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Donald Trump Criticizes Colorado Delegate Process; John Kasich Holds Town Hall with Family; Interview with Rudy Giuliani; Dramatic Video Surfaces in Will Smith's Shooting Death; Clinton & Sanders Sharpen Attacks Ahead of Debate. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired April 12, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are new developments in the shooting death of former NFL star Will Smith.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some guy looked pretty frantic. It looked like things were escalating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a real tragedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, April 12, 8:00 in the east. And up first, a vintage tirade from Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner ripping his own party for rigging the system. Why? Because Colorado awarded all of its delegates to Ted Cruz without holding a regular primary or caucus. So Trump is insisting the fix is in. Those are his words, declaring that the entire process is dirty and disgusting. Cruz is firing back, saying quit whining.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Now, on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders sharpening their attacks ahead of Thursday night's critical CNN Democratic debate. The New York primary is one week from today. Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Phil Mattingly. And I find you right here. Hi, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rules can be frustrating. Rules can be very confusing, particularly when looking into the Republican politics or this specific Republican primary. Yet those rules particularly on the state level have been set for months and on the national level often decades. That doesn't mean Donald Trump doesn't have a big problem with them. And they have been his big primary target the last couple of days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is a rigged, disgusting, dirty system.

MATTINGLY: Donald Trump sounding off.

TRUMP: It's a fix. They said they are going to do it by delegate. Oh isn't that nice.

MATTINGLY: Criticizing the primary system in Colorado after losing all 34 state delegates to Ted Cruz over the weekend. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus taking to Twitter to defend the process, writing "The rules were set last year, nothing mysterious, nothing new. The rules have not changed." Ted Cruz also responding to Trump's frustration at a rally in California.

SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He yells and screams and stamps his foot. Look, as we know in the state of California, wine is something best served with cheese.

MATTINGLY: And blaming the frontrunner's losses on the failures of Trump's own campaign.

CRUZ: Their team is not remotely organizing on the ground. It is not based on the people. Donald is about Donald.

MATTINGLY: John Kasich acknowledging the complex delegate rules at a CNN town hall last night.

GOV. JOHN KASICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is a bizarre process. I'm not really in the middle of it.

MATTINGLY: Colorado just the latest state where Trump has been outmaneuvered by Cruz in key delegate fights.

TRUMP: When everything is done I find I get less delegates than this guy that got has ass kicked, OK? Give me a break.

MATTINGLY: Trump looking to New York to shift the tide back in his favor.

TRUMP: He's lying Ted Cruz, folks. Remember that. And he does not like the people of New York, and that came out loud and clear.

MATTINGLY: Even though his own children missed the registration deadline and won't be able to vote for their father in his home state.

TRUMP: They were unaware of the rules. I think they have to register a year in advance. So Eric and Ivanka I guess won't be voting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Minus two votes for Donald Trump in the New York primary coming just a week away. Maybe something Anderson Cooper could ask Donald Trump and his family about tonight at that town hall. A ton of different issues to get into. Again, for Donald Trump right now the issue is the rules, but the issue is also the New York primary, 95 delegates at stake and an opportunity for Trump to really get a campaign back on track that for the last couple of weeks has struggled. Michaela?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: It will be interesting to see Trump on stage with his family. It was Kasich's time last night. Ohio Governor John Kasich said he's stepping up his delegate game while calling the whole process bizarre. Kasich and his family appearing with Anderson Cooper where he said nothing is going to stop him from going all the way to the convention. Our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is here with more on that. Michelle?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. So family members finally able to say all the nice things they want to say about the candidate, but think about the pressure that they are under too. They are suddenly in the spotlight. You have teenage kids taking questions from the audience. I want to see what happens if kids deeply disagree with dad's policies and what could possibly go wrong.

But in this format you don't have the opponent. You don't have yelling. You don't have insult, at least hopefully not because these are your family members. You might consider that a good thing or a bad thing in this format. But what you do get is an unusually personal view of the candidate as the person.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREN KASICH, JOHN KASICH'S WIFE: I'm the grill master in the family.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Governor, can you cook.

KAREN KASICH: No.

(LAUGHTER)

KOSINSKI: The entire Kasich family, center stage at a CNN town hall.

KASICH: I'm not that great, OK. I'm just -- honestly, I'm doing the best I can.

KAREN KASICH: You're pretty good at respecting us.

KASICH: Well, yes. I surrendered to you long ago.

(LAUGHTER)

KOSINSKI: The Republican presidential candidate joined by his wife Karen and twin daughters Emma and Reese, giving voters an intimate look at their life together.

