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Cruz Campaign On Trump's "America First" Proposals; Syrian Forces Recapture Palmyra From ISIS; Pentagon Say ISIS's Second In Command Killed; Interview with Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook; Sanders Eyes NY After Western Saturday Sweep. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired March 28, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:33:00] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland meeting with two Democratic senators today on Capitol Hill. His first big task coming tomorrow, though, when he goes face- to-face with Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, the Illinois lawmaker -- the first Republican agreeing to meet with Garland. The GOP leadership wants the next president to fill the high court vacancy.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Frustrations over the Flint water crisis sparking the latest effort to remove embattled Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. Organizers collecting signatures over the weekend as part of a petition to place a recall question on the November ballot. Snyder says he's focused on responding to the needs in Flint and dismisses the recall effort as part of the democratic process.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Civil rights groups are heading to court to pull the plug on North Carolina's so-called bathroom bill. The State Assembly passed a measure to prevent communities from creating anti- discrimination legislation just last week after the city of Charlotte approved a bill allowing transgender residents to use restrooms in line with their gender identity. The lawsuit claims the ban discriminates against gay and transgender residents. Supporters say it protects women and children.

PEREIRA: Well, Donald Trump is a grandfather again. The Republic front-runner's daughter, Ivanka, announced on Twitter the birth of her third child, a baby boy. He was given a very presidential name, Theodore. Congratulations.

Meanwhile, Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and former president Bill Clinton -- she's expecting her second child this summer. All sorts of babies arriving, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That's wonderful. It must be something in the water.

Well, the attacks in Brussels putting terrorism front and center on the campaign trail, and now Donald Trump has spelled out his foreign policy positions to The New York Times. What does Ted Cruz think of those positions and what about the criticism of Cruz's own plan to target ISIS sympathizers?

Let's bring in Ted Cruz's New Jersey campaign state director and former Senate candidate, Steve Lonegan. Mr. Lonegan, thanks so much for being here.

STEVE LONEGAN, CRUZ CAMPAIGN N.J. STATE DIRECTOR: Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's talk about Donald Trump's foreign policy -- the Trump doctrine, if you will, that he spelled out to The New York Times. It seems to hinge on getting our allies -- Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia -- to pay for the U.S. protection or telling them to go it alone. What does Sen. Cruz think about that position?

LONEGAN: Well, Sen. Cruz came out on day one, after the Brussels attacks -- the tragic Brussels attacks -- and demonstrated he was the best candidate. He could be ready on day one to be President of the United States. And he talked about exactly what he would do as America -- as a leader -- in taking on ISIS, not on basically deflecting this with rhetoric about have the other guys pay. At this point I don't think it matters who pays. It matters who wins and who beats ISIS, and that's what we're going to do when Ted Cruz is president.

CAMEROTA: One of the things that Sen. Cruz has talked about is having more police presence and more surveillance in Muslim neighborhoods here in the United States.

LONEGAN: I think the vast majority of Americans agree with that. I can guarantee this. I know for a fact that the Muslim terrorists in Paris came out of a Muslim community, as did the ones in Belgium, as did the shooter at San Bernardino, as did the 9-11 attackers. I mean, they certainly didn't come out of my Catholic church. We know that for a fact.

[07:35:00] So, to say that we shouldn't be looking within the Muslim communities -- and they should be opening up their doors, by the way, to working with police and they should do it openly and they very much want to.

CAMEROTA: Well --

LONEGAN: The Muslims in this country who are opposed to ISIS will cooperate with authorities 100 percent.

CAMEROTA: Well, this weekend some national security experts said that Ted Cruz's suggestion was not helpful, even possibly dangerous. Let me play that for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MILLER, NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER: I think when you have people campaigning through fear and using that as leverage, and then giving advice to the police to be the cudgel of that fear, that's not the direction American policing should be taking in a democracy.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX), CHAIRMAN, HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: In Europe, it's very segregated and you have the diaspora in Belgium that I saw, and they're being radicalized because they're not assimilated with the culture. I don't think we have that same situation in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was Congressman Michael McCaul and that was the deputy commissioner, John Miller, for the NYPD. They're basically saying it's too incendiary, what he's saying.

