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Polls Just Closed in Puerto Rico; Clinton Edging Closer to Clinching Nomination; Results Expected Soon in Puerto Rico. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired June 05, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, he does not have the temperament. Is it possible that something will get him angry and he may want to get us involved in a war? Yes, I think that is a possibility.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're building a war. He's a Mexican. This judge is giving us unfair ruling. Now I say why. Well, I'm building a wall.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump's not just wrong about Judge Curiel. He's wrong about America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to election night in America. I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center. Thanks very much for joining us. The polls are closed in Puerto Rico. And we expect to have the first results from that Democratic presidential primary at any minute. With them, potentially we could learn that Hillary Clinton has secured the number of delegates she would need to clench the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. Sixty delegates are at stake today in Puerto Rico in the Democratic primary. That's the exact number Hillary Clinton must have to reach that magic number.
After a blowout win in the U.S. Virgin Islands last night, Hillary Clinton is sitting squarely at 2,323 delegates with the super delegates factored in. Senator Bernie Sanders right now has 1,547 also with the super delegates factored in. And while he's vowing to take it to this race all the way to the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, in July, and try to flip those super delegates, what happens in the coming moments potentially could change this race as we know it.
We're covering this critical moment from every possible angle. We have reporters standing by live in Puerto Rico. In Super Tuesday's big price of California, here at the CNN Election Center as well. Our entire team of political analysts are also standing by to break down the results as we get them. And we should start getting results very soon. Let's go straight to Puerto Rico first.
CNN's Dania Alexandrino standing by in San Juan. Dania, walk us through Puerto Rico right now. What are the folks there saying to you? Are you getting a sense of how they voted? DANIA ALEXANDRINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Wolf. Yes, as
a matter of fact, I got a pretty good sense of how voters were leaning towards, who they were leaning towards. And surprisingly, besides the fact that Hillary Clinton has been favored dramatically in the past here in Puerto Rico, today, there when were at the polls, they were quite lot of people supporting Bernie Sanders. I have to say people of all ages. A lot of youngsters. A lot of our college A students.
A lot of students who were actually casting their first votes. There was a family, an entire family, a mom with her twin daughters. Her twin daughters were voting for the first time and it was actually Senator Sanders that dragged them out to vote. They were convincing their mother in line to change their vote from Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders. It was quite interesting to see the dynamic at the voting polls today -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Dania, is there is big turnout, a modest turnout, what anecdotally are you seeing?
ALEXANDRINO: Well, I have to tell you, I've actually covered Democratic primaries here on the island in the past, in 2012 and in 2008. And I can compare on both occasions and this turnout has been in my experience covering elections, has been bigger. Obviously, you know, we were at three different polling stations because we also had local primaries. So there were quite a lot of people out voting today.
Again, I have to reinforce the fact that we had local primaries as well. So in comparison to other times, yes, it seemed like there were more voting participation. And in terms of presidential primaries, it seemed to me like there was more. For example, the line for the Democratic primary, it was about an hour and a half wait. And people were patiently waiting. For local primaries, the wait wasn't that long. So, I have to say that in comparison to other times, it was a pretty good turnout.
BLITZER: All right. Dania Alexandrino, we're going to stay in close touch with you. We expect to start getting results very soon from Puerto Rico. Hillary Clinton says, after Tuesday's big round of primaries she's going to do everything she possibly can to try to reach out and unify the Democratic Party. Right now, polls in California show the Democratic contest there neck and neck. And even though Hillary Clinton may be on the brink of clenching the Democratic nomination, a loss in delegate rich California could slow down momentum, hurt her going into the Democratic presidential convention.
Let's bring in our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny. He's on with the campaign trail with the Clinton campaign right now. And our CNN correspondent Chris Frates, he is covering the Sanders campaign.
Jeff, first to you, what is Hillary Clinton talking about today? Is she focusing in on Bernie Sanders and the big contest coming up Tuesday in California, or is she already looking ahead to Donald Trump and a general election? [16:05:07] JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf,
Secretary Clinton throughout her weekend campaigning here in California has been talking about Donald Trump. She's been focusing squarely on Donald Trump, what she says -- you know, talking about his leadership, talking about other things -- she's not talking about Bernie Sanders. But her campaign behind the scenes is working to get out the Democratic vote. That is what's so important this weekend, Wolf. The reason is, she does not need the -- she does not need to win California.
