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Erin Burnett Outfront
Awaiting Donald Trump at Pennsylvania Rally; Cruz, Kasich Join Forces to Stop Trump; Clinton Holding Rally on Eve of Pennsylvania Primary; What Does Bernie Sanders Want?; Northeast Gears Up for Critical Tuesday Vote; New Details About Prince's Final Days. Aired 7- 8p ET
Aired April 25, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:11] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, countdown to Super Tuesday as Ted Cruz and John Kasich team up to stop Trump. Is their pact dead on arrival?
Plus, inside Trump's former mansion, the indoor pool, the tennis court and the $45 million price tag.
A newly released audio from Prince's final flight. You hear the pilot's voice just before that emergency landing. Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening, I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the countdown to Super Tuesday. Voters in five states heading to the polls just hours from now. With a massive prize of 172 delegates on the Republican side. And at this moment, another big crowd awaiting Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. You see it on your screen, that's ahead of tomorrow's crucial vote in the state. Pennsylvania with the most delegates at stake tomorrow, 71. Meantime, Ted Cruz and John Kasich are making a pact quote-unquote, "trying to stop Trump's path to the nomination." Trump is calling the so-called pact a sign of desperation and accusing his rivals of collusion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know the funny thing? They made a deal, right, that Cruz was going to take Indiana. How weak is that? How pathetic is that when they use collusion? How weak does this make them look? I said to my people that's great, it is going to make them look weak and pathetic, which they are as politicians, okay? I said how weak, how pathetic is that, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Sara Murray is OUTFRONT tonight in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania at the Trump rally going on right now as we wait him take the stage. Sara, how confident is the Trump campaign about tomorrow? It's such a crucial day for Donald Trump.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. And the Trump campaign feels very strong heading into tomorrow's contest. They feel like they could even be positioned to potentially sweep all five, that is based on the public polling that's available but a lot of the drama that we're seeing play out today is focused on contests that are further down the field. There's no sign of the Stop Trump movement is going anywhere. John Kasich and Ted Cruz strike up a deal to split the map.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: In politics, because it's a rigged system, because it's a corrupt enterprise, in politics, you're allowed to collude.
MURRAY (voice-over): Whether it's collusion or common sense, tonight John Kasich and Ted Cruz are teaming up to stop Donald Trump.
TRUMP: So they colluded and actually I was happy because it shows how weak they are. It shows how pathetic they are.
MURRAY: And the real estate mogul is not impressed.
TRUMP: Then I heard this guy Cruz, you know, he's getting killed, he's getting killed. I mean, he got so badly beaten last week and he's getting killed generally.
MURRAY: In nearly simultaneous campaign memos Sunday night, Kasich agreed to pull out of Indiana while Cruz promised to back out of Oregon and New Mexico. All in the latest ploy to stop Trump from clinching the nomination before the convention. Today, Cruz is even mocking Trump's outrage.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't doubt that Donald Trump is going to scream and yell and curse and insult and probably cry and whine some as well. That has been Donald's pattern.
MURRAY: And spinning the deal as his chance to take on Trump mano-a- mano.
CRUZ: It is big news that John Kasich has decided to pull out of Indiana to give us a head-to-head contest with Donald Trump.
MURRAY: All as Kasich appears not quite on board with the pact, cancelling his Indiana campaign events but encouraging his supporters to stick around.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've never told them not to vote for me. They ought to vote for me.
MURRAY: But it's also drawing Trump's ire as the GOP front-runner figures nothing is off limits. Not even Kasich's eating habits.
KASICH: What's the issue?
TRUMP: He has a news conference all the time when he's eating. I have never seen a human being eat in such a disgusting fashion. This guy takes a pancake and he's shoving it in his mouth. It's disgusting. Do you want that for your president? I don't think so. I don't think so. It's disgusting. Honestly, it's disgusting.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MURRAY: Now, Erin, we will see if Donald Trump heats up those attacks here in Pennsylvania tonight. This is a state that could also show whether the Trump campaign has its act together on the organizational side. It's a state that will allot many more unbound delegates tomorrow than it will bound delegates and the Trump campaign has actually put up an official slate, staffers even held a conference call with their Pennsylvania delegates that they're hoping to elect last night so it's clear that the campaign wants to at least show that they are a little bit more disciplined and we'll see if that pays off for them tomorrow -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Sara, thank you very much.
And now, I want to go to Sunlen Serfaty because she is traveling with Ted Cruz and the Cruz campaign in Franklin, Indiana, where of course he's focusing rallying voters right now. I can hear his voice behind you, Sunlen. How important is tomorrow to Cruz? You've got five big states.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, and Erin I have to say the Cruz campaign is certainly not holding their breath for potentially having a good night tomorrow. They are already downplaying expectations, fully well knowing that Donald Trump could well sweep all five states on the board for tomorrow so it is very notable that every campaign is doing and saying tonight has been about looking ahead. Cruz here in Indiana -- and you can hear him behind me -- really focused full-fledged on Indiana, a state that votes one week from tomorrow and also notable that Senator Cruz is talking about the vice presidential process looking farther down the line.
