice reforms, $15 an hour minimum hour wage, single payer, reforming the primary process to open it up to independents and people who don't normally participate in the process.
And so, I think he's going to try to sort of latch on to that platform and fundamentally overhaul it in some meaningful way. It's just a question of how and -- how much he's going to get and what the Clinton campaign is willing to do moving forward.
THOMAS: The problem in 2008 was Barack Obama was an inspirational figure that motivated his base like they've never seen before, and Hillary Clinton is no Barack Obama.
VAUSE: It converted this time around.
THOMAS: Yes. VAUSE: Yes. It's interesting because Clinton is staying away from the chaos in Nevada. She doesn't want to offend, I guess the Bernie sappers supporters. But she is leaving the talking to other officials, in particular, the party chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRWOMAN: Unfortunately, the senator's response was anything but acceptable. It certainly did not condemn his supporters for acting violently or engaging in intimidation tactics and instead added more fuel to the fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: You know, DNC party leader obviously getting irritated with Sanders and, you know, publicly coming out and rebuking him. I mean, what impact is that going to have on Sanders? Is he going to dig his heels in even further?
JACOBSON: I think if you saw his speech tonight in California, he definitely is. He's going all the way, he's continuing to criticize the party and the party process saying it's a rigged system.
He's tying it to, you know, the gridlock in Washington, the corrupt system that he calls it, at least, with Wall Street.
And I think the reality is he's going to continue to carry that message. But I don't know if he's going to carry it beyond -- you know, when people stop casting votes. You've got California coming up, New Jersey on June 7th, then you've got Washington, D.C.
And then there's almost a month before the convention. So the real question is, what is he going to do before people stop voting?
THOMAS: This is a Trump-like majority. You would think the DNC establishment would learn by now what happened to the republican side.
SESAY: Yes.
THOMAS: The establishment slams them, it rallies Bernie's supporters.
VAUSE: And Bernie Sanders is out there on the campaign just a few hours ago telling people he's not going anywhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: And any of the pundits and politicians, they say, "Bernie Sanders should drop out."
(CROWD BOOING)
The people of California should not have the right to determine who the next president will be.
(CROWD BOOING)
Well, let me be as clear as I can be. I agree with you. We are in to the last ballot is cast.
(CROWD CHEERING)
VAUSE: John, I think a lot of people address this, you know, it's hard to run for president and, it's lot harder to stop running for president.
THOMAS: Well, I'm going to start calling Bernie Sanders Don Quixote. He is dreaming the impossible dream chasing one meal day after day.
(CROSSTALK)
[03:10:00] VAUSE: Still my life will last.
SESAY: And to the point, Dave, he's not leveling with his supporters. I mean, he's kind of leading them on this fantasy that at least as the math stands right now and everyone has lifted and crunched it, that he can still win this thing.
JACOBSON: He keeps saying there is a very narrow path. That narrow path means basically says he needs to win all the pledge delegates. I think there's a -- he's got to move forward and get more than two- thirds of the vote moving forward.
And then he's got to switch the super delegates. Right? That's the whole play. And unfortunately, those folks are lock in with the Clinton camp. I just don't see it happening.
VAUSE: OK. The very beginning of it tonight, we've mentioned earlier, Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly.
Dylan Byers is our senior reporter for media and politics. Let's bring him into the conversation. Dylan, you had a quick look at this interview with Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly.
I want to play one more stuff for you because -- one more sound bite. Because this was how Donald Trump talked about that question back at the very first Fox News debate from Megyn Kelly which sparked their feud.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: I thought it was a fair question. Why didn't you?
TRUMP: I thought it was unfair. I thought it -- first of all, I didn't think it was really a question. I thought it was more of a statement. That's the first question that I've ever been asked during a debate and I've never debated before.
