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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 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 30, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I didn't start it.

[07:00:02] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Sir, with all due respect, that's the argument of a 5-year-old.

TRUMP: I didn't start it.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can say all kinds of things, but leaders don't do that.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's gotten really ugly.

TRUMP: I don't want his support. I don't need his support.

Am I supposed to press charges against her?

PEREIRA: Trump vigorously defended the embattled campaign manager.

TRUMP: It would be so easy for me to terminate this man, ruin his life. I don't discard people.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to be strong and smart.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are kind of on a role.

CLINTON: Help me keep the Republicans out of the White House.

SANDERS: Democrats want the strongest candidate. You're lacking at him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Chris is off this morning. Don Lemon joins us. Great to have you here.

We begin with the Republican revolt at last night's CNN town hall less than a week before the Wisconsin primary. The three GOP candidates all backing away from their pledge to support the party's eventual nominee. The divide between the Republican Party now wider than ever, with Donald Trump reversing himself and Ted Cruz and John Kasich refusing to commit to backing their party's choice.

LEMON: Well, Donald Trump is supporting his embattled campaign manager, who was arrested and charged with simple battery on a female reporter. Trump says he has reviewed the videotape, and he now claims that she is at fault.

We have this race covered only the way that CNN can cover it. Let's begin, though, with CNN's chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, live in Milwaukee. So much to discuss, Dana. Good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. That's right. Though in campaigns past, generally what happened is that the parties come together. The candidates who fought so bitterly have some kind of unity event to get behind the nominee and turn towards the general election. It is incredibly hard to see that happening after last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): 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 support 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?

[07:05:06] 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: He also apologized, he said, to his wife, Michaela, for not acting presidential enough out here on the campaign trail.

But one other thing that came up was whether or not and why not John Kasich and Ted Cruz are not coordinating more specifically to defeat Donald Trump. And Ted Cruz had a very interesting answer. He said, "I'm not running to defeat Donald Trump. I'm running to win" -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Dana, thank you so much for that.

As Dana just told us, Trump is standing by his campaign manager, now charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly grabbing and bruising a female reporter. Now despite video emerging, Trump is not only refuting the allegations; he's now even pinning it on the reporter.

CNN political reporter Sara Murray live in Milwaukee with more -- Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Michaela.

From the outset, the Trump campaign has tried to discredit this reporter. They've at times suggested the incident never even happened. Now Donald Trump is taking a new approach, essentially saying, "The reporter tried to grab me first, and my campaign manager was merely intervening."

(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 or screamed 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, the Trump campaign has suggested that this reporter has changed her story along the way, that she's overblowing what happened. She took to Twitter yesterday to defend herself, saying, "My story never changed. Seriously. Just stop lying."

As for Corey Lewandowski, he has been released, and he is due in court on May 4. Back to you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Sara. Thanks so much for that.

So with more on the strategy for the Cruz campaign and the battle for Wisconsin, let's bring in Chad Sweet, the Cruz campaign's national chairman.

Good morning, Chad.

CHAD SWEET, CRUZ CAMPAIGN NATIONAL CHAIRMAN: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about how it sounded as though the candidates were reneging on their loyalty pledge. Senator Cruz seemed to hedge a bit when asked whether he would definitely support the nominee, even if it were Donald Trump. He had, "I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my family."

Why wouldn't he just say, "No. No, I would not support Donald Trump"?

SWEET: A couple points. No. 1, Donald Trump, as the senator said, is not going to be the nominee of our party.

No. 2, the senator is making it clear that he has not said he won't support Donald Cruz -- Donald Trump outright, but rather he's trying to make it clear that, as he said, there's no place, running for the office that was formerly held by Washington and Lincoln and having an individual who's calling on his own supporters to engage in physical violence.

[07:10:09] CAMEROTA: Right, so why not just say no? I mean, given that, why not just say, "No, I would not support Donald Trump"?

SWEET: The answer there is obviously the senator is committed to trying to maintain his support of the party. But I think you've got to appreciate, as well, how hard it is making -- Donald Trump is making it harder every day, not just for Senator Cruz but for John Kasich and many others.

And so again, we're focusing on winning this outright. The senator is going to make sure that Donald Trump is not the nominee so this is not an issue.

CAMEROTA: You sound confident that Donald Trump is not going to be the nominee, but of course, he does have the most delegates. So what's -- what's your plan? I mean, other than "We're going to win in many states," how would you get the number of delegates that Donald Trump already has?

