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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Bernie Sanders Releases 2014 Tax Returns; Donald Trump Pens Op- Ed For "The Wall Street Journal," Doubling Down On Attacks Against RNC; Changing Tone Of Democratic Debates; Trump's Roots In Queens; Deadly Tiger Attack At Florida Zoo; Protests End Outside Trump Event; Tracing Trump's Roots In Queens; Former Classmates Remember Trump As Troublemaker; Queens Residents Have Mixed Feelings About Trump; Deadly Tiger Attack At Zoo. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired April 15, 2016 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:11] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Hey, good evening. Thank you for joining us.

A big night in the run-up to New York's primary and beyond. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz campaigning hard as we speak holding a live event tonight. Bill Clinton stumping for his wife here in New York making a joke that is making headline. We will have that for you shortly.

We begin though with breaking news and the one candidate who is not on the trail but overseas, Bernie Sanders. There are developments in the last hour on what's been a taxing issue for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, SITUATION ROOM: You've been asked for weeks and weeks to release your tax returns.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got one that's coming out tomorrow.

BLITZER: Which one?

SANDERS: Last year's.

BLITZER: 2014?

SANDERS: Yes.

BLITZER: What's about 2013? All the other ones?

SANDERS: I don't want to get anybody very excited. They are very boring tax returns. No big money from speeches, no major investments. Unfortunately, I remain one of the poorer members of the United States Senate, and that's what that will show.

BLITZER: So, Senator, just to be clear. Tomorrow you will release the 2014 tax returns from you and your family?

SANDERS: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Bernie Sanders at the CNN Democratic debate last night in Brooklyn. Right now, he and his wife are in Rome for a Vatican conference. However, they made arrangements and we have gotten just their full 2014 returns.

Our Jeff Zeleny joins us now with details.

So, what did they show?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, we have been looking through them. And there's about seven pages or so in here. And it's certainly pretty ordinary. I mean, this like a run of the mill tax return. The top lines are state. They had a reported income of about $206,000 in 2014. This is senator Sanders and his wife Jane. Most of that comes from his Senate salary which is about $174,000. He also collects Social Security benefits, they both do, about $64,000 or so. To charity, they gave about $8,000 or so. So about four percent or so. It's not huge. But certainly in line with what a lot of Americans do.

But, Anderson, the point here I think is this. I mean, Senator Sanders has looked like he has been dragging his feet to this point to not release them. But I think what he is actually been doing and one of his aides confirmed this to me in a short time ago, trying to draw attention to the fact that he does not get outside speeches. He does not get outside of money from giving speeches. No outside income here. That the only outside income was for Jane Sanders, about $5,000 or so by sort of serving on a radioactive waste commission here.

So the bottom line here is they are trying to draw a comparison around tax time with his rival the Clintons, of course, who in 2014 had some $28 million in income. And they had about $205,000.

COOPER: Is there any indication on when he may release other years' returns? And also why, you know, why now, why releasing it, you know, on kind of late on a Friday night and why it took so long? People asking questions for this if it's such a simple return.

ZELENY: I think it was partly by design to drum up a bit more interest in this. This is a very simple tax return that could have been pulled out of a filing cabinet and released. This is not anything complicated. They are trying to draw attention tonight to the differences between the two candidates.

Now, the rest of his returns are going to be released. His 2015 return may be released as early as Monday when you have to file your tax returns on April 18th here. And we are not sure about years previously. He has said that his wife Jane prepares their taxes on their own. And in fact, it does say these taxes are self-prepared. It says at the very bottom here. It is a very normal average here. But we should be getting more next week. But again, they are trying to draw this comparison.

But Anderson, no surprises here. We know the Clintons are wealthy. We know the Sanders are not. So I'm not sure that this changes any minds in this election.

COOPER: All right. Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, thanks very much.

Joining us now is Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver.

Jeff, always good to have you on the program. So these tax returns that were released right before we went on air tonight, a Friday night. In your mind, what do they show? What do they not show?

JEFF WEAVERS, BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Well, I thinks what they show is just what the senator said on TV. He has a boring tax return. Nothing much there. I did have some calls with some reporters who said, wait, why is this not more complicated. And I said well, it is just, it is what it is. He is not really a man of means. Doesn't have a complicated set of taxes.

And the truth of it, Anderson, is that the matter is the top two pages of this tax return were released last June and written about in "the Washington Post." So really, what people got today were the schedules that go with the tax form.

COOPER: Why-I mean, I mean, I guess the question is given that they are seemingly so simple, or this one that's been released is, why did it take so long?

WEAVER: Well, look. As the senator said last night, it does them for the family, and they've been quite busy lately. So the forms are out. He promised they would be out tonight. They are out. And I think I know everybody is probably a little disappointed.

COOPER: Hillary Clinton has released, you know, tax returns from 2000 and 2014. Will your campaign be as transparent as she has been with that many returns?

WEAVER: Well, we will be releasing some earlier ones as well, absolutely. The senator make that pledge last night. And that will certainly happen. He is a man of his word. And when he says something, it gets done.

