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New York Primary Voting Underway; In New York, Clinton Looks to End Sanders Streak. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 19, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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

[00:00:00] CUOMO: I want to help her. That's community.

PEREIRA: Is that a radio flyer?

CUOMO: That's the good stuff.

BALDWIN: Yes, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Cool. Love it.

CUOMO: New kind, plastic. Not that rusted stuff.

PEREIRA: And her name is Michaela.

BALDWIN: Michaela.

PEREIRA: I love it. Thanks so much, guys.

CUOMO: Makes me feel a little better. But not good enough.

PEREIRA: Time for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. She will also help you through the hard times.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm going do my best. You guys have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, primary day in New York, the Donald looking to dominate.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to keep winning. We're going to win, win, win.

COSTELLO: But still taking swipes.

TRUMP: No New Yorker can vote for Ted Cruz .

COSTELLO: Can Hillary Clinton seal the deal?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm hoping to wrap up the Democratic nomination, but I'm not taking anything for granted.

COSTELLO: But Sanders says not so fast.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: New York state can help take this country a giant step forward. Let's do it.

COSTELLO: We're live across New York, with voting now underway, so let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. New York hit the polls and Donald Trump hits the reset button on his campaign. A major staff shake-up on a major primary day.

You're looking at live pictures from across the state, voters already casting their ballots, including the Clintons who hit the polls early. This is the scene from Chappaqua just a little over an hour ago. The frontrunners on both sides of the aisle now fighting for a win as they try and scoop up delegates to regain momentum.

Here is what's at stake. On the Democratic side, 247 delegates, and for the Republicans, 95 delegates.

We're following all of this with our team of political reporters. I want to start, though, with Jason Carroll, he's at a polling station on Staten Island.

Good morning, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Carol. A number of folks starting to come in here at this polling station in Staten Island. And this is a very popular place for people like Donald Trump. Also Ted Cruz as well.

Look, going forward, there's been much talk about who is steering the ship for Donald Trump. There have been so many changes in his campaign as of late. So let's just sort of throw out a few names for you. This is just recently. Paul Manafort, now the convention manager. You've got Rick Wiley, the political director. Because Wiley is in that position, you've got Stuart Jolly stepping down. He's no longer going to be the national field director.

I know a lot of those names probably don't mean a whole lot to a number of people who are sitting at home watching this. But here's what it really means for the Trump campaign going forward. It means that he should have a better ground game. As you know, he's been very vocal, very critical about how delegates are awarded. Very upset about those losses in places like Colorado and Wyoming.

So going forward, he should have a better ground game, but he also has some very choice words for Ted Cruz last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to show Ted Cruz who hates New York -- hates New York. When you look at that debate, and you see the way he talked about us, and New York values, here is a man that turned down Sandy money for this state. And plenty of other money. We had lots of things coming into New York and he voted against. No New Yorker can vote for Ted Cruz .

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Tough words for Ted Cruz . Again, Trump has a number of supporters out here in Staten Island. He is way up in the polls, ahead of Ted Cruz and John Kasich. A big win for him here in the state would be very important for him, helps him reset the narrative, gives him a lot more momentum heading into states like Pennsylvania -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jason Carroll, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

In the meantime, Mr. Trump is picking up a big boost of support from Rex Ryan, the head coach of the Buffalo Bills. On Monday, Ryan gave Trump a warm welcome during a rally in western New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX RYAN, BUFFALO BILLS COACH: So much that I admire about Mr. Trump, but one thing I really admire about him is you know what, he is -- he'll say what is on his mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Certainly will. Let's bring in Miguel Marquez. He's at a polling station at Lancaster, New York.

Good morning, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Carol. Buffalo very important to Donald Trump, obviously, Rex Ryan connection, but also tried to buy the Bills last year. And one of his biggest supporters, Carl Paladino, another big realtor -- real estate developer in the state is up here as well.

