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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Bill Clinton Today Confronted Protesters From Black Lives Matter; Ted Cruz On New York Value; Trump Beefs Up Staff For Delegate Battle; New Video Of Wanted Brussels Airport Suspect; Report: Cameron Admits To Profiting From Dad's Offshore Investment; Dog Bark Goodbyes To Fallen K9; Anderson And His Mom Gloria Vanderbilt. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired April 07, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:04] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. John Berman here in for Anderson.
And here is New York where campaigns come to get nasty. Philadelphia, too, where Bill Clinton today confronted protesters from black lives matter defending his wife almost lecturing them for criticizing her use 20 years ago of a word used back then to describe young violent criminals. The word was super predators, and it still packs a punch today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here's the thing. I like protesters, but the ones that won't let you answer are afraid of the truth. That's a simple -- very, very afraid. I talked to a lot of African-American groups. They saw black live matter. They said take this bill because our kids are being shot in the street by gangs. Because of that bill we had a 25-year low in crime, a 33- year low murder rate. And listen to this. Because of that and the background check law we had a 46-year low in the desk of people by gun violence. And who do you think those lives were? That mattered. Whose lives were saved that mattered?
I don't know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13- year-old kids hopped up on crack and sent them out on to the street to murder other African-American children. Maybe you thought they were good citizens. She didn't. She didn't. You are defending the people who killed the lives you say matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: That was just a hint of the heat. In addition to that confrontation, we saw Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton trading punches over who was qualified to be president. Donald Trump trying to lay a little New York muscle on Ted Cruz and Senator Cruz tonight not backing down from his remarks about New York values. One thing is clear. This is no pillow fight. The New York primary fast approaching and Pennsylvania campaign tensions are spilling out into the open. First tonight the dueling Democrats.
CNN's Joe Johns. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight Bernie Sanders is sharpening his attacks on Hillary Clinton as the democratic race intensifies.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll not be hustling money from the wealthy and powerful.
JOHNS: Sanders is not backing down from a fight he insists Clinton started.
SANDERS: I'm not going to get beaten up. I'm not going to get lied about. We will fight back.
JOHNS: Tensions coming to a boil with Sanders offering a blistering critique of Clinton at the Philadelphia rally Thursday night.
SANDERS: Let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton, I don't believe that she is qualified. If she is through her Superpac taking tens of millions of dollars in special interest loans. I don't think you are qualified if you have voted for the disastrous war in Iraq.
JOHNS: Clinton today brushing off the criticism from her rival.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it's kind of a silly thing to say, but I'm going to trust the voters of New York who know me and have voted for me three times, twice for Senate, once in the presidential primary.
JOHNS: Both campaigns are looking to leverage the back and forth sending out fund-raising emails to supporters. The Clinton team calling Sanders' remarks a ridiculous and irresponsible attack. The Sanders campaign accusing the Clinton camp of getting nervous and launching a full-on attack before the New York primary.
Ahead of the April 19th contest in her adopted home state, Clinton today focused on her connections to New York.
H. CLINTON: I am so proud to have represented this state for eight years. I'm a proud New Yorker and I want to be a good president for New York and for the rest of our country.
JOHNS: Engaging in some retail politics, riding the New York subway for two stops.
H. CLINTON: Some people need to get off?
JOHNS: Along the way, she took a swipe at Sanders for incorrectly referring to the subway fare as tokens.
H. CLINTON: I think we changed when I was senator. I think it was my first term when we changed from tokens to metrocards.
JOHNS: Joe Johns, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: So, is this just ordinary jostling for position or is it a sign of something deeper.
Joining us CNN political commentators Van Jones and Bakari Sellers. Van is a former top Obama advisor. Bakari is a Clinton supporter and former South Carolina state lawmaker. Also with us, Sanders supporter Jonathan Tasin, author of "The Essential Bernie Sanders and his vision for America." We should also mention that ten years ago he challenged Hillary Clinton in the primary contest for her Senate seat here in New York.
You know, Van, today we have heard from all kinds of senators, all kinds of high-profile Democrats looking at this race over the last 24 hours going, wait a second here. The back and forth now, this is the kind of thing that leaves a mark on whoever the potential nominee is. What do you make of it?
[20:05:04] VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm about to join the green party. This is just ridiculous. I have spent most of this time disgusted by the Republicans. Now I'm just disappointed with the Democrats. All these top Democrats have been terrible today. Hillary Clinton on the one hand, she looks great out there kissing the babies. I love it. But she's also doing the stuff that everybody hates. She kind of started this fight in a kind of slick way and then pretends she's not in the fight. That's not good.
Then Bernie Sanders, totally overreacting saying that she is unqualified. That's silly to the border of stupid and also offensive to her as a woman. And then Bill Clinton is out here getting the black lives matter people riled up.