[20:05:07] COOPER: And, you know, oftentimes things are released on a Friday night, you know, heading into the weekend late as you know, Friday document dump. Was there any consideration in terms of the timing of the release?

WEAVER: Well, I think if you look at the release -- the tax stuff -- the tax forms, there's not really much there to be trying to dump, just a question of getting it out.

COOPER: I want to play something that Bill Clinton said on the campaign trail today. Let's listen.

WEAVER: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the few things I really haven't enjoyed about this primary, I think its fine that all these youngsters have been so enthusiastic for her opponent and it says so good. Just shoot every third person on Wall Street and everything will be fine. But the truth is there are 25,000 - I mean, 50,000 fewer people there today. The Dodd/Frank act is working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So what do you make of that -- I guess attempt at humor. The characterization that a Sanders supporter would shoot every third person Wall Street.

WEAVER: Well, look. There's been a pattern developing of the Clinton campaign disparaging the large numbers, of millions really of young voters who have come out to support Bernie Sanders. The president Clinton did it tonight. Barney Frank who is the surrogate for the Clinton campaign has done it. The secretary has done it herself saying that, you know, they are just about having a protest vote.

Look. Bernie Sanders is bringing millions of people into the process, into the Democratic Party. And for people who are sort of the Democratic establishment to despair to those young people and their sincerity and their knowledge, really, not a very smart strategy in terms of trying to build the Democratic Party.

COOPER: I also want to ask you something that the RNC chair Reince Priebus said today. He said that whoever the GOP candidate is, he would rather have him run against Hillary Clinton than Bernie Sanders. She's already defined. People know her don't like her and that her campaign is currently quote "in the ditch." Do you agree with them?

WEAVER: Well, look. The polls are clear. Bernie Sanders is the strongest general election candidate on the Democratic side. He beats all of the Republicans. Secretary Clinton, he beats them by bigger margins than the Secretary Clinton. In fact, many polls she loses to either Kasich or Cruz. And so that's a real danger for the party.

COOPER: Over the last couple of weeks you have said (INAUDIBLE), that you thought this could end up at a contested convention. I wonder, what percentage of a chance do you think you have of that actually happening? Because there are a lot of people who think you are just king of tilting windmills with that notion. That it is going to be settle with pledge delegates before.

WEAVER: Well, knowledge pledge delegates, you know, with pledge delegates, I think it is very, very unlikely that either candidate will arrive at the convention with the requisite number of pledge delegates to have the nomination sealed up now. Then what will happen is it will be a question of superdelegates, right, who are -- while they may announce for somebody are really unpledged until they actually vote during the convention process. So certainly will be incumbent upon our campaign and the Clinton campaign to make the case to those superdelegates, most of whom are elected officials or their candidate is the most well positioned to win in November.

The Democratic Party wants to win in November. We can't lose the White House. We can't lose ground in the Senate and house. In fact, we have to gain ground. And that's going to be picking the strongest candidate. And the polling shows, in fact, that that's Bernie Sanders. They are pretty consistently over many months now, Anderson.

COOPER: Jeff Weaver, I know you rushed in to get here. We appreciate it. Thank you very much.

WEAVER: Always happy to be here.

COOPER: Joining us now is political analyst Maggie Haberman, also CNN political commentators in New York Errol Louis was on the CNN debate panel last night questioning Sanders supporter, Nomiki Konst, and CNN political commentator Angela Rye.

Maggie, I mean, with the tax returns, when I heard it was being released Friday night at this time I thought, oh, this is a classic document dump. Then we see the document it's kind of ho-hum.

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Not much dumping there.

NOMIKI KONST, SANDERS SUPPORTER: I agree with Jeff Zeleny. I think that the idea here was to drum up interest so there was a clear contrast with Hillary Clinton. You saw how senator Sanders portrayed this last night in the debate, repeatedly saying I don't have big speeches. You are not going to find big investments and things like that in what I have. So I think that this was done very deliberately and you heard Jeff Weaver say, you know, it just took a while to get it out. But also it's very thin. So I think that we will have this going forward.

The question is going to be, I think, whether he does release additional taxes. We are used to seeing candidates release years and years of them, as you said. This is just sort of a slow dribble but it does keep the pressure on Clinton, and there is a lot of interest in the Democratic base on these paid speeches of hers. And she still doesn't have a great answer about why she won't release the transcripts.

COOPER: Yes. Errol, then does it make it harder for Secretary Clinton not to release the speech transcripts because then Bernie Sanders can say, well, look. I have released my tax returns. Why don't you release the speeches?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, in fact, she brought it up in the debate last night as sort of a parallel. And it's interesting because we sort of discussed before the debate, are these things really parallel. And the consensus is they're really not. I mean, they're really very different kind of things.