[19:05:33] His campaign confirming today and the candidate confirming himself today that he has gone from having a long list of potential vice presidential picks to a short list and the campaign confirming that they are vetting his former rival Carly Fiorina as well. So really making a big signal on the part of the Cruz campaign that they are in it right now, that they are looking ahead certainly bracing though Erin for potentially a devastating loss -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Sunlen, thank you very much. And you can hear the crowd there cheering behind her, enthusiastic crowd for Ted Cruz in Indiana.
OUTFRONT now, our panel, they are going to be with me for our entire hour on this crucial night before Super Tuesday. David Gergen served as presidential advisor to four presidents including Reagan and Clinton, Margaret Hoover worked in the George W. Bush White House. Tara Setmayer served as communications director for a Republican in Congress. Trump supporter Joe Visconti joins me. Mark Preston, executive editor of politics here. Hillary Clinton supporter Maria Cardona, her firm currently does works for a pro-Clinton Super PAC, she's a super delegate. Bernie Sanders supporter Jonathan Tasini and editor-in-chief of "The Daily Beast," John Avlon.
So, John, let me start with you. Tomorrow this is a crucial day, there's only one day that's only a little bit bigger and that of course is California, New Jersey, a couple other states. Tomorrow is going to be crucial.
JOHN AVLON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "THE DAILY BEAST": It really is. And, look, this is the Acela Corridor primary. But this is an area in the northeast where people have written off Republicans for decades but Donald Trump looks like he's heading for a big night. He appeals to conservative populists in the south and he's had a string of big wins in the north. If he can seal the deal and Ted Cruz is a distant third, it is a momentum maker because the math becomes incredibly difficult and Kasich is trying to claw his way to getting some delegates which should be good territory for him. Ted Cruz distant third in most states, he's kryptonite in the northeast.
BURNETT: And Mark Preston, I mean, this is crucial when you look at delegates, right? You got more than 170 at stake tomorrow. There are not days like this ahead, right? There's only that one more with California. So tomorrow, how close can Trump come to making this inevitable?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, let's just say this. Tomorrow 172 delegates on the table. He has a -- he needs to get 58 percent of the remaining delegates in order to become the nominee. He has the strong wind at his back after coming out of New York having won just about every delegate. This is his ground, as John says, right now. This is the northeast, this is the mid- Atlantic, we have been talking about this since Iowa, this is Donald Trump land. If he can do well tomorrow, that's going to push him into Indiana and that's why Ted Cruz and John Kasich made this unholy alliance to try to stop him in Indiana.
BURNETT: All right. Now, as we were all watching as Sara Murray report there, Joe, I think all of us were laughing, tears in our eyes from laughter, sadness in the case of Tara, I'm not sure. But the point is he takes on John Kasich about the eating today. Look, it was funny, he said a couple of other things though today, on the lines of being presidential, one of them specifically about how he is presidential. Here's what he said?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Do I look like a president? How handsome am I, right? How handsome?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, we're all laughing. But, Joe, I must ask you the question, right? Just like watching Trump slam Kasich for being a slob in his words, how he eats his pancakes. Funny, but is this the right tone for the president of the United States?
JOE VISCONTI, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, what tone would we want the president of the United States -- we have a president now, President Obama, who appears presidential but betrays the constitution in every move he makes seems presidential but is not presidential. Donald Trump is gathering enough power but the people that are working with him and donating their time, their energy and the campaign and it's about sustainability. Here's what you've been missing. He's sustaining the support he has across Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, everywhere he goes, he's not waning. And so he's doing this to keep his people fired up, as he is entertained in the game and they love it. And you love it, too.
BURNETT: All right. We were all laughing, Margaret.
MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He's sustaining it but he's not growing it. The problem is the rest of the Republican field is incredibly split. I mean, what's extraordinary is that the people who like Donald Trump are going to love that anyway and we're all laughing at it, mostly you guys, you're not Republican primary voters, right? I mean, that's what's going on here and it's polarized. The field is split but the momentum is in his direction. It is really difficult to see how Donald Trump doesn't get through this obstacle course successfully.
TARA SETMAYER, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR REP. DANA ROHRABACHER (R): OK. Let's put this in perspective. Donald Trump has won 38 percent of the Republican vote thus far in the primary and he's gotten, what, less than 50 percent of the delegates. Over, you know, 62 percent of Republicans do not support Donald Trump. So all of this rah-rah cheerleading about how, oh, after tomorrow that's it, he's the presumptive front-runner, this was baked into the cake already. No one expected Donald Trump not to do well in these states, so it's important to put in perspective. Was he -- is that shtick that we just saw presidential? Absolutely not. And I'll tell you right now, if Donald Trump were a Democrat, Republicans would be screaming bloody murder about how unqualified this person is, doesn't have the temperament to be president and people who are excusing this away are bunch of hypocrites.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's embarrassing.