I will tell you right now. Black lives matter has mainly stayed out of this. Bill Clinton is about to pull them into this. All the Democrats need to get a nap, get some sleep, and calm down.
So Bakari, Van clearly thinks that this campaign, the Democratic race, crossed the line over the last 24 hours. The flip side of that is both candidates want to win here. Isn't part of winning beating the other candidate in the race? And isn't this just part of that?
BAKARI SELLERS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, we have to look back at last may when Bernie Sanders announced his campaign for presidency. He said this wasn't going to be about Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. This is going to be about issues. It has just been a rough week for the Sanders' campaign whether or not you are talking about on Sunday when he flubbed the response on releasing his tax returns. Whether it was his New York daily news article or whether or not he was questioning the first lady and --
BERMAN: But Bakari, that tough week included a huge win in Wisconsin.
SELLERS: It was a huge win in Wisconsin, but he made -- no. I can remember it very well. But he made up ten delegates in the overall scheme of things. And the math is the math. And I think that adds to it. And today this coming out or last night coming out and saying that the secretary is unqualified.
I mean, I agree with Van. I mean, that was borderline stupid. And so, now we are at this point. I will tell you, though. By contrast to the Republican Party, we are still are having a pillow fight over here. But this campaign has taken a turn and the tenor has become negative. But I say that most of that lands on the shoulders of Bernie Sanders.
BERMAN: So Jonathan, I'm sure you feel differently. But it isn't just the candidates who have been doing this over the last few days. To certain extent, the campaign staffs themselves have been doing it and even harsher. Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders campaign manager, went on TV and he said some stuff about Secretary Clinton on CNN earlier this morning. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF WEAVER, BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I think if you look at her record, if you look at her campaign, you know, her campaign is funded by millions and millions of dollars from Wall Street and other special interest, you know. She really made a deal with the devil. And we all know the devil wants his money in the end. So that's the kind of campaign she is running. You know, she supported these terrible trade deals which have devastated American manufacturing in this country. She supported the war in Iraq. She continues to have a very, very hawkish foreign policy, which has led to the rise and expansion of ISIS throughout the Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So a deal with the devil, Jonathan, and a foreign policy that led to the rise of ISIS. Those are the types of claims that I think that Van was just saying are way over the line. The Clinton campaign says the Sanders campaign needs to take a time-out. Do they?
JONATHAN TASIN, AUTHOR, THE ESSENTIAL BERNIE SANDERS AND HIS VISION FOR AMERICA: Well, let me start, first of all, I would like to start with a positive thing and agree with my friends over there, Van and Bakari. The first thing is Van is right. The Clinton campaign started this by alleging Bernie was unqualified. The press --
SELLERS: That's false. That's not true.
BERMAN: Hang on, Bakari.
TASIN: Baraki, you had your chance. Chill out. And I agree with Bakari that compared to the Republicans, it's relatively a pillow fight.
But John, there's some context here. Bernie has defined this race. He has defined this race by talking about inequality, about the billionaires, about Wall Street destroying the economy, about a war in Iraq that was immoral and illegal, about bad trade deals. Hillary Clinton is now fraudulently and has fraudulently run a campaign from the beginning trying to morph from a moderate corporate Democrat into a progressive, which she hasn't been able to sell. The second thing that's happened is that from the very begin, and I
don't have a lot of time to tell you every single one, the Clinton campaign has lied repeatedly about Bernie's positions. And I'll give you one very quick one. This was related by Politifact" as mostly false when Chelsea Clinton and Hillary Clinton went out and lied about Bernie's position about health care saying that single payer Medicare for all would destroy the affordable care act which is an outright lie. And they have done this repeatedly throughout the campaign.
The reason they have to do this is because Bernie has caught fire. Seven out of the last eight contests, he now lead nationally in a number of polls. And I, like Jeff Weaver, believe that at the end of the day we will pass her in pledge delegates, and they can't stand that idea.
BERMAN: OK. Let me ask -- I want to give Bakari a few seconds to respond to that. But please leave Van time to admonish both of you at the end. So Bakari, you first.
SELLERS: I definitely will leave time for Van. But I think that Jonathan actually started out with what "the Washington Post" actually deemed to be a lie and no point did Hillary Clinton say that Bernie Sanders was unqualified. In fact, she took the high road today and said that she --
[20:10:04] TASIN: No. That's not true, Bakari.
BERMAN: Jonathan, let Bakari talk.
TASIN: That's not true.
SELLERS: That actually is --
TASIN: That's not true.
SELLERS: That is very true.
TASIN: That's not true.
JONES: Kids, kids, please.