I mean, my whole life is a debate, but I've never actually debated before. And I'm saying to myself, man, what a question. And then of course, then you have Brett doing his thing. So, I'm saying to myself, I get two hours of this. I don't really
blame you because you're doing your thing, but from my standpoint, I don't have to like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Dylan, there was so much hype being up to this interview, did it live up to it?
DYLAN BYERS, CNN SENIOR MEDIA AND POLITICS REPORTER: No, it didn't live up to it and I don't think that it could have. I think the expectation going into this interview was that we were going to get a rematch of Megyn Kelly v. Donald Trump that we had seen on the debate stage in August, and then seen again at the later Fox News debate that Donald Trump actually showed up to.
This was not Megyn Kelly's prerogative going in. She was trying to do something different. She is trying to sort of create a new space for herself as sort of the next Barbara Walters or the next Oprah Winfrey.
She wanted this sort of groundbreaking interviews that people felt that, you know, that the entire nation has to come to watch. She didn't want a contentious interview that was going to alienate, you know, a lot of Donald Trump supporters and sort of take her out of the running for that position.
I will say that's fair. These are two different sorts of interviews. But if you're going into this thinking that you're going to get, you know, fisticuffs, obviously that didn't happen.
SESAY: Yes. And, Dylan, you know, Megyn Kelly had sign posted that, you know, her intention with this interview was to get Donald trump's temperament and kind of really get to understand, you know, his inner working.
I thought it was interesting that it came out of the interview that Donald Trump basically said, you know, the way he has conducted himself throughout this campaign has worked for him. He's outspokenness, his directness, that has been a winning formula.
I would see this as something, you know, I guess, somewhat worrying for the likes of Paul Ryan and Reince Priebus. he basically said in this interview is he's not for changing. He's going to keep on being how he's being today.
BYERS: Yes, I think he is. But then again, even in that interview you saw him trying to strike a more sort of conciliatory tone. So he's trying to have it both ways at once. He's going to continue to be Donald, I say what I say, I do what I do and I'm sorry if you don't like it.
But he's also sitting down with Megyn Kelly, he's also doing, you know, trying to reach out and extend the olive branch in some regard.
But, you know, you talk about Megyn Kelly trying to get at Donald Trump's temperament with this interview. And I don't know if she succeeded.
But again, you know, Donald Trump has been out there as the republican front-runner, now the presumptive republican nominee for almost a year at this point and no one has really answered the question of what makes Donald Trump tick. What is his temperament. That's what Megyn Kelly was trying to achieve, man, I don't know if she pulled it off.
VAUSE: Yes. Dylan, there was I guess one admission from Trump which I thought a little surprising about how he win this election and how, you know, he'll be impacted by a lot. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If I don't go all the way and if I don't win, I will consider it to be a total and complete waste of time, energy and money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, I guess, Dylan, you know, as the saying goes, winning isn't everything, it's the only thing.
BYERS: Yes, indeed. And of course, Donald Trump has to broadcast the idea that he's in this to become the president of the United States.
Look, when this election is over, if Donald Trump does not become the president of the United States, he will have boosted his brand immeasurably.
Of course, there will be plenty of people out there who will never want to look at Donald Trump's face again much less read one of his tweets or listen to his phone calls into a new show.
But there -- that core group of supporters, those millions -- tens of millions of voters who have turn out to vote for Donald Trump and who really believe that he is the face of the anti-establishment movement.
Those people are going to be buying into the Donald Trump brand for a long time, and, in a way for a guy whose sort of tenure as the host of "The Apprentice" was coming to an end.
[03:15:02] And who didn't really have a new business strategy. He certainly found one by running for president of the United States and up ending all of the media expectations about what he could actually achieve.
SESAY: Dylan, let's put that to the wise men. John, what do you make of that, Donald Trump saying it will be all for naught if he doesn't win?
THOMAS: I mean, he's right. The guy is all that he wants to be a winner, he wants to make America win again. And he's right, if you're not first, you're last.