Very, very busy. Been moderate to heavy voting, they're expecting across today. But very, very busy here in Lancaster, just outside of Buffalo. The ladies here, there's Bonnie, Dolores, and Sandy, they check them in and then they go over to their various districts and then they vote at those little white things there, I'm calling them baby booths. They're actually called privacy folders. About 307,000 new registrations since December here.

[09:05:02] So they are expecting a very, very heavy day of turnout. Big, big day for New York, obviously. First time in 40 years on both the Democrat and the Republican side, the presidential primary actually matters.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: All right, Miguel Marquez, thanks so much.

Mr. Trump is basking in Rex Ryan support and a double-digit lead going into today's primary. But Trump's campaign is influx. It appears Corey Lewandowski, who was just cleared of battery charges after grabbing a reporter, is being pushed aside. In his place, a new hierarchy, one that knows how to snag delegate supports.

Trump's rivals may revel in that news, but they cannot win here in this state of New York, and according to Mitt Romney, if both stay in the race going forward, Trump will win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), 2012 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If they're both going at it aggressively, right until the very end, then I think it's very likely that Mr. Trump wins on the first ballot. And I say that because I think Cruz and Kasich divide the vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK, so let's talk about that and more. With me now, Ron Nehring, Senator Cruz's national spokesman, and John Phillips, a Trump supporter and talk radio host.

Welcome to both of you.

JOHN PHILLIPS, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Good morning.

RON NEHRING, TED CRUZ'S NATIONAL SPOKESMAN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

Ron, you heard what Governor Romney says. He says if Kasich or Cruz becomes inactive after the New York primary, it's likely there will be a contested convention. If both stay in the race, Trump will win on the first ballot at the convention. Is he right?

NEHRING: Well, I think we've said for some time that John Kasich should seriously consider, you know, his role in this race as a spoiler. And every single day it looks like he is auditioning to be, you know, Donald Trump's running mate and he is -- you know, he has no way to win the nomination either on the first, second, third, fourth, 12th ballot at the national convention, and he is a distraction at this point. That's, you know, clear.

But part of the reason why Donald Trump is in the position which he's in right now, even if he does very, very well today in New York, which he probably will, we've gained on him in the last four weeks, more delegates that at stake in New York today. And I think that you see in terms of what's happening inside of the Trump campaign, you know, this hot mess of, you know, management problems, which is very similar to the management problems that he's had in numerous business of his whether it's Trump University or Trump steaks, or Trump this, or Trump mortgage and the like.

It's the same pattern that we see in the Trump campaign of mismanagement, either in terms of his businesses or now his campaign going forward. And that's why, you know, even if he does well today, he'll still be behind delegates where he was a month ago.

COSTELLO: So, John, is Ron right? Is Mr. Trump's campaign a hot mess? PHILLIPS: No. It's funny that Ron is making that point of all people

because Ron wasn't the national spokesman for the Ted Cruz campaign when the campaign began. He came in when things went off the rails to try to shore things up.

Now I also think it's interesting that he's suggesting that John Kasich get out of the race. John Kasich is polling ahead of his candidate, Ted Cruz . If the election were -- if the polls are correct, Ted Cruz is going to come in third in a field of three, and he'd come in fourth if none of the above was an option. He's not only coming in third in New York, he's coming in third in Pennsylvania, Maryland, other states that are voting soon. So I think it's Ted Cruz that has the electoral problems right now.

COSTELLO: So, Ron, is it true? Because a lot of people say that Ted Cruz is failing to show he can widen his base, that he only appeals to those staunch conservatives and they aren't plentiful in the states going forward.

NEHRING: Well, you know, when we started this campaign with 17 Republican candidates in the race, and that's narrowed down to effectively a two-person race between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz , five of those former candidates have now united behind Ted Cruz going forward. In addition to having such, you know, leaders as, you know, as Mark Levine and others who have not run for president, Mike Lee, U.S. Senator Mike Lee and the like. So you see that consolidation of support.