[19:10:26] BURNETT: But when you look at the map here. You look at Ted Cruz says he's the only other one who can get there, David Gergen. And yet, he's coming in a distant third in the primary in New York and most likely tomorrow. John Kasich coming in second. And Trump is already slamming Ted Cruz as a loser because of that. Here's how he put it today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I watched Cruz this morning and he's all mixed up because he's losing so badly and when he's under pressure he's like a basket case so he's stuttering and he's stammering and I watched him and he's saying, I want jobs and I want the economy and I want this and I want that. All stuff that I've been saying for years and he just started saying it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: How can Ted Cruz show himself as the nominee tomorrow David Gergen, if he comes in third again?
DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: Hey, listen, he's lost so much of his authority. I mean, we have enough trouble with Trump. I'm not sure we were laughing rather than cringing.
BURNETT: Yes.
GERGEN: You know, when he made some of those remarks but the argument that 52 percent of the Republicans don't like Trump, that doesn't fly when some 65 or 70 percent don't like Cruz. I mean, what kind of argument is that? It's just side down logic. So, let's just --
(CROSSTALK)
SETMAYER: No but --
GERGEN: Hold on.
SETMAYER: But that argument is not about that, it's about people keep saying that Donald Trump should -- we should fall in line behind him but he's -- a lot of people still don't like him.
GERGEN: And a lot of people -- a lot more people don't like Cruz. So the argument that somehow Trump is losing, I think, is upside down. What I do think, though, is that what we've thought we'd see after New York when he came out there and made a more presidential like statement we thought we would see a different Trump. He's clearly chosen to be the old Trump and he may well get to the nomination doing that but he will not win back the voters he needs in order to win the general and he's terrifying countries overseas.
BURNETT: All right. We're going to hit a brief pause because you will all going to be with me after this break. Next, waiting for Donald Trump to take that stage at that rally in Pennsylvania. We'll see if he continues to take the same tone he has in rallies, the secrets of the cruise and Kasich pact. Why now? We have some new reporting on that after this.
And newly released audio from Prince's final flight, the plane in that desperate dive heading for an emergency landing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DISPATCHER: What's the nature of the emergency? What's the nature of the condition?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: An unresponsive passenger.
DISPATCHER: Was it a male or a female passenger?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: A male passenger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And on a much lighter note, Jeanne Moos on Trump impersonating Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's so much easier to be presidential because I don't have to use any energy. You know, I can just walk out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:16:08] BURNETT: And just hours before voters in five states head to the polls, Donald Trump is about to rally supporters in the all- important state of Pennsylvania, the front-runner hoping to build upon his nearly 300-point delegate lead. That's what it is as of tonight. By the time voting is done tomorrow, up for grabs, 172 delegates. This as rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich have announced they are joining forces to keep Donald Trump from running away with the nomination. But joining force, of course, is maybe a subjective term.
Our chief political correspondent Dana Bash is OUTFRONT. And Dana, everyone is talking about this so-called pact. Let's start with the basic question. Why now? Why at this very, very final moment?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The headline answer to that question is because of what happened where you're standing right now in New York last Tuesday which is a big loss for Ted Cruz. He got no delegates despite spending time and money and resources there. And so they really felt inside the Cruz campaign that they didn't have much of a choice because this is something that the Kasich campaign, they have been trying to broker with team Cruz for weeks. I reported about six weeks ago about overtures that top Kasich aides were making directly to Ted Cruz's campaign, through surrogates and middlemen like Mitt Romney and they were going nowhere.
Cruz campaign and sources close to Ted Cruz were telling me at the time they didn't see any reason to have any kind of alliance, split the map strategy which is exactly what team Kasich was looking at back then because they felt that Kasich was a spoiler and that they still could get mathematically to the nomination before the convention. Now because of New York it's mathematically impossible for Ted Cruz. So now it's all about keeping Donald Trump from getting the nomination before Cleveland and he does need John Kasich's help to do that. He could use it at least.
BURNETT: So Dana, the deal, you know, it hasn't even been 24 hours old since the e-mails came out about this deal but already, already, it seems like it may be a little long in the tooth.
BASH: Could be, could be. You know, sometimes the candidates aren't exactly on message. Particularly when it comes to somebody who likes to fly by the seat of his pant, John Kasich. Because he was asked about it today and he said, well, I'm not coming out and saying my supporters shouldn't vote for me in Indiana. Which I know I spoke to at least one top anti-Trump force who said that wasn't exactly helpful, Governor. But I think it speaks to what the reality of this strategy is, Erin, which is that they're not asking each other's supporters to vote for the other. It's not that kind of an alliance, they're not even sharing resources, they're just going their own ways. Ted Cruz in Indiana and then in the first two stops, New Mexico and Oregon, Cruz is going to leave that for John Kasich. BURNETT: All right, thank you very much. Dana Bash. And I want to
go straight back to my panel. So, Mark, let me start with you, to the extent that this pact holds, OK? To the extent that it holds, does it hurt Donald Trump?