SESAY: Oh, stop. You're saying there's no upside to this if he does lose? THOMAS: Well, look, his brand is better off. But I do think to his
core he feels that he is running now to represent a perspective in the American public and it's his duty to win. And if he doesn't win, America loses. So I think he's sincere in that effort.
VAUSE: Dave?
JACOBSON: I think he's running to be the next Mike Huckabee. He went to the gag show like a fat news author.
VAUSE: OK. Dave Jacobson, John Thomas, and of course, Dylan Byers in our news room there upstairs. Thanks to you both.
SESAY: Dylan, thank you.
BYERS: Thank you very much.
VAUSE: Much more of our coverage of the U.S. election ahead in this hour, including Donald Trump admitting he would have no problem speaking to an enemy of the United States.
Plus, we'll ask Bernie Sanders campaign manager who is to blame for the convention chaos in Nevada.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.
Two days after the game was abandoned, Manchester United and Bournemouth played what became the final game of the EPL season. United comfortably won the match 3-1 in the landmark night for Wayne Rooney. He open the scoring notching his 100th goal at Old Trafford.
The major European domestic league may be in (Inaudible) many teams. That doesn't mean it's the end of the season as the tension now turns to Cup finals.
First up, the Europea League takes place in Basel, Switzerland on Wednesday between Sevilla and Liverpool. The Spaniards are looking for an unprecedented fifth Europa League title. It would also be their third in a row.
However, Liverpool will be no pushovers under the guidance of their Newish manager Jurgen Klopp. The Reds are playing their second Cup final this year on route. The Europe League finals Reds have beaten the likes of Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and Villareal.
And we're now just 80 days away from the opening of the Rio Olympics. Now, though, dozens of athletes are potentially facing doping bans to prevent them from taking part in Rio.
According to the International Olympic Committee sports men and women who competed in Beijing back in 2008 were recently retested. The IOC said the retest were focusing on athletes who may take part in Rio.
That's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley.
[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SESAY: Hello, everyone. It's almost finishing Kentucky's democratic primary with Hillary Clinton winning by a wafer thin margin.
VAUSE: A wafer thin. Clinton squeaked by with less than 2,000 votes breaking Bernie Sanders winning streak. Sanders did get a figure in Oregon. As of now, 54 percent of the vote.
SESAY: It is a close contest on the republican side. Presumptive nominee Donald Trump comes away with 66 percent of the vote as of now.
VAUSE: Former candidates John Kasich and Ted Cruz names were still on the ballot who came to maybe a protest vote, 16 percent apiece there for them in Oregon.
SESAY: Well, joining us here in L.A., James Lacy, the author of "Taxifornia" and a Trump supporter, and from Sacramento, California, republican strategist Rob Stutzman with the stop Trump campaign.
Gentlemen, good to have you with us once again. Robert, if I could start with you. The Trump campaign a short time ago putting out a statement announcing that the RNC and the Trump campaign will now be forming a fund-raising partnership which would see the prospective nominee raise funds to help republicans in respective races.
Part of the statement is up on the screen and it reads as, "By working together with the RNC to raise support for republicans everywhere, we are going to defeat Hillary Clinton. Keep republican majorities in Congress and in the States and make America great again."
Given the well-publicized concern among some republicans about Trump's impact on those down stayed ballots, if you are in the battle for your seat, say, in a purple state, how would you feel about this? Is this something you're going to run towards?
ROB STUTZMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, it's good news in that if -- you know, part of the obligation of the nominee is to raise money to fund infrastructure in states throughout the country. And this is now what this arrangement will enable that to happen. So this is good news for republican candidates throughout the country.
So, you know, even if someone like me is in this predicament here where I still want to see fund-raising go very well for the infrastructure of the party, we're way behind on this because Donald Trump hasn't been raising money.
He's been telling everyone he's going to sell fund and now, you know, surprise, he can't sell fund. And as the Clinton super PAC goes on the air today against him in key states, he's way, way behind. But this is good news for republican candidates throughout the country.
