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GOP Rivals Back Off Pledge to Support Nominee; Trump Goes After Campaign Manager's Accuser; Will Clinton Debate Sanders in New York? Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired March 30, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Will you support whoever the Republican nominee is?

[05:58:32] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I don't think so.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If the nominee is somebody that I think has really hurt the country, I can't stand behind them.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife.

COOPER: You're running for president of the United States.

TRUMP: I didn't start it.

KASICH: Our children are watching. This is America.

CRUZ: Just when you don't think it can get uglier, it gets uglier.

TRUMP: I almost fell to the ground. I almost fell to the ground. She didn't almost fell to the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump defending his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.

TRUMP: She was grabbing me. Am I supposed to press charges against her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Authorities in Brussels trying desperately to find two unidentified suspects.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators are keeping the pressure on, on all fronts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is huge concern that there may be more attacks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. What a morning it's Wednesday, March 30, 6 a.m. in the east. Chris is off. Don Lemon joins us.

Great to have you here to talk about all the news, because we begin with the Republican revolt at last night's CNN town hall in Milwaukee. The iron-clad commitment that each candidate had made last fall to support the party's nominee is over. Donald Trump reversing his commitment, saying he's being treated unfairly by the RNC and the party's establishment. Ted Cruz also appeared to pull out of the pledge, saying he cannot support someone who attacks his wife and family. John Kasich adding that he cannot support someone who is hurting and dividing the country.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That's not enough, as Trump defends -- he's going on as Trump defends his embattled campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, after he was arrested and charged with simple battery for allegedly grabbing and bruising a reporter.

With the Wisconsin primary just six days away, is -- there is so much at stake right now. So we have this race covered for you as only CNN can. We're going to begin with our chief political correspondent, Ms. Dana Bash. She is live in Milwaukee.

Dana, my gosh. Take it away. What a heck of a lot going on.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It sure is, Don. Good morning.

And you remember this whole concept of a pledge came up, because the Republican Party was very concerned that Donald Trump early on would leave the party, run as a third-party or independent candidate and hurt whomever the Republican nominee is. And now it has gotten so intense it is the other candidates who don't want to support him.

Things have gotten so ugly, all three remaining Republican candidates went back on their promises to support the party nominee.

COOPER: Do you continue (ph) your pledge to whoever the Republican nominee is?

TRUMP: No. I don't anymore.

COOPER: You don't?

TRUMP: No.

BASH: That came after Cruz refused to back Trump, despite being asked three times.

CRUZ: I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family. I think that is going beyond the line.

BASH: Trump said he understands if Cruz won't support him.

TRUMP: I don't want his support. I don't need his support. I want him to be comfortable.

BASH: And then renewed a warning to party leaders.

TRUMP: I've been treated very unfairly. Look, I won the state of Missouri. Right? No, I have. True-ty truce (ph), people. I've been treated -- I've been treated very unfairly. I'll give you an example.

COOPER: Unfairly by who?

TRUMP: I think by basically the RNC, the Republican Party, the establishment.

BASH: John Kasich even went so far as to say he never should have made the pledge in the first place.

KASICH: If the nominee is somebody that I think is really hurting the country and dividing the country, I can't stand behind them.

BASH: Donald Trump came to CNN's town hall eager to defend his campaign manager, charged earlier in the day with simple battery against a reporter.

TRUMP: Based on what I heard, I don't think he really even knew who she was.

BASH: On another issue he calls a distraction, the ugly back and forth about their wives, Trump was vintage Trump.

TRUMP: Excuse me, I didn't start it. I didn't start it.

COOPER: Sir, with all due respect, that's the argument of a 5-year- old.

TRUMP: I didn't start it. No, it's not.

COOPER: The argument of a 5-year-old is "He started it."

TRUMP: You would say that. That's the problem with our country.

COOPER: Every parent knows the kid who says he started it.

TRUMP: Excuse me. No, no, no. That's the problem. Exactly that thinking is the problem this country has. I did not start this.

BASH: Cruz once again denied knowing anything about the anti-Trump super PAC ad featuring Melania Trump and doubled down on blaming Trump for planting a tabloid report accusing Cruz of infidelity.