SELLERS: But -- thank you, Van. But my last point is the math is the math. And Bernie Sanders has done very well in the last seven out of the last eight states. However, we all know that the delegate count, the pledge delegate count is what matters. Hillary Clinton is going into the convention with the most pledged delegates. And this has been a negative campaign the last few days and it is because Bernie Sanders' campaign has turned into one of desperation. I think we recognized that.
TASIN: No, it's because your campaign --
BERMAN: Hang on. Bakari -- hang on, Jonathan.
TASIN: Not you, Bakari, but the Clinton campaign has lied about every one of Bernie's positions. It is factual. BERMAN: Every single one of Bernie's position, Van Jones, has the
Clinton campaign lied about every one of Bernie's positions?
Van Jones, go ahead.
JONES: I'm going to say a couple of things here. Guys, this is the biggest stage in the world, New York City. This is the biggest campaign.
TASIN: We're going to win.
JONES: Hold on a second. I'm talking.
TASIN: OK.
JONES: We need to be talking about the issues. I understand everybody is tired. Everybody is frustrated. Hillary Clinton did start this. She did it in a slick way, but she started it. Bernie did overreact. Can we please tomorrow morning get back to talking about the issues? The whole world is watching and Democrats looking only one shade better than the Republicans is bad for everybody.
BERMAN: All right, living proof here. Jonathan, we got to go.
This is proof, I think, of where the Democratic campaign is right now. Proof, perhaps, of what the next week and a half will look like in this race leading up to the New York primary.
Van Jones, Bakari Sellers and Jonathan Tasin, thanks so much.
Coming up, we have breaking news on the Republican side, the side that these men claims was even worse than what they just did. What happens when Ted Cruz gets a chance, well, in New York, to apologize for his remarks on what he called New York values? Words that Donald Trump hopes will haunt him all the way to the primary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I have got this guy standing over there looking at me, talking about New York values with scorn in his face with hatred of New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:15:55] BERMAN: Breaking news tonight in a culture clash, the likes of which we have not seen here since Crocodile Dundee landed at the plaza. It is happening on day two for Ted Cruz in a city he doesn't seem to like that much, its values, except as an attack line he use on Donald Trump. An attack line as you will see in just a moment that he is not apologizing for, even as a guest in the city in question. That is the breaking news.
This is the background. After a lukewarm reception in the Bronx yesterday, Senator Cruz today tried Brooklyn helping children make matzo at a bakery not far from Coney Island. Just to remind you, this is the political beef, closure or not, surrounding it which really first erupted at the South Carolina Republican debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Cruz, you suggested Mr. Trump quote "embodies New York values." Could you explain what you mean by that?
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think most people know exactly what New York values are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am from New York.
CRUZ: You're from New York so you might not, but I promise you the state of South Carolina, they do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: But despite that, South Carolinians went overwhelmingly for Trump and now stinging from his Wisconsin defeat, Trump is wasting no time resurrecting that attack line to fire up is own hometown followers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Now, do you remember -- do you remember -- do you remember during the debate when he started lecturing me on New York values like we are no good? Like we are no good. And I started talking to him about the world trade center, the bravery, and I've got this guy standing over there looking at me, talking about New York values with scorn in his face with hatred -- with hatred of New York. So folks, I think you can forget about him. Forget about him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right. The "New York Daily News" certainly has not forgotten about him. The front page as on the New York tabloid summarizing Senator Cruz's reception in the Bronx.
Finally, just a short time ago, CNN's Dana Bash asked Ted Cruz about this controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Any regrets in using that terminology, now that you're asking for New York voters to vote for you?
CRUZ: Not remotely because everyone in New York and outside of New York knows exactly what I meant by that. And it is the liberal values of democratic politicians who have been hammering the people of New York for decades.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right. He's not backing down, not one bit. The question is, how are New York voters taking it?
Here's CNN's Richard Roth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ted Cruz drew applause arriving in Brooklyn a day after receiving a Bronx cheer in a different borough of the city where he was jeered. He liked the taste of matzo baking in a Brooklyn school but many New Yorkers aren't ready to break bread with him.
The day began with a welcome to New York by the hometown newspaper the daily news which told him on the front page, take the F-U train, Ted. So we went to the "F," the "F" train. Today's headline, take the F-U train, Ted. It's aimed at Ted Cruz. What do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My God. That's priceless.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's pretty ugly thing to say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's awesome.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it is rude.
ROTH: Anybody ever told you F-U on the streets of New York?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
ROTH: What do you think of this headline?
Cruz has been dogged for months by his sharp criticism of New York values. He has to campaign here in the New York primary but hasn't stopped taking a bite out of the apple.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a creep. He's a creep.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody loves New York. Why would he against New York? It's the land of opportunity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm walking here! I'm walking here!