But, right, she brought up, look, you're asking for my speeches? This guy hasn't shown on his taxes. Well, he has started to show us the taxes. It will, in fact, put more pressure on her. Before we dispend for the taxes, though, I mean, I have seen enough Friday evening dumps to be just a tiny, tiny little bit suspicious even after the fact. I mean, you know, the reality is an income tax form shows you sources of income. It doesn't show you much of anything else. If over the years Bernie Sanders has invested in different mutual

funds, perhaps common stocks and so forth, a tax return, the summary of it, is not going to tell you that. I would be curious if there are investments, if there are mutual funds that include companies like GE, that include companies like Verizon, you know. I mean, it's worth asking given what he has talked about during this campaign. This tax return, this one certainly, maybe even others, don't necessarily answer that question.

[20:10:37] COOPER: You would get a sense, though, if there is many years released that if he has received, you know, capital gains on things that are sold that that might reflect it.

LOUIS: Well, of course, you know, if you buy and hold that's not considered a taxable event. So again, the question has to be asked.

COOPER: Right. Or a day trader that we didn't know about.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Financial disclosure forms. Those would have to be disclosed there.

COOPER: Right. I mean, Nomiki, do you think this is enough transparency?

KONST: Absolutely. I think that, look. Jeff Zeleny I think has hit the nail on the head here. It probably was to keep the pressure on Hillary Clinton. It is a drip, drip, drip into you are saying. But what I'm seeing here is there's a tale of two campaigns. You have Bernie Sanders who has been playing by the books. He has been going to the people for the money for the campaign. $27 average donation. And yet Hillary Clinton, not so much what's in the transcripts. What concerns me as a voter is why she continues to give these speeches up until two weeks before the campaign. And what we saw recently in her FCC filing was that she has been getting up to $655,000 at this point to her campaign. Is the money, is the $11 million she made off of speeches last year alone in 2014, is that money funding her campaign in a very creative way? I mean, there are campaign limits or campaign contribution limits that go towards campaigns. And the Clintons are very creative. I mean, they sold the Lincoln bedroom?

COOPER: Angela, you want to respond?

ANGELA RYE, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Yes, I do want to respond. So the first thing that kind of frustrated me as a former hill staffer is Bernie Sanders' campaign is playing up this paid speeches thing quite a bit. There's one key factor here. Senate ethics rules prohibit any elected senator period from being paid for speeches. There's an honorary ban means he is not allowed to be paid for speeches. So, of course, we are not going to find that. So even him ginning that up at the debate last night, it is interesting. You cannot be paid for speeches. You are not going to have paid speeches. You can get a contribution to a charity of your choice up to $2,000. That's it.

COOPER: I mean, I do think, though, the speech thing is interesting, though, for somebody who clearly knew she was going to run for president or at least, you know, there was a high probability she would - I mean, she claims she didn't know when I talked to her at the town hall a long time ago. That seems hard to me to believe given, you know, everybody else seems to at least believe she was considering it and had looked into it.

So for her to make the judgment that, you know what, I'm very likely to run for president but I'm just going to squeeze I a couple more of these speeches with Goldman Sachs, it does seems just as a judgment question alone come surprising, doesn't it?

RYE: Sure. And for some folks, they should raise that. I mean, it should continue to be raised. I think that the reality of it is that's her decision. She could ultimately decide, you know what, I'm still going to talk to these folks. I'm going to need them. They were people who I talked to while I was a New York senator, as she said before. I don't have an opinion one way or another on that. What I will say is, again, very frustrating to me is that Bernie Sanders would not be paid for speech.

KONST: But the difference - the standards are difference here. She is running to be president of the Democratic Party. You know, collectively between Bill Clinton and her they have made over $160 million off speeches since 2000 alone. No other person that we know of that's running for office is doing that on the Democratic line and she's running to take on Wall Street. So it's not the same standard as Republicans. It is not the same standard for Bernie Sanders because he is not giving the speeches and --

RYE: And that's my whole point. He literally cannot.

COOPER: All right. We got to move along. Angela Rye, Nomiki Konst, thanks very much. Everyone else is going to stay with us.

Got a programming note. In just under two hours, 10:00 p.m. eastern, an encore presentation of last night's CNN's Democratic debate. If you haven't watched it, grab some popcorn. It is a fascinating exercise. All the passion, every question Errol asked in the CNN Democratic face-off that could change the face of the Democratic primary.

Up next, there is heavy protests at a Donald Trump event. You are looking at live pictures right now. Trump supporters filing out. Police trying to keep things calm, move it along. We'll take you there after the break.

And later, a tiger goes on the attack at a popular zoo, the result is deadly. We'll bring you all details we are learning about this awful encounter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:18:14] COOPER: As we mentioned at the top of the broadcast, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz holding competing events tonight. Mr. Trump in Hartford, Connecticut. As you are seeing, a confrontation has been occurring outside. CNN's Noah Gray is among the protesters. He joins us by phone.

Noah, how large a crowd of protesters is this? What's been going on?

