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Sanders: 'Clinton Not Qualified to Be President'; Cruz Ties Trump & Dems to 'New York Values'; Cruz Doubles Down on 'New York Values' Comment; Iraqis Fight to Retake Mosul. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired April 07, 2016 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Sanders by his own admission has never even been a Democrat.
[05:58:05] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't believe that she is qualified.
CLINTON: There doesn't seem to be a lot of substance to what he is saying.
SANDERS: Secretary Clinton appears to be getting a little bit nervous.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Lying Ted. The Bible held high. He puts it down, and then he lies.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald can always be counted on to demonstrate class.
TRUMP: He started lecturing me on New York values, like we're no good.
CRUZ: The people of New York know exactly what those values are.
TRUMP: Folks, I think you can forget about him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.
CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Thursday, April 7, 6 a.m. in the East.
I'm not qualified. You're not qualified. That is the state of play between Sanders and Clinton in the Democratic race for president.
The charge from him: "You can't be the Democratic nominee. You're all about special interest money."
Clinton's return: "You're not even a Democrat. How can you be the Democratic nominee?" That's what's going on. This is all about a race that is coming
to a head right here in New York. A week from today, the CNN debate in Brooklyn is going to be where it all comes down.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile on the GOP side, Donald Trump hoping to rebound in his home state of New York after that bruising loss in Wisconsin. The GOP rivals getting even feistier as they prepare for a convention floor fight.
We have this race covered the way only CNN can. So let's begin with senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar. She is live in Washington.
Good morning, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.
These comments by Bernie Sanders last night were red meat for his supporters. I was at this rally. They were eating this up. Bernie Sanders clearly not taking kindly to the Clinton campaign's new strategy to take him on aggressively, despite some concerns about unifying the Democratic Party for a general election.
Hillary Clinton has seized on his remarks to "The New York Daily News." We had a number of stumbles, including where he seemed unclear about how he would break up the big banks.
Last night he responded by coming out swinging.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDERS: She has been saying lately that she thinks, I am, quote, unquote, "not qualified to be president." I don't think that you are qualified if you get $15 million from Wall Street for your super PAC. I don't think you are qualified if you have voted for the disastrous war in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, Clinton spokesperson, Brian Fallon, tweeting after this, saying, "Bernie Sanders, take back your words about Clinton." The Clinton campaign insisting she did not say that he was unqualified. She certainly has not been making the case, Alisyn and Chris, for Bernie Sanders' qualification, but they're making that distinction, that she did not utter that exact phrase.
CAMEROTA: OK, Brianna. Thanks so much for that background.
Let's discuss this with our CNN political analyst David Gregory and senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein. Gentlemen, great to see you.
DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: So David, Bernie Sanders says Hillary Clinton is not qualified to be president, and that is a new line of attack. Also, what her supporters say is a new low. Here is a tweet that was sent out by Michael Nutter, former Philly mayor, now CNN contributor, who says, "Tonight, @BernieSanders says Hillary Clinton was not qualified to be president. This is low and crosses the line. Take it back, Senator."
David, I've gotten confused about where the bar is and low it is, but is this a new low? Does he need to take this back?
GREGORY: You know, I've got kids who are in fifth grade, so I'm actually accustomed to this kind of back and forth and how it might be handled. There may be some time for reflection and talking to each other a little bit more nicely.
Look, this is a period in this race now where things are getting a lot testier, but I think what's important about that, if you are Bernie Sanders to react, a lot of his supporters think that any kind of condescension on her part about his qualifications or that he shouldn't be in the race and that he shouldn't drop out, and that's not what Hillary Clinton has said.
She has not said that he should drop out. But that all of that kind of says to Sanders and his supporters, "Look, we're the real part of this game and you don't belong in it." That's exactly what they -- what their argument is against the system and against Hillary Clinton being part of the system, which is why this is red meat for him and his supporters, and why he wants to seize on it to try to use with his supporters right now to keep that momentum and enthusiasm going, particularly as we get closer to New York.
CUOMO: So Ron, describe for us why it is red meat on both sides, what these not salvos, but what these suggestions about each other mean in terms of what they're trying to drive home?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. You know, for Bernie Sanders, I can understand why it is an emotionally satisfying argument, but it seems to me almost completely irrelevant to the real challenge he faces.
I mean, for -- for the core liberal audience that has powered him forward, this kind of ideological argument is very satisfying. They believe that Hillary Clinton is compromised as a candidate by her choices and her connections.
But you know, he's pretty much maxed out on those voters, and if you look forward, the core question he faces, maybe the only real question in the Democratic primary, is can he improve his performance among African-Americans and Latinos enough to win convincingly win some of the last big states on the calendar. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and California.