LONEGAN: I think what Ted Cruz is saying is obviously -- makes total common sense. We know where these terrorists are based out of and we knew there were these cells developed. To say otherwise is just following Hillary Clinton's line, so --

CAMEROTA: But doesn't it -- even a painting with too broad of a brush to say Muslim communities? Obviously, any sort of extremists is a fraction of who lives in a Muslim community. Why lump all Muslims into the same group?

LONEGAN: Sen. Cruz has put forth a plan to fight Muslim terrorism -- Islamic terrorism, I'm sorry -- for radical Islamic terrorism. We're not trying to paint the whole Muslim community with the same brush. We know that's not the case. We also know we need to police those communities and those mosques where these men may come out of. We've seen that in Paris, we've seen in Brussels, and if we don't take that approach in this country we're going to have a big problem.

Ted Cruz has demonstrated, once again, that he's the guy ready to be president on day one. This rhetoric about we're going to force this guy to pay, that guy to pay is totally unproductive. If you want to talk about unproductive, that means nothing whatsoever. It demonstrates, once again, that Donald Trump is not able to debate Ted Cruz on a debate stage, then we can hash this out.

CAMEROTA: I want to talk about the personal issues that seem to have cropped up and it continued this weekend with the war of wives, as it's being called. Donald Trump, as you know, has threatened to go after Heidi Cruz. He said he's going to spill the beans.

LONEGAN: Absolutely appalling. Once again, Donald Trump is scared to death. He's a coward. He's afraid to debate Ted Cruz on a debate stage where Ted Cruz will dominate on the issues of true substance.

Instead, the campaign evolves into these personal attacks -- these attacks against Ted Cruz's wonderful wife Heidi, who, by the way, will be campaigning across the state of New Jersey this Monday -- this Wednesday, from one end of the state to the other, and in New York City because they're coming here to compete in New York and to compete in New Jersey. So, Heidi Cruz is going to be the most amazing first lady this country's seen, probably since Abigail Adams.

CAMEROTA: Heidi Cruz has talked about her bout with depression. She's struggled with it as so many Americans do. Is that what the campaign thinks Donald Trump means about spill the beans?

LONEGAN: I think that what's Donald Trump is exactly talking about, and Heidi Cruz should be an example to every American of standing up against the issues and -- against things like depression, which many people deal with -- and actually be an example for young women across this country.

CAMEROTA: Steve Lonegan, great to have you here on NEW DAY.

LONEGAN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks for much for all of the information.

LONEGAN: Thanks for having me, yes.

CAMEROTA: What's you take on all of these stories? You can tweet us @NewDay or you can post your comments on facebook.com/NewDay. We'd love to read those. Let's get over to Don.

LEMON: Alisyn, thank you. ISIS now on the move in the Middle East and Africa. They're even gaining strength in Libya. Has it changed the way the U.S. fights terror around the globe? Answers directly from the Pentagon, next.

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[07:42:00] LEMON: Syrian forces say they managed to drive ISIS from the historic city of Palmyra after nearly a year under ISIS control. It comes as the U.S. military officials reveal that they took out the terror group's second in command.

So joining me now to talk about the impact on the war on ISIS is Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook. Mr. Cook, good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining us here.

PETER COOK, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Morning, Don.

LEMON: First, tell me about the death of al-Qaduli. It was announced on Friday at a Pentagon presser. What more can you tell us about his death?

COOK: Well, what I can tell you, Don, is as the secretary said here in the briefing room back on Friday, we are systematically eliminating members of ISIL's cabinet and this individual, as you said, very high on the leadership. Someone that they considered, sort of, to be their finance chief. And this will have an impact on ISIL's ability moving forward -- its ability to coordinate, its ability to organize, its ability, in particular, to pay its troops.