NOAH GRAY, CNN PRODUCER (on the phone): Hey, Anderson. So we're here at the Connecticut convention center outside. There are about couple hundred protesters. And while Trump was speaking, as some protesters were getting kicked out, they came out cheering and high-fiving their fellow protesters out here. The big thing that happened is thousands of supporters were pouring out down the stairs directly right into where the protesters were protesting outside here. So far there haven't been any arrests.

It's been peaceful but intense for quite some time. They do not have a police line between protesters and supporters. There were some very fiery engagements, people shouting get a job. A lot of protesters shouting back, we have a job.

Right now, all the supporters have left coming out of the venue, but there are some standoffs outside in the crowd here. Police are moving in. They have created a barricade. They have created a police line and they are trying to get people to disperse but there are some little scrums here and there with hundreds of people out here right now as you see with our pictures. And we are out there monitoring the situation.

COOPER: All right. Noah, thanks very much. Keep us posted.

Let's go now inside. Miguel Marquez is inside the hall.

Miguel, how did the event go? What have you been seeing inside?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was, for the most part, a typical Trump event with the crowd extraordinarily excited to see him. Several thousand people inside the hall. So many people trying to get in, though. They didn't have enough room to get them in here.

During the event there were perhaps five, maybe six different, either they are individuals or groups of protesters who were moved out. Trump haranguing the press during it saying, you know, you don't point the cameras at the big crowds, only at the protesters, upsetting the crowd and turns on the press.

For the most part the protests were black lives matter protesters inside here. I saw one young Latino man taken out. His issue with Latinos has been evident throughout New York. And here tonight as well. And a lot of younger groups of protesters. Teenagers for the most part. Mr. Trump staying on message telling the crowd here, very excited crowd to see him that they'll get to 1,237 delegates -- Anderson.

[20:20:42] COOPER: Miguel, last night Donald Trump released an op-ed in "the Wall Street Journal" doubling down on attacks against the RNC. What more do you know about it?

MARQUEZ: He is sick of it, I think. He clearly in "the Wall Street Journal" saying that the situation in Colorado is just cannot stand. He is saying that a million Coloradans have had their vote basically erased because the party bosses in Colorado are the ones who decide how those delegates would be apportioned. All of them - all of those going to Ted Cruz.

In "the Wall Street Journal," he called it a flagrant abuse of the rules. Delegates are supposed to reflect the decisions of the voters. But the system is being rigged by party operatives with quote "double agent delegates who reject the decision of the voters."

Tonight he is saying if they do not allow him to become the nominee for the Republican Party, his supporters will not vote in November -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Miguel Marquez. Miguel, thanks.

Now, Ted Cruz has been crisscrossing New York for days. Finds himself tonight in upstate in Rochester.

Our Sunlen Serfaty is there as well. She joins us now. Cruz was a target in Trump's op-ed in "the Wall Street Journal." Has he responded today?

SUNLEN SERFATY, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He has responded on the campaign trail here in New York, Anderson. I mean, he is really trying to brass it aside, essentially responding by calling Donald Trump a sore loser saying it is no surprise here. Donald Trump always gets unhappy when he is losing.

But the Cruz campaign is really almost relishing in this moment. They believe outright they have outmaneuvered the Trump campaign following almost an excessive following of the rules and their knowledge of the delegate process and the details here. So the Cruz campaign is happy with the contrast, in essence, that Trump's complaints draw because they believe that it really shines a light on the management and differences between each of their campaigns -- Anderson.

COOPER: And these last few days before the primary, is Cruz solely focusing on New York now?

SERFATY: Well, interesting. After his campaign rally here in Rochester, he is heading to Wyoming for the Saturday convention. There are 14 delegates at stake. And that really speaks to what we are just talking about. He is the only candidate that will appear at that state's convention. They are really trying to grab a handful of delegates here and ample delegates there. And in essence it could provide a symbolic victory of him as well going into Tuesday's primary here in New York where he has already started to lower expectations. Donald Trump is going to fare very good here on Tuesday. So, potentially a symbolic victory.

COOPER: All right. Very well, indeed. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks.

Back to our panel. Joining us now is former New York Republican Congressman and Clinton senate opponent Rick Lazio, also our political commenters Tara Setmayer and Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany. Maggie, I mean, this ongoing feud between Donald Trump and the RNC,

you know, Reince Priebus has pushed back on this numerous times and yet it continues to cast.

HABERMAN: What was interesting about his "Wall Street Journal" op-ed is that it's the first time he sort of attempted to mainstream this conversation which is largely beyond at the context of his rallies, his television interviews or twitter feed. But this was made very, very sort of coherently in language we don't normally hear him lose. I assume that he had some writing help. But he is attempting to make this argument in a way that people who are opinion makers and donors and others can hear it and see it and start to take his side and make it a more full some argument.

I think that Trump is doing one of two things. A, I think this is genuinely how he handles when he loses. And I think he lost some contests. And every contest he said to one of our reporters, you will notice it's when I lose, the contests I don't do well, I talk about the rules.

But also, this sets it up where, you know, he wins either way. If he's not the nominee, then he can say that it was stolen for him. If he is the nominee, he can say that he beat the system and propelled him so often his way. It's not a bad strategy if you are him.