CRUZ: You know "The National Enquirer" in its history has never endorsed a presidential candidate until Donald Trump?

BASH: Trump rattled world leaders this week by suggesting a nuclear Asia, which the West worked for decades to avoid, may be OK. At CNN's town hall, he went further.

TRUMP: Can I be honest with you? Maybe, it's going to have to be time to change, because so many people. You have Pakistan has it. You have China has it. At some point, we have to say, "You know what? We're better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea."

BASH: Cruz defended his own controversial national security idea to patrol Muslim communities in the U.S.

CRUZ: Listen, if you want to stop radical Islamic terrorism, the answer isn't to go hang out in random neighborhoods. It's instead to focus on communities where radicalization is a risk.

BASH: Later, Kasich called that ridiculous.

KASICH: If we polarize the entire Muslim community, how are we going to get the information we want?

BASH: But what may have been most revealing was seemingly simple questions the candidates had trouble answering.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What would you regard as your greatest personal failure and what did you learn from it?

CRUZ: You know, those are always, whether in political campaign or a job interview, those are always tricky questions.

COOPER: When was the last time you actually apologized for something.

TRUMP: Oh, wow. No, I do believe -- I don't know. Can I think? I apologized to my mother years ago for using foul language.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And Michaela, he also added that he has apologized to his wife for not acting presidential enough here on the campaign trail. It was certainly an intense and, in many, many ways, revealing town hall last night, all in advance of the primary right here in Wisconsin in just six days -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And proof that even our mothers can make us squirm a little bit if we use bad language. All right. Thank you so much for that.

Now, as you just saw, Trump vigorously defended his embattled campaign manager. That man now charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly grabbing and bruising a reporter.

[06:05:07] Trump went a step further, though, now suggesting that she, the reporter, is at fault. The campaign is now facing criticism for not taking the violence allegations seriously.

Our politics reporter, Sara Murray, is live in Milwaukee with more on this -- Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Michaela.

That's absolutely right. The campaign's approach from the beginning has been to try to discredit the reporter in this incident and essentially say she made the whole thing up. And now, in light of new video and in light of these charges, Donald Trump is taking a different approach, essentially saying, "The reporter touched me first."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: She shouldn't have been touching me, OK.

My arm. It's never been the same, folks.

MURRAY (voice-over): Donald Trump is vowing to stick with his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.

TRUMP: I think they've really hurt a very good person. And I know it would be very easy for me to discard people. I don't discard people.

MURRAY: Lewandowski was charged with a misdemeanor count of simple battery Tuesday and turned himself in to police in Jupiter, Florida. The charge stems from a March 8 incident at a Trump press conference, seen on this newly-released video from law enforcement.

Former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, seen in the light-colored jacket said she, quote, "felt someone yank her left arm" and she fell back but caught herself from falling after approaching Trump to ask a question, according to the police report.

Lewandowski initially insisted he never touched her, tweeting earlier this month that Fields was delusional.

Now Trump is acknowledging there was some contact, but he's arguing the reporter was out of line to approach him.

TRUMP: All of a sudden she bolts into the picture. She -- she grabs me or hits me on the arm. In fact, I'm like this with my arm up, and then he goes by. And I'm -- I mean, maybe he touched her a little bit. But I didn't -- it was almost like he was trying to keep her off me, right?

MURRAY: After the incident, Fields tweeted a photo of the bruises on her arm. According to the police report, those bruises appeared to be several finger marks, indicating a grabbing type injury.

Now Trump is calling those into question, as well.

TRUMP: How do you know those bruises weren't there before? Wouldn't you think that she would have yelled out a scream or something if she has bruises on her arm?

MURRAY: Lewandowski's attorney said he is "absolutely innocent of this charge" and will enter a not guilty plea.

But Trump's GOP rivals insist the latest incident reflects the tenor of the Trump campaign.

CRUZ: It's consistent with a pattern of the Trump campaign. I think there is no place in politics for -- for insults, for personal attacks, for going to the gutter. And there should be no place for physical violence either.

MURRAY: Both Cruz and Kasich agreeing, if this were their staffer, he would be terminated.