SWEET: Well, mathematically, as you know, right now there are a number of the states, major states going forward that will be winner- take-all or winner-take-most, which means if you with 50 -- 50 percent plus one, you can actually earn well north of 80 percent of the remaining elected delegates. So that's on the path forward you can mathematically get there. But the most important thing, too, is that between now and June 7,

there's plenty of runway to accumulate delegates where both Senator Cruz and Donald Trump will be very close going into the election. If Senator Cruz is not at the 1,237, he will be very close.

So those two candidates are the only two candidates that have a path of being close to getting to that necessary number of delegates to win the nomination.

CAMEROTA: OK.

SWEET: And if it does to a contested convention, there's an opportunity there where the senator, on the second ballot, would have a very good chance of becoming the nominee.

CAMEROTA: OK. So your plan, your campaign plan is to have a contested convention and win it there, rather than -- is there any state that you can name that you believe you will win between here and there?

SWEET: Well, I think, you know, just look at the numbers right now. We were just endorsed by Governor Walker. We were leading in the polls prior to Governor Walker's endorsement. Now, with his endorsement, we should get an additional vote from that.

So I think you're going to see -- the voters will see in the near term, next Tuesday, that Senator Cruz will do very well in Wisconsin. And I think that's another example of where he's not only going to be able to beat Donald Trump, as he did in Utah last week, where he absolutely trounced Donald Trump by almost 70 percent, but also, it's going to continue to demonstrate he's bringing the party together. Governor Walker is just one of four other former presidential candidates that have now come behind Senator Cruz. He is pulling together and unifying the party.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about SOME OF the substance of what was said at the town hall last night. And one point of distinction was how the candidates believe Muslim communities should be treated. Let's listen to what they said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

TRUMP: I think we have to look very seriously at the mosques. Lots of things are happening in the mosques that's been proven.

KASICH: We're not going to police Muslim neighborhoods. We can't afford polarization of people who are in the civilized world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Chad, what about what Kasich was saying there? That in order to stop radicalization, you'll need the help of Muslim communities, not for them to feel more ostracized.

SWEET: Well, let me be clear. What Senator Cruz is calling for, patrolling and securing Muslim neighborhoods, is actually not anti- Muslim. It's pro-Muslim.

And I can say this, because I actually used to be chief of staff of the Department of Homeland Security and was formerly in the CIA. I actually worked on and set up what's called the instant response team, where the Office of Civil Liberties and the FBI, we worked together. Any time there was an incident around the world or in the U.S., we would call upon and activate communication with the Muslim communities.

And I can tell you personally, having done that, that we would always start off with asking them about how -- how are they being secured? Are they actually having is any backlash against their -- their population and offering support for them.

And at the same time, we would then also ask for their assistance in countering violent extremism. And over and over again they were partners in that effort, because they know their community is the most at risk.

So what I'm telling you is from my own personal experience, what Senator Cruz is calling for is actually going to help with the Muslim community. It is -- he's never going to bow down to political correctness and engage in what the Europeans have been dealing with, which is having no-go zones or areas where, effectively, the law enforcement is not actively visibly engaged and empowered.

That's what we saw just last week in Brussels where, unfortunately, in the community of Molenbeek, you actually had one of the terrorists who committed the events in Paris come back to Brussels, hide out in the very city where the headquarters of NATO and the European Union is. That's not what we're going to have in our own country. We're going to go ahead and be proactive. And the senator, what he's calling for is actually pro-Muslim, not anti-muslin.

[07:15:05] CAMEROTA: Chad Sweet, national chair of the Cruz campaign. Thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

Let's get to Don.

SWEET: Thank you very much.

LEMON: Thank you, Alisyn. Appreciate that.

Let's talk about the Democrats now. Bernie Sanders really wants to debate Hillary Clinton, pushing hard to do it here in New York. He's suggesting that she's open to the idea of her campaign, at least, as her campaign releases a new ad in New York this morning. Both candidates hoping to win the delegate-rich state to which they both have links.

CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny, he is here with more.

Good morning, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Don.

Hillary Clinton did say she is open to having a debate, possibly in Brooklyn, the site of her campaign headquarters and the childhood home of Bernie Sanders. But she is out with a new ad this morning that's focusing all on Donald Trump.

Now, the Sanders campaign thinks she's getting ahead of herself a little bit here. There's still an active primary going on in the state of Wisconsin next week and coming here to New York in about three weeks' time. So Bernie Sanders last night in Wisconsin explained some of this anger in the electorate. Why there is some crossover appeal between some voters who might like him and Donald Trump. He sat down with CNN's Erin Burnett.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is a lot of anger in this country.