COOPER: I mean, is the strategy, Congressman, it makes a lot of sense for him.

RICK LAZIO, FORMER NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN: Absolutely.

I mean, he, what he is doing is he is making the establishment the boogie man. And for millions of Americans, whether you are Democrats or Republicans, they feel let down by the system, by the establishment. Their wages are stagnant. They aren't getting ahead. Their kids are moving back home. Their parents have moved in with them. They are being overwhelmed because they're paying so much more in rent than they can afford. And that they want to believe somebody. And here comes Donald Trump or on the left Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton saying it's the banks and Trump, its immigration and he's saying in this case, it's the establishment.

By saying it's the establishment he doesn't have to explain that he has an inadequate ground game. That he doesn't organize well. That actually Ted Cruz, whatever you think of him in terms of his politics, has a superior organization. He doesn't have to communicate that or admit that to his supporters.

[20:25:24] COOPER: Kayleigh, you know, a number - several, I guess, former "Apprentice" contestants have come out saying Donald Trump is unfit to be president. Normally, I wouldn't cover former "Apprentice" contestants, but Donald Trump himself has put out former "Apprentice: contestants to speak on his behalf. So I guess, you know, why not mention them and I guess that is why they are getting attention. Trump now has dismissed these ones as former reality show wannabes who are trying to get back into the spotlight. Do you think they have any power or any impact at all? KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Not at all because

here's the thing. The six "Apprentice" contestants who came out against him, five of the six were fired by him. So you would certainly expect people who are fired to be disgruntled and to have a beef with the boss. The fact is, though, we don't see a long string of people coming out who have worked for Trump who are against Trump.

And one thing I would point out with regards to these "Apprentice" contestant, none of them gave specific anecdotes or examples of why Trump is all the things they claim. He hasn't said they used generalized labels to call him bigoted. All of the things we heard over and over again.

What I would look to and give more credit to are the people that have come out with specific stories like the former almost Miss USA who got cancer and Trump five years after her tenure within his organization, Trump came back to her, sent her a letter, took care of her and her son. Those are specific anecdotes I would look at. Not the generalizations of five people who were fired by Mr. Trump.

COOPER: You know, Tara, for Ted Cruz heading out to Wyoming to pick up, you know, ideally a dozen or more delegates at stake there, but I mean, Donald Trump does as well in New York as he seems to be, if you believe all the latest polls, he is going to pick up an awful lot of delegates right here.

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. But it is a delegate game at this point, you know. There are states where there's not a direct primary. That's absolutely legal. The article 2 of the constitution allows for the states to determine how delegates are selected. That is the way our constitution works. And if Donald Trump doesn't like that, then perhaps he has a beef with our founding fathers because that's the system that they set up.

You know, it's convenient to feign outrage for him whenever he is losing. So what Ted Cruz is doing, he is playing a smart political tactic game here. He is going and he is obtaining delegates everywhere that he can to prevent Donald Trump from getting 1237 because since 1856, you have to have a majority of the delegates. 1,237 is not a magic number. So it is, ever since 1856, 160 years you have to have a majority of the delegates.

So if Donald Trump, just another quick point about New York. If Donald Trump doesn't make the 50 percent threshold in New York, which I think is possible, it will have to deal with a couple of things. One will be the fact that he had zero get out the vote efforts, zero campaign apparatus on the ground to let people know they need to switch their registration by October 9th. That's three million people in New York who are unaffiliated that probably had no idea.

COOPER: Including his kids.

SETMAYER: That's right. So I think if he doesn't make that 50 percent threshold, that could play a factor because he's had so many crossovers. They brag about that. That could be a factor.

COOPER: Errol, "the Washington Post," has endorsed Donald Trump. Doe that have any impact?

LOUIS: It probably around the margin. It might convince some late- breaking voters. I don't know that there were that many who done have some kind of opinion about Donald Trump at this point. But I think he is running another danger. I would like to pick up on something that was said. I mean, and Rick Lazio knows this very well. When you're talking about the establishment, it's not just bankers and K street lobbyists down in Washington and big power brokers. It's also, you know, county commissioners and, you know, mayors of small towns and people who we always see at the conventions. They come out and they are volunteers. They aren't paid. They aren't getting rich. They aren't the cause of a lot of the problems. And when Donald Trump sort of insults them and implies that say the volunteers who went to this convention in Colorado were all part of some --

COOPER: Right. They are rigging it.

LOUIS: Yes. I mean, it's alienating the very people he is going to possibly have to bargain with if it comes down to a convention fight.

COOPER: I want to thank our panel.

Just ahead, whether the tone of last night's CNN debate will have an impact on Democratic voters or not. And one thing you can't mess with, math. John King is going to break down the delegate count as they are right now by the numbers next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:33:24] COOPER: What a difference a half a year makes. If you've been following the Democratic race you probably notice that as of last night, pretty much all the kumbayas have changed to boo-yah. Let's do a quick flash back to the debate in October.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I-VT) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me say something that may not be great politics, but I think the Secretary is right. And that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Me too. Me too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well here's last night in Brooklyn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: You know, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait ...

