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California Man Charged with Manslaughter Freed from Jail; Kasich Pinning Presidential Hopes on Contested Convention; Hillary Clinton Takes Hits. Aired 8:30-9:00a ET

Aired April 12, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:33:25] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The son of a powerful former California lawmaker convicted in the stabbing death of a college student. Luis Santos is now out of prison after serving less than six years of a 16 year sentence for manslaughter. Esteban Nunez's family - or rather sentence was drastically reduced by then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on his last day in his office. The Santos family sued to overturn that reduced sentence, but they were unsuccessful.

Joining us now are his parents, Luis Santos' parents, Fred and Kathy Santos.

I'm really glad to speak to you today. I can imagine it's been a trying week for the two of you. Two days ago your killers - the killer of your son walked out of jail. I know you've known this day was coming since about 2011. Kathy, how did you get through that day?

KATHY SANTOS, MOTHER OF LUIS SANTOS KILLED BY ESTEBAN NUNEZ: Well, it's made me pretty heartsick. We actually went up to the cemetery to pay our respects to our son.

Fred, I know Saturday, October 4, 2008, was likely the hardest, worst day of your life. The day your son died. How are you doing? How are you doing as a family? How is your daughter Brajita (ph) doing?

FRED SANTOS, FATHER OF LUIS SANTOS KILLED BY ESTEBAN NUNEZ: We're doing OK given the circumstances. We're all very emotional. And we're all saddened. Old wounds get reopened. But we're trying to manage and get together with the help of friends and family.

PEREIRA: Yes, times like this, that's when you lean on one another. I know the power in that. I can imagine, when you learned of the clemency being granted by Governor Schwarzenegger those few years ago, shortly before he was going out of office, I understand you were told by a reporter that called the house. That must have felt like a wound being reopened.

[08:35:12] F. SANTOS: Yes. That was. Even during the investigation and the trial, or the court hearings leading to the trial, that was my biggest concern that politics would rob us of justice.

PEREIRA: Well, speaking of politics -

F. SANTOS: And - and - and it did.

PEREIRA: Well, it did. Politics has played a part in this we know and you feel that way and others feel that way as well. Here's a statement from Fabian Nunez's family. It reads in part that that say that he has "paid his debt to society." What is your reaction to that, Kathy?

F. SANTOS: Paid the debt - oh, I'm sorry.

PEREIRA: No, either one of you can answer.

K. SANTOS: Yes. Right. I - I feel like that is so untrue. He paid a part of the debt that he pled to. So I feel that that is a silly statement. Of course he's not paid his debt.

F. SANTOS: He got away with murder to start with by pleading to a lesser sentence. And then, of course, you know, once they got sentenced to the maximum allowed by law, they didn't like the sentence, so they went shopping for a better one. And, of course, they - they went and - to the political route.

PEREIRA: When they took the political route, Fabian Nunez, the former state assemblyman, was quite friendly with then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. I understand Governor Schwarzenegger reached out and sent a letter to you after that. And I have it in my hand. I've read through it and it doesn't apologize for granting clemency to your son's killer, more apologizing really for the last-minute nature of this. And then go on - he went on to say that he didn't intend to cause your further pain. Walk us through what it felt like to receive this letter from the governor.

F. SANTOS: Go ahead.

K. SANTOS: Well, I feel like - he sent that letter after a lot of backlash because he had been asked by several sources, did you notify the family? And the district attorney also asked him that, did you notify the family? So there was pressure on him after the fact. So the letter came, I think, about a week later. So, to me, it was very insincere. We feel like it was written by staffers. There was really no point in it. It was to sort of save his grace I guess.

F. SANTOS: And it was very (INAUDIBLE).

PEREIRA: I was in California at the time that this all - this all happened and I remember very clearly politicians both on the right and on the left, I remember newspaper editorials decrying this commutation of Fabian Nunez's sense. Was that small comfort to you, Fred?

F. SANTOS: Well, there's no comfort for us. Our son is dead no matter what.

PEREIRA: Yes.

F. SANTOS: So, no - yes, it does help a little bit that everybody seemed to be on our side and condemn his action, but it doesn't bring us any peace, it doesn't bring us any comfort because my son is still dead. PEREIRA: Kathy, tell me about your boy. I know he was known as Mr.

Personality.

K. SANTOS: Right. Well, he was very popular, very charming. He had a great sense of humor. He had a lot of friends. He was the type of person that if he sat next to you on an airplane, he would know your whole life story. Yes, he was very entertaining. And he was a family favorite for all the generations.

PEREIRA: And he had your beautiful smile. Kathy, Fred, thank you for joining us today. It's a very difficult time for your family. Our best to you. We hope you stay strong during this difficult time.

K. SANTOS: Thank you so much.

F. SANTOS: Thank you very much.

PEREIRA: Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Michaela.