PRESTON: I think it helps Donald Trump. I mean, in many ways had this been done two months ago when the discussion had already started between John Kasich in -- in fact, Marco Rubio some of his people were talking to the Ted Cruz people, they were trying to keep all three of these candidates and the idea was divide and conquer, let's deny 1237.
BURNETT: Yes.
PRESTON: Marco Rubio decides to get out of the race at that time, Erin, it doesn't form this pact. At this point now, 15 contests remaining, five are done tomorrow, ten remaining at that point, the wind is at Donald Trump's back and it does play into his whole argument that this is an insider game and it's a rigged system.
BURNETT: And he is already slamming this pact. Here's how he's hitting hard on it today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I get a call last night and they said, sir, Cruz and Kasich have just joined forces. I said, "Oh, really, they did, huh?" That's called collusion, collusion. You know, in a lot of businesses if you collude, it's illegal. Only in politics can you do stuff like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Tara, that can play with some voters but you think the fact that he's coming out against this is so hard is significant.
SETMAYER: Yes. Well, first of all, let's get it straight. It's not colluding. OK? That's a term in business when you make secret, illegal and deceptive -- that's not happening here. It's called building a coalition, it's called collaborating. That happens in politics all the time. What is Donald Trump going to do in Congress, you know, congressmen who -- they collaborate and coalesce and coalition build when they try to pass bills, this is part of our system. So, let's be clear. This term of colluding is propaganda on the part of Donald Trump to whip people into a frenzy thinking the system is rigged which it's not and if he wasn't so concerned about this, he would not be lashing out like this. This is what he does when something hits home.
BURNETT: So, what do you say? Collaborating not colluding, Joe?
VISCONTI: What is really happening is Donald Trump is closing in on 1,000 delegates. That's the real reality. That those on the right of the -- are a little upset about on the establishment. He's closing in on 1,000. He will get -- Paul Manafort will get him the numbers he want. They don't know what to do hear in the establishment. And that's the real reality. Donald Trump is showing you, showing the colors of what Ted Cruz is doing. He holds up the Bible like what he says and he lies and right now he is going to lose a lot -- Ted Cruz has lost a lot of credibility after this primary is over and he knows it.
BURNETT: David?
[19:21:31] GERGEN: Yes. On paper this looked like it might have been a smart deal. There's about a six-point difference. Trump is about six points ahead of Cruz in Indiana. If Cruz can win Indiana, it changes the dynamics again. And Kasich has about 19 points so a third of Kasich voters moved over in effect, you know, Cruz could win that. That would be big. But this thing has been rolled out in such a clumsy fashion and it looks so weak at the last minute, that I think what Trump is doing is trying to shine a light on it. He wants everybody to know what they're engaged in.
PRESTON: Exactly. Exactly.
GERGEN: If you go to Mark's point, he thinks it will help him.
BURNETT: And also, you also see the pact itself, now you heard Dana explaining it's really -- they're just going to go their own ways but it's already sort of falling apart. You had John Kasich saying, I never told them not to vote for me, they should vote for me. That's hardly OK --
PRESTON: If --
BURNETT: Give them a third of --
PRESTON: If you were in the messaging game, you would look at how this rolled out and say it was an absolute abject failure, right? About, they put the statement out on a Sunday night, their campaigns refused to talk about it today, they put their principals out and both of their principals trip. Two things to note, though, one, it's not against the law what they're doing, we should note that, it's just hardball politics. Two, we'll let the court of public opinion decide when we get to Cleveland whether the delegates think that Trump should either get it if he doesn't get to 1237 or he does get if he gets to 1237.
VISCONTI: If they don't break FEC regulation and actually organize and use resources, if they're coordinating resources, that would be against the law.
HOOVER: Here's the challenge. I mean, here's the challenge. This is all about Indiana, and this is actually the success of Cruz trying to control the narrative because the last stand is Indiana for Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz has to win Indiana. He can win Indiana. He'll get some momentum and then there's this argument. But tomorrow this notion that this will help -- like Kasich could keep Trump's numbers down has demonstrated to be false because New York Kasich wasn't able to do it. Kasich has run fundamentally weaker than he needed to run in order to have this collusion even be effective. And by the way, it's not collusion
(LAUGHTER) BURNETT: John Avlon, the one thing though that I find interesting is
how these guys are even going to trust each other. I mean, a millimeter, how they'll even going to trust each other because here is what Ted Cruz was saying about John Kasich just a few days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: I don't know if john Kasich is perhaps campaigning to be Donald Trump's vice president. Kasich's roll is essentially as a spoiler. A vote for John Kasich is a vote for Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: I mean, what can you say? He's a lovable guy.