KASICH: From what I understand the video is clear. Of course I would fire him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now CNN has reached out to this reporter, Michelle Fields, for further comment. We have not heard back yet, but as the Trump campaign is insisting she has changed her story along the way. She did weigh in on Twitter yesterday, saying, "My story never changed. Seriously. Just stop lying."

As for Corey Lewandowski, he has been released, and we are expecting him to appear in court on May 4.

Back to you guys.

CAMEROTA: So much to talk about. Thank you for that. Here to discuss is our CNN political panel. We have political commentator and political anchor of Time Warner Cable News, Errol Louis; CNN political analyst and presidential campaign correspondent for the "New York Times" Maggie Haberman; and CNN political analyst David Gregory. Great to have all of you with us.

Let's just start with some of the headlines, as we just heard from our reporters. So it sounds like, David, the pledge is dead. What does this mean for the path forward for the Republicans?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I mean, you see it unraveling in the Republican Party. And as Trump continues to succeed, this only deepens -- unraveling deepens.

If you're Donald Trump and you're going to be the nominee of the party, you want some consolidation at some point along the way. It doesn't appear that that's happening. If you've got the other candidates who are going to stand up and say this guy would be a train wreck, which is exactly what Ted Cruz said.

I do think that this is also a serious warning for the party. Because it's true. If you're a pledged delegate to Donald Trump, and you vote for him on the first ballot and then there are subsequent ballots at the convention, if he doesn't get to 1,237, you're likely to go elsewhere. You don't have to vote for him on the second and third ballot. You can go somewhere else.

If you're Donald Trump, you're going to say, "Wait a minute. What kind of process is this?" And he's got a lot of supporters who could come with him. The results of which we don't know yet. But it's probably not good for the party and for their chances in November.

LEMON: John Kasich and Donald Trump were very clear. But I know they're saying that they all three broke their pledge. But Cruz sort of hedged a little bit. He was asked before them, and he said -- he didn't say he wouldn't support Donald Trump. He just said, "I don't believe Donald Trump is going to be the nominee." Am I wrong with that?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You're not wrong at all, and that's actually a point that Trump pressed. I listened to him. He sounded very uncomfortable squirming, as if you know, I don't want to say that I'm not going to support him but I can't support somebody who does that. That is to Trump's favor. With his supporters, a lot of his appeal is want to tell it like it is and be very direct with you.

If you're Trump, and you're seeing what's happening, especially heading into Wisconsin, where he is facing a pretty tough audience. There is a united conservative radio front against him. There's a whole Scott Walker network that does not like him. He figures, I think, "What do I have to lose?" He is being much more direct.

I agree with you. I think Cruz walked right up to the line but didn't quite cross it.

[06:10:22] CAMEROTA: Errol, it used to be that people were afraid that Trump would run as a third party. That's not what might happen anymore. Now it's all the Republican Party in chaos.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That is not the worst-case scenario now for the RNC.

LEMON: The Republican Party is the third party.

LOUIS: Well, exactly. The worst-case scenario for the RNC, which seems to be evolving quite nicely -- I say that sarcastically -- is that there's going to be eye split and it's going to happen in full view of the entire world at the convention with the cameras rolling.

You know, I mean, that this process that Donald Trump seems to be calling unfair, people should be crystal clear. And the media should, I think, move away from saying "brokered convention" or some sort of contested convention. No. It's a convention. I mean, this happens all the time.

CAMEROTA: The rules are set up for this very possibility?

LOUIS: Exactly this scenario. And it has happened so many times in our lifetime. I remember as a kid, you know, staying up until, like, 1 a.m. in the morning to see George McGovern finally give his acceptance speech in 1972 after which he got crushed. I mean, it happens.

But this is -- but it's actually very important to me. This is what happens. Frankly, the last time there was a business person who had never run for any office, had never served in government before, Wendell Wilkie, 1940, six ballots turned in at 1 a.m. in the morning. Fist fights on the floor. You know, it was literally a bloody fight on the convention floor. Pandemonium was the word used by the press at the time. After which he got clobbered by FDR. This is the scenario -- this is the scenario that they're walking down.

LEMON: How do you get voters to understood that? Because, you know, as Donald Trump is saying, there's going to be a revolt, there will be riots if there happens to be a contested convention. How do you get the voters to understand that, no, this isn't, you know, some back- door smoky deal. This is how it works.