And it seems to be this kind of ideological argument is utterly irrelevant, not counterproductive to that challenge, so while it may be satisfying to those who are kind of at the center of this campaign, I think in the long run it really does nothing for him to deal with what is the central issues still remaining, which has been really there, Chris, since the beginning, and he moved -- he's done very well with white voters and won white voters in almost every state outside the south, and he can't get the nomination without winning more big states, and he can't win more big states without winning more diverse voters.
CAMEROTA: So yesterday, Chris had this great interview with Hillary Clinton. Really interesting; interesting to see her response to things. She seemed to be finding a lot of levity in some of Chris's questions, particularly...
GREGORY: Chris is a funny man.
CAMEROTA: Well, Chris is a funny man, but Hillary Clinton seemed to particularly be enjoying the interview, particularly the suggestion that Bernie Sanders' campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, had made that she was basically placing her own ambition over the Democratic Party. So watch these exchanges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF WEAVER, BERNIE SANDERS' CAMPAIGN MANAGER: This is what I would say to them, which is don't destroy the Democratic Party to satisfy the secretary's ambitions to become president of the United States, right? We want to have a party at the end of this so we can unify...
CUOMO: Very strong words. Your response to that idea?
CLINTON: I mean, it's just ludicrous on the face of it. You know, I have been campaigning for Democrats, fundraising for Democrats, recruiting Democrats to run and win for a really long time, I think about 40 years. And Senator Sanders by his own admission has never even been a Democrat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: What's happening there, David?
GREGORY: Well, you know, first of all, I think this jab about whether he's really a Democrat really goes to Ron's earlier point, which is she's got her eye on some of the states that are coming forward and consolidating the vote that she needs that is the bread and butter of the Democratic coalition, diverse voters.
She does particularly well as you look in these exit rolls, and she wants to shore them up by saying he may be making an enthusiastic argument but he has not been a traditional part of the Democratic Party, and that he needs -- the people need to be reminded of that. Because as many people who are really enthusiastic about him, because he is outside of the political mainstream.
There are a lot of Democratic voters that she is appealing to who have been Democrats their whole lives and who are focused on who can get elected in the fall and can get things done and are not just swayed by his arguments. CUOMO: What do you think this means in terms of timing? It
seems to me that this renewed relevance of New York, this was not supposed to be a flashpoint contest. Now it does seem in many different ways.
What do you see Let's take a look at the poll. We don't like to look at the polls as we get closer, because they're always wrong. But you know, we look at it right now she's up 12, but many people think, Ron Brownstein, that her victory begins at 10 points. So this is really only a two-point margin that she has right now.
BROWNSTEIN: First of all, how great is it to have a New York primary that matters again? I remember the 1984, '88 and '92 Democratic primaries in New York were epic, and it's going to be terrific to take a subway to a campaign event again. That's going to be great.
But look, yes, I think Bernie Sanders has done better than Hillary Clinton expected and probably even better than Bernie Sanders' campaign expected. He's won over 40 percent of the voting, winning a higher share of the total vote than almost any insurgent in the Democratic Party history, more than Jesse Jackson, more than Gary Hart, more than Ted Kennedy, more than George McGovern.
But you know, as I said, he has this one big hurtle to get over. And, you know, New York is the beginning, I think of this, probably the toughest of the four -- of the four big states: New York, New Jersey, California and Pennsylvania. He's got to find a way to beat her in big places. He's only won five primaries. He's won 10 caucuses, but those tend to be smaller states.
What he's got to start doing, if he has any chance of convincing super delegates to abandon her, down the stretch, he has to beat her, not only in the places where it seems likely that he will win, like Oregon and South Dakota and Montana, but in some of these big states. And that is the challenge for them, and he can't do that without doing better than he's done among African-American and Hispanic voters.
CAMEROTA: Gentlemen, stick around. We have a lot more New York talking to do on the GOP side, so we will call upon you momentarily.
CUOMO: Here's what we know. This stuff is rarely random, so there's been this strategy shift here, and it's met on both sides. And we just happen to get to Secretary Clinton right as this shift was happening. So you'll get to see where they're trying to go with this campaign. We'll show you more of the interview in just a couple minutes.
CAMEROTA: OK, also one week from tonight, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a face-off in a CNN Democratic presidential debate. It will be in Brooklyn. That's next Thursday night, April 14, at 9 p.m. Eastern, just five days before the big New York primary.
PEREIRA: You'll have to help me figure out the subway, because I get all mixed up. I transferred. I'm going uptown, no direction. OK, I got you. CAMEROTA: We got this.