(LAUGHTER)
I think, look, the people Ted Cruz trusts could probably fit in a phone booth. And there's not a lot of love lost between these two campaigns. You know, there had been outreach before by the Kasich campaign. It had been swatted down but then desperation makes for strange political bedfellows. This is all just again -- and if Ted Cruz pulls a rabbit out of a hat with an assist for Mike Pence in Indiana, I wouldn't be surprised if he turns around and stabs Kasich right in the back.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And, you know, put aside the fact that it's not colluding and Donald Trump knows that. But --
BURNETT: The American public, guys -- the American public, if this doesn't look good it doesn't sound good. I don't care what words you want to use.
CARDONA: But more than that, and put aside the horrible rollout that this had. This plays into Trump's message about Washington politics, about the rigged system, about the Washington Republican establishment working against him and therefore working against the grass-roots. That riles up his supporters and it helps him in the end.
BURNETT: All right.
SETMAYER: He has no problem hiring Washington insiders to help run his campaign which is the hypocrisy once again. So the system benefits him and there's nothing rigged about it, it's called politics and it's called campaigning and if you want to win you learn how to win.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
BURNETT: All right. Next, Hillary Clinton also campaigning in Philadelphia tonight. The front-runner poised for a major win tomorrow. So what is next for Bernie Sanders?
And this mansion that Donald Trump once called home complete with an indoor pool and tennis court, well, it could be yours if you have $45 million to throw around. Guess what? It's up for sale. We went there and you will see a tour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:29:26] BURNETT: Tonight, Hillary Clinton looking to run the table on Super Tuesday. These are live pictures out of Philadelphia on your screen. Hillary Clinton about to hold a campaign rally there. Pennsylvania of course one of five states holding those crucial primaries tomorrow. Polls show Clinton with the edge tomorrow over Bernie Sanders but he is not backing down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am very proud to come before you and tell you I do not have a Super PAC. Wall Street, thanks very much, we don't want your damn money. Secretary Clinton has chosen to raise her money a different way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:30:02] BURNETT: Brianna Keilar is OUTFRONT at the Clinton rally.
And, Brianna, how confident is the Clinton campaign about tomorrow?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Overall, Erin, they're feeling pretty good. They feel good about Pennsylvania, which is the big piece of the pie, 189 delegates, and they feel even better about Maryland, which is the next biggest contest with 95 delegates at stake. They think she has that wrapped up and that there's a possibility by the end of tomorrow because these delegates are awarded proportionally that Hillary Clinton could be 90 percent of the way toward that all-important number of 2,383 delegates.
Perhaps, that's why we see her channeling some of this confidence into a new attack line against the Republican front-runner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump says wages are too high in America and he doesn't support raising the minimum wage, and I have said, come out of those towers named for yourself and actually talk and listen to people.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
Don't just fly that big jet in and land it and go make a big speech and insult everybody you can think of. And then go back, get on that big jet and go back to, you know, your country clubhouse in Florid or in your penthouse in New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And the math is very difficult for Bernie Sanders going into tomorrow, Erin. With that loss in New York last week, he would now have to win about six out of the -- six out of ten remaining delegates, six-tenths of them going forward. That's just if you're looking at pledged delegates. You include super delegates into that math, he would have to win three out of four and you have a lot of states ahead of us that are racially diverse and that's much more advantageous to Hillary Clinton, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Brianna, thank you very much.
My panel is back with me.
Jonathan Tasini, let me start with you. The polls obviously show Hillary Clinton well ahead tomorrow. You heard what Brianna just said, the states ahead demographically seem to play to her strength. He is the vowing to stay in this race all the way to the convention.
What does he want?
JONATHAN TASINI, BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER: Well, let's first -- in some of states, in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware, I think the polls are pretty close, within a few points. So, he could win a couple of states.
But we've known the math has been difficult for sometime. There are states coming in May and June running up to California where I think we want to compete.
You know, Bernie has always been about this political revolution and I think actually for the Clinton campaign and for our campaign, whoever ends up being the nominee, it's very good to have these contests. Contests engage voters, contests actually have people who knock on doors, you get people who are energized, people in volunteering. Those are important activities that help build the campaign towards the general election.
JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: But what do you guys want?
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: There you go, John?
(CROSSTALK)
TASINI: I heard the question. So short -- if Bernie is not the nominee -- and I still believe he does have a path, we certainly want to influence the platform which has been a significant thing. And Bernie believes in a political revolution.
Frankly, Bernie has defined this election. We had a moderate Democrat, a corporate Democrat have to take essentially most of Bernie's positions in order to win this primary. We want to actually influence the platform which will mean commitment to $15 minimum wage. Defeating and not supporting the Trans Pacific Partnership and a whole other list of things we want to carry forward in the election.