She's already has, you know, is on the cusp here of clenching the nomination. But the popular vote, she wants to build that up so at the end of all of this contest, they can say that, you know, she has x number of millions of votes more than Bernie Sanders here. The reality is, the Clinton campaign, she's working very hard here over the final 48 so. But Wolf, I was struck by one thing she said yesterday. She talks very seldom about the historic nature of her candidacy. About how she would be the first woman president, but that's what she did last night. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I know we've never done this before. We've never had a woman president.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
That's why I want you to understand that I have spent eight years in the Senate on the Armed Services Committee, four years as secretary of state, I have spent a lot of hours in the situation room working to solve some of the hardest problems we face. And I know -- I know how hard this job is and how much humility you need to have. And how you should actually listen to people who have good ideas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: So, Wolf, you could tell there, Secretary Clinton talking about her experience, trying to contrast that with Donald Trump -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Stand by, Jeff, for a moment. I want to bring in Chris Frates. He is covering the Sanders campaign today for us. Chris, what are the Sanders folks saying about their chances of actually winning over enough of those so-called super delegates to become the Democratic nominee by our estimate right now, Hillary Clinton has 547 super delegates, Bernie Sanders has 46 super delegates.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's exactly right, Wolf. And so, Bernie Sanders is making the case that this really is an uphill climb. And as you take a look at that math, Hillary Clinton with more than 500 super delegates than Bernie Sanders and Bernie Sanders only picking up about four or five new super delegates in the last few days. The bulk of those super delegates still committed to Hillary Clinton. But Bernie Sanders saying about 400 of those super delegates committed to Hillary Clinton before he was even in the race. And he says no matter what happens on Tuesday, he wants the next five
or six weeks before the convention to make his case to the super delegates about why they should switch and support him. He makes the case citing polls showing that he does better against Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton does. That he would be a better Democratic standard bearer. Although, yesterday during a press conference, he even made, he made the case that Hillary Clinton made a similar argument back in 2008 when she was taking on Barack Obama, that she would do better against John McCain.
That didn't work out for Hillary Clinton. It still remains to be seen if it will work out for Bernie Sanders. And if you take a look at the fact that he continues to say he's going to have a contested convention, it really will depend on how well he can do here in California. He's been hitting Hillary Clinton very hard here across the state. He's had about 30 events in California. Brought out about 250,000 people. You can see behind me. He's going to do an event here today.
Well, it looks like about five or six thousand people are going to come out. They really hope that turnout translates to votes on Tuesday, that he gets a big bounce, he wins California, and they could continue to make that case to the super delegates, although it's got a very, very tough case to make. I asked him yesterday, what happens if Hillary Clinton gets more pledge delegates after Tuesday, she'll have more pledge delegates, then she'll win the majority of pledge delegates, she'll have more super delegates, how can you make that case. Bernie Sanders says that's unlikely and he's going to continue to fight all the way to the convention. Although as you know, Wolf, things could look very different on Wednesday morning. So, Tuesday night, very crucial, we're watching it very closely here, Wolf?
WOLF: We'll certainly will. Chris Frates for our reporting. Don't go too far away.
Jeff Zeleny, we'll get back to you as well. Once again, any minute now, we're expecting the very first results of the Puerto Rico Democratic presidential primary. You remember, 60 delegates are at stake in Puerto Rico. If Hillary Clinton were to win all 60 of those, she would go over the threshold. That would be a big win in Puerto Rico. Potentially could push her to clinching the Democratic Party nomination. But it's a big, big challenge for Hillary Clinton would be relying on the support of the super delegates to be sure.
Remember, though, super delegates, they can always change their minds about which candidate to support. Let's discuss what's going on with our political panel. Our senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson is with us. And the "INSIDE POLITICS" anchor John King, our chief national correspondent.
John, so, our estimate, when you add the pledge delegates and the super delegates, she needs 60. That is the exact number of delegates available in Puerto Rico tonight. In order for her to win 60, she has to do incredibly well and Bernie Sanders has to come in under 15 percent. [16:10:43] JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS: I think the under
15 percent is unlikely for Bernie Sanders. You heard from our correspondent on the scene there, at least there seems to be that's anecdotal. But there seems to be at least some turnout of young voters. Some energy for Bernie Sanders. So, I think let's assume until we see otherwise. Bernie Sanders did not meet that threshold yesterday in the Virgin Islands. But Puerto Rico is a larger electorate. There's been more focus there. More resources spent there by the Sanders campaign.