VAUSE: So, James, it is a flip-flop because one of the talking points, one of the selling point for Donald Trump earlier on was he's paying for his own campaign. Nobody owns him, but now suddenly Sheldon Adelson is putting more than $100 million. You know, there are other big donors out there. What's -- listen, the argument here, he'll be bought just like everybody else.
JAMES LACY, "TAXIFORNIA" AUTHOR: Well, in my view, flip-flop, but it's not a substantive flip-flop. You know, I think that what voters care about or the issues that he's been articulating and the reason that he's racking up these big margins, 66 percent tonight, more votes than any other candidate has ever received for president from the Republican Party is about his issues.
It's about voters being angry. You know, what's not given enough focus is that Donald Trump has been very frugal and probably one of the best spenders per vote of any presidential candidate ever.
You know, he only spent $900,000 to win that critical Indiana primary where there was nine million spent against him for Cruz. You know, I think whatever money is put into the race, that Trump helps to raise, will be spent very well. And I agree with Rob, it's a good thing.
SESAY: Rob, do you -- I mean, you just hear James say it's not a substantive flip-flop, however. Do you feel that way?
STUTZMAN: Well, look, of course it's -- I mean, it's substantive. This is part of his appeal that he was completely independent of special interests.
So, you know, there should be a concern that he's now going back on his word on this and he has begun to go back on his word on other, you know, strong statements he made, such us banning Muslims entering the country which now apparently is just a suggestion.
So, you know, there is broader pool of voters here. You go from the 28 million who have voted so far in republican primaries to about 130 million who are going to vote nationally in the general electorate in November. And they're trying to figure out what to do.
And he's not going to make progress with those voters when he keeps flip-flopping on elements that are central to the narrative of his candidacy.
VAUSE: We're also seeing that Donald...
(CROSSTALK)
STUTZMAN: He's bragging to -- he's bragging today about his wealth. Sell a hotel and let's go elect republicans across the country.
LACY: I don't think that's going to affect one vote. I think that far more substantive is the pay to play of the Clinton Foundation and the fact that Hillary Clinton received $300,000 to give a speech to this special interest or that special interest, the fact that foreign countries have paid to play with the Clintons in terms of policies.
[03:25:00] So, you know, it seems to me that that's an issue. Somebody is going to have to pay to communicate with the voters in this election. VAUSE: OK.
LACY: And it seems to me that this agreement is going to be a good one.
VAUSE: OK. One of the issues that many of the stop Trump people have had he's got the language he's used, his tweets, especially. you know, using the word bimbo, that came up during an interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News. And this was a moment where Donald Trump almost seemed embarrassed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You would be amazed at the ones they don't re-tweet.
KELLY: Bimbo?
TRUMP: Well, that was a re-tweet. Yes, did I say that?
KELLY: Many times.
TRUMP: Oh, OK. Excuse me.
KELLY: What do you think...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Not that almost (TECHNICAL PROBLEM).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
STUTZMAN: I did say those things, and where did I get them?
VAUSE: OK.
STUTZMAN: So, your excuse is it's just like Obama?
LACY: No, no. My excuse is this, Donald Trump is a real person. He's not a phony politician.
VAUSE: OK.
SESAY: OK. Gentlemen, we're going to leave it there.
VAUSE: OK. With that, we're going to say good night to you both. Thank you very much. Rob Stutzman, as always, and James Lacy in Los Angeles. We appreciate it, guys. Thank you very much.
SESAY: Thank you.
VAUSE: A short break. Political passions, democratic leaders say Bernie Sanders needs to get a grip on his supporters. We'll talk about the Sanders campaign, next.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Donald Trump is moving closer to officially clenching the republican presidential nomination. His latest win comes in Oregon with 66 percent of the vote.
SESAY: John Kasich and Ted Cruz, who are no longer campaigning, trail with 16 percent.