And we've seen in recent weeks that we've been able to do damage to that. That it's much harder for them to pay their soldiers, if you will -- their supporters in places like Mosul. They are cash-strapped at this point and that's in large part because of the efforts on the part of the coalition to target their financing, target their infrastructure, and to target their leadership. This is just one recent example.

As you know, Don, we also took out their minister of war about two weeks. We captured their chemical amir, so we are having an impact on ISIL's leadership. There is still plenty of work to do and with the help of the coalition we are, again, gaining momentum in the fight against ISIL, both in Syria and in Iraq. LEMON: Before we move on and talk about the momentum, let's talk about his capture because it was supposed to be a live capture and it didn't end up that way. How does this affect what you're doing?

COOK: Well, listen, the fact that this person has been removed as a player within ISIL's leadership is significant. And while we would always hope, perhaps, to capture people and be able to gain the intelligence, what's important there is we are again having impact on their leadership, on their ability to organize, and this was a critical player -- an experienced player within ISIL's leadership and we're confident that his removal from the playing field here -- from the battlefield -- is significant, will do harm to ISIL, and we'll continue to target their leadership as we have from the start of this campaign.

LEMON: So let's talk about the momentum now because ISIS is now moving throughout the Middle East and also moving into Africa. We're seeing a group gaining strength in Libya, for example. Has that changed how the Pentagon fights terror around the globe?

COOK: Well, what we've said from the start and what you've heard Sec. Carter talk about is the fact that we need to target ISIL -- the heart of the tumor, if you will -- in Iraq and Syria, but also to deal with the metastasis of ISIL where it pops up in other parts of the world.

[07:45:00] Libya is one example. We've seen it pop up as well in Afghanistan and we have taken actions, as you know, through airstrikes in both those places, trying to target ISIL before they're able to gain more of a foothold, and so it's a multi-pronged effort. We also, of course, need to do what we can to protect the homeland. Not only the U.S. homeland but we've seen what's happened when ISIL spreads out in Europe and other parts of the world. So this is a coordinator effort. It's not just Iraq and Syria. It's keeping track of ISIL -- keeping ISIL under wraps wherever they may pop up.

LEMON: Mr. Cook, as you know, the United Nations released a report and this was just two weeks ago. And it says that ISIS is benefitting from the power vacuum in Libya and it hasn't been adequately addressed. It says ISIS is selling themselves as a defense against foreign intervention. Regardless of how the United States has changed its strategy, is it inadequately handling the situation there? How does the U.S. counter this narrative?

COOK: Well, a couple of things. First of all, we're doing what we can, particularly through our State Department colleagues, to support the new government there, taking control of the situation. The most important thing for Libya right now in terms of protecting itself from a threat like ISIL would be to have a strong central government. We're doing our part along with other nations, of course -- along with the U.N. -- to try and support that.

And we're working with our partners in the region -- with Italy, for example. Other European partners who have serious concerns about what's happening so close to their own doorstep in Libya. That coordinated response, Don, we think will make a difference in trying to contain ISIL in Libya and ultimately again it's the central government -- a new central government there -- in Libya that's going to make the ultimate difference.

LEMON: You know, the troop levels in Iraq are already over about 1,000 of what it was supposed to be at 3,800. They report it's 4,500 to 5,000 now. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Joseph Dunford, talked about that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOSEPH DUNFORD, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We have a series of recommendations that we will be discussing with the president in the coming weeks to further enable our support for the Iraqi security forces. So, again, the secretary and I both believe that there will be an increase to the U.S. forces in Iraq in the coming weeks, but that decision has been made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Why are the levels increasing? Some are concerned that we're creeping towards a permanent war.

COOK: Well, Don, again, the recommendations that the secretary and the chairman will be bringing forward to the president reflect two things. A need to accelerate the defeat of ISIL and also, at the same time, a request from the Iraqi government, for example, to bring more capabilities to bear in this fight.