SANDERS: That's just not accurate.

CLINTON: ... come on. I have stood on the debate stage with Senator Sanders eight prior times. SANDERS: Oh, may excuse me. Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN DEMOCRATIC DEBATE MODERATOR: Secretary, Senator, please.

(CROSSTALK)

CLINTON: ... in New York or Los Angeles ...

BLITZER: Secretary, the viewers ...

CLINTON: ... let's do it, let me just say, let me say.

BLITZER: Secretary, let him finish.

CLINTON: OK.

CLINTON: I put it out ...

SANDERS: Excuse me. I think I'm responding now.

BLITZER: Please go ahead Senator.

SANDERS: Interesting comment but you didn't answer the question.

CLINTON: I did, that's the way were -- yes, I did.

SANDERS: Can I add?

CLINTON: I did answer that ...

SANDERS: May I please ...

CLINTON: Well, don't put words into my mouth and say something that's not ...

BLITZER: Go ahead, Senator.

SANDERS: All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Whether the tone shift will have an impact on voters remain to be seen. We'll see how it all shakes have in New York just four days from now. Right now Clinton is ahead in delegates, even in Sanders has picked up wins in several the last state but there are those in the Sanders campaign. The said the delegate count won't work in Clinton's favor come can -- convention time.

This is going to involve math, maybe even some algebra. So we're calling in John King to break it down for us "By the Numbers". So John, another poll out today showing a big double-digit Clinton lead in New York. How much does she need to win here?

[20:35:00] JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: She needs it and big time Anderson to stop that Sanders momentum and to help her math. Let's take a look, 229 pledge delegate lead for Secretary Clinton. So she wants to win big in New York, she doesn't just want to win Mrs. Clinton. This gives it to Clinton at 55-45 which is a little smaller than the polls suggest. Let me get this right here and then there we go. If she wins New York, it's not just about winning New York, yes that would stretch the delegate math, but what she thinks it would prove is if she hauled in her lock with African-Americans and Latino voters.

And what Secretary Clinton thinks is that gets her a springboard through the rest of April. And in this scenario she would lose only Rhode Island, winning Connecticut, winning Pennsylvania, winning Delaware, winning Maryland. And in that case she start to stretch her delegate lead if she wins 55-45 to the 280s, 290s, maybe as high as 300. That's how the Clinton campaign wants to end the month of April. They think if they do then they have a spring going through May and out to California in June and now to the convention.

COOPER: So how does Sanders change the dynamic to prevent the big Clinton April from happening?

KING: By -- well the best way to change it would be to change that math by doing it this way. To have Bernie Sanders win New York. And somehow come back and upset Clinton in New York, even if it's 51-49 to not only get a little bit of delegate math in his favor but to say I still have the momentum and beat you in your backyard. What the Sanders campaign hopes for and the polls Anderson suggest this is not going to happen, but we'll see what happens is a win in New York, that a win in Pennsylvania, a win in Connecticut and Rhode Island and a win maybe in Delaware.

In this scenario we give Secretary Clinton only April, that's the Sanders dream scenario and maybe Delaware would switch because of the African-American population but the Sanders dream scenario is win in New York and then get at least two or three more of the states in April.

In that case they will have kept the lead about the same or narrowed it a little bit and they can continue to make the case if they have momentum.

COOPER: There's a lot of talk from the Sanders people about a contested campaign. What does the road to that actually look like? Is it a real possibility?

KING: It's a real possibility but it's a very unlikely possibility at the moment which is why New York and the rest of April are so, so, so important for Bernie Sanders. He has to break her demographic lock. She's winning in states that have large African-American or significant Latino populations. That's why New York is so important for Bernie Sanders.

If this goes Secretary Clinton's way, you get Secretary Clinton winning in this region like I said significantly and Bernie Sanders picks up some states and then we get only out to California and Clinton wins, then you can have a scenario where Clinton is about 21/79. She get a little higher in this, she needs 2383, and then all she needs Anderson, at this point if she keeps winning, she won't lose the superdelegates and the superdelegates at the convention would put her well over the line.

So how does Bernie Sanders reverse that? Well what he has to do is Sanders has to come up with a plan, as I said, to essentially to run the board in April, lose one or two, if he can survive at most. Win West Virginia, win Indiana and come all the way west and win California. In that case, Bernie Sanders gets close enough what he's hoping for again, this is a dream scenario, Anderson but it's what they hope for is if he gets this close that would cause a panic among the Democratic superdelegates and then you have a debate and wrestling essentially at the Democratic convention for the loyalty of those delegates. For that to happen though Bernie Sanders needs an awful lot to change in this race, and he would need to change it beginning with a win in New York and then carry on through the mid-Atlantic in the month of April.

COOPER: All John, a lot to watch for. Thanks very much, John King.

Coming up, Donald Trump's roots are deep in the heart of Queens here in New York. So how do people in his old neighborhood remember him? We went to find out, that is next.