ROTH: The movie, "Midnight Cowboy," about a street house in lower Manhattan featured values that Cruz, a Texas senator, would not approve of when they were willing to stop, I asked New Yorkers just what New York values meant to them?
[20:20:04] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York values, hustling, grinding, making money, coming up with the American dream. That's what's I think about the New York mind-set.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't really judge an entire culture or entire city by one personality.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want him to be president. ROTH: How about the mayor of New York?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want him involved close to me.
ROTH: But outside of New York City upstate, Cruz was highly valued.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ted shares my values as an upstate New Yorker. Ted was referring to a very different set of values held by primarily down state.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love New York City to visit, but I don't care for their values as much.
ROTH: In Brighton Beach, a group of orthodox Jews disagreed with the negative Cruz lashing elsewhere in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're uneducated. Anybody uneducated about this debate, about this campaign is voting for Ted Cruz.
ROTH: Cruz wasn't flipped off by the headline and made sure not to drop the matzo.
Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BERMAN: Never drop the matzo.
Joining me now is CNN political commentator and conservative columnist Kayleigh McEnany who supports Donald Trump, CNN political commentator Sara Setmayer, former communications director for Representative Dana Rohrbacher and native New Jersian. So it is a nearby. And CNN political analyst and "New York Times" presidential campaign correspondent Maggie Haberman.
Maggie, you are a New Yorker and you have lived in New York for a long time. You have also covered a lot of campaigns here. Give me a sense of whether this New York values thing, how much it will hurt him. Because it is certainly looks like it hurts him here in the city.
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I thought the voters in the last piece had it right which is upstate this is not going to hurt Ted Cruz at all. There are certain areas outside of New York City where New York City is not viewed particularly well. And Ted Cruz lobbed that missile at Donald Trump in that debate. This was about the city.
However, it was completely predictable what the reaction was going to be and Ted Cruz has been here now for two days seeking support from people in this city. And it's hard to say as he did to Dana Bash, well, actually, I was just commenting on the way the politicians have abused New York. Most New Yorkers didn't hear it that way. And he basically served as softball to Donald Trump both in that debate and one that Trump used at his rally last nit which was New York suffered enormously September 11th, 2001, and we saw the grit and determination of New York come back from that. And you are going to hear that over and over. Not just from Trump. I'm sure you are going to hear but Hillary Clinton, too.
BERMAN: And Tara, you know, what about the tri-state? Represent the tri-state here because there's also a primary in New Jersey coming up and in Connecticut. I imagine that they may look and see what's happening here, too.
TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. As a proud Jersey girl, grew up right over the bridge here, I think it was a huge mistake by Ted Cruz to double down on the New York values thing. If he said the liberal values of New York or, you know, if he qualified it in a different way, then maybe he could have gotten away with it. Because Maggie is right, upstate and upstate New York, there's -- it's like two different places compared to New York City. It will play better. But it just -- people love New York City. You know, people love the grit, the toughness, New York is the greatest city in the world. When you attack -- coming from a guy from Texas, you are attacking New York, I just don't think that was wise on the part of Ted Cruz when you have in the tri-state area because it near in New Jersey, Connecticut, the tri-state area, we all kind of share that same toughness and those values that potentially will not help him in another states like Connecticut and New Jersey.
So I don't know that it was a great idea for Ted Cruz to double down on that. I think he is playing to an audience outside of here. But it's here that he is campaigning now. So he could have done better.
BERMAN: So Kayleigh, it sounds like this could be the type of thing that Donald Trump could have capitalized on the campaign trail had he been on the campaign trail today.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure. And he is going to capitalize on it for the next 12 days. This is going to be hammered home time and time again. This is the guy categorically dismissed you. Dismiss your values. Dismiss what you stand for. And let's be clear here. Ted Cruz is trying to say now that he meant liberal values. Well, if you mean liberal values you say liberal values. He specifically said New York values. He had a political calculus in mind. His political calculus was, I don't need New York. I don't need the whole northeast. I'm backing on the southeast. But in fact, he didn't win a single state in the southeast. So now that he needs the northeast, all of a sudden he meant liberal values. That's what is going on here.
BERMAN: Tara, John Kasich went to the Bronx and ate Italian food today. He is trying to say he is like at least in New York appetite if not New York values.
SETMAYER: I hope he didn't use a knife and fork to eat pizza again.
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: What are his thought? His Superpac is also running an ad on the New York values thing on Ted Cruz.
SETMAYER: Yes. And it's a very powerful ad. Everyone is capitalizing on this with Ted Cruz. And John Kasich is actually polling second. He's behind Donald Trump. I think "the Real Clear Politics" average is 25 percent, 21, 25 percent. John Kasich can make them inroads here in New York. He may be the buffer that stops Donald Trump from getting that 50 percent threshold here. So, wouldn't that be ironic. Everyone is counting out Kasich. But John Kasich actually polls very well in the northeast.