And then beyond that, I have a good sense that if Trump is the nominee that we will win back the U.S. Senate and then Bernie will have potentially a chairmanship where he can continue that political revolution, either as a chair of the budget committee, chair of the banking committee. But we still want to win this nomination and I think that's what we're fighting for.
BURNETT: Maria, Sanders still have a path. You heard Brianna lay out the math, 6 in 10, all right? That's doable but incredibly difficult -- incredibly difficult.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Incredibly difficult would describe his path now before tomorrow. I think after tomorrow, it's all but impossible.
But, look, he should stay in. As you know, I've never been somebody to say he should get out. I agree with Jonathan that this has been very good for the Democratic Party, very good for the debate.
Imagine how boring it would be if this wasn't going on and the chaos was happening on the Republican side?
TASINI: And, in fact, we're very proud -- that's the kind of debate if you compare to the chaos over there, the kind of debate about issues we've had.
CARDONA: Absolutely. But here's where I think Bernie Sanders has got a choice to make moving forward in terms of the tone. Because what he doesn't want to do -- and I don't think his campaign want this is, Tad Devine has said this -- he doesn't want to in any way feed into any Republican rhetoric that could be used to attack Hillary. And Trump has already been using his lines, Bernie Sanders' lines to attack Hillary Clinton.
BURNETT: Look, there's already been -- you know, you have a quarter of Bernie Sanders supporters who say they will never vote for Hillary Clinton under any circumstance, Mark, and the Clinton campaign has said harsh things about Bernie Sanders already. Let's play a clip here, including Bill Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: I think it's fine that all these young students have been so enthusiastic for her opponent and sound so good, just shoot everything on Wall Street and everything will be fine.
HILLARY CLINTON: I feel sorry sometimes for young people who, you know, believe this. They don't do their own research.
He's a relatively new Democrat and, in fact, I'm not even sure he is one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:35:00] BURNETT: How do you overcome that?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, first of all, Democrats are lucky they have this battle on the Republican side right now which has sucked up every bit of oxygen right now and the focus has been on that and not the internal battle that we see here between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. A couple things right here. I do believe that Bernie Sanders has to
be careful. He has to walk a fine line.
He has come out of nowhere. He has grabbed on to a movement and has given it life and he has brought it to the forefront. However, he goes back to the U.S. Senate and if he looks like a spoiler, then Elizabeth Warren, who was the cheerleader before Bernie Sanders, is going to come in, take over the movement and Bernie Sanders goes to being a senator from Vermont.
(CROSSTALK)
TASINI: Bernie Sanders has been in the Senate before Elizabeth Warren, with all due respect. He's led this fight on banks and other things.
(CROSSTALK)
PRESTON: But she was -- it's undeniable in the last year or two, she has been the undeniable leader of the liberal movement.
TASINI: So, the two things I want to do that. I actually think we've overdone this issue about conflict and not coming together. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had a very, very spirited and somewhat contested bitter debate in 2008. The party came together and won the election.
I think the same thing, generally, is going to happen here. The question is on the excitement.
AVLON: Running against Donald Trump is going to provide plenty of enthusiasm.
(CROSSTALK)
AVLON: Remember that pumas for 2008? That didn't end well.
The other bit of history that folks on the far left need to keep in mind is Ralph Nader getting 98,000 votes in Florida in 2000. Those folks attempting to stay home or sit it out because Hillary Clinton isn't liberal enough, they have to confront that history.
BURNETT: All right, thanks to all --
TASINI: That's what I was going to say. The pumas were nice things to talk about --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Before we get into acronym-ville.
(LAUGHTER)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT next, Donald Trump's Connecticut roots. We're going to take you inside the multimillion dollar mansion he and Ivana call home. And Prince last seen using a cane, reportedly suffering from some
serious hip problems. Did he avoid surgery because of his religious beliefs? We have a special report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:41:02] BURNETT: And welcome back.
Donald Trump live at a rally in Pennsylvania. And as we count you down to tomorrow's crucial Super Tuesday with five states and 172 delegates in play in the Republican side. Donald Trump may be the quintessential New Yorker, but once upon a time, he had a home in the upscale community of Greenwich, Connecticut, a state where he's expected to win big tomorrow.
Richard Roth is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've lived in Connecticut. I have so many friends in Connecticut. I love Connecticut.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump also once love add a huge Connecticut summer house he owned in leafy Greenwich to the South.
(on camera): Yes, I'd like to see the home.
(voice-over): The suburban getaway was just 32 miles from Manhattan where Trump was hitting his stride creating Trump Tower and other properties in the '80s.
TRUMP: I'd like to see New York have the world's tallest building.
ROTH: Trump, wife Ivana and their three children enjoyed life along the Long Island sound beginning in 1984. Described as a trophy property by real estate experts, there's now 20,000 square feet to relax in. Ivana decorated the home while she was also sprucing up Donald's Plaza Hotel in the late '80s.