So let's see. Let's certainly gets over the 15 percent threshold. But Hillary Clinton won Puerto Rico in 2008. She won it quite convincingly in 2008 against Senator Obama. She is favored to win. Wolf, even if she gets 30 -- the Clinton campaign thinks she will do better than half. That she will get maybe 40 and perhaps, even higher than that. Is there any doubt that they have if they wanted to enough super delegates in their back pocket? There are super delegates who have not publicly announced who they're for yet.
And we know many of them who are Clinton people. They just haven't publicly said so yet. There she have -- would she have enough to do that late tonight or tomorrow? Maybe. Would they do that? That's a different question. Would you prefer to let the voters do this, not to do it with super delegates? Because that would infuriate the Sanders campaign at a time they're trying to get Senator Sanders to dial back the rhetoric. But is there also any doubt that within minutes after the polls close Tuesday night in New Jersey, we will know that unless there is a super delegate revolt, she's the Democratic nominee.
She'll get very close tonight, perhaps knocking on the door tonight, and then Tuesday night as we start counting the votes, New Jersey's first on the East Coast. A hundred plus delegates there. Hillary Clinton is favored to win. She's going to get what she needs out of the state of New Jersey. Again, barring a super delegate revolt. The Sanders' campaign says, they can flip. Senator Sanders says he's going to focus on them.
But also remember what he's been doing for the last month or two. The party establishment has against me. The party chairwoman has rigged the system. The party chairwoman is trying to deny me this nomination. He's attacking the super delegates. He is attacking the establishment. The very people he says, I need you to flip and come over to me. He's been attacking. They're not going to change.
BLITZER: First thing. Because we're looking at the super delegates and I know that Sanders' campaign doesn't like to look at the super delegates. But right now, by our estimate 547 for Hillary Clinton, 46 for Bernie Sanders. And what's interesting for the last several months, it's been very similar. Hillary Clinton's numbers have actually gone up. His numbers have gone up very, very modestly as far as those super delegates are concerned.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That is right. And for weeks, he has been saying that his ultimate play is to get those super delegates to flip in a rush at the convention. We haven't seen any proof so far that any of these folks are willing to do that. Because they have looked at the two candidates whenever they did it. Some of them did it before Sanders was in the race. A lot of them have done it since then. They looked at these two candidates and judged that they think Hillary Clinton would be a stronger candidate, would be a stronger president.
So, the argument that he's going to have to make is really based on polls, at these hypothetical matchups that he has with Donald Trump showing that he is stronger candidate. But let's keep in mind that most of those polls also show that Hillary Clinton is a pretty strong candidate against Donald Trump too. I think what's challenging for him at this point is that, by every metric, Hillary Clinton has won. I mean, she's three million voters ahead in terms of people who actually have gone to the polls and again made that decision on who to vote for.
She's ahead in the pledge delegates. She's won most of the large states that have voted out of the nine big states that have voted so far, she's won eight of them. So, it's really hard I think for Bernie Sanders to make a compelling case to these super delegates that he hasn't already made.
BLITZER: And by our estimate John, in order for Bernie Sanders after Tuesday, or even a week from Tuesday, after the District of Columbia, Democratic contest, in order for him to have more pledge delegates than she has, he would need to win almost 70 percent of all the remaining vote.
KING: Right. Between 68 and 69 percent. And again, what Senator Sanders has done in this campaign. Think about the ads at the beginning of the campaign, what he has done is nothing short of remarkable. And it's actually bigger than remarkable. He's a little pithy vote who has put a lot of dents in the aircraft carrier that is the Clintons. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic establishment. The history of Bill Clinton. However, can he win New Jersey? Maybe. Can he win Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, probably? Can he win New Mexico? Probably not, but let's say he does.
Even if he won them all, is he going to win them with 68 percent of the vote? That's just not going to happen. It's not going to happen. The question is, can he get close to that? The main point is he has to win California. If he loses California by one vote, it takes away whatever leverage, whatever moral argument he thinks he has left that he's coming out of the primaries with momentum, that he headed to the convention, you know, stronger than Trump in the general election polls, like beat you in the biggest state. So California is the key here.
[16:15:10] Now, to the point Chris Frates made, he made the point of the next 72 hours. You can expect, a lot of Democrats are mad about this. But you can understand why Senator Sanders would keep his foot on the accelerator right up until the last votes are counted in California. Because why would you just losing your supporters? Why would you say, I'm probably not going to win and risk deflating your own turnout. The question is, what does he say late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning if Hillary Clinton, not only to Nia's point, Senator Sanders likes to say this is about the super delegates.