[08:05:03] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's just really godly, and really, really fun, and sometimes a little silly. He's really loving. He's always checking up on us.

KOSINSKI: And speaking glowingly about him and his bid for president.

KAREN KASICH: I'm super proud of the way he's run this campaign and the way he's behaved, and I'm proud of the way people react to that.

KOSINSKI: Kasich taking the opportunity to reiterate his confidence that he'll win the nomination at the contested convention in July.

KASICH: I'm the only one that consistently beats Hillary in the fall. And also they are going to try and figure out who has the record and experience to be president. So it will become a very serious, heavy matter when we get into that convention, and it is all about the delegates.

KOSINSKI: And rejecting talk that he could be tapped for Donald Trump's VP.

KASICH: I would be the worst vice president the country ever saw. You know why? Because I'm not like a vice president. I'm a president.

KOSINSKI: The Ohio governor explaining his position on the so called religious freedom bills making their way across the south.

KASICH: I may not appreciate a certain lifestyle or even approve of it. But that doesn't mean I've got to go write a law and try to figure out how to have another hedge issue.

KOSINSKI: While his 16 year old daughters reveal some of their father's quirkier habits.

EMMA KASICH, JOHN KASICH'S DAUGHTER: He just tries to tell jokes that he thinks are funny but --

(LAUGHTER)

EMMA KASICH: They're mostly just funny to us because they're dumb.

REESE KASICH, JOHN KASICH'S DAUGHTER: And he also thinks he's a really good dancer.

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: North south, that's his move?

KASICH: You've got to go north and south. And I'm really, really good. I'm just kidding.

REESE KASICH: Just ask him he'll tell you.

KASICH: I've gotten better.

REESE KASICH: Yes, but you are not going to go on "Dancing with the Stars."

KOSINSKI: The Kasichs opening up about issues confronting all families like bullying.

KASICH: As I tell my daughter, you need to stand up against it. And I think Reese, there was an occasion where you did, didn't you? This is a big, big deal and a big problem. And we've got to look out for our kids even when they are not our kids.

KOSINSKI: In an emotional moment Kasich revealed how his family has changed his life. KASICH: Marrying Karen, she's been just fantastic and such a great

supporter. With the girls, you know, I love all of them so much. And that's where faith has to come in, because, you know, they are now driving. And it's every -- and, you know, Reese had a boyfriend. Emma has a boyfriend. Is that a boyfriend that you have -- I don't know? Is he, OK.

(LAUGHTER)

KASICH: You know at some point you have to let them go. You have to let them lead their own lives. And you have to have the faith that you did it the right way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI: You might say a refreshingly relaxed environment. This is not your usual town hall when you get questions like one of them last night when Kasich was asked, do you have a man cave, and if so, what is in it? Chris?

CUOMO: Always an important question. Michelle Kosinski, thank you very much.

We're going to get the perspective on the state of play now especially with the big New York primary coming from a man who knows New York as well as you can know it, former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani. He says he will be voting for Donald Trump in the primary next week. It's good to have you with us, Mr. Mayor.

RUDY GIULIANI, (R) FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Hi Chris, nice to see you.

CUOMO: Let's play what your man Donald Trump is saying this morning in brief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm millions of votes ahead, which they don't even talk about. They never even mention it. They talk about detects. And I'm hundreds of delegates ahead. But the system, folks, is rigged. It is a rigged, disgusting, dirty system. It's a dirty system.

(BOOS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Agent of change or stop whining?

GIULIANI: Well reality is he's reflecting a lot of frustration on the grassroots of the Republican Party. They are voting for him and for Cruz. This is sort of like grassroots against establishment. The establishment set up the rules, ended up putting a lot of discretion in the hands of delegates, much less than, let's say, the Electoral College, where you are required to vote for the person that was elected in your state. So it's a legitimate argument to make that the rules are rigged in favor of the people in Washington dictating who the president should be.

CUOMO: But Cruz is an insurgent also. They knew about these rules. They were done last year. This is about being organized and getting after it.

GIULIANI: That's right. But the idea that Cruz is against the Washington establishment but he's kind of working to get the Washington establishment on his side is a good argument for Trump to make.

CUOMO: All right, so another argument to be made. Rudy Giuliani, not known as a man in the middle. OK. You have an opinion, you have it, period. On this one, "I am voting for Donald Trump but I am not endorsing Donald Trump." What is that about?

GIULIANI: Difference is joining the campaign. I'm voting for him. I'll do whatever they would like me do but I'm not part of the campaign apparatus. I don't speak for the campaign.