In California last week, we released the names of 50 Republican current and former elected officials, including former Senate and assembly Republican leaders in the state of California, also uniting behind, you know, Ted Cruz 's campaign. So we're seeing that consolidation on our side while you're seeing chaos and the typical Trump management style of utter chaos, just like you've seen in his businesses on his campaign side.

COSTELLO: Well, John, speaking of widening the base, Mr. Trump actually needs to do that, too, if he wants to win in a general election. It was interesting that his campaign held this photo op and he -- I think we can put it up on screen now, at least I hope so. But any way it's a picture of this new diversity coalition who will be speaking on Mr. Trump's behalf, trying to widen his base. We see moving pictures of the picture. And there you can see people of all different colors coming into his campaign, but by doing this so publicly, John, doesn't this say that Mr. Trump realizes he has a problem?

PHILLIPS: Look, I think that Donald Trump has a much better shot at widening the base in November than Ted Cruz because Donald Trump is talking about issues that people care about, including the issue of illegal immigration that no one was talking about until Donald Trump gave his speech there at Trump Tower in New York, when he announced that he's running for president.

[09:10:12] What Ted Cruz wants to do is re-litigate the culture battles of the 1990s, and there is just zero appetite -- COSTELLO: Well, let's go back to the diversity issue.

PHILLIPS: -- for that in a general election.

COSTELLO: Let's go back to the diversity issue.

PHILLIPS: Sure.

COSTELLO: Because Mr. Trump's talk on immigration has not exactly caused excitement within certain communities in this country.

PHILLIPS: California is one of the most diverse states in the nation. And let's not forget that Prop 187 and Pete Wilson who ran on the issue of Prop 187 both passed here in the Golden States in a general election. So I think people who want to protect the border, people who want to be hawks on the border, I think you are talking about black people, I think you are talking about illegal immigrants, I think you are talking about poor people, union members. People who don't traditionally vote Republicans.

COSTELLO: Did you include African-Americans in that, John? Because, come on, all the polls show that Donald Trump has very little support among the African-American community.

PHILLIPS: I think African-Americans care about making sure the border is secure.

COSTELLO: OK, we'll leave it there. Thanks so much, Ron Nehring, John Phillips, nice to have you here.

PHILLIPS: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Hillary Clinton makes her final pitch to New Yorkers and takes a swipe at Bernie Sanders. Urging voters to pick a candidate who can, quote, "deliver real results." Her spokesman joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:47] COSTELLO: Democrats battling out in New York from Upstate in Buffalo to the five boroughs of New York City. Voters are casting their ballots between a Brooklyn-born senator and a former secretary of state who calls New York her adopted home.

Joining me now from Brooklyn, CNN's Chris Frates.

Good morning.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol.

And as you can see behind me, the line for this precinct going around the corner and out the door. People have been streaming in all day. In fact, we've seen already 700 people come in since the doors opened at 6:00 a.m.

And to give you a sense of what kind voters we're seeing, 650 of them are Democrats. We have about 50 Republicans. This is a registration event, about nine to one Republicans to Democrats.

This is a huge place for the Democrats, battle of Brooklyn, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton going at it. Hillary Clinton coming into today, double digits in the polls, she is feeling pretty good, hoping that she can do and put Bernie Sanders away, get enough delegates that it makes it mathematically impossible for him to clinch the nomination.

Bernie Sanders looking for a huge upset here. But remember, this is not winner take all. He needs a huge win in New York to take home as many of the 250 delegates as possible, and to cut into her lead. As you can see behind me, Carol, that people keep coming in, so we're expecting a big turnout today, Carol.

COSTELLO: I know you were at two other polling stations, and your polling seems really busy. Is there a long line or is it short line?

FRATES: It is a good line around the corner, and they keep it moving here. There are -- it's very professional. Quickly run. They're making a lot of people get through this process very easy, very quickly.