Why would those 400 people come out for her even people before -- well, indeed, because she has been a Democrat for 40 plus years, and he just became a Democrat. She is been helping the party including her rival Senator Obama in 2008. She's been helping the party for years. Senator Sanders tried to recruit a challenger for President Obama in 2012. So, as he says, why would they do that? He should remember his own history.
HENDERSON: Yes.
KING: They are Democrat. And she is a Democrat. But the only argument here is for him to win California. Then the question is, what is his tone Wednesday morning if it's overwhelming. She's won 28 to 21 right now in contest. Pick your sport. If the score is 28 to 21, the person with 28 wins.
WOLF: And she's got, as you point it out earlier, she's got about 55 percent of the popular vote, three million more votes than he has got -- received in all of these primaries and caucuses today. All right. Stand by. Everyone stand by.
Up next, did Donald Trump cross a very clear line into major no-no territory? The man who is this close to the White House tears into a federal judge calling him a hater, knocking his ethnic heritage. Across the board, top Republicans are calling that a very bad idea. I'll ask a Trump campaign insider to explain. And we're standing by also for the first results coming in from the Democratic primary in Puerto Rico.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[16:19:54] JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Is it not when Hillary Clinton says this is a racist attack and you reject that, if you are saying he can't do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism?
TRUMP: I don't think so at all.
TAPPER: No?
TRUMP: No. He's proud of his heritage. I respect him for that.
TAPPER: So, you're saying he can't do his job because of that.
TRUMP: Look, he's proud of his heritage. OK? I'm building a wall. You know why I'm going to do very well with the Hispanics, you know why I'm going to do well with Hispanics, because I'm going to bring back jobs. And they're going to get jobs right now. They're going to get jobs. I think I'm going to do very well with Hispanics. But we're building a wall. He's a Mexican. We're building a wall between here and Mexico.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: As we await the results of Puerto Rico's Democratic presidential primary that potentially could put Hillary Clinton over the top tonight, some context here to remind you what Jake Tapper and Donald Trump are talking about in that clip. But Trump just a few days ago lashed out at the U.S. District, the federal judge who is overseeing two fraud lawsuits against Trump University, calling him a Trump hater, pointing to his ethnic heritage, suggesting that someone should look into the judge. Whatever that means.
Katrina Pierson is joining us now, she speaks for the Donald Trump campaign. She's the national spokeswoman. Katrina, thanks very much for joining us.
KATRINA PIERSON, NATIONAL SPOKESWOMAN FOR DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Great to be here. Thank you.
BLITZER: As you know, many legal analysts say Donald Trump clearly crossed a line when he went after this federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel saying, politicians do not single out judges for attack. That it shows Donald Trump has a disregard, they say for an Independent judiciary. Is this dangerous territory for Donald Trump?
PIERSON: No, Wolf. Mr. Trump is just simply pointing out the potential conflicts of interest that he has experienced with this judge. None of us were in the courtroom there, but Mr. Trump and his lawyers were there. And they have informed him there have been a series of decisions made by this judge that were in question. And upon looking further, the two law firms that he appointed to go up against Mr. Trump are now also in question because one of them is a Hillary Clinton for president supporter, the other one is a Barack Obama supporter as well as a MoveOn.org supporter. One of them also donated $15,000 to the campaign account for the attorney general of New York who's working on the other case, that is been all over the media talking about Trump University without once telling the public that he's endorsed Hillary for president.
BLITZER: Katrina, let me interrupt. Let me interrupt. What does any of that have to do with the ethnic heritage of the federal judge? He was born in Indiana. He's an American. His parents came from Mexico. What does any of that have to do with his heritage?
PIERSON: It has to do, it has to do with Mr. Trump's policies. And that's the piece of the discussion that I notice that is being left out for the most part. The judge does belong to the La Raza Lawyers Association which gives scholarships to illegal aliens. And that is a problem. Even though -- he's also been given an award from that La Raza League which is a totally separate organization, Wolf.
I have seen and heard this all day long. But these two are still have the same concept and that is for pushing for illegal immigration. The founder of the La Raza Lawyers Association has gone out and giving training classes on how to minimize immigration impacts when crimes are committed by illegals. So, there is clearly a conflict of interest when it comes to the policy of Mr. Trump and this judge.
BLITZER: But you know, I don't know if you do know that this judge used to be a federal prosecutor. He was targeted by a Mexican drug cartel because of what he was doing. This is a patriotic American who is approved unanimously by the United States Senate as a U.S. Federal Judge.