VAUSE: Bernie Sanders took the democratic primary in Oregon with 54 percent of the vote.
SESAY: And in Kentucky, Hillary Clinton won a nail biter beating Sanders by less than 2,000 votes.
VAUSE: Sanders victory in Oregon is not enough to overcome Clinton's lead in a delegate count, but Sanders not giving up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD CHANTING)
SANDERS: I want to -- I want to thank you all for coming out, because this is, in a sense, the beginning of the final push to win California.
(CROWD CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: Well, Sanders supporters set off alarms among party leaders when they shut down the democrats at the Nevada State convention. Barbara Boxer from California say she's never seen anything like the rude reception she got. Sanders supporters shouted her down when she tried to speak in favor of Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD BOOING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Jeff Weaver, campaign manager for Bernie Sanders, joins us now from Burlington, Vermont. Jeff, thanks for being with us. There's a lot of pressure right now on Sanders from senior democrats being to reign in his supporters after the violence in Nevada. Why hasn't he done that yet?
JEFF WEAVER, BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Well, I don't think there was -- I think it's an overstatement to say there was violence in Nevada. There was obviously a lot of chaos at the Nevada State convention.
Bernie Sanders have said categorically that he condemns any kind of violence or threats that were made against anybody. But people have to understand what went on in Nevada. [03:35:00] There are a process that was put in place that was clearly
geared to sort of create a one-sided outcome. They were voice votes on the floor which were overruled by the chair. And it was -- it became sort of broke down.
Once it became very clear, I think the people that there was not going to be fairness at that convention.
VAUSE: Look, no one would ever question the right of people to, you know, to ask about the rules, to argue about process. You know, this is politics.
But you did mention the democrat chairwoman for Nevada. Her name is Roberta Lange. She says she's been inundated with deaths threat, she's received via abusive voice mail and text messages. This is what she said to CNN earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTA LANGE, NEVADA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRWOMAN: I get threats every one to two seconds on my phone, on e-mail, on Twitter, on Facebook. It is endless. In fact, it has gotten worse as time goes on and, you know, they've also attacked my work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I also want to play for you one of those voice mail messages because many of the others just not suitable for air. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Roberta Lange, this is a citizen of the United States of America and I just wanted to let you know that I think people like you should be hung in a public execution to show this world that we won't stand for this sort of corruption.
I don't know what kind of money they are paying to you, but I don't know how you sleep at night. You are a sick, twisted piece of (muted). And I hope you burn for this! You cowardless (muted) running off stage. I hope people find you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So, I imagine to Sanders campaign would at least condemn that type of behavior.
WEAVER: Well, of course.
VAUSE: And I'm wondering does anybody from the campaign actually manage to reach out and apologize?
WEAVER: Well, We categorically reject and find unacceptable any kind of behavior like that, whether it's violence or threats of violence or bulgarity that you heard in that phone call. That's absolutely unacceptable in any context.
So, I don't think there's any disagreement about that, certainly.
VAUSE: Do you think some from the Sanders campaign should reach out to Roberta Lange and apologize for what, you know, the supporters, the Sanders supporters have been doing to her? Because there's been a lot of threats and a lot of text messages.
WEAVER: Well, we certainly -- we certainly, as I said we condemn it. The senator have said he condemns is 100 percent. What we were concerned about, obviously, is to make sure this type of thing does not happen or continue to happen.
In addition to that, we want to make sure that we -- people are aware of what happened in Nevada at the state of Democratic Party. There was a horrendous breakdown in the process where the leadership there in Nevada hijacked the process on the floor, created a tremendous amount of angst among people who were there attending the convention, who were supporters of Senator Sanders.
By ignoring the regular procedure and ramming through what they wanted to do. It was in terms of a democratic exercise, it was pretty much a disaster.
VAUSE: One last thing about the Nevada caucus.
WEAVER: Sure.