[20:25:01] BERMAN: And you know all 27 states, these are going to play (INAUDIBLE), intimately, Maggie Haberman, so right now. So - exactly. But will this make a dent or will Kasich be able to make a dent in the delegate hunt up state, maybe or here?
HABERMAN: I think that you have Cruz and Kasich are banking on the idea of keeping Trump below 50 percent and then you end up be in the delegate hunt because the way it is being - a portion this time is I think it is three delegates per CD. And it is going to defend how well people do.
There are going to be areas where both Cruz and Kasich are going to do well. The problem for Cruz, and I wrote about this today, is he is a poor fit for the state in a lot of ways. The state's Republican Party tends to break down more socioeconomic lines and less along religious lines. And Cruz has really fashioned himself as an evangelical candidate. That's why he made that's statement in South Carolina as he did. He has made assumptions about the race that have often been shorter term as opposed to how this race played out long term which few of us knew, to be fair to him.
But the goal right now for those two candidates is keep Trump below 50 percent. And so, to your point every day that Trump is off the campaign trail is the day his voters are not seeing him. He had a tremendous reception last night in long island. That really is his base. And he probably can hold many more of those.
BERMAN: We're going to talk about that in just a moment. Guys, stand by.
The Trump campaign, we are told has a plan to drum up delegates with some strategic reshuffling, don't call it shake-up, reshuffling in their inner circle. We are going to talk about that. I'm going to speak with a Trump senior adviser about it all when "360" continues."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:27] BERMA: After rumblings about changes in the upper echelon of the Donald Trump campaign there's now an official statement. The campaign announced today what cause a consolidation of functions related to a nomination process translations.
They've assigned someone to try to drum up delegates for Donald Trump for the convention in July. That someone is Paul Manafort. His official title is convention manager with all signs points to the distinct possibility that contested media in Cleveland. Has his work cut out for him.
I spoke with Trump campaign senior adviser Barry Bennett just a short time ago. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Barry, we've been told this is not a campaign shake-up. So what exactly is it?
BARRY BENNETT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: Well, as campaigns go along, especially this long, they become bigger every day. And, you know, they are required to do more things. So when it comes to convention and delegates and the RNC and Washington outreach, when Paul agreed to come on it was a perfect fit to the need. So we're all excited at (inaudible).
BERMAN: Isn't it a hunt for delegates now? Isn't that what the campaign is all about? So Paul Manafort is in charge of hunting for delegates. Isn't he in charge of the campaign effectively?
BENNETT: Well, we're still earning another 900 delegates as well. So we're doing both simultaneously.
BERMAN: So one of the questions I want to ask Barry is, you know, Donald Trump, where the heck is he? Because he's not on the campaign trail today. He was going to have an event in California tomorrow. That's been canceled. He's not campaigning. There's an election in New York in less than two weeks. Shouldn't he be on the trail?
BENNETT: Yeah, we're going to do New York, New York, New York. You know, not only is it home but, you know, some of the states that are coming right behind us Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut. They are all watching the New York media as well. So we'll do a lot of campaigning in New York.
BERMAN: Why didn't you do it today? I mean he could have gone out his front door. And, you know, shook some hands and that would have been campaigning in New York. And he didn't do anything today, and I think you do tomorrow or Saturday.
BENNETT: And we have a lot of internal meetings today and some tomorrow.
BERMAN: So that's what he's doing, meeting behind closed doors?
BENNETT: Yeah.
BERMAN: Any additional add-ones to the campaign beside Paul Manafort. I understand he could see adds in communication as well as policy?
BENNETT: Yeah. I think it's fair to expect there will be quite a few over the next few weeks to few months. Meanwhile as you get closer to the convention, there's a lot of work to be done that involves the convention let alone, what we've been doing, earning delegates everyday. So I think then we have to get ready for a general, too. So there is a lot of work, and there are a lot of people coming on board.
BERNMAN: Barry, we have been told there will be a series of policy speeches in this two-week period leading up to New York and maybe a little bit, but after you said part of the goal there was to put some more meat on the bone. Is that an acknowledgment that there hasn't been meat on the bone when it comes to policy?
BENNETT: No, I think there you can always put more meat on the bone. You can always flush things out further. The important thing is to do it in the right setting in the right way. You know, it's hard, and it sounds crazy but it's hard actually to find a setting where you can actually talk to voters. And so I think that's what they are looking for.
BERMAN: What is the next policy speech we can expect to hear from Mr. Trump?
BENNETT: The announcement is coming soon.
BERMAN: It is coming soon? Care to give us any teasers?
BENNETT: I just did.
BERMAN: Before in New York?
BENNETT: I don't know. I hope so.