PIERSON: It has nothing to do with his current support of illegal immigrants being into this country providing the scholarships and belonging to an organization that tries to minimize -- minimize the immigration impacts when someone commits a crime. When someone commits a crime in this country, they should be deported. And the organization that he belongs to fights against that. That is clearly a conflict of interest.
That's the reason why many cases are pulled out of a town or a city where they're tried when there's a lot of public involvement. And you can't have it both ways, Wolf. The media has been talking for a year about how Mr. Trump has an issue with Hispanics, poll after poll, Latinos don't like Trump, makes us all like Trump. And they say, oh, well, this is different. That's not how it works.
[16:24:10] BLITZER: So, he also said today that he doesn't think a Muslim American judge would necessarily be fair to him either. Does he also believe a female judge potentially could not be fair to him?
PIERSON: Well, again, this goes back to the policies. Again, the piece of the puzzle that could really solve a lot of the problem if the media would just report on that. We know again that the temporary band on Muslim immigration has been blown out of context by the media as Mr. Trump for some reason hates Muslims because he wants to protect American citizens --
BLITZER: But why did he say today that he thinks maybe a Muslim federal judge couldn't be fair to him?
PIERSON: Well, it would also depend on the judge based on the policies. Look, Americans aren't stupid. They know that judicial activism is very active in this country. And we've also seen a number of times -- because CNN has given a platform to Black Lives Matter that ethnicity does matter in the current judicial system.
BLITZER: So, basically what you're saying is that a person's race, a person's religion, a person's --
(CROSSTALK)
PIERSON: Activism.
BLITZER: -- would play a role in whether or not he thinks that judge could be fair?
PIERSON: If it's coupled with activism which is the key term here, then absolutely.
BLITZER: Well, the federal judge in California, Judge Curiel has not been an activist -- I think what you're talking about are dreamers, if you will, who under California law can potentially, if they've lived their whole life, their parents may have come here illegally, but they lived their whole life in the United States, they've gone to school, they're highly educated, they get a scholarship to go to a university, they're potentially eligible for that scholarship. You have a problem with these dreamers getting that kind of scholarship?
PIERSON: I have a problem when illegal aliens are given access to resources that American children don't have access or resources to.
BLITZER: All right. We're going to stay in touch with you, Katrina Pierson. Don't go too far away. We'll have more with you. We're watching what's going on in Puerto Rico right now. Hillary Clinton may be only moments away potentially from a major milestone. We're watching that. Remember, she needs only by our estimate 60 delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. Sixty delegates are at stake in Puerto Rico's primary right now. We're about to start getting some results. Stand by. We'll update you. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:30:00] BLITZER: Any minute now, we're expecting the first results of the Puerto Rico democratic presidential primary number. Sixty delegates are at stake in Puerto Rico. A big win in Puerto Rico, potentially could push Hillary Clinton to the brink of clinching the Democratic Party nomination.
She would be relying on the support of super delegates. Remember, super delegates they can change their minds about which candidate to support all the way until the convention.
Let's bring back our inside politics anchor John King. He's our chief --he's our chief national correspondent. John, walk us through the math right now because 60 delegates are at stake in Puerto Rico. She needs 60 delegates to potentially clinch the nomination.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She needs 63. So, unless Hillary Clinton, Wolf, is prepared to rollout some new super delegates endorsements today, she may be knocking on the door by the end of the night but she can't cross the finish line. Let's look at it. First, this is our election counting map. Twenty
eight contests for Secretary Clinton so far, 21 for Senator Sanders. Still nothing; no colors coming in down in Puerto Rico. When you see that start to color up, we know there are some votes coming in, then we'll start counting the results.
Now let's switch maps and look at the delegate math. At the moment, 1776 to 1,501 in pledge delegates. So, at 275 pledge delegate lead for Secretary Clinton going into the voting today. She won all seven delegates yesterday in the Virgin Islands.
Here's the key issue. If you add in the super delegates, she has 547 to 46 percent for Senator Sanders. There are 119 still available. Some will stay neutral all the way to the convention. We do know a good slice of these, Wolf, are actually Clinton supporters who have not announced it publicly.
So, they want to roll that out today, we think we would now that by now. If they wanted to roll it out, they would have done it before the votes were counted. So, it was the votes that puts them over the tops not the super delegates.