[08:10:02] CUOMO: You're a public official. You're known. You have a big public image. You endorse people.

GIULIANI: When I endorse somebody, I join their campaign. I join their campaign staff. Their campaign staff sends me out to do speeches and do things like that. Donald is a very, very good friend. I believe he would be the best candidate. I think he would be the person I would like to see win. I don't know his campaign staff. I don't know who they are.

CUOMO: Why don't you go the full Christie?

GIULIANI: Because I don't know his campaign staff. Maybe Christie does.

CUOMO: So you want to keep it this way?

GIULIANI: I'm voting for Donald Trump. I'm urging other people to vote for Donald Trump, but I'm not joining the campaign in any way because I don't know the campaign. I don't know what apparatus is there. I don't know who the people are.

CUOMO: Do you have concerns?

GIULIANI: Sure. Yes. I agree with Donald probably on eight out of 10 positions, which is good enough for me. That's what I agreed with Ronald Reagan on. He was my hero. But I have couple concerns on immigration. There are things I'd have to talk out first before I go as far as an endorsement. I have concerns on the buildup of the military. I'd like to hear more about how he's hopefully going to double the size of the Navy, increase the size of the United States military, put more troops in NATO in order to push Putin back a bit.

I'm a very conservative Republican on foreign policy. On domestic policy, social issues, I tend to be moderate. Some Republicans even think I'm liberal. On foreign policy and economic policy I'm very conservative. And I haven't heard a lot on -- I've heard a lot about supporting the troops which I like. But I haven't heard a lot on how much are we going to build up this military? For example, we need to double the size of our Navy to push China back in the South China Sea. I like the idea that Donald wants to conduct economic competition with China. I think that is very, very smart, one of the few people talking about it, one of the few people who understands it. But you need to couple that with a very, very strong Navy, with a two ocean Navy that pushes back the militaristic instincts.

CUOMO: And then how do you do that? So that becomes something that as an open issue. The delegates -- if he does not get 50 percent plus one, that it is 1,237 number, it goes then to convention. What is your concern that happens after that first round of voting?

GIULIANI: My concern is if they go way off the charts. If Trump is four, five, six eight votes short, they got to give it to him.

CUOMO: Why?

GIULIANI: Why? Because the will of the Republican Party is basically to have him as the candidate. If he's a lot short and Cruz is close, it would be legitimate to make a choice between him and Cruz to. Go to a candidate who has no votes or 300 voted compared to their 1,000 I think would basically be telling the grassroots of the Republican Party we don't care about you.

CUOMO: So you think Kasich is nonstarter?

GIULIANI: I like John a lot. I think he would make a good vice president. I think John would make a good president.

CUOMO: He doesn't. You hear what he said? He said I'd make the worse vice president ever.

GIULIANI: Everybody says that.

(LAUGHTER)

GIULIANI: They all that. But the reality is John has too few votes. The grassroots of the Republican Party have selected two people as the two people they like the most. It is between the two of them.

CUOMO: You have concerns. Let's take off your public figure hat and put on the USA hat, your prosecutor hat. You have concerns about what people may do or not do where delegates are involved in trying to curry favor. What are your concerns?

GIULIANI: I think you have to be really careful. Each one of these, they should probably get me or an assistant U.S. attorney to come in and lecture them on what you can and can't do. You can't offer anything of value in terms for a vote. This is not just a private club. You are getting a nomination to a federal office.

CUOMO: You can take them on private planes and fly them places.

GIULIANI: Yes, but there better not be a discussion like, hey, you shake hand, you got my private plane and I got your vote. CUOMO: It can't be quid pro quo.

GIULIANI: You've got no quid pro quo.

CUOMO: Sounds gray and dirty.

GIULIANI: No quid pro quo. You've got to be careful. For example, you can't offer the vice presidency beforehand in exchange for support. You have got to be careful how you do this.

CUOMO: What do you think happens here in New York?

GIULIANI: I think in New York Donald gets over 55 or better. I think he wins if not all of the congressional delegations, most of them. You have got to remember something about the New York Republican Party that nobody understands. We have taken out of the Republican Party a lot of conservatives. There is a conservative party. It is not like New Jersey or Connecticut. So three to five percent of people who would normally be conservative voting for Cruz, they are out of the party.

CUOMO: Right.

GIULIANI: So this is basically a Trump/Kasich party as opposed to Cruz. Cruz really doesn't have a big core of support. Plus his remarks about New York make him a figure of some ridicule by the "Daily News" and places like that.