For your average guy, he is asking why he has to work longer hours for low wages. What Trump is doing is taking that angle and saying it's the fault the Mexicans, or it's the fault of the Muslims. We've got to scapegoat people. Well, beating up on Mexicans who make eight bucks an hour is not going to deal with the real issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So when you talk to voters in Wisconsin, as we've been doing all week, you wonder is there really crossover appeal with Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump? And the answer is yes. Wisconsin has an open primary system, which means that voters can vote on either side. Bernie Sanders trying to make that appeal clear. It's one of his last stands, trying to stand up to Hillary Clinton.

But Alisyn, it's so interesting, when you go out there and talk to some union workers, there really is a lot of, you know, interest on both sides here. So that is something I'm watching next week. Bernie Sanders supporters versus Donald Trump supporters, if they'll resonate with Bernie Sanders.

CAMEROTA: That's why it's so great to have you on the campaign trail to take the pulse of the real voters.

ZELENY: Good to see you.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much, Jeff.

All right. North Carolina's attorney general refusing to stand behind a new law that many are calling anti-LGBT. It's the latest struggle for Governor Pat McCrory, under fire for signing the controversial measure, requiring people to use bathrooms based on birth gender. More than 80 corporations now publicly objecting, including Bank of America, based in Charlotte. North Carolina is also being sued by the ACLU.

PEREIRA: An update we told you about first last year. Terminix has been fined $10 million after a Delaware family fell seriously ill during a vacation to a U.S. Virgin Islands resort last year. The four victims, they were poisoned and suffered severe neurological damage after the villa below their room was fumigated. It was later discovered that Terminix used a highly-toxic pesticide banned for indoor use by the EPA. Some of the family members are still dealing with serious medical effects from that exposure.

LEMON: Some of them not doing well...

PEREIRA: Not at all.

LEMON: ... as we reported the story here on CNN.

Some very terrible news to report: Hollywood mourning the loss of actress Patty Duke this morning. Her agent says she died of sepsis from a ruptured intestine. Duke rose to fame with the stage and screen with portrayals of Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker." She also is known for starring as identical cousins in "The Patty Duke Show," which aired from 1963 to 1966. Patty Duke, 69 years old. Legend icon.

CAMEROTA: Identical cousins. I didn't know that that was the conceit of the show.

LEMON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: They were cousins. That's interesting.

LEMON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: All right. Sad news today.

Well, more on the stunning about-face from the three remaining GOP contenders; Trump, Cruz, and Kasich now refusing to commit to supporting the party's nominee. Does it prove how broken the party has become? We'll explore that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:22:58] LEMON: Very surprising move at last night's CNN town hall. None of the three candidates keeping their pledge to support their party's nominee.

Here to discuss, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor of "The Atlantic," Mr. Ron Brownstein; and CNN politics executive editor, Mark Preston.

Good morning, gentlemen.

Ron, I want to go to you first. Because how significant is it that all three of these candidates backed off supporting the GOP nominee, no matter what? Ted Cruz, he hedged a little bit. But they all basically backed off it. RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, no, I think it was

very significant. You know, a few weeks ago, I was on with our fried, Chris Cuomo. I think he described it as a Morton's fork, which is when you choose two divergent paths and you end up in the same place. And that seems exactly where Republicans are today.

If you nominate Donald Trump, it is more and more clear that you will have an enormous fissure in the party. If you pull away the nomination from him at the convention, if he arrives with the most delegates, you will have a fissure in the party.

And I thought it was most remarkable last night that he not only pledged -- you know, refused to pledge to support the nominee, but he basically said, "I don't want Ted Cruz's endorsement."

LEMON: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: And implied "I don't want Scott Walker's endorsement. I don't want Jeb Bush's endorsement." He really underscored, Don, I think the extent to which this is something of a takeover of the party. It's not necessarily bringing in new voters. It's realigning the existing coalition in a new way. But it is a fundamental rejection of the leadership of the party. And we have never seen anything quite like it at this point in the primary process.

LEMON: At the town hall last night, Mark Preston, Donald Trump explained himself. As Ron said, "I don't need Ted Cruz's support. I don't need John Kasich's support. You know, I don't really -- I would love to have the party's support, but basically, they have been unfair to me. And so I am -- I am preparing for what would happen at the convention."

Listen to Donald Trump and we'll discuss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I've been treated very unfairly. I'll give you an example.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Unfairly by who?

TRUMP: I think by basically the RNC, the Republican Party, the establishment. Million dollars -- excuse me.

COOPER: Do you think they're actually plotting to take this away from you, at the convention?