I'll tell you, Carol, I've been to a lot of polling places around the country. This is a very well-oiled machine.

COSTELLO: That's good to hear. Chris Frates live in Brooklyn, thanks so much.

It is a must win for Hillary Clinton today. "The New York Post", a tabloid that endorsed Mr. Trump, shows Clinton -- well, you can see it here, feeling the Bern. Clinton is expected to win, but not by a landslide. Sanders is a popular guy in some parts of no, and his wife Jane is throwing some punches, accusing Clinton of distorting her husband's record.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JANE SANDERS, WIFE OF SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: The Clinton campaign has been a lot more undermining than we had ever seen before.

JULIE MASON: What do you mean by that?

SANDERS: Well, right after Wisconsin, when he won the eight out of nine contests, primaries and caucuses, he was getting so much momentum that immediately, we heard and it was reported by many news outlets that the new strategy would be disqualify, defeat and worry about uniting the party later.

If you saw the debate, there was a lot of misrepresentation and distortion of his record. And, you know, you've got to fight back to be able to tell the truth.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COSTELLO: With me now, Brian Fallon, press secretary for Hillary for America. Welcome, Brian.

BRIAN FALLON, PRESS SECRETARY FOR HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: So, let's talk about what Jane Sanders just said. She is talking about Clinton saying, again, or intimating that Bernie Sanders is in over his head. And Mrs. Sanders says that's fighting dirty.

FALLON: Well, I have a lot of respect for Mrs. Sanders, and she is an extremely effective advocate for her husband, and has been for these many months now.

Unfortunately, what we have a seep is the attacks have been flying from the Sanders campaign towards us. In fact, yesterday, we heard an outrageous suggestion from the Sanders campaign alleging that there is something unlawful about our effort to raise funds not just to support Hillary Clinton's campaign for president, but also, Democratic whose are running down ballot.

COSTELLO: So, his camp claimed Hillary Clinton was violating campaign finance rules.

FALLON: Right. I think that was a ludicrous charge and a commentary how desperate the Sanders campaign is getting.

You know, coming into New York, his campaign predicted it would be a must win for them and it really is. They need to not just win here, but win big by like 20 points. It doesn't look like that will happen.

So, if Hillary Clinton is able to secure a win today by any margin, the question tomorrow will not be who is going to be the nominee, we'll know for certain it will be Hillary Clinton. The question will be, will Hillary Clinton have to endure the closing weeks of this primary, friendly fire from a fellow Democratic in the form of Bernie Sanders.

[09:20:02] He should not wrap up this nomination fight in that way. You know, one week ago --

COSTELLO: It has been nasty on both sides, because your camp has called the Sanders campaign finance accusations and the attacks on Clinton, shameful, irresponsible and misleading, and those are harsh words. So it's tit for tat, right.

Some people say this is going to hurt the Democratic Party in the long run, whoever the nominee is, because they'll have to, you know, Hillary Clinton -- let me put it this way. Hillary Clinton's factorability ratings have gone down through this primary season. Some people say it is because of Bernie Sanders' attacks on her rather than Trump's.

FALLON: This fundraising mechanism than Hillary Clinton has put in place to help raise money for Democrats down the ticket is the same one that Bernie Sanders set up. He just hasn't raised any money into it. It is the same account that President Obama set up. So, this was a ludicrous charge yesterday. And one week ago today, in

this very charge, Tad Devine from the Sanders campaign was sitting here talking to you, you asked him, why didn't Senator Sanders decide to run as an independent, why did he decided to run through the Democratic primary?

And Tad Devine said that for very simple reason he wanted to run as a Democratic. He didn't want to be a Ralph Nader. He didn't want to be a spoiler. If he didn't win the Democratic nomination, he didn't want to spoil the chances for the Democrats to retain the White House.