VAUSE: Joan Kato, your national delegates director, she seemed to be encouraging supporters to take over that event before it started. This is what she said to them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOAN KATO, SANDERS' NATIONAL DELEGATE DIRECTOR: You should not leave. I'm going to repeat that. Unless you are told by somebody from the campaign, i.e., probably me or David that you can leave, you should not leave.
I don't care if the chair is up there herself or whoever the chair and becomes -- whoever becomes the chair, you should not leave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So, in hindsight, was that perhaps not the best thing to do?
WEAVER: No. In fact, that conclusion that you came to, that that somehow taking over the convention, apparently you want this familiar with how these caucuses work. That is a very standard part of the process. What you don't want your people to do is to leave prematurely and because often there are recounts during these caucuses.
And when your people leave and then first you're winning and then you're losing. So that is a very standard instruction that are given to delegates that caucuses to not leave until the campaign said it's OK to go. There's nothing to do with taking over the convention.
You know, that kind of conclusion about what that means I think would only come from somebody who is not all that familiar with how this whole process works. So, that is a very standard sort of instruction that's given to delegates at a caucus.
Don't leave because votes are taken and there are often revote. And of course, if your people leave, you lose the revote.
VAUSE: Finally here, there was a poll out today that shows Senator Sanders a clear favorite among democrats to be Hillary Clinton's running mate that she may of course if Mr. Sanders doesn't win the nomination. If Bernie Sanders is asked, would he accept?
WEAVER: I think he's running for the top spot at the moment. So, I think that's what the goal is and that's what the focus is right now.
VAUSE: And with that, we wish you good luck. Thanks for being with us, Jeff.
WEAVER: Thank you, sir.
SESAY: Yes. He wasn't biting on that last.
VAUSE: Yes. He won't matter for that. Maybe a little early for that.
SESAY: Yes, it might be. Time for a quick break now. Still to come, more on Donald Trump's head to head interview with Fox News host Megyn Kelly.
[03:40:01] We'll look back at where is the feud between the two all began.
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPPONDENT: And I'm Nina dos Santos here in Chippenham on the factory floor of Siemens Operations. After the break, I'm going to be telling you what big business and small business in Britain and beyond banks of the potential of the so-called Brexit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody, 12.43 here in Los Angeles. And Britain's Queen Elizabeth with formally open parliament in the coming hours.
SESAY: This year, history will be made when British voters decide on June 23rd whether or not to stay in the European Union.
VAUSE: And as that critical referendum gets closer, the rhetoric keeps ramping up.
SESAY: British Prime Minister David Cameron raised some eyebrows on Tuesday when he said Britain leaving the E.U. would please the leaders of Russia and ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It is worth asking the question, who would be happy if we left? Putin might be happy. I suspect Al Baghdadi might be happy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: London's former mayor is among those leading the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union. In a recent interview, Boris Johnson suggested the E.U. is pursuing similar goals to Hitler by creating a powerful super state.
SESAY: Here is the quote, "Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out and it ends tragically." As you might imagine, these comments aren't sitting well with many E.U. leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER LONDON MAYOR: When I hear E.U. being compared to the plans and projects of Adolf Hitler, I cannot remain silent.
Such absurd argument should be completely ignored if they hadn't been formulated by one of the most influential politicians of the ruling party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: U.S. politicians are also weighing in. Donald Trump says if he was president and Britain would not be at a disadvantage in trade talks if it leaves the E.U.
[03:45:05] SESAY: Now his comments directly contradict what the U.S. President Barack Obama told Britain's leaders during the visit last month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you become president and we've come out of the European Union, what will your view be about where Britain should sit in priority terms with trade deals with the United States?
TRUMP: I don't think they'll be hurt at all. I mean, they have to make their own deal. Britain has been a great ally. I mean, to a point where they...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would they be back in the cue or would they be in front of the cue?