At home in Connecticut, a chef prepared chicken and sauce one night and a parrot observed the married couple. And now it can all be yours.
TAMAR LURIE, COLDWELL BANKER REAL ESTATE AGENT: They built the house for about $4 million and it's now on the market for $45 million. A lot has happened since they bought it.
ROTH: Donald and Ivana divorced in 1991. She got the home which she sold for $16 million in 1998.
The price has soared with property extensions and new features such as an indoor swimming pool and tennis court. Only one family has lived here since the Trumps.
LURIE: So, this is the library and, you know, it's very much the way it was when Donald Trump lived here.
ROTH (on camera): Reading the paper in this elegant home, very comfortable here, only these days, Donald Trump is the one making the news.
(voice-over): Broker Tamara Lurie lived in a Trump Tower, a Fifth Avenue apartment and knows Mr. Trump whose name might goose the purchase price of a suburban home.
LURIE: We have a lot of celebrities in Greenwich. Clearly, if he becomes president, it has a total different connotation to the whole thing.
ROTH: What you remember most from the visit is a three-story rotunda in the entranceway. The broker thinks the tony town of Greenwich favors Trump.
(voice-over): I thought I saw a sign that said "Donald Trump slept here" on the lawn, caught my eyes.
LURIE: It might have, but not yet.
ROTH: Richard Roth, CNN, Greenwich.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: All right. My panel is back with me now.
John, look, he says I know people there, I love Connecticut. Does his ties -- do his ties to Connecticut help him tomorrow?
AVLON: Well, that package reminds us he's a real man of the people and as the populist hero he is, what I'll be looking for throughout all the states is whether he's able to continue to win the white working class, because who can't look at that spread and say "he's one of us"?
(LAUGHTER)
BURNETT: Jonathan Tasini, tomorrow, the one thing you're looking for?
TASINI: Whatever happens you'll see donations to Bernie's campaign skyrocket. He's the first candidate I've seen who even when he doesn't necessarily win all the states, he continues to get more because we're serious about this political revolution. All those people out there in the grass roots want to change the country and establishment politics. This is going on way past the convention to the general election into the future. We're very excited about that.
BURNETT: Maria?
CARDONA: I'm going to look for tone from Bernie Sanders after tomorrow when it's very clear that Bernie Sanders does not have a mathematical path to the nomination. I want to say a word about party unity.
I was there in 2008 working for Hillary. It hurt like hell. Emotions are raw, passions are raw, it rips your heart out when it happens.
But guess what? At the time, 40 percent of Hillary Clinton supporters said they would never vote for Barack Obama. That didn't happen.
Today, it's 25 percent of Sanders supporters. I think he will do the right thing, step up, tell his supporters we have to come together and be there for Hillary Clinton the way she was there for Obama.
TASINI: After California.
BURNETT: Tomorrow, what do we need to watch?
PRESTON: There are two elections to watch in Pennsylvania tomorrow. There's the beauty contest election, where 17 delegates, Donald Trump is going to win that. Fifty-four individual elections will take place and these are the delegates that will be elected but do not have to choose who they support, the last six days right now, Donald Trump's organization since Paul Manafort has taken over has gone in hard in Pennsylvania. We'll see if 54.
JOE VISCONTI, TRUMP UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Connecticut, we take it, Donald Trump takes it, we shut out Kasich. These are the last days of Pompeii for the stop Trump movement and the Greenwich millionaires who don't like Ted Cruz and have been bundling money for him are going to give up. Donald Trump breaks the back of the Republican establishment tomorrow.
BURNETT: Tara?
TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Tomorrow's results will be no surprise to most people. We already considered Donald Trump to win those states. I'm interested to see the margins in Pennsylvania.
But it will not be Pompeii tomorrow. Indiana probably will be. And the month of May won't be as friendly to Donald Trump and last time I checked you have to win a majority which he has not done yet. So, when he hits 1,237, we can have a party.
MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Going down the Acela corridor, Maryland, that's the one place Kasich has the chance of picking up delegates tomorrow. How strongly does he perform? Is he able to pick up the suburban district of Maryland?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: A few weeks ago, it looked like Donald Trump probably would not get to 1,237. I think tomorrow night, we may realize he actually could do it. He'd get there and shift in his favor. I'd still like to know, does he have any books in that library?
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Thank you all.
And next, our special report on Prince's religious life. He was a Jehovah's Witness. Did he follow convention and preach door to door?
And Jeanne Moos on Donald Trump, proving imitation isn't always the sincerest form of flattery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Romney choked like a dog. He choked.
It's Rubio!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMRECIAL BREAK)
[19:50:28] BURNETT: New audio tonight from the cockpit of Prince's jet, forced to make an emergency landing just days before the icon was found dead in his home.
In this recording, you hear a pilot referring to an unresponsive passenger just seconds before the jet made a dramatic descent, and when I say dramatic, 45,000 feet is how quickly it came down in only 17 minutes. At one point, more than 5,000 feet per minute of a drop.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DISPATCHER: What's the nature of the emergency? What's the nature of the condition?