I'm afraid if the attacks and the style of yesterday's baseless accusation continue, that that's exactly what he'll be doing. And this has been an extraordinary effort that the Sanders campaign has embarked upon. They've brought so many people into the process, but yesterday, the tone of the attacks was suggesting that if the Democratic Party doesn't see fit to nominate Bernie Sanders, it is not a party worth supporting.

And that is poisonous rhetoric that would seriously imperil our party's ability to come together in these closing weeks.

COSTELLO: So, let's say Hillary Clinton wins big in New York, right, will she then focus her attention on whoever the Republican nominee might be, and forget about Bernie Sanders? Because it seems she started doing that already

FALLON: No, absolutely not. We're going to contest this primary all the way through. We have staff we're hiring for California, which is not voting until June. We're going to be running through the tape and contesting every state, including we have five states on the 26th.

But the math being what it is, we're in a position when we can predict who the nominee is going to be at the end of this process. And so, while we expect to have a spirited contest throughout the remaining weeks with Senator Sanders, we need to watch the tone, we need to watch the rhetoric. I think Senator Sanders needs to remember why he decided to run as a Democrat in the first place.

In the words of his own adviser, it was to not be a Ralph Nader spoiler in the Democratic primary.

COSTELLO: So, what is your prediction after today?

FALLON: I think that today, Hillary Clinton is going to be ever closer to clinching the nomination.

COSTELLO: Is she going to win by double digits?

FALLON: Well, I think that going into New York, based on what the Sanders campaign needed to do math wise, it was they who need to record a 20-point win or better today. So, a win by any margin for Hillary Clinton is a tremendous set back for Bernie Sanders in terms of putting him ever further back on the path to the nomination.

COSTELLO: Brian Fallon, thanks for stopping by. FALLON: Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Good luck today. Thanks so much.

FALLON: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM: a member of the Republican National Committee rules panel accuses his own party leadership of institutional tyranny. We'll talk to him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:27] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 27 minutes past.

An explosive device goes off at the back of a city bus in Jerusalem, injuring at least 21 people. Israel's prime minister calling it a terrorist attack. Police are being more cautious, though, saying it could have been a criminal act. It caused a fire that spread to two other vehicles.

Hamas issued a statement praising the attack but not taking credit for it.

Apple and the FBI are no longer on opposite sides of a lawsuit over the terrorist encrypted iPhone, and today, leaders from both organizations will testify on Capitol Hill. They will appear at a committee hearing aimed at finding ways to laws to fit evolving technology. The panel starts at the top of the hours. Specifically, it will address how tech leaders and law enforcement look at encryption.

The death toll in Ecuador, the earthquake there, has now topped 400, as rescue teams continue to search for survivors buried in the rubble. According to CNN affiliate, Teleamazonas, a 35-year-old man was rescued after the rooms of a hotel yesterday, after he called his mother to tell her he was trapped. Another rescue, crews pulled a dog out of a collapsed building.

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

Voting day here in New York. You're looking at a live picture from a polling place in Brooklyn. New York is a closed primary, only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote in the respective primaries. Independents are not allowed to participate, unless they registered earlier as either Democratic or Republican.

Donald Trump may take New York by storm, but even a victory here will not stop him from trashing the nomination process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The system is rigged. It's not meant for a guy like me who is not taking any money from these special interests. I'm self-funding my campaign. I came up here, I paid for it to come up here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The Republican National Committee insists there is nothing corrupt about the system, but this morning, even an RNC member is accusing his own party of, quote, "institutional tyranny." An Oregon committeeman sent an e-mail to the rules committee, calling the power of the presiding officer of the RNC convention dictatorial, writing in that part that that kind of power lead to, quote, "confusion, chaos, manipulation and revolt at the convention" in Cleveland.

Solomon Yue wrote that e-mail. He joins me now live from Florida.

Welcome, sir.

SOLOMON YUE, RNC RULES COMMITTEE: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. I appreciate it.