PEREIRA: All right. Donald Trump, meanwhile, hoping to rebound in his home turf after losing in Wisconsin to Ted Cruz, Trump chasten -- chastising, parson me, Cruz for drawing smaller crowds in New York, blasting him for doubling down on his criticism of the values of New Yorkers.
Phil Mattingly joins us now with more on all of this -- Phil.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Michaela.
Well, Donald Trump had one noticeable omission from his fiery remarks last night in Beth Page, Wisconsin, or any -- any notice or mention of his devastating loss in that state. Instead, Donald Trump is moving on in his home turf, trying to right size his campaign, and once again attacking Ted Cruz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I've got this guy standing over there, looking at me, talking about New York values with scorn and dismay with the hatred, with hatred of New York. So folks, I think you can forget about him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Now Ted Cruz also landed in New York yesterday, hitting the Bronx and defending his previous attacks on those, quote, "New York values," saying that was all about attacking Democrats and liberals, something he's trying to bunch Donald Trump up with.
Cruz trailing badly in this state in polling, along with John Kasich. Both will be in the state again today, trying to make up ground. Ted Cruz, again, making the point he made in Wisconsin on Tuesday night that this is an area where he can make up ground. The race has entered a new stage, a stage where Ted Cruz has become the candidate to beat Donald Trump.
CAMEROTA: Phil, thanks so much for all of that.
So how has Donald Trump's strategy shift, how's it going in New York? We will ask our political experts, who are standing by, about what's next in the fight for the delegates.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lying Ted! Lying Ted!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lying Ted! Lying Ted!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lying Ted! Lying Ted!
TRUMP: He is Lyin' Ted. You know, I came up with the idea, but you have to spell it right. It's L-Y-I-N apostrophe. Lyin' Ted, the Bible held high. He puts it down, and then he lies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: We're trying to figure out why Trump wants it spelled right.
CAMEROTA: Spelled right.
CUOMO: Maybe he trademarked it or something like that. It could sell, especially here in New York right now.
CAMEROTA: Since when is he a stickler for spelling? I'm confused about that now.
[06:15:02] CUOMO: All right. Why is he going on the attack in this specific way? Because he believes he can play to advantage here in New York state, not just because he's from here. So let's discuss the state of play, bring back David Gregory and Ron Brownstein.
We know what this is about. Ted Cruz at one point said New York values, and it was the first time in the campaign we saw Donald Trump have moral high ground. You remember, he spoke about 9/11 and how everybody came together here and how dare you challenge that?
Cruz since then and his campaign has been trying to move away from that. Let's play what Ted Cruz says New York values means right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: Let's be clear. The people of New York know exactly what those values are, the values of liberal Democratic politicians, like Andrew Cuomo, like Anthony Wiener, like Eliot Spitzer, like Charlie Rangel, all of whom Donald Trump has supported given tens of thousands of dollars throughout the years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: David Gregory, I would submit that this is much better for Ted Cruz. Bash Democrats, bash everybody named Cuomo. That's good. That will help you. But do you think that Donald Trump will be able to counter by saying, "That's not what he meant. He was talking about us"? So let's play what Donald Trump says he meant by New York values.
CAMEROTA: Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You remember during the debate when he started lecturing me on New York values like we're no good, like we're no good.
I've got this guy standing over there looking at me, talking about New York values with scorn in his face, with hatred, with hatred of New York. So folks, I think you can forget about him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: David?
GREGORY: Look, this was never a good moment for Ted Cruz in -- on the debate stage. I never think that that works. I think that the argument played better outside of New York in terms of making that argument.
But I think in this case, well, Trump gets the better of this argument, because it plays to his brashness, his strength. He's on home turf. He gets to try to consolidate the coalition of voters he's been winning, particularly white men without a college education. He really works on doing that and obviously, trying to expand that in New York.
But remember, I think in New York, Cruz is not trying to go head to head, trying to go strength to strength with Donald Trump. He's got a delegate-winning strategy here to try to pick off what he can in New York, and to try to reach people with that very narrow argument about Trump not being electable, about Trump not being a conservative, about Trump being a phony. And he's just trying to pick-off what he can. I don't think he's trying to go straight up into Trump strength here.
CAMEROTA: Ron, look at how helpful "The Daily News" is being, though, for Ted Cruz. They're giving him helpful subway directions about how to get out of the Bronx. They're suggesting that he "Take the F-U Train."
CUOMO: They're giving him a little bit of the Bronx salute.
BROWNSTEIN: You know, that is -- you know, I used to take the "F" train every day when I'd go up in Queens.
But look, yes, this is like -- it's great to have a New York primary again. Ted Cruz is not going to do well in New York. The question is whether this is a precursor of what's coming in other Eastern -- other coastal states on both sides.