The United States and our coalition partners have the unique capabilities that could speed the defeat of ISIL and, of course, that's a conversation we want to have with the Iraqi government. If there are capabilities that could accelerate that as we move toward Mosul, in particular.

There have been no decisions made, Don, and what's important is that the strategic approach here will not change even if there are potential increases in American boots on the ground or American capabilities. What's still going to happen here is that Iraqis -- those local forces -- will lead this fight. We're in a support role enabling them to succeed against ISIL and so far it's succeeded in Ramadi. We're making preparations, of course, to move towards Mosul -- supporting the Iraqi forces that will move towards Mosul. That's the approach here. That will not change.

LEMON: Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook. Thank you, sir.

COOK: You bet.

LEMON: Michaela --

PEREIRA: All right, thank so much, Don.

Bernie Sanders with new momentum after sweeping Hillary Clinton in three contests over the weekend. Now he's targeting Clinton in her adopted home state of New York. Ahead on NEW DAY we're going to talk strategy with the spokesperson for the Sanders campaign.

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every vote is pivotal. We are now winning in state after state -- the Latino vote. We're doing better now that we're out of the south with the African-American vote. We're doing extraordinarily well with young people, and we think we do have a path toward victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was Bernie Sanders fresh off his 3-state sweep this weekend, feeling the momentum but it's still a big climb to win the nomination. So what is Sander's plan?

Joining us now, Sander's national press secretary, Symone Sanders. Hi, Simone.

SYMONE SANDERS, NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY, BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN: Hi, how you doing?

CAMEROTA: Doing well. Congratulations on the big weekend. For people who are just waking up and may not have been following it let me put up the numbers. Bernie Sanders won 81 percent in Alaska, 70 percent in Hawaii. He got 73 percent in Washington State. Those are huge victories. So, Simone, it must be so frustrating for you and the campaign to wake up after victories like that and to hear pundits say yes, but he has no path to the nomination. I mean, how do you make sense of that?

SANDERS: I mean, it's frustrating and just a tad bit preposterous. Look, when we are winning in the margins of which we won this past weekend that just goes to show that the momentum is there, so now the fight goes on. We go to Wisconsin next week. We go on to states like Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, and there is a path to the nomination.

We picked up a substantial amount of delegates this past weekend and we expect that trend to continue. We've moved to a more favorable calendar and Sen. Sanders is ready to compete and we're taking this thing all the way through to the convention.

CAMEROTA: Let's look at the delegate count because it is interesting. At the moment -- let's talk about the ones that have been won. The pledged delegates, not the super delegates. When you break it down and you see how many they have won there is about a 240 point difference there -- 1,200 for Sec. Clinton, 1,012 for Sen. Sanders. And when you look at the map, coming up, one state, New York, has this huge delegate prize of 247. In just that state he could close the gap entirely. Is he focusing on New York?

SANDERS: Oh, definitely. New York is in play for our campaign. We just opened up our headquartered office in Brooklyn, New York this past weekend with a huge block party -- lots of supporters. And then we sent folks out to canvas because we believe that New York is in play and we are interested in speaking with the people of New York -- part of the reason why we want to debate Sec. Clinton in New York, and the Clinton campaign has yet to agree to a debate in New York.

We believe that the people of New York deserve to hear from both of the presidential candidates in a debate setting, and so we hope that the Clinton campaign will come to the table with us because we think the people of New York -- you know, right there -- right there -- they deserve to hear what each candidate's plan is and Sen. Sanders is ready to speak to the people.

[07:55:00] CAMEROTA: OK, we'll see if they take you up on that invitation. But here's the problem spot, and that's in the super delegates. Sec. Clinton is way out ahead of Sen. Sanders. She has 482 super delegates, he has 27. What makes him think that these super delegates would give him a second look and change their position?