HABERMAN: This is one of the problems of people who are opposing Donald Trump on anything, let alone this issue is combatting the megaphone that he has. He uses Twitter. He goes directly to people in interviews. Nobody is combatting what he is saying. He's not wrong. Supporters are going to be very upset if there is some huge effort at the convention. If he comes in ahead to keep him within. This is not the first time this will happen in history. But Trump is very adept at saying to people, "This is actually the real thing going on." And there is no counter weight saying otherwise.

CAMEROTA: David, I want to move on to drama surrounding Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. The video is has come out that now shows this moment of this alleged altercation between Michelle Fields and Corey Lewandowski. And it seems that neither side's story is exactly captured on that video. She wasn't pulled to the ground. She wasn't pulled backwards. Nor do you see her grabbing Donald Trump, as he has claimed.

LEMON: Or bolting for him.

CAMEROTA: Or bolting for him, as he said. Neither side. This moment looks tamer on video than the way it was described. That being said, a campaign manager being arrested and charged, what does this mean?

GREGORY: Well, there's different calculus. There are charges here. There is a legal process. You know, as a political process, I imagine among his supporters, as we often say, Trump will be lauded to the fact that he's loyal to his guy, and he stands by his guy and all of that. Look, the reality is Corey Lewandowski tweeted and said, "I don't know if she's delusional. I never even touched her. I don't know who she is." Then you have the video where he's quite clearly intervening. Much more...

CAMEROTA: Just to be clear, that is demonstratively false what he tweeted.

GREGORY: He's surrounded by people. The notion that somehow he was imperiled, and they're right next to him. You have a campaign manager who is intervening.

What I don't understand is, I don't know, a political matter. Why would you lean into this? Why -- why do you want one of your campaign people, when you're already -- you know, you've got this reputation for talking about wanting to punch people in the face and have protesters forcibly thrown out, why do you want to be getting rough with any reporter, especially when you're such a press-accessible campaign? Why would he lean into this as a controversy to make a point about loyalty to -- to your guy? LEMON: And then she never said she sort of went to the ground. She

said, "I was able to stabilize or maintain my balance." She never said she went to the ground. She said she was pulled down. So that's false. Donald Trump saying that "She bolted at me." You know, that's all weird.

But I think your point is right, because Ted Cruz fired his campaign -- one of his campaign managers earlier. The idea that this would be over for Corey Lewandowski and his career, that happens all the time. The moment this is over, they've got to look for different jobs anyway.

GREGORY: But it is a different calculus. I cover this day in and day out, and the way they use their megaphone, the way they would treat an incident like this. I don't think anybody is thinking it through: "Well, you know, are we trashing this reporter? Is this the right thing to do?"

[06:15:10] I mean, I can't imagine any other campaign that would, again, want to lean into this. They would want to just say -- I can't imagine why they wouldn't just say, "Look, Corey's my guy."

LEMON: Right.

GREGORY: "But we -- look, we don't want anybody -- we don't want this kind of thing to happen. We don't want anybody to get roughed up. I am free to answer any questions. If something happened here that was untoward, we apologize. Corey says I'm sorry."

HABERMAN: That's the issue. If you look at that videotape, we've all been doing this a long time. I've been pushed. I've been shoved, well-documented by Twitter, pulled by a rope by the Clinton campaign last year, which was a pretty low moment. This does happen.

But what doesn't happen is somebody saying unequivocally, "There was no contact at all and you're delusional" and lots of Twitter efforts to discredit her over and over.

CAMEROTA: Now, stick around, because we want to get into the substance of what was said last night. And there was a lot said about nuclear proliferation and everything else. Stick around. We want to talk to you about that. But first over to Michaela.

PEREIRA: We want to look at the Democratic side. Alisyn, thanks so much.

Bernie Sanders doubling down on his call to debate Hillary Clinton in New York. She is now suggesting she is open to the idea as her campaign releases a new ad in New York this morning. Both candidates are hoping to win the delegate-rich state they both have ties to.

Our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, has more -- Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Michaela. By now, Hillary Clinton had hoped to be focusing on the general election fight ahead, Donald Trump or whoever that might be. Of course, she still has a big fight on her hands with Bernie Sanders.