BERMAN: All right, Barry Bennett. Thanks so much.
BENNETT: Thanks, John.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Back now with Tara Setmayer, Kayleigh McEnany and Maggie Haberman. I want to talk about the campaign addition to just the moment.
But Maggie first, you have news about someone who announced he is voting for Donald Trump in New York yet not endorsing him. The former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. What's going on?
MAGGIE HABERMAN, N.Y. TIMES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIN CANDIDATE: Setting off my Twitter mentions again, a couple of things. Giuliani has been a friend of Donald Trump's for 30 years and he talked about that when I spoke to him. He has been uncharacteristically quiet in the last couple of days. He is also been traveling for work. He was very clear that he's voting for Trump, you know, and that in his mind voting and supporting are the same but this was not a formal endorsement.
He plans on being a convention delegate. He is supposed to be or expected to be put on by the Manhattan GOP chair and that he believes he can have more sway on the convention floor if there's an open or contested convention, if he is not.
I think the practicality of that is that what you're not going to see and this is my read on it, you're not going to see him be someone like a Chris Christie or Ben Carson where we saw massive roll-outs essentially big press conferences, and they are very frequently deployed surrogates where that is largely what they do at this point in time. I don't think you're going to see Giuliani do that. He said he is going to be traveling basically right up until the day of the primary.
It allows Trump to say that he was supported by Giuliani whose support he has sought for a while. But I think if you look at it, it does give Giuliani some distance, whether that's realistic or not when you say I'm endorsing -- I'm supporting someone, and I'm voting for them but I'm not endorsing them. That's for others to decide. This is similar to what happened with Brian Sandoval in Nevada with Marco Rubio.
[20:35:14] But I think that's what's happening here.
BERMAN: All right, Tara. I want to talk about the campaign machinations inside Trump world. Paul Manafort by all accounts the guy who knows conventions, he knows delegates, he's been doing this since 1976, so a good addition, a smart addition for the Trump team?
TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it was a necessary addition for the Trump team. The reality of the fact they've had no infrastructure up until this point, no serious infrastructure. They definitely are behind the curve on accumulating delegates and working the dele -- are not accumulating, but working the delegates and how that process works.
Because I don't really think they thought they were going to get this far. And now they are where they are and it's looking like there's going to be an open convention, you have to be able to know and play by the rules of the game.
These are the rules that have been set forth. They've been in place for 160 years. So, they hired someone who knows what the rules are and hand how to do it. And they're also looking at, you know, a couple of other things.
This was a terrible, not just week, but it's been a terrible month for Donald Trump. So, they needed to get some adults in the room, obviously, the Corey Lewandowski incident was not helpful for the Trump campaign. He's clearly in over his head and they need to bring someone in, you know, an adult in the room.
And Trump's negatives are going up. Last month he was -- he had a 60 percent unfavorable. An AP poll came out today. It shows he have a 70 percent unfavorable rating nationally. Those are horrible numbers for a front-runner. So, they need to get it together if they're overcome not only the delegate issue but other issues as well if they're going to trying to make -- have a real serious campaign, which I doubt.
BERMAN: Kayleigh, actually, I know you've been supportive of these additions to the campaign right now. Do you think we'll see at all a different Donald Trump? Barry Bennett just told me we have policy speeches coming up.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think we will. I think we'll see more of a Trump that we saw at AIPAC which is someone who is seriously focused on policy, who is giving, you know, mature rounded out policy positions.
I definitely think that we will see another Donald Trump. And, you know, as for the delegate addition, this was much needed. This is exciting to hear about because every week, we hear story after story of Louisiana, the delegates that are purportedly representing Trump actually aren't Trump people.
And we heard it in South Carolina. We hear it in Tennessee. It is pivotal that when Donald Trump goes to the convention, I think he'll have 1,237. But let's say he does not, and it's absolutely pivotal that the people supporting Donald Trump and representing the popular vote, I, my dad are actually supporting Donald Trump on the second ballot as well.
BERMAN: Can I ask Ben Carson today. He came on the show earlier with me and said that maybe I've been charged with a crime before -- leave that aside.
He also refused to say there aren't maybe better candidates or people out there than Donald Trump to be president. Is Ben Carson really the kind of surrogate Donald Trump needs?
MCENANY: Hey, I think we'd rather have a surrogate like Chris Christie who is out there (inaudible) supporting him. But I love Ben Carson. And, you know, Ben Carson being on the team in any capacity is a huge addition, having an Evangelical Christian say, this is the man, not Ted Cruz. It is a big deal that Ben Carson is supporting Donald Trump in any PAC).