TRUMP: I don't know. I don't know. I mean, you know, we'll see what happens, but I think you'd have a lot of very upset people if that happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So Mr. Preston, heading toward the convention, I mean, what does the future of the GOP look like with this pledge out of the window? Donald Trump saying, "Hey, they're trying to steal it." MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, not only Donald

Trump, but we saw John Kasich, as well, saying that he regrets actually making a pledge during that first debate back in August. And Ted Cruz saying, "I don't know if I can support somebody who attacks my wife the way that Donald Trump has."

As Ron has said -- is that you're seeing this realignment right now with the existing coalitions within the party. You're seeing the grassroots activists out here, outside of Washington, D.C., outside of New York City, who are just fed up. And they see a voice in Donald Trump.

The fact of the matter is, as we head into Cleveland, you're going to see a Republican Party that is fractured to the point that you're going to have to start looking inward and saying, "If we remain fractured heading into November, we will lose to the Democratic nominee." Right now, it looks like it's Hillary Clinton. So at some point the Republican Party needs to come together.

But when Donald Trump says, "Look, I beat Jeb Bush. I beat Rand Paul. I beat Ted Cruz. I understand why they don't want to support me," that's not usually what happens after primary elections. You usually have this coming together. And guess what? They're not coming together.

LEMON: Does this leave, Ron, an opening for the RNC and the establishment to fight against Trump? There's already this "stop Trump" movement within the -- within his own party. But does this now give them more wiggle room to be stronger and say, "You know what? We don't want this guy"?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. You know, I think this is, like, an extraordinary few weeks that we -- that we've seen here. I was looking the other day at it.

It was about six weeks ago that Bob Dole, someone as, you know, thoughtful and as experienced in politics as Bob Dole, said in late January, "Well, maybe we'd be better off with Donald Trump than Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz would lead to cataclysmic losses."

And think about what has happened in those last few weeks. Trump has dominated the early stages of the primary process, but he's had an incredible series of controversies, I think continuing yesterday where, in this extended conversation about the allegations against his campaign manager, he never -- he managed -- he never managed to categorically state that it was wrong for a man to use physical force against a woman. This from a candidate with a 75 percent disapproval -- unfavorable rating among women.

And I think it is beyond Trump's own kind of maneuvering. I think what really gives fuel to the resistance is this sense that he has become much weaker as a general election candidate over the past month than he was earlier. I think if you're a Republican elected official looking at Trump's historically high unfavorables, that there's a lot of anxiety about that. And I think that, more than anything, will fuel this resistance that is deepening, rather than the consolidation that Mark talked about.

LEMON: Let's talk about the headlines now and what's happening in Brussels. And there was much discussion last night about what to do about Muslim neighborhoods, patrolling Muslim neighborhoods and so forth.

Let's listen to Ted Cruz, what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: Listen, you are right, that after I called for increased vigilance protecting us, that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and New York's mayor, Bill de Blasio, all attacked me. I wear that as a badge of pride. I'm not going to apologize any more.

COOPER: Bill... worked for Rudy Giuliani.

CRUZ: I understand that the commissioner who works for Bill de Blasio has a political imperative. De Blasio is a left-wing radical. And what happened was when Mayor Bill De Blasio got elected, he gave in to political correctness and shut the unit down.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Mark, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz basically on the same note when it comes to this. But John Kasich last night the only one who's saying, "You know what? This is exactly what is wrong." That we should be embracing the Muslim community.

PRESTON: Right, Don. And I think this morning that's why some Republicans are saying John Kasich, where were you three, four, five months ago? Because John Kasich is the type of candidate at this point in time that would do better in a general election.

Look, we talk a lot about the base on the Democratic side and the Republican side. And in the end, for the most part, they're going to come out for their candidate. We'll see what happens with Donald Trump and if he's so polarizing that the base doesn't necessarily rally around him.

But these elections are won on the edges. They're won in the middle; they're won with independent voters. And you have to wonder when you come into November, will rhetoric like that not play very well?

At this point in time there is a lot of fear right now in the United States about another terrorist attack. But again, does civil liberties trump that? And as we've seen in the past, civil liberties often do trump the idea of doing something like patrolling Muslim neighborhoods and proactively trying to find people in these neighborhoods.

LEMON: Mark Preston, Ron Brownstein, thank you, gentleman. BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

LEMON: Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Don.

So the president laid out a proposal to cut the number of Americans that are addicted to drugs. Our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta moderated the panel with the president. Up next, he'll join us to tell us all about that conversation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)