But never mind that. Her campaign is releasing this brand-new ad this morning, focusing squarely on Donald Trump. Her new strategy is trying to make herself stronger or look stronger to Democratic voters by going after Mr. Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Twenty million people strong. No, we don't all look the same. We don't all sound the same either. But when we pull together, we do the biggest things in the world.

When some say we can solve America's problems by building walls, banning people based on their religion, and turning against each other, well, this is New York. And we know better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Again, it almost sounds like the general election is at hand here, but of course it's not. The Wisconsin primary next week is a big moment for the Clinton campaign. But they are looking beyond it in just a little bit here. She will be campaigning in New York later this morning as well as tomorrow. Bernie Sanders is coming to New York, as well. And again, Wisconsin is a central front here.

The Clinton campaign worried about their chances there. So trying to put -- plant their flag here in New York. But Alisyn, that is the first time we're seeing direct engagement, at least on television, between Hillary Clinton and Donald.

CAMEROTA: Yes, very interesting to see that, Jeff. Thanks so much.

We want to talk about the issues. The Republican candidates laying out their foreign policy platforms at last night's CNN town hall. Donald Trump insisting Saudi Arabia, Japan, South Korea, they might need to develop nuclear weapons. Up next, we discuss Trump's nuclear views and the reaction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:10] LEMON: Beyond all the in-fighting in last night's town hall, the Republican candidates also drew distinctions on policy, including nuclear proliferation and the future of NATO.

So let's bring back Maggie Haberman, Errol Louis and David Gregory to discuss.

Errol, I want to start with you, because Donald Trump apparently contradicting himself when it comes to his assertion about more countries either using or getting nuclear weapons or not having nuclear weapons. Not quite sure what was going on, but Anderson questioned about it. Let's listen in and we'll discuss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: At some point we have to say, "You know what? We're better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea. We're better off, frankly, if South Korea is going to start to protect itself.

COOPER: Saudi Arabia have nuclear weapons?

TRUMP: Saudi Arabia, absolutely.

COOPER: You're fine with them having nuclear weapons?

TRUMP: No, not nuclear weapons. But they have to protect themselves, or they have to pay us.

COOPER: But if you say to Japan, "Yes, it's fine you get nuclear weapons. South Korea, you as well," Saudi Arabia says, "We want them, too."

TRUMP: It's going to happen anyway. It's going to happen anyway. It's only a question of time. They're going to start having them. Or we have to get rid of them entirely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Errol, how troubling is that response? Seriously.

LOUIS: Very troubling. I mean, for those of us who have grown up in the shadow of nuclear devastation as a possibility, to see somebody talk so flippantly about arming what is the most hostile border in the world, between South Korea and North Korea, between two nations that have an armistice but not a peace treaty, who are technically still at war and have been for decades. To hear about, you know, the nation of Saudi Arabia, where you know, 20 hijackers caused 9/11. Say, "Oh, hey, let's just give them nuclear weapons; it's going to happen anyway."

I mean, it betrays sort of a flip lack of understanding of what has happened over the last 60 years that is very, very troubling. And people have to really take this seriously. You know, this notion of Trump talks like I talk about different things. Well, you know, that's really not good enough.

GREGORY: He's not that far off base if you think about what's one of the major fears with Iran getting a nuclear program. That there would be an immediate arms race throughout the Middle East, and that the Saudis, principally, would want their own arms.

I think what's striking is two things. One, the whole concept of a nuclear umbrella is to reduce the proliferation as much as possible and let the United States have some oversight over this, because you don't want individual nations settling their scores with nuclear weapons. And by the way, it's not they would deliberately do it. People make

mistakes who are in high office. That's how World War I started. We had way too much military planning that got ahead of diplomacy, and you had a world war break out.

CAMEROTA: Here's what's interested. You had this really comprehensive interview over the weekend with Donald Trump in which he said that nuclear proliferation is the biggest, the greatest threat facing the United States, his biggest concern, his biggest fear. So give more countries nuclear weapons?

HABERMAN: As you say, David Sanger, who's quite brilliant, and I did an interview with Trump, over -- it was 100 minutes over two separate interviews on Friday. And he said things that were not always consistent.