Also there's breaking news on a tragedy in Florida. A zookeeper killed by a tiger, details and insights from a top expert on tigers, ahead.

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[20:42:01] COOPER: We saw tense moments tonight and thankfully they appear to be over in Hartford, Connecticut, where a Trump event just finished up. Protesters and Trump supporters in a large number, police trying to keep thing from getting out a hand. Trump's no less polarizing in his home state even in his home turf in the Queens neighborhood where he grew up.

Randi Kaye went there searching for people who knew him when and found no shortage of opinions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: About 10 miles and a world away from Trump tower in Manhattan, you'll find Jamaica estates in Queens. The stomping ground of a young Donald Trump.

MARTHA TAYLOR, THE JAMAICA ESTATES ASSOCIATION CHAIRPERSON: The neighborhood when Donald Trump was a boy was a rather privileged community. It was fairly conservative. Queens was still a Republican borough until, I'd say, the late '50s.

KAYE: This wealthy enclave of manicured laws and tutor house was built at the turn of the last century as an oasis to city life. And it's where Donald's father Fred Trump built this house for his growing family. TAYLOR: They were very quiet, unassuming in the neighborhood, and private people. Donald Trump, he's kind of an anomaly in the Trump family. He was kind of a devil, an impish kind of kid always getting himself in trouble.

KAYE: Paul Onish knows that devilish side of Donald Trump.

PAUL ONISH, CHILDHOOD FRIEND OF DONALD TRUMP: We frequently got detention for passing notes back and forth, throwing spitballs at each other and talking out of turn.

KAYE: He was one of Trump's best friends in middle school. That's a young Donald at the Bar Mitzvah party in the pinstriped jacket. In this photo, Paul in the captain's hat is the lead in the school musical. Opposite him, Donald Trump who played his shipmate. He said his friend who he called Donny was a polarizing figure even back then.

ONISH: He was a little too brash, a little too loud. He wanted things to be his way and those who were on his side liked the way his way was. The group that didn't like it, they stayed away from us.

KAYE: Donald Trump went to elementary and middle school here at the private Q Forest School in Queens. But his friends say he spent so much time in detention, they referred to getting a detention as getting a D.T., for Donny Trump. His parents thought he needed more discipline, so they sent him to a military academy in upstate New York.

Back in his old neighborhood, many still can't believe the boy they knew could become the Republican nominee or even president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an amazing feeling. It's surreal. Just, you know, how many people could say that?

KAYE: Others can't believe some of the more controversial comments Trump has made on the campaign trail. Queens prides itself on its diversity. Just down the street from his Trump's boyhood home what is now one of the biggest Muslim populations in the city. It's one of the many reasons residents here, including Democrats like Martha, are conflicted about Trump's rise in the polls.

[20:45:06] TAYLOR: The feeling in the neighborhood I found is quite mixed. Yes, there's pride that he's a native son, however, many have said that listening to some of the things that he says, they can't abide those comments because they're just not what comes out of this neighborhood.

KAYE: A neighborhood that, thanks to Donald Trump, is now a part of political history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Rand joins us. The pictures of a young Donald Trump pretty amazing, we don't often see those, what else did his friends say about Trump as a young boy? KAYE: Yeah, you got to love those pictures, Anderson, but his friend Paul painted a picture of the young Trump as a pretty tough competitor, even as a young boy. On the soccer field, his friends of the Trump would often yell at him barking out these orders to make sure they won the game. And then Anderson to scare players from other teams, he said that he and Trump actually showed their toughness by eating oranges on the field, the whole orange, I'm talking about the peel and everything, which Trump actually hoped would show the other guys how tough he was. And his friend Paul said that Trump taught him winning early on that winning was important and it gets you trophies.

And finally, Anderson, this friend did say that Donald Trump certainly behaved differently in front of his family and in front of his father. He would go to Trump's house for dinner, the table would be formally set and he said that Donald Trump's dad did most of the talking. There was no clowning around by the young Trump, Anderson?

COOPER: All right, Randi thanks very much.

Up next, inside of the breaking news out of Florida. A deadly tiger attack. I'm joined by animal planet's top expert on large predators. Stay with us.

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[20:50:25] COOPER: Its breaking news. A big cat goes on the attack at the Palm Beach zoo in Florida and kills a beloved zookeeper known as the tiger whisperer. Our Gary Tuchman has more.

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just before 2:00 p.m., the head tiger keeper from Florida's Palm Beach Zoo, was getting ready for an event at the zoo. 38-year-old Stacey Konwiser was going to answer questions from guests about the four rare and endangered Malayan tigers housed there. Three males and one female.

She was in the so-called night house, an enclose area where the tigers eat and sleep, when she was bitten by one of the male tigers. Police said where officials had to tranquilize the tiger before they could reach Stacey Konwiser who was airlifted to the nearest hospital.

NAKI CARTER, ZOO SPOKESWOMAN: The love they have for these animals, you don't get into this business without the love for these animals and understanding the danger that's involved even more.