Well, back to politics. Governor John Kasich pinning his presidential hopes on a contested convention. We hear his plans.

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[08:42:36] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Ohio Governor John Kasich telling New York voters at CNN's town hall last night that he is staying in the race, although he would be the worst vice president ever, according to him.

Joining us now, national communications advisor and spokesman for Kasich for America, Trent Duffy.

Trent, good to have you.

Let's deal with the good news first. OK, let's take a look at the numbers in New York and upcoming Pennsylvania. Big states, Northeast, regional appeal, very important. Kasich moving into second. Still half of Trump, but the best showing we've seen in any kind of significant contest. That's New York. Pennsylvania, again, the ratio better for Kasich, but again showing that he has moved into a competitive situation.

Now the less good news, also known as the bad news. Look at the delegate count, 746 for Trump, 538 for Cruz, 145 for Kasich. Notable, Marco Rubio, not in the race, still has more delegates than John Kasich. Hasn't won any state except Ohio. Hasn't won a delegate in a month. The point is pretty obvious for you, which is, is he viable? He can't win. Mathematically he needs more than a hundred percent of the remaining delegates. Why should he still be in the race?

TRENT DUFFY, NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER: Well, you're wrong about one point, we got some delegates over the weekend and we continue to get delegates as the delegate selection process goes forward. We've got a very active team. So that's going to be a positive. And we're getting some good traction there.

But he should stay in the race because, one, he's the best - he's the best person to be the commander in chief, the president of the United States, and he's going to lay out today, in a speech that he's calling two paths, a real choice for not only Republican voters but the country as a whole. Do we want to have a president who offers hope or anger? Do we want action as opposed to division? And he's the one that can really bring not only the party together, but the country together, and that's his path forward and that's why you're seeing him moving up the polls in these states coming.

CUOMO: What do you tell your brother and sister GOPers when they say, but nobody's voting for him. They're voting for Cruz and for Trump. Shouldn't it be between them?

DUFFY: Well, they are voting for John Kasich. And as they continue to see that he is the best candidate able to win in the general election in November, those brothers and sisters in the Republican Party and the independents that have voted for John Kasich are continuing to vote for him. And that's really what this comes down to as we get to the convention in Cleveland. There's a long way to go until then and we do have to still go in a general election and there's only one candidate that can win in November, and that's John Kasich. So the more people hear that, the more people see that he's the one offering a plan of action and optimism. We feel confident that we're going to get their support.

[08:45:20] CUOMO: So for those in the audience who are just getting to know you a little bit, you know the game very well. You were former deputy communications person at the White House. You know how this works. You know a lot of people at the party's upper echelons. Paint for me the scenario by which it goes to convention and Kasich winds up being the one to come out of it.

DUFFY: Well, that's a - this is a process that I don't have any experience in because it's never happened in my particular career. But the bottom line is, at the convention, there's pretty much one rule that matters most, and that's a majority of the delegates can decide the rules, can decide the nominee and can decide pretty much what happens. And so since no candidate is going to go to the convention with a majority of delegates in hand, then it's going to be up to the delegates at the convention to make all these decisions.

And, you know, throughout his career, John Kasich has served not only in the Congress but in the state of Ohio. He's produced a very, very positive record of job creation, accomplishment, in bringing people together on - from both sides of the aisle. And we feel confident that as it gets to that second, third ballot and people are thinking about who can win a general election and who is best to protect the Senate and who's best to protect Republicans in down ballot races, people are going to think long and hard about who's best able to do that, and that's John Kasich.

CUOMO: I've never heard the governor denigrate himself about anything as much as he does about being a vice president. He says I'd be the worst, I'd be the worst times a thousand. Do you believe that he is completely closed off to the possibility of joining the ticket of one of these other two gentlemen to bring the party together?

DUFFY: Well, having watched and known the governor for several years, I know one thing, he's a man of his word and he does like to - to be the executive. And he's proven that he is a good executive, a very good executive, a successful executive at the state level and even at the congressional level. So I take him at his word that he's not interested in being a vice president and that's why he is campaigning so hard as we go forward.

CUOMO: Trent Duffy, thank you very much for making the case for the Ohio governor this morning on NEW DAY.

DUFFY: Good to be with you, Chris.

CUOMO: Absolutely.

Mic.

PEREIRA: All right, Hillary Clinton is facing growing attacks from both sides of the presidential race. Sanders slamming her record, Trump calling her life a big, fat, beautiful lie. We'll get the Clinton campaign response to all of that, next.

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[08:51:15] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was Senator Bernie Sanders intensifying policy attacks two days before the all-important CNN presidential debate. Clinton, though, also taking hits from the other side of the aisle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You talk about liars. I think Hillary might be worse than Ted. Her whole life has been a big, fat, beautiful lie. It's been a terrible, terrible lie. Everything about her is a lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now is Clinton's campaign press secretary Brian Fallon.

