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Loaded Handgun Found Inside Will Smith's SUV; Are Democrats Headed to Contested Convention?; Were Voters Swayed by Trump at Town Hall? Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 13, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:31:11] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: There are new details emerging in the shooting death of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith. Please have now revealed two more guns were found. One in Smith's SUV and the other in the suspect's car.

Our Martin Savidge is live in New Orleans with all the very latest on these investigations -- seeming to be changing by the day, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, and it's changing dramatically. Good morning, Michaela.

New Orleans authorities are now saying that they did find a fully loaded .9 millimeter automatic weapon inside of Will Smith's vehicle. Now, they didn't say they found any shell casings, though that would imply that the weapon was never used. But the fact that it was there is when what witnesses have been saying from the shooting of that night, when both have been claimed to have been armed shortly before that shooting took place.

Another issue that's been brought forward is whether or not alcohol may have played a role, because remember, Will Smith and his wife, they were out with friends just before all of this happened. I talked to the manager of the restaurant. She doesn't buy the alcohol theory. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MATHERNE, GENERAL MANAGER OF SAKE CAFE: They had $400 worth of sushi. A little bit of red wine, but no one was impaired from drinking. There's no stumbling or slurred speech, or loud or obnoxious behavior in the restaurant. Everyone seemed like they were fine. And they were going to go on to another location.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The weapon inside of Smith's car does complicate things. It takes this case from what many thought was road rage, in now what could be stand your ground. In Louisiana, they have a stand your ground law. On top of that, you have no duty to retreat. Which means it is quite possible if in some way, Smith was perceived as the aggressor here, then a jury could maybe consider the actions taken by the gunman as somehow justifiable in his own defense -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, boy, Martin. Just the -- I mean, the more we learn about this back story, the more complicated it gets. But, of course, it continues to be just a tragic case on all sides.

Thank you for that reporting.

Back to politics. Bernie Sanders hoping for a big upset next week in the delegate rich New York primary. Could both parties be facing a contested convention this summer? We'll discuss whether that's possible, next.

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[06:37:24] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our job is to stand up to these powerful special interests, not to take their money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Bernie Sanders at a rally in Rochester, New York, with a familiar attack on Hillary Clinton's big money ties. The Democratic rivals sparring on the trail ahead of tomorrow's big, big debate. CNN has it in Brooklyn, haven't been together for a month. Won't be together again until the big New York primary.

So, what does all of this mean for the state of play on the Democratic side?

We have communications director for the DNC, the Democratic National Committee, Luis Miranda.

Luis, good to have you.

LUIS MIRANDA, DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Thanks for having me on.

CUOMO: So, the big question is, what do you think the chances are that you have an open convention?

MIRANDA: Well, I don't think we'll get to that. I think that this will be settled well before the convention. And I think that, you know, part of what gets lost here is 85 percent of the delegates are won by caucuses and primaries. So I'm confident we will have a very exciting rest of the primary.

There's still lots of states to go. We're well into it. But this is where it gets exciting. It's crunch time and the candidates are doing everything they can to get this down the final stretch. But ultimately, we'll get to the convention united and we're going to come up pretty strong heading into the general election.

CUOMO: So, you don't think it will be contested and you think it will be united by convention time?

MIRANDA: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Because it seems to be the stage of divergence. They are moving farther apart. not closer together. What will bring them to unity?

MIRANDA: Well, look, at the end of the day, this happens in every campaign, every primary. '08 was much more heated. This has been much more respectful. It's focused on the issues. It's been substantive. I think that's what we'll Thursday. I think it will be exciting.

You're going to have these candidates obviously wanting to draw sharp differences. They obviously want to make a point and distinguish each other. But, look, there are degrees of how to better cover people in health care, how to better improve the economy. Even on this credibility debate, which one is more credible and stronger?

Ultimately works to highlight that we have two pretty good candidates, two solid candidates who are much better position to be president in November and who are going to set up a really contrast with Republicans who had a very ugly primary, who are going to have an ugly convention already. They are setting it up for a big fight, and who frankly have focused on insults not just each other, but frankly the voters and the way they are handling themselves.