SETMAYER: Ben Carson has been a disaster for the Trump campaign. Every time he opens his mouth, it's something else. Oh, well, if he wins it's only four years. Oh, well, there's probably a better candidate than Donald Trump. I mean, Ben Carson, you know, believe me, Kayleigh is trying to put a positive spin on that but he has been an absolute disaster when it comes to being a surrogate.
BERMAN: Thank you. I appreciate it, Kayleigh, Tara, Maggie. I appreciate.
Up next, Ted Cruz picks up a new endorsement sort of, it comes from a fellow member of the Senate where there is not much love for Cruz and that's loud and clear in the tone of the endorsement. And you're going to hear in just a moment.
Also tonight, new video of the suspect wanted for the airport bombings in Brussels as he flees the scene and seems to take a stroll around the city for hours.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:42:33] BERMAN: More on Ted Cruz's fight for the Republican nomination. He picked up another endorsement if you want to call it that. Watch this exchange Wolf Blitzer and Republican Senator from Idaho Jim Risch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So far your only, I think, by our count, the third senator -- Republican senator who now effetely on this program has come out and endorsed Cruz, Lindsey Graham and Mike Lee your colleagues that they have. But I haven't seen a whole ...
SEN. JIM RISCH, (R) IDAHO: Did I just endorse, Wolf?
BLITZER: I don't know, you sort of said you prefer him over the other two.
RISCH: I do.
BLITZER: That sounds like an endorsement. Doesn't it?
RISCH: I guess it depends on your definition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Ouch. OK, with friends like that, here's Manu Raju.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Ted Cruz said the GOP is rallying behind him.
TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You are looking at the entire spectrum of the Republican Party, the entire ideological spectrum coming together and uniting.
RAJU: But one influential group is still holding out. His fellow Republican senators.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH, (R) UTAH: I think it's difficult for many senators to be supportive of him. If we're going to save this country, it's going to be in the Senate. And I think most people would wish that he would take the Senate more seriously.
RAJU: Many GOP senators dislike Cruz after two years of bitter infighting. They say he's engaged in divisive tactics to bolster his profile. Most notably a 16-day government shutdown in 2013 after demanding Republican support to defund ObamaCare.
CRUZ: And the Republicans in this body, sadly, more than a few of them, say we will take lots and lots of symbolic votes against ObamaCare. Bu there's nothing we can do.
RAJU: The tough talk has made Cruz beloved by conservative activists frustrated with party leaders. But in the capitol, it's come at a price as Cruz looks for unity against Donald Trump.
SEN. JEFF FLAKE, (R) ARIZONA: Well, I think it's made it a little more difficult for him to round up support.
RAJU: On the campaign trail, Cruz has called his colleagues part of a corrupt Washington cartel. And he took the unusual step last year of taking to the Senate floor and accusing Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of being a liar.
CRUZ: I cannot believe he would tell a flat-out lie.
RAJU: Many still think he went too far.
SEN. JOHNNY ISAKSON, (R) GEORGIA: I don't think it went over very well with McConnell.
RAJU: And some say it's time for Cruz to apologize.
HATCH: I stood up and said he should. No, I think that was the wrong thing to do.
RAJU: Yet Cruz quietly elicited former Senator Phil Gramm, a long time Washington Insider to do some damage control. Gramm tells CNN that, "Ted called me and asked me to help him building a working relationship with the leadership of the House and Senate."
[20:45:12] Cruz may soon get another endorsement, freshman Dan Sullivan of Alaska.
SEN. DAN SULLIVAN, (R) ALASKA: I get along very well with Senator Cruz.
RAJU: But Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime critic and now Cruz supporter, suggests that the Texas freshman needs to do more.
GRAHAM: I think Ted would be well served to reach out to his colleagues. The more support he gets from across the spectrum of the Republican Party, the more viable alternative it becomes to Trump.
RAJU: And a big question still remains, will his one time rival, Senator Marco Rubio support him?
MARCO RUBIO, FMR (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I haven't even thought about the presidential race at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Not sure I believe that. Manu Raju joins us right now. Manu, any converts from the Senate expected?
RAJU: Well John, we know that he and Phil Gramm have both started to make some calls to Senate Republicans including to Montana Senator Steve Daines. And the state actually votes in June. They traded voice mails. He and Cruz did.
Now, I've talked to a lot Senate Republicans, really, just don't want to get into the middle of this nasty fight and potentially anger Donald Trump supporters back home. But Cruz made very clear that he wouldn't actually apologize to Mitch McConnell. Earlier today, he told our colleague Dana Bash, it ain't going to happen.
Now, Phil Gramm told me he advised Cruz not to have any peace-making meeting at the capitol at this point. But when I asked Phil Gramm about Cruz calling McConnell a liar, he said, "Sometimes even smart people do dumb things." John.
BERMAN: All right. Manu Raju, thank you so much.