SANDERS: We've picked up additional delegates so I think our actual number of delegates is now somewhere around 35, and we know that there's still additional folks supporting Sen. Sanders. I think what's important to remember here is that super delegates are kind of like football recruits. They say they're coming but until they have signed on the dotted line and they're in practice, you don't know that they're all the way with you and that they're on your team.

And so, we think that we still have time to garner support from these super delegates, especially when we're winning. You can't win like we won this past weekend and how we intend to continue to do well in these nominating contests, and not expect super delegates to take a second look. So we are focused on winning votes, winning the endorsement, if you will, of the American people, and we are hopeful and confident that those super delegates will come along.

But, again, super delegates are really only 15 percent of the vote and so we still have to focus on doing well in states, getting out there and meeting with people in this communities. Places like New York, again, where it's so important to us. So we're committed to doing that work.

CAMEROTA: I know you've said that the calendar favors you going forward but some analysts think that that's not right and, in fact, Bernie Sanders does better in caucus states where neighbors come together and they talk and they can persuade each other, than he has done in primary states. In fact, that's been proven, and upcoming are mostly primaries. Does that concern you?

SANDERS: No, it doesn't concern us at all because we are in this thing to win it. Look, we have made substantial investments in Wisconsin, we've made investments in New York, we've made investments in Maryland and in Pennsylvania. We're having a press conference this morning in Maryland. We're announcing our Maryland steering committee. We have offices that are opening all across the state. We've made investments in California -- the last frontier, as we like to call it.

So we're not concerned that caucuses are coming to an end and most of the upcoming states are primaries because we believe that we have a message that speaks to hard-working American people in this country.

When we talk about taking on the billionaire class in this country, when we talk about closing the financial gaps in this country, and when we talk about eradicating racism, breaking down those barriers -- those systems of racism, addressing criminal justice reform. Those are all things that Sen. Sanders is strong on, things that we're prepared to talk about, and things that we think the American people care about.

CAMEROTA: OK, Symone Sanders, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

SANDERS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: We're following a lot of news this morning. Donald Trump talking foreign policy. We'll get reaction from Gen. Wesley Clark. Let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think America's a safe place for Americans.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can't become Europe.

TRUMP: There are things about Heidi that I don't want to talk about.

CRUZ: Attacking spouses and children is off limits.

TRUMP: I have a guy going around trying to steal people's delegates.

LEMON: In new airport security video it is the first moving image of this suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multiple raids, arrests in five different European countries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hundreds of men dressed in black with their faces covered invaded the square.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do people with flares and missiles get into a peace venue (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A suicide bomber targeted a crowd in a Pakistani park.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A large explosion heard for kilometers away.

KOSIK: Many of the victims are women and children.

CAMEROTA: Syrian forces recapturing the ancient city of Palmyra over the weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Symbolic victory for the Assad regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your new day. It is Monday, March 28th, 8:00 in the east.

LEMON: Chris has gotten a little bit more handsome today.

PEREIRA: Don't let him hear you say that.

LEMON: I say that expressly for him.

CAMEROTA: And Chris smells better today.

PEREIRA: And cue the tweets.

CAMEROTA: Don Lemon joins us. He's just building up his stamina for all the show that we have this morning for you. The people of Wisconsin are about to experience a week of wall-to-wall presidential politics before their primary next Tuesday.

Fighting terror and defending wives -- those were the conversations on the GOP side this weekend. Donald Trump, again, talking about Ted Cruz's wife Heidi, while also laying out portions of his own foreign policy plans.

LEMON: And for the Democrats, Bernie Sanders hoping to build on his momentum after sweeping Hawaii, Alaska, and Washington State over the weekend. The Vermont senator still facing a severe uphill battle in the delegate race against Hillary Clinton.

We've got the battle of the White House covered only the way that CNN can cover it, starting with CNN's David Mattingly (sic) and the Republicans. He is in West Salem, Wisconsin. Good morning -- Phil Mattingly.