TRUMP: Britain is such a great ally that they went into things that they should not have gone into, like as an example going into Iraq, OK? With me they'll always be treated fantastically well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you be front of the cue with the Donald Trump presidency?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say front or anything else. I mean, I'm going to treat everybody fairly. But it wouldn't make any difference to me whether they were in the E.U. or not. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would not be back of the cue of trade?
TRUMP: You would certainly not be back of the cue, that I can tell you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Live now from the U.K. Nina dos Santos is in Chippenham.
SESAY: And Max Foster is live outside the parliament. Good to have you both with us. Max, let's start with you.
The Queen's opening of parliament taking place a short time from now. And as always, it's accompanied by a great deal of pomp and pageantry.
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The Queen will be arriving at sovereign entrance behind me. Only she is allowed to go through that entrance, so that really describes the pomp and ceremony that we got today. She'll arrive in a carriage and she'll have her crown on and she'll read a speech written by the government which outlines the legislative agenda for the next year.
This is the agenda that David Cameron pursue various laws about prisons, and about health and various all things that he wants to get through. And interestingly, the Brexit or the E.U. referendum does come into this.
Because what he wants to do is address one of the big concerns that people have and that is that the European Court of Rights over in the European Union, away from here in London, has control over a lot of what is allowed here in the U.K.
So, he wants to bring some of that power back. He wants to remain part of the system, the legal system in Europe, but he wants British judges to have the final say on human rights, for example.
So that's where the referendum comes into this, where politics come into this, where he wants to convince people by staying in the European Union.
But actually it will be OK. You can address some of these concerns about the European Union. But there's the broader question, Isha, which is whether or not he'll be in power to push these laws through. And that's because if he loses the referendum, there is going to be a question about his leadership whether or not he'll be in power even in the couple of months.
SESAY: It's a big day. The beginning of an important couple of weeks there in the U.K. John, over to you.
VAUSE: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
SESAY: Thank you, Max. VAUSE: Nina dos Santos is following how the referendum would impact businesses large and small. Nina, this is about -- this is like going down the rabbit hole. For every story you read about economic doom, there seems to be an element that says that Brexit would be great for business, it would liberate the economy. What's the bottom line?
DOS SANTOS: Yes. Well, the bottom line is it depends on how big your bottom line really is, John, that's the exact way of summing it up. If you're really a big business you're exporting an awful lot to Europe. Well, obviously, you know, you're going to be more expose to Europe and you probably going to want to trade with what is the biggest single market anywhere on the planet far more.
If you were a British-run business that doesn't trade a lot with Europe, well, you're far more likely to be perhaps more tempted by the views of independents causing all of that red tape.
What we're also going to be talking about here is foreign direct investments into the U.K. So, the U.K. is a big recipient of foreign investments from companies like, for instance, the German manufacturer Siemens which includes an awful lot of people, 14,000 staff here across the U.K.,
I'm on one of their factory floors that make this. This is what we call relays. They go into signal boxes for trains. And this is the exact embodiment of what the E.U. needs to big companies like this.
These are designed in the U.K., manufactured inside the U.K. And then, exported not just to other European countries but to 90 other countries around specifically from the U.K.
Now, what we've heard repeatedly from big business that they have invested their operation inside the U.K., but from outside this particular country. As they've said, well, Britain's future really should be best off inside the European Union because it gives it access to so much more free trade to sell goods like this onto the biggest single common market that there is anywhere on the planet, 500 million consumers and you wouldn't want to miss out on that opportunity.
So, big business very much in favor of staying inside the E.U. Smaller business, a little bit more vocal, but overwhelmingly, also still a moment in favor of staying with the status quo.
VAUSE: OK. Nina dos Santos breaking it down there all about the bottom line. Thanks, Nina.
SESAY: Yes. And Max Foster there outside the House of Parliament. I appreciate it. Thanks to you both. A lot more just ahead. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thank you for staying with CNN. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with Weather Watch right now, Watching thunderstorms across much of the State of Florida and back
towards the west we go around parts of Texas where thunderstorms have also been really prevalent in recent days.