But they do have these available -- some of these available if they need them down the line. Here's the key test. Let's bring up Puerto Rico here. If Secretary Clinton right now is 63 shy, if she won them all, she'd get all 60. But that's not the expectation.
Just to be conservative here, let's say Secretary Clinton wins Puerto Rico 55 to 45. Her campaign thinks she will do better than that. We'll 6see what the results have. But if she had 55 to 45 split and got 33 to 27 for Senator Sanders, that would be a pretty good performance for him in Puerto Rico, however, look where she would be.
Under that scenario she's at 2,356 with only 55 percent of the delegates out of Puerto Rico. Again, the expectation in her campaign is she we would higher than that. So, we would end tonight with Hillary Clinton knocking at the door, counting the super delegates. That's a big factor. Yes, these people can change their mind.
But if she keeps winning, Wolf, they're not going to change their mind. And there's anyone who doubts. Even if Bernie Sanders were to win New Jersey -- Hillary Clinton thinks she's going to win New Jersey Tuesday night. But even if six days both Tuesday, the first one is New Jersey on the East Coast.
Even if Sanders won 55 to 45, Hillary Clinton crosses the finish line. So, at this point she will like claim to the nomination, Senator Sanders has made clear he will say that a factually incorrect because the shaded ones here the super delegates have not voted yet. He wants to change their mind.
The only way to change their mind is for him to run the board, big Tuesday night, create a sense of jitters in the Democratic Party but make no mistake about it.
Puerto Rico will get Hillary Clinton knocking at the door, Wolf, and they are prepared to claim the nomination within seconds of the polls closing in New Jersey Tuesday night. They expect to win, but they know they will get to the finish line, including super delegates, even if Sanders somehow wins New Jersey.
BLITZER: All right, John, we're going to get back to you. The numbers are fascinating indeed. We're awaiting the results from the Puerto Rico democratic presidential primary. One person apparently growing incredibly impatient with the nominating process is the President of the United States.
Sources tell CNN President Obama is, quote, "ready to explode onto the scene as soon as the democratic nominee is named." We got a little taste of that this week. We'll take a closer look at the soon-to-be campaigner in chief. More --we'll also get some of the results from the Puerto Rico primary. That's coming up next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PRESIDENT: Can everybody please get Kelly a big round of applause.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to the CNN election center. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.
We're watching for the first results from the Puerto Rico democratic presidential primary. Stand by for the results.
As we watch, President Obama is also watching very closely tonight. He's on the verge of becoming what some of his aides describe as campaigner-in-chief. So far, he's stayed out of the fray by as large as his former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton battles Senator Bernie Sanders for the democratic nomination. But the president is unleashing very harsh criticism of Donald Trump, the presumed republican nominee. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The republican nominee for president has already said he'd dismantle all these rules that we passed. That is crazy. Have we really forgotten what just happened eight years ago?
Fortunately, there's another path that leads to more jobs and higher wages and better benefits and a stronger safety net and fairer tax code, and a bigger voice for workers and trade on our terms. And it will make a real difference for the prospects of working families and will grow the middle class.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. Let's discuss with our senior political reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson. Nia, as you know our White House source telling CNN the president is ready to explode on the scene once the democratic nominee is official, once it's over on the democratic side. What do you anticipate his first moves would be?
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: You know, I think we're going to see a pretty full-throated endorsement of whoever the nominee is. He has signaled he thinks that's going to be next week, meaning it would likely be Hillary Clinton given that she's so far ahead in pledge delegates and in terms of the popular vote there.
I think this is something we're going to see that's been unprecedented. If you think back to 2000, for instance, Bill Clinton was in some ways persona non-grata on the campaign trail because Al Gore wanted to distance himself from Bill Clinton. Even in 2008, George W. Bush wasn't that popular a figure so John McCain wanted some distance between he and George W. Bush.
If you look at Barack Obama at this point, he's at a 51 percent approval rating. That's a good thing for this president. He's going to be incredibly active. I think certainly much more active than we've seen sitting presidents in terms of backing whoever the nominee is of their party. So, it's going to be fascinating to see.
I also think we'll see Michelle Obama be very active out on the campaign trail. She, in a commencement address she gave recently, she also implicitly criticized Donald Trump essentially saying this isn't a country that likes to build walls. We're a country that likes to include people and build people up.
BLITZER: Assuming Hillary Clinton is the democratic nominee, How difficult will it be for her to recreate that Obama coalition that got him elected twice?