Quick note in just a few minutes, the next episode of the CNN original series, The Eighties, begins focusing on the Reagan era and his recovery from the shooting that nearly took his life. That's at 9:00 eastern right here.
Right now, the latest on some other stories we're following. Amara Walker has the 360 news and business bulletin.
AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there John. Belgian officials have released new video of the suspect in the hat as he escaped after the Brussels airport bombings last month. The new images are from about two hours of surveillance video. The unnamed suspect took off his jacket at one point and investigators are asking anyone who saw him to contact police.
In an interview with CNN affiliate ITV News, British Prime Minister David Cameron admits that he profited from his late father's offshore investment which was revealed in the Panama papers leaked. But Cameron says he paid the appropriate taxes and has nothing to hide.
And a touching tribute to a fallen canine in Las Vegas, other police dogs barking their goodbyes at a funeral for one of their own. Nicky was killed last month while helping officers apprehend a double murder suspect. John.
BERMAN: All right, Amara. Thanks so much.
Coming up, with their new book just out, Anderson and his mother Gloria Vanderbilt sit down to talk about their lives and loses, also their triumphs and challenges. Hear them speak about Ms. Vanderbilt's memories of a scandal involving her own mother.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:51:49] BERMAN: Anderson and his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt they have a new book out this week called "The Rainbow Comes and Goes, A Mother and Son on Life, Love and Lost." It's a conversation that Anderson wanted to start with his mother discussing what matters to them and what they still wanted to learn about each other.
There are also featured a new documentary area in HBO this weekend called "Nothing Left Unsaid." They sat down for a conversation here at CNN. And in this part they talked about a custody trial over Ms. Vanderbilt when she was just 10 years old and what came out about her own mother.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: During the trial it was revealed that your mother was a lesbian or bisexual. GLORIA VANDERBILT, ANDERSON COOPER'S MOTHER: Well, this was now you have to realize this was 1934. When that, I mean, I didn't -- I had no idea what that meant. I mean, it was something in 1934 that was considered a crime. And when the custody trial happened my mother's maid said that she had seen my mother making out with a woman.
COOPER: It was a scandal.
VANDERBILT: Terrible scandal, I mean, just terrible. And it's hard for us, you know, today at this -- in this time, you know, 2016 to think that the public would have that kind of reaction because, of course, today it's inconceivable, you know.
COOPER: When I told you I was gay when I was in college, part that you knew that this had happened to your mother and I wasn't sure how -- I knew it had impacted you in a very strong way.
VANDERBILT: It did because, first of all, because it was something that was considered so terrible. I thought that maybe I had inherited it.
COOPER: That you would be gay or something?
VANDERBILT: And that I would be gay and it would be something that would be -- that I would be ostracized and sort of as an, you know, as unworthy person. And it was a terrible kind of shock to me to think that I had that blood inside of me, you know?
And, I mean, it took me a long, long time to, you know, to work things and to make sense of what had happened.
COOPER: And what was it that finally made you feel that there's no difference between being gay or ...
VANDERBILT: Well, my intelligence for one thing. But as I grew older and I came to be friends with, you know, Truman Capote for example and Jose Cantera who is a dear friend of mine and who had a husband. I mean, he was -- they were a couple.
COOPER: I remember when I was like 11, in fact, Jose, who is a theater director, famous theater director ...
VANDERBILT: Yes.
COOPER: ... place on Broadway, was coming over with his partner whose name was Nick. And I remember asking about them when you said to me, well, they are married couple. I remember this was 1979 ...
VANDERBILT: Yes.
COOPER: ... which certainly most Americans didn't think of them as a married couple or any gay people as being married but you did.
[20:55:06] And that always struck. And I remember being 11 and thinking, oh, because I knew I was gay then I thought, well, ultimately when I tell her she'll be OK with it because this is what's in her heart.
VANDERBILT: Well, and then of course I came to know that love is love, and it is absolutely no difference at all. I mean, there just isn't.
COOPER: You said to me from time to time you wish you were a lesbian.
VANDERBILT: No, I mean, I'm not kidding. I really would have made -- because all ...
COOPER: And what do you would have made a great lesbian?
VANDERBILT: Because all of my, first of all, I understand women. Men are still kind of a mystery to me. I respect women enormously. I have very close women friends, although we're not lovers.
COOPER: You just weren't attracted to women that way?
VANDERBILT: I just -- no.
COOPER: You didn't have any luck?
VANDERBILT: I didn't have any luck, you know, why?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And the conversation continues tomorrow. Again, their new book "The Rainbow Comes and Goes" is available now.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: And that is it for us. Thanks so much for watching. We're going to see you again in 11:00 p.m. eastern for another edition of 360.
[21:00:02] The CNN original series, "The Eighties, The Reagan Revolution", it starts right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this present crisis ...