[08:15:02] CUOMO: Where do you come down on that? Was he just talking about my brother and other Democrats he doesn't like?

GIULIANI: I think yes, probably.

CUOMO: Or do you think he was talking about New York in general?

GIULIANI: No, I think he was talking about New York political ideology. I think it was -- he said it in a way that made it sound like he was talking about all of New York. So, he's got to take responsibility for that. Like Donald has to for some of the things he said.

He said it in a way which you had a right to interpret it as he insulted all of us. But that isn't what Cruz meant. What Cruz meant is what he regards is very liberal left wing ideology.

CUOMO: Mayor Rudy Giuliani, always a pleasure. Thank you for being with us on NEW DAY.

GIULIANI: Thank you.

CUOMO: So, we're teeing up what's going on. Tonight at 9:00 Eastern, it is Donald Trump's turn. His wife and his whole family, his daughter, his sons. They are all going to take questions from New York voters in the next CNN Republican presidential town hall hosted by our man, Anderson Cooper.

Then tomorrow night, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, his wife Heidi in the spotlight. Again, it starts tonight 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Mick?

PEREIRA: All right, Chris.

Chilling video is surfacing this morning for moments after former New Orleans Saints star Will Smith was shot dead. This as we hear from a witness who claims that Smith said he had a gun and acted aggressively. Investigators are now scrambling to determine what exactly happened that fateful night.

CNN's Martin Savidge is live in New Orleans.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

The wife of Will Smith, Jacqueline, she continues to recover. She was wounded in the leg as a result of the shooting. This community is still in shock and there are a lot of questions and those questions this morning are only getting stronger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WITNESS: He's dead.

REPORTER: There's a dead man over there?

WITNESS: Yes.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Newly released video captured moments after the shooting death of former Saints defensive end Will Smith.

REPORTER: She's shot?

SAVIDGE: Reveals the shock of eyewitnesses and the sounds of anguish from his wife.

RACQUEL SMITH: What happened?

SAVIDGE: You can hear Racquel Smith pleading for help.

SMITH: I need an ambulance. My leg has been shot!

SAVIDGE: In the video, you also see the suspect, Cardell Hayes, and the passenger in his car being handcuffed by police. An eyewitness describes the deadly altercation after Hayes rear-ended Smith approaching a New Orleans intersection.

The witness says the former NFL star claimed he also had a gun.

WITNESS: He starts freaking out on this guy, like I'm going to fight you, and then he's like -- I guess this guy was like, get out, I have a gun. And he goes (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you all, I've got one too. And he grabs his gun and then shoots him in the back. He's dead.

SAVIDGE: Hayes' defense attorney points to this tape for reason to believe there may have been a second gun on the scene. But police say they have only recovered one weapon. And that's Hayes' handgun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell you that my client was not the aggressor in terms of the behavior that happened after the accident.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: And my apologies, it is Racquel Smith as the wife who is recovering in the hospital.

Let me show you some other video that's come to light. The attorney representing the alleged gunman in this case has come forward to say, look, it did not just begin and end at this intersection. And to light now is this video that's come forward. It is surveillance video from earlier in the evening just a few blocks down the street. And it shows the orange Hummer that is being driven by Hayes the alleged gunman. And behind it though is the silver Mercedes SUV that it's believed will smith and his wife are driving.

And at one point, you see the SUV come close and the Hummer appears to pull to the side as if to maybe stop and inspect. And instead, the silver SUV goes around and the Hummer gives chase. This is exactly why the defense attorney has said, there is a lot more to this story. And it is also what's intensifying the questions this morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely, Martin. It is more complicated but hopefully they will get to the bottom of how this could have happened. Thank you for that reporting.

Back to politics. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a fight for the hearts and minds of course and the votes the New York, of the Democrats. Up next, we'll talk to someone who knows all too well the challenge Clinton is facing with a surging outsider.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:23:04] CAMEROTA: The race for the Democratic presidential nomination heating up over policy with the New York primary just a week away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I started co- sponsoring the DREAM Act back in 2002 or 2003. And I consistently did that. Senator Sanders, by contrast, was supporting vigilantes, the so-called Minutemen on the border.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Secretary Clinton and her State Department worked to export fracking throughout the world. In my view, that is unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now to talk about all this is former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who was favored to succeed New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg but lost to a progressive outsider known as Bill de Blasio. Quinn is a Hillary Clinton supporter and knows all too well the challenges Hillary Clinton faces now in New York.

Great to see you, Christine. Thanks for being here.