[16:39:56] HENDERSON: You know, it will be difficult in some ways. I mean, I think if you look at the polls now, she recreates it in the sense that she still but she does very well with African-American voters, she does very well with African-American voters, she does very well with Latino voters. She does not as well as Obama did among young voters.
I think the question will be the margins. Will African-Americans turn out in the way they did in the historic numbers. They were 13 percent of the electorate in 2012. Does that -- does that electorate or that percentage stay the same or is it lower. So, she'll have to see.
But again, she's going to have a real Calvary of democrats out there really pushing her case, the main one being President Obama.
BLITZER: What she'll also have to do is get that huge number of Bernie Sanders supporters on board and get them into her camp.
HENDERSON: That's right. And I mean, we've seen polls now, and, you know, maybe 20 percent, 10 percent are saying Bernie Sanders supporters saying that they will either stay home or vote for Donald Trump. We'll have to see.
I mean, I think the race stands in a certain way right now. It's going to change come Wednesday. And then I think we'll see several evolutions and I think it's going to be incumbent upon all of the democrats to figure out how to bring the party together.
BLITZER: All right. Stand by, we're going to wait for the first results from Puerto Rico. Coming up also, flaring tempers becoming a common sight at Donald Trump rallies. We're going to place to look at the unrest. Who's to blame, how it might play out as Donald Trump appears to secure the republican nomination.
Plus, we're waiting for results from the Puerto Rico democratic presidential primary any minute now.
[16:45:0] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Once again, we're standing by to get the first results from the democratic presidential primary in Puerto Rico. Sixty delegates are at stake. Nia is here. John is here. John, let's go through the math. Whether it's 63 or 60 you just checked.
KING: It is 60. Earlier the... (CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: The number she needs.
KING: Yes. When I said 60 earlier I did not factor in three new super delegates that we've added to our count just today. Three new super delegates for Secretary Clinton who have count out today. So, if she is -- if she were to sweep today, she would clinch including her current super delegates count, she would clinch today if she got all 60 in Puerto Rico or if she got 50 plus or whatever number and rolled more super delegates out. W
But as we wait to count the votes now we're watching the wall to see, we're waiting for first votes to come in any minute now. If she keeps Bernie Sanders essentially under 15 percent in Puerto Rico, she would then get all of the delegates. Now if she gets all 60 she could lay claim.
We thought this would happen Tuesday night. But there is a possibility she could lay claim to the democratic nomination tonight.
BLITZER: Yes. And instead, she did that yesterday in the American Virgin Islands, seven delegates were at stake, she got them -- she got them all.
HENDERSON: She got them all. Yes.
BLITZER: Because Bernie Sanders didn't get that 15 percent threshold.
HENDERSON: That's right. I mean, if you look back at 2008, she won I think by 70 to 30 or something. It was a real a strong victory there. But you imagine that Bernie Sanders is going to get above 15 percent and get some super -- you know, some delegates out of tonight.
But again, she's on the threshold. Bernie Sanders insisted that, listen, we shouldn't count the super delegates, it is not over until it's over and that he's going to have a contested convention. So, we'll see what happens if he changes his tone after Tuesday.
BLITZER: And there's still about 100 or so or 100 plus super delegates who haven't yet announced which way they're going to go.
KING: Just shy of 120. And we have strong suspicion, let's put it that way. The Clinton campaign people tell you they have some in their back pocket. We know some of them to be Clinton supporters but they haven't publicly said where they are just yet, so we can't put them out there because they publicly said no, I'm still neutral, even though we know how they're involved in the campaign and such. They get money and those kinds of things. But she has some more -- some more of that in her back pocket.
BLITZER: All right, guys, stand by. We're watching the numbers. We're waiting for the first results from today's Puerto Rico democratic presidential primary.
We're also watching Donald Trump. Donald Trump and Muhammad Ali, they knew each other for decades. But how did the boxing legend react once Donald Trump started talking about Muslims?
Our panel is standing by. We'll discuss that and more when we come back.
[16:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're waiting for the first results from today's primary in Puerto Rico which could potentially give Hillary Clinton the delegates she needs to become the presumptive democratic nominee.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump was quick to praise the boxing legend Muhammad Ali following his death on Saturday. Trump even posted a couple of photos in Instagram of himself with the boxing legend. The relationship between the two spanned decades. But Trump's comments on Muslims did not sit well with the boxing legend.
With me now to discuss that and more, Trump supporters and national political commentator for USA Radio Network, Scottie Nell Hughes, also with us, CNN political commentator and democratic strategist, Donna Brazile along with Bernie Sanders supporter, Bill Press.