CALLER: An unresponsive passenger.
DISPATCHER: Was it a male or female?
CALLER: A male passenger.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: The singer was having some health issues. He was a devout Jehovah's Witness.
And Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prince, the mega pop star known for -- this was best known here singing these religious songs. This as a Jehovah's Witness kingdom haul St. Louis Park congregation, Prince's home church for the past decade.
DAVID OSBORN, PRINCE'S JEHOVAH'S WITNESS BROTHER: We feel it deeply. It's -- you know, it's a sad loss.
LAH (on camera): For you, though, what is he?
OSBORN: He was a brother. You know, simply a brother. LAH (voice-over): A brother in a little understood religion. Prince
was baptized in 2003 and embraced it. The congregation invited CNN into this first service after Prince's death, sharing stories of a starkly different man than the one we know.
(on camera): He never acted like Prince, the pop star?
JAMES LUNDSTROM, PRINCE'S JEHOVAH'S WITNESS BROTHER: At the kingdom hall, never, no. His dress would be similar to what I am wearing as well. Nothing, you know, flamboyant.
LAH (voice-over): Elder James Lundstrom says he befriended him 14 years ago.
(on camera): Tell me about Prince as a witness.
LUNDSTROM: Oh, he would go door to door, knocking on doors like you're familiar with what our ministry is. A woman probably in her early 40s, says nice presentation, middle of it, woman says, excuse me, has anyone ever told you, you look a lot like Prince? He's just, (INAUDIBLE) said, but going back to my ministry here.
LAH: Here, Prince asked to go by "Brother Nelson", his legal last name, dutifully knocking on doors monthly, setting his Bible, marking with post-it notes. This conservative group, some admit they never heard of or dance to "Let's Go Crazy", are fiercely protective of their brother and faith. They tell us Prince looked healthy when he attended services last month.
Prince last seen two weeks ago at his Atlanta concert walking with a cane, reportedly suffered from hip problems that required surgery.
Jehovah's Witness members forbidden to receive blood transfusions say that belief had nothing to do with Prince's death.
OSBORN: Nobody said he couldn't get surgery, absolutely not. We are not anti-medicine. In fact, we go out of our way to try to find the best medical care that we can.
LAH: A religion of 8 million believers calls of sympathy and grief over Prince's loss have been pouring into this church. The only solace, the witnesses believe Prince will return to them.
LUNDSTROM: We expect Brother Nelson to be resurrected here on earthlike the Bible says, when Jehovah cleanses this earth of all it evil, there will be a resurrection, we're going to welcome him back. Like flesh and blood like we talk right now. It's a deep, deep belief that we have.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: Now, autopsy results for Prince are still pending. It could be weeks before we have a cause of death that will be made public. A spokesperson for Prince was asked whether or not a will exists. She declined to answer. If a will does not exist, then under state law, the estate would go to next of kin. In this case, Erin, it will be a sister and some half siblings --
Erin.
BURNETT: Absolutely fascinating report. Kyung Lah, thank you so much.
And next, Jeanne Moos on Donald Trump, 2016 impersonator-in-chief. Here is his Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Crooked Hillary Clinton, she walks it. Good afternoon, Bridgeport. How are you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:58:24] BURNETT: Donald Trump pretending to be presidential or pretending to be John Kasich or Clinton or Carson or -- here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Comedians are constantly impersonating Donald Trump.
JIMMY FALLON, COMEDIAN: With the bigger hands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is huge.
MOOS: But you know who else imitates the Donald? The Donald, acting presidential.
Trump loves doing imitations.
TRUMP: Rubio!
MOOS: Whether it be Marco Rubio, guzzling water.
Or Mitt Romney chocking.
TRUMP: Romney choked like a dog. He went --
MOOS: Sometimes, his routines back fire, for instance, when he does accents.
TRUMP: They say, we want deals.
MOOS: Or imitates a call center operator in India.
TRUMP: Said, where are you from? We are from India. Oh, great. That's wonderful.
MOOS: Didn't go over so wonderfully with Indian commentators.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing but a cheap jive.
MOOS: Trump has imitated Hillary, portraying her as robotic.
TRUMP: How are you? This is crooked Hillary Clinton.
MOOS: But if Donald Trump can do a lame Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton can do a lame Donald Trump.
CLINTON: You know, this is a huge election. Isn't he the one like, ah, you're all losers?
MOOS: Sometimes Trump imitates with his hands rather than his voice.
John Kasich eating, for instance.
TRUMP: He has a news conference all the time when he's eating. I have never seen a human being eat in such a disgusting fashion.
MOOS: One thing you rarely see Trump eat, his words.
TRUMP: Bites this big. He's pushing it in.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN.
TRUMP: It's disgusting.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Oh, thank you so much for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.