On the one hand, he said that he would use nukes as a last resort. But on the other hand, you know, it's fine if other places are increasing their development, because they can defend themselves more clearly.

There are things he says that are rooted in positions that others here have taken. So for instance, in terms of the Saudis. Days before Trump spoke with us, Obama had this comment about the Saudis as free riders.

Robert Gates in 2010 talked about NATO and sort of a crumbling at the edges that was going to affect Europe and going to affect other countries.

So it's just that he takes these things and he pushes them out much further than we've seen before.

In terms of his stance on nuclear weapons, there are two issues. One is we're talking about whole regions acquiring them. The other is that a great threat right now is terrorists acquiring smaller nukes. And so the more you have availability of nuclear capability, the more that's going to be a risk.

And so Trump talks in sort of broad strokes. But he doesn't look at a lot of granular detail. And that's what was striking to me in our interview with him. We were trying -- I would like to say very hard -- to find out where he actually stands on a lot of these issues. And I did feel like I left it with greater knowledge than we had before.

CAMEROTA: He was also asked last night about NATO, as you know, in your interview and elsewhere. He talked about what he thought of the future of NATO and whether it would become obsolete. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Do you think NATO is obsolete?

TRUMP: I think it's largely obsolete. It's got to be changed. It's got to be -- you don't talk about terror. Our single biggest threat right now is terror. OK? I mean, I really do understand this stuff. NATO is obsolete. Now, that doesn't mean it can't be rejiggered and it can't be fixed and made good. Or...

COOPER: And for you it's a financial component that would -- you talk about...?

TRUMP: You have countries in NATO. I think it's 28 countries. You have countries in NATO that are getting a free ride, and it's unfair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Is that true, Errol?

LOUIS: No, it's certainly not. I mean, if you were wondering, just to a cost question, should the United States be paying a greater share of its GDP into NATO than other countries, including European countries, then yes, we have paid more.

But this is a sort of a broad question about is the United States an exceptional nation? Are we the indispensable nation? Are we the guarantor of peace and have we been for the last 60 years? The answer to all those questions is yes.

And to the extent that he wants to change that on a simple sort of short-term cost basis, you know, here again, it's a very important kind of a conversation. It's not something that you get a pass.

GREGORY: Remember President Obama, in his article -- in his interview with Jeff Goldberg in "The Atlantic," said, "Look, Great Britain has to get over 2 percent of GDP on military spending, and I pushed Cameron to do that." And you look at a lot of the NATO countries, their -- what they spend on defense is far down from what the United States spends. That's one piece of it.

What he doesn't get into is, one, NATO does fight terrorism. It's a major factor in going into Afghanistan with us for the past decade.

Two, what about the check on Vladimir Putin and the Baltic states who are part of NATO? And that presence says something to the Russians. So NATO is not obsolete from that point of view.

To get to Maggie's point, any candidate could have these positions, be a little bit vaguer and become a little bit more refined as they go along. But there's a world view here that is not just unorthodox but may not be factoring in all the important pieces.

LEMON: I want to move on now, because I thought John Kasich was very strong last night when he talked about, you know, Muslim neighborhoods, monitoring Muslim neighborhoods and banning Muslims from coming to this country. Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASICH: If we polarize the entire Muslim community, how are we going to get the information we want? We want Muslims who go to mosques who see radicalization to tell the authorities about it.

Because I've got to tell you, the vast, vast, vast majority of Muslims, they think it is -- their religion has been hijacked, that we have murderers out there who have distorted their religion. And they want to stop this as much as we want to stop it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Maggie, he's at odds with the other two candidates on this.

HABERMAN: Very much so. Where he's in line is with George W. Bush, who said things like this after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. He was very careful to say, "We are not maligning an entire religion."

And Donald Trump a couple weeks ago say in another town hall with Anderson Cooper say Islam hates us, which is a pretty strong statement. This is the kind of statement that is making Republican leaders very concerned about a general election. Take away everything else about that. It's a political statement that's going to be very hard to pull back from.

LEMON: We've got to run. Thank you, everyone.

Michaela, over to you.

PEREIRA: All right. Police in Brussels are intensifying their manhunt for two fugitive suspects that are linked to last week's terror attacks there. Are they any closer to finding them? We'll bring you a live report next on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)