Guys, thanks very much. Scottie, Donald Trump, Muhammad Ali, they go way back. But based on what you know, how close were they?
SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, TEA PARTY NEWS NETWORK NEWS DIRECTOR: Well, I think they were actually very close. I think they had a lot of respect for each other. In fact, because f Muhammad Ali, Mr. Trump got involved in boxing.
In fact, in 1988, he actually threw Muhammad Ali his birthday party with at least 500 guest. And on two different occasions, Muhammad Ali actually presented Mr. Trump with different awards. One of them for his volunteer work in charitable service.
But here's what's interesting as I watched, Muhammad Ali's family spokesman actually has come out and he has said on Saturday, believe me, he said, he never mentioned a name or anything like that, he said, adding that if it was about him -- no, it wasn't about me -- Bob Gunnell -- that's it.
The Ali family spokesman said on Saturday, "The statement was not directed at Mr. Trump, but in extremist in Jihadists. Muhammad made that clear to me personally," Mr. Gunnell said, adding that Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie, had called him after the statement was issued to make the point that we are for all people.
So, this spin that this comment was made directed at Mr. Trump as absolutely false as said by the family's spokesman and Muhammad Ali's wife.
BLITZER: Well, let's pick up on that, let's talk a little bit about that, Donna. Muhammad Ali, as you know, converted to Islam back in 1964. He change his name from Cassius Clay.
Does Trump's eulogy and what Trump tweeted as soon as he found out about his passing, he said, "Muhammad Ali is dead at 74, a truly great champion. A wonderful guy. He will be missed by all." Does that fall flat in light of some of the past comments that Donald Trump has made about Muslims?
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, first of all, i don't want to dishonor the memory of somebody I consider to be just a true American hero. I grew up at a time when Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali, he became a symbol of greatness not just in the ring, but outside of the ring.
He fought for freedom and justice inequality. He fought to enlarge the circle. So, this controversy about Mr. Ali's response to Mr. Trump's ban on Muslims entering America and all of the other -- i think it dishonors Muhammad Ali memory.
Let us enjoy and raise up and celebrate the life of a truly great American, hero. And all of this controversy and who said what and why and the tweet, well, you know what, that's just part of the noise. But I want to say, I love Muhammad Ali. And I thank God that we had an opportunity for many of us to see him, to see him fight, but more importantly, to see him outside the ring to try to lift up people and try to bring people together. That's what he was. And his words will never be forgotten. He was the greatest.
BLITZER: He certainly was. All of us, of course, love Muhammad Ali. Scottie, let me get back to one of the points you're making. Because following the San Bernardino terrorist attack in which President Obama praised Muslims, he said he praised Muslims as our neighbors, our co- workers, our sports heroes, Trump apparently criticized President Obama in a tweet saying "What sport is he talking about and who?"
And in a subsequent statement, Muhammad Ali responded apparently to Donald Trump by saying, "Speaking of someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is."
[16:55:09] And the point though, is a lot of people were suggesting that he was showing his disapproval of Donald Trump's rhetoric. Your reaction?
HUGHES: Well, you know, you read that and he probably was. But it never says Mr. Trump in there. And like what I've just read as the family's spokesman and his wife is pointing out, that was not directed to Mr. Trump and they called Mr. Trump afterwards and had a conversation. I think they were close friends. And I agree with Donna. I think this has been politicized. I don't think we need to dishonor Muhammad Ali by making this a political issue and a presidential campaign issue
BLITZER: Bill Press, go ahead.
BILL PRESS, "BUYER'S REMORSE" AUTHOR: No, no, no. You can't escape it that way. I mean, this is where Donald Trump's racist and ethnic attacks come back and bite him in the butt. Look, I think Bernie Sanders said it very well today when he said,
"You cannot disparage all Muslims and praise Muhammad Ali. It just doesn't work." That Muslim that Donald Trump is talking about that he doesn't want in the country or the Muslims that are here, you know, it could be your brother-in-law, it could be the guy that cut your hair, it could be the guy that drives your kids to school or it could be America's greatest sports hero. And this just shows how wrong Donald Trump's rhetoric and hatred is and why it's going to backfire.
HUGHES: Yes.
BLITZER: All right. Everybody, stand by. Don't go away, we have more to discuss. Remember, votes are now being counted in Puerto Rico. We should have the results once again any minute now. Our special coverage continues right after this.
[17:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