In fact, one report of a tornado on Wednesday -- on Tuesday, I should say, around the United States. That one report came out of central Texas. The severe weather threat comes in right to the south. A place that had around places like Del Rio, even just west of San Antonio, that's where the highest threat is generally for hail and wind. And again, you can't rule out an isolated tornado across those areas.
And notice the rain showers become the predominant story as we go in towards the latter portion of the week. For your plans I'll take you out towards New Orleans. Look at this. The bull's eye goes directly over them with over 200 millimeters expected.
Now this is a seven-day forecast, but that is a lot of rainfall over the seven-day period across parts of the Gulf Coast of the United States. So keep that in mind. And notice, it will be rather across parts of the south, as well.
Atlanta, looking at cloudy conditions, upper 20s. New York City, keeps it cloudy into the upper teens. And San Francisco, just a spectacular day lining up at 22 degrees and sunny skies. Can't complain with a spring temperature like that across that region.
And little thunderstorms are possible also around Nassau for your Wednesday morning in this region. See some windy conditions around Kingston, 32 is what we're looking at for your afternoon high temperature.
And again, watching a scatter thunderstorms as you expected across parts of South America.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. Hillary Clinton closer to the democratic presidential nomination after a neck and neck contest in Kentucky.
SESAY: She narrowly won the state's primary, beating Bernie Sanders by less than 2,000 votes. Sanders did pick up again another win Tuesday beating Clinton in Oregon's primary with 54 percent of the vote.
VAUSE: It's a definitive win for Donald Trump in Oregon, the presumptive republican nominee has 66 percent of the vote.
SESAY: Former rivals John Kasich and Ted Cruz are far back as you see there with 16 percent.
VAUSE: Not bad. They didn't campaign, though.
SESAY: Well, former republican rival Jeb Bush is slamming Donald Trump over his controversial Cinco de Mayo tweet. You may recall this image from Trump with the caption, "The best Taco bowls are made in Trump tower grill. I love Hispanics."
VAUSE: Well, Jeb Bush told the Dutch News outlet that Trump's message was insensitive. He compared it to eating a watermelon and saying, "I love African-Americans."
SESAY: Moving on. Activist Bryan Cranston says he strongly disagrees with Donald Trump's policies but he did admit this about the likely republican nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:55:00] BRYAN CRANSTON, ACTIVIST: I believe Donald Trump loves this country. I truly believe that. And I know he does. It's just that his approach to how to remedy America's problems differ greatly from what I think should happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Bryan Cranston stars as former President Lyndon B. Johnson in the upcoming HBO drama "All the Way". But he's probably best known for his role as a high school math teacher turned drug kingpin in "Breaking Bad," Ultraviolet.
SESAY: We'll have to watch that.
VAUSE: Great show. Best show ever on television.
SESAY: Came in anxiety.
VAUSE: Ruined me of TV for life.
SESAY: You were ruined way before then.
All right. Moving on now, a Virginia woman is voicing her political opinions from beyond the grave. Marian Nolan obituary published Monday states that when faced with a choice of either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, she chose to pass into the eternal love of God.
VAUSE: Quoting there it will work it out death. Nolan's husband says the obituary was meant as a joke and a way to continue on with his wife's sense of humor. A lot of people feel the same way, I think.
SESAY: All right. Well, that's all we have time for this hour. I'm Isha Sesay.
VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. For our viewers in the United States, a lot more election coverage next in Early Start.
SESAY: And for those of you watching internationally, CNN Newsroom with Max Foster starts after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: In just hours, the Queen will open parliament for the year ahead. [04:00:00] And the countdown to June, the 23rd, begins when voters in
the U.K. decide should they remain part of the European Union or should they exit the so-called Brexit.
I'm Max Foster, live from London. And this is CNN Newsroom.