Hi, Brian. Thanks for being here.

BRIAN FALLON, PRESS SECRETARY, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: Hillary Clinton is taking, as we've just said, incoming -

FALLON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: From the left and from the right, from Bernie Sanders, from Donald Trump. Do you worry that these stepped up attacks this week will cut into her lead in New York and threaten the outcome here?

FALLON: Well, I do think that the margin in New York is going to be very tight, but we're confident at the end of the day that we'll prevail in New York. New York is really a must win state for Senator Sanders and that's why I think you're seeing him sort of bob and weave between different lines of attack pretty much every day. I think what you're finding is that New York, the spotlight doesn't shine any brighter than it does here. The scrutiny is never more intense than it is in a state like New York. And so Senator Sanders isn't able to get away with a lot of lose claims up till now, but I think that "The Daily News" editorial board interview that he did last week really showed that he's not standing up well to the scrutiny that's exposing him as rather untested and I think that that's important in the minds of Democratic voters because we're looking at a general election against potentially Donald Trump. We need somebody that can stand up to those attacks that are going to be coming from Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton is that candidate. Bernie Sanders is untested.

CAMEROTA: You say that you think the margin in New York will be very tight. Not at the moment it's not. Let's look at the latest poll. This is from Monmouth University. Hillary Clinton has 51 percent compared to Bernie Sanders' 39 percent. Obviously we've learned during this race that polls can be wrong - excuse me, I'm fight a flu - that polls can be wrong. So you think that it's going to narrow much more than what you're seeing right there today?

FALLON: Well, we know that Senator Sanders is going to spend millions of dollars on television and continue his attacks on Hillary Clinton. And so I wouldn't be surprised if things tightened. But I think Senator Clinton, now Secretary Clinton, has a great story to tell based on her time in the Senate representing New York. That's why we were fanning out across upstate New York last week telling the story of how she brought businesses and governments together to help expand markets so that small businesses and retailers in upstate New York could help expand their retail base. And as a result we saw economic development increase across upstate New York. That's the model she would want to follow as president.

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump has been making the point that the raw votes are not always reflected in the delegate count. And he has been holding up Bernie Sanders as an example of what goes wrong there. So listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every weekend I see the results come in. Bernie Sanders wins. And he wins. And he wins. And then these people are saying, he can't win because the system is rigged.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CAMEROTA: So Bernie - I mean to Donald Trump's point, Bernie Sanders has won eight out of the last nine contests, yet he is not able to cut into her super delegate lead or even her delegate lead. Is the system rigged in that way?

FALLON: I don't think so. These are the rules that have long been in place. I think what you're seeing from Donald Trump there, trying to help boost Senator Sanders, is the same that you've seen for several months from the Republican National Committee trying to help out Senator Sanders. It's clear they want to run against Senator Sanders in the general election.

In terms of the rules that we have on the Democratic side, you know, Senator Sanders has won a bunch of states recently, but they've been caucus states that haven't had a lot of delegates at stake in those states. And really I think when you talk about rigging the system, that's what Senator Sanders is trying to do now.

[08:55:02] Hillary Clinton has won in the popular vote by a wide margin. She's got more than 2 million votes over Senator Sanders in all the contests when you add them all up. She's won more states. She's won more pledge delegates. So now that's forcing Senator Sanders to go out and talk about the idea that he wants to try to flip super delegates -

CAMEROTA: And do you think he'll -

FALLON: And get him to overturn the will of the people as expressed through who's won the most contests.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, but, again, this is part of the rules. You can court away delegates.

FALLON: Absolutely. That's permitted under the rules. My point is just that if anybody's trying to rig the system right now to overturn the will of the people, its Senator Sanders.

CAMEROTA: Do you worry that he will be able to court and take away some of those super delegates (INAUDIBLE)?

FALLON: Absolutely not. You know, we have a wide advantage right now in terms of the super delegates, as well as the pledged delegates. Two big considerations that loom in the mind of those party officials that serve as super delegates, number one, who's the most electable, who can compete against Donald Trump if he's the nominee. And, again, I think that people are looking at Senator Sanders, they're seeing that interview that he gave to "The Daily News" ed board last week and they're saying, this guy is untested. He can't stand up to the scrutiny. Secondly, thy care about who is going to have a down ballot effect. We have a real potential this year to not just elect a Democratic president, but also win Senate seats, win House seats. Who's going to invest in those races, help build our party in the states? Hillary Clinton's doing that. Senator Sanders is raising money for himself. He's not doing anything to invest in those state parties.

CAMEROTA: Brian Fallon, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. FALLON: Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: Great to talk to you.

And thanks to all of you for watching. We'll see you again tomorrow. "Newsroom" with Carol Costello picks up right after this very quick break.

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[09:00:07] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, the race coming down to two words, "got delegates," and the fight for them getting ugly.