TUCHMAN: The tiger keeper's injuries so severe, she died at the hospital.

STACEY KONWISER, TIGER KEEPE: My name is Stacey Konwiser. I'm the primary tiger keeper here, the Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society.

TUCHMAN: Stacey Konwiser was working to help breed the Malayan tigers in an effort to save their species. The zoo has not said which of the male tigers bit her and the animal is contained according to zoo officials.

KONWISER: About 340 pounds, he's a little on the larger end of his (inaudible) and tiger.

TUCHMAN: Stacey Konwiser worked at the zoo for three years, along with her husband who was a trainer here.

CARTER: This particular keeper, this was her specialty. This is what she was trained to deal and loved. Loved tigers.

TUCHMAN: Attacks by zoo animals are relatively rare in the U.S. In 2007 a Siberian tiger name Tatiana escaped her open air enclosure in the San Francisco Zoo and attacked three guests. One 17-year-old boy was killed. Tatiana was shot and killed by police after the mauling.

In 2003, the entertainer Siegfried and Roy were performing in Las Vegas with their white tiger Montecore. Half way through the performance, Montecore launch and bit Roy Horn in the neck dragging him around in front of a horrified audience. Montecore was subdued and Roy Horn survived the attack.

KONWISER: And we're doing all of this because of the endangered status of the Malayan tiger.

TUCHMAN: Details of how and why Stacey was bitten by this tiger are still unknown. The zoo is being investigated and remains closed.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Well just moments ago the zoo released a statement saying the public was never in danger and mourning the loss of the tiger keeper.

Joining us now by phone is Dave Salmoni, a zoologist and Animal Planet's large predator expert. I mean Dave, this is just horrific. The incident happened inside the cat's night house which is where the Tiger's eat and sleep. What stands out to you about the incident?

DAVE SALMONI, ANIMAL PLANET'S LARGE PREDATOR EXPERT: It's significant that it happened in that particular enclosure, because typically zoo cats, that's where they feel most comfortable, that's where home in. They are trained to feel like that's their territory.

So when you talk about acts of aggression or acts of dominance, which this might have been either, that would be the most likely place for something like this.

COOPER: And the zookeeper Stacey Konwiser, I mean she was very experienced. Her colleague referred to as the tiger whisperer. Does it surprise you that she would be attacked?

SALMONI: Yeah, I read somewhere where it said she had three years experience and did a hands-on stuff with tigers, and I feel like that's an exaggeration of skill. I feel like to be experienced in handling tigers because they're so intricate, you're talking 10, 15 years.

These animals are super dangerous and people most typically get injured in their first five years of working hands-on with a big tiger. So as much as it's horrifying and saddening, it's not shocking because these are predators. And this is what they do and this is something that they are very good at.

COOPER: And that's obviously something when you're handling animals like this and you always have to keep in mind.

SALMONI: Yeah, I mean obviously, you know, much like myself, this woman has a passion and that passion drives you to accept the risk. And there's no question that this woman would have known the risk she was taking but she accepted it because of all the positives and up side. I know that personally because I handle tigers myself.

It's heartbreaking to hear about a story of someone who loves an animal so much that then went and lost their life to that animal because, you know, I can relate, that the same thing could possibly happen to me tomorrow.

COOPER: And I mean, when you work with an animal, you know, it's natural to kind of develop what you think is a bond with them. But, I mean, that this is an animal which clearly doesn't necessarily feel a bond, is that correct?

SALMONI: Your actually right, so the bonds that we would feel, like in this case, it might be a mother/son, meaning she was probably the mother to some of these tigers in her own mind. But, you know, in the wild, a son or a daughter would absolutely happily, you know, kick another parent out of their territory physically or violently.

[20:55:14] So, even though we would use human terms to describe a bond with a tiger, a tiger is usually in tiger terms. And unfortunately, that can end very violently.

COOPER: Well generally what causes this kind of attack? I mean is it an attempt to kill? Is it just -- I mean do we know what causes it?

SALMONI: Yeah, I would say it's very subtle. I mean, you are either thinking of, if a tiger felt threatened or nervous, they react with aggression. If a tiger feels very hungry and sees it as a source of prey, which in a zoo circumstance is very, very unlikely.

So the third thing might be a sense of dominance. When you're walking into an animal and saying, hey, if you do these rules right, we can give you treats and we can let you go into different enclosures, that forces the animal to follow a certain amount of rules which then creates mental dominance.

So, it could be an act of, hey, I don't want to be dominated by you anymore. It could be an act of, I'm scared of you. I want to hurt you. So it's any one of those things and unless you were there in that particular where you know that woman, she know a tiger or their relationship, it would be difficult for us to speculate.

COOPER: Yeah, well, it's just a horrific incident our thoughts and prayers are with her family. Dave Salmoni, thank you very much.

We'll be right back.

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[21:00:14] COOPER: That does it for us, thanks for watching.

CNN TONIGHT with Don Lemon starts now.