CHRISTINE QUINN, FORMER NYC COUNCIL SPEAKER: Of course.

CAMEROTA: Are there -- they say they are talking about policy, both Clinton and Sanders. But are their attacks getting too barbed? Is their tone nastier than a simple policy discussion?

QUINN: Well, look, I think it's very clear that Senator Sanders knows that it is basically impossible for him to win this nomination. Secretary Clinton --

CAMEROTA: Does he? Because he said he still has a path. He's eating into her delegate count and he has a path.

QUINN: The math is clear. There is no way for him to get enough delegates and I think that is why you see Senator Sanders really taking the low road and why you see him, you know, coming out with these attacks that are really largely baseless and very barbed, and I think that is often unfortunately what happens when a candidate see it is road coming to an end.

CAMEROTA: I mean, of course, he says that her attacks aren't fair. He said particularly about how he supported vigilantes. He said no I do not support vigilantes. That is a horrific statement, an unfair statement.

QUINN: I think Secretary Clinton was clearly laying out the distinctions between her long time kind of unparalled record of support for true comprehensive immigration reform that really builds on the history of this country and this state as a state of immigrants.

[08:25:12] And the senator's record on immigration, which is nowhere near hers in really committing to really making this country open to everyone.

CAMEROTA: So, do you see similarities between Hillary Clinton in this contest against Bernie Sanders, who, of course, is running to the left of her and what you went through with Bill de Blasio, who was running to the left of you. And if so, what lessons can you share with Mrs. Clinton?

QUINN: Well, you know, President Obama recently said and I think you sum it up right, that women candidates have to do everything male candidates have to do but have to do it backwards and in high heels. And there is no real debating that women candidates are often held to a higher standard.

CAMEROTA: Why is that? Why is it harder for women candidates?

QUINN: Well, I think, you know, that is a question that deserves a long sociological answer on the history of women in the United States. But the truth is we are held to a higher standard and that is the reality and that is in fact what Secretary Clinton has fought against and succeeded against her entire career, and not for herself. But to open up a path for women and girls around the world to make sure that, that isn't the case for them as they get older and they seek to fulfill their dreams in politics or whatever field is their calling.

CAMEROTA: Vice President Joe Biden talked about this very thing yesterday. He did this online interview. And he talked about the appeal, to him, of a female candidate. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This country is ready for a woman. There's no problem, we'll be able to elect a woman in this country.

REPORTER: Would you like to see us elect a woman in this country?

BIDEN: I would like to see a woman elected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So he'd like to see a woman elected, Christine, but he's not using Hillary Clinton's name. I mean, why is he being vague about that?

QUINN: Well, look, he's the sitting vice president of the United States, right? And I think it would be inappropriate for him or the president for that matter to come out and make a choice in the Democratic primary. That is not what sitting presidents or sitting vice presidents do.

But there is only one woman running for president of the United States and vague is not usually a word used, God bless him, with Joe Biden.

So, I don't think he was vague at all. I think he was crystal clear. Probably a little beyond what he might even have been, but that's the glory of Joe Biden as well.

And I think again, just as Vice President Biden predicted with marriage equality, he was correct, we would have it in the country. I think he's making a similar prediction that we will have our first female president of the United States and this election, and that persona will be Hillary Clinton and the country will be so much better for it.

CAMEROTA: And yet, isn't it interesting to hear young women who talk about the idea of just voting for someone because they are a woman seems to them to be sexist? They think we're past that.

QUINN: Well, look, I don't think anybody should vote for anybody for one reason. I'm not voting for Hillary Clinton just because she's a woman. Is it thrilling and exciting to me the idea of making history and I like to think of myself as young woman? Of course it is.

But there are so many reasons to vote for Secretary Clinton. You can't touch her record. No one else can. From fighting for healthcare from before it was on the agenda. From taking women's rights issues to the international stage. It was she who said for the first time ever on the world stage that women's rights were human rights, and then later as secretary of state said LGBT rights were human rights.

No one had taken those kind of issues onto the international stage the way she has. And let's not forget, as New Yorkers. She was by our side after September 11th. She never left us. She kept fighting. She made sure our first responders had healthcare.

And that's the kind of fighter she's going to be in the White House and that's how she'll succeed for New Yorkers and for everybody and that is why she's going to win big on Tuesday.

CAMEROTA: Christine Quinn, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. Nice to have you in studio.

QUINN: Thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn.

The son of a former California lawmaker freed from prison. His manslaughter sentence drastically reduced by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a family friend. The question, was the victim's family cheated out of justice? His parents join us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)