Wisconsin was important, because it broke the pattern we have seen in the Republican race so far. Ted Cruz has been narrowly confined to evangelical voters. That's a formula for disaster along the coasts, when there aren't many of them.
In Wisconsin, he did better than he's done anywhere else among voters who are not evangelicals. He approached 45 percent with them. In the poll that came out yesterday in Monmouth, a poll in New York, he was back down to 14 percent with non-evangelical voters in New York.
New York is especially good for Trump, but if that's what's coming along the other East Coast states that are voting -- Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland -- it's going to be a long few weeks for Ted Cruz.
CUOMO: In Wisconsin now, Cruz also won people who were polling very high on restrictions of Muslims. You would think that they would have been going for Trump. They weren't.
And David, I think the reason I make that point is that I think the shift we're trying to see here, if we want to apply tactics to what Trump is doing is he's trying to switch the narrative on "us" and "them."
Cruz has been working with him on "us" and "them." In Wisconsin it worked, with him saying, "Let's talk about what matters to us as conservatives." Trump seems to be wanting to spin that narrative in this region of the country to say, "Hey, he was talking about us as people in this part of the country."
GREGORY: Yes, no question. To make it more of a home turf argument, which is very strong for Trump, as it was in the debate, which is let's go back the 9/11. Who were we as a people when it was tough? How did we respond? Let's remember who we are: we're tough. We want to make America great again.
I mean, this whole argument, it projects strength, which is really the intangible, the characteristic that is strongest for Trump in trying to move this away from issues. Trump is also going to try, I think, to become a little bit more disciplined and organized in terms of how he views what happens down the road here.
CAMEROTA: All right. David, Ron, thank you. Great to get your insight.
Let's get to Michaela.
[06:20:04] PEREIRA: All right. We have a CNN exclusive up next for you. On the front lines of the fight against ISIS. You'll witness Iraqi forces battling terrorists for control of Mosul. A story you won't see anywhere else but here, ahead on NEW DAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PEREIRA: Imagine living in fear as terrorists take over your town. This is reality in Iraq. ISIS fighting hard to retain control of Mosul. Iraqi forces facing an uphill battle to liberate that city and save its people.
Arwa Damon is live on the front lines in Erbil, Iraq, with an exclusive report -- Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.
And it is a very challenging battle to say. The least of the Iraqi security forces confront all sorts of despicable ISIS tactics. We do have to warn our viewers that they may find some of the images in this report disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON (voice-over): Bursts of gunfire, artillery explosions, a constant reminder that the enemy, ISIS, is relentlessly pulling for vulnerabilities in the Iraqi army's defenses. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): ISIS and especially
now, we are on the perimeter of their so-called caliphate. They are using waves of suicide bombers, backed by fighters.
DAMON: Coalition airstrikes leveled this building ISIS militants had snuck into the night before we arrived. The hillside is strewn with the bloated bodies of dead ISIS fighters. One of them looks particularly young, a teenager, the Iraqis say.
[06:25:00] General Tsubuti's (ph) men only recently recaptured this village and a handful of others, the first tentative steps in the battle for Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, that humiliatingly fell to ISIS after Iraqi security forces abandoned their positions around two years ago.
These are men retrained under new command, forces that will repeatedly be put to the test. Will they hold this ground and fight or again, flee?
Key, of course, to the equation is U.S. support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For us, we have enough ground forces. The most important thing is to see ongoing U.S. backing with the air support, advisers and logistical support.
DAMON (on camera): But not boots on the ground?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's not an urgent thing for us right now, boots on the ground. We can liberate our lands.
DAMON (voice-over): ISIS has had plenty of time to fortify its defenses in Mosul and here, still some 45 kilometers, or 30 miles, away from the main battleground.
Deep in one of the hills, a labyrinth.
(on camera): This is not just a tunnel complex. It's actually a tunnel and sleeping quarters complex that has been dug well underground.
(voice-over): Winding passages that veer off in multiple directions. This one leads to a small opening for oxygen circulation, we are told, and this is just the start for the impending bloody battle to try to liberate Mosul, one that will be a defining chapter in this nation's history and beyond.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DAMON: And Chris, a few days later, the Iraqis attempted to move on another village in an operation that ended in failure, despite the fact that they had coalition backing. Senior commanders now saying that the push forward has come to something of a pause with the Iraqi security forces holding defensive positions until they can get reinforcements.
CUOMO: Arwa, there is no substitute for seeing the state of play on the ground. Thank you for taking the chances to show it to us. Appreciate it.
We'll take a quick break here. Up next we're going to give you more of the interview with Hillary Clinton so you can see where her -- where she is going now with her campaign and this big lead up to the primary here in New York.
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