CUOMO: Two potential pitfalls on your side of the ball. The first is, you definitely stepped around before in your last answer, which is superdelegates. The people who support Bernie, the people who are looking at the GOP side of the race to see whether it is rigged because they keep hearing that from Donald Trump, look at the superdelegates on the Democratic side and say, why? Why does this party have all of these people who just get to pick who they want.

[06:40:01] And they wind up having a huge number of insiders taking away the mandate from the people. That's the perception.

How do you defend it?

MIRANDA: That's a great question. And look, 85 percent of the delegates are actually pledged delegates, which means they're at stake when you go vote, when you participate at a caucus, 85 percent delegates at the convention are determined that way.

And so, that's the number. That's essentially --

CUOMO: Why not 100?

MIRANDA: The reason is because we want regular people participating at the convention. We want somebody who is a school teacher in Florida or Ohio to say, you know, I would love to be a delegate and be able to run and compete to become a delegate.

And so, by having the unpledged delegates category, you take elected officials out of it so that, you know, that individual who wants to run can do so without running against their member of Congress or their governor. And that makes a huge difference, because when you look at our

conventions, when you see it this July in Philadelphia, you're going to see that our convention looks like America. It is people from all walks of life. It is people who represent different ages.

You know, we have a 17-year-old delegate in 2008 who will be 18 at the time of the election.

CUOMO: The perception is that they are picked by the party. That these are all insiders that get in there. Are you saying that's not true?

MIRANDA: Well, they're all elected officials, for starters. So, they have been elected to represent people. Even DNC members are folks who have run to be representing their states at the Democratic Party.

So, they do get -- they do represent people. But what we want is for grassroots to be able to run and become delegates. The way you do that is not to compete against an elected official.

CUOMO: Do you have any concerns about the trajectory of the race right now? Yes, it started off as let's talk about ideas and do this the nice way. But as we always know, as it gets down to the moment of real --

MIRANDA: It's crunch time. That's what they had to do.

CUOMO: So, now, what Sanders is doing, presumptively, if Clinton is the nominee for the Democratic Party, that's the way math looks right now, he's hitting her on two things. One, you screwed up on the Iraq war vote, which is a really big deal for Bernie Sanders and a fraction of the party. And then you are compromised.

Now, that has stake attached to it, whether it's money, the trustworthiness, the scandals. Are you worried about how injured your nominee is coming out of their own party?

MIRANDA: I think we'll be find by the time we get to the convention. I do think they're going to try to do their best to portray themselves, each of the candidates, as the better one.

But I think what we are going to see and we will see at this debate, is that our candidates are able to show that just the credibility but the experience, the understanding of the issues, the nuance.

We have a situation right now where the Republican Party doesn't have a credible candidate. You've got a Tea Party candidate that not even his own Republican colleagues want to endorse. All of the endorsements we've seen of Ted Cruz this week are basically holding their noses, questioning if it's actually an endorsement. Even Marco Rubio suggesting that he will support Ted Cruz but he doesn't want his delegates to vote for him. This is just how bad it's gotten, where they are just not happy with it.

So, I think when we get to the debates, you'll see the candidates will draw the difference. But they will come together and they're going to show that our candidates do have the credibility, do have the experience, do know how to deal with crises like we see in the Middle East, but also at home on the economy, health care, that Republicans aren't even talking about.

CUOMO: Luis Miranda, thank you very much for making the case for the Democratic side here on NEW DAY.

MIRANDA: Thank you so much.

CUOMO: Appreciate it.

So, this big faceoff, it happens tomorrow. Clinton, Sanders, the CNN Democratic presidential debate in Brooklyn tomorrow night, 9:00 eastern.

Mick?

PEREIRA: All right. So, last night, a Trump family affair. The GOP frontrunner and his wife and children front and center at our CNN town hall. Two New York voters who got to question them will join us on NEW DAY. One of them just decided who gets their vote.

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[06:47:45] PEREIRA: Time for CNN Money Now. Business correspondent Alison Kosik in the Money Center.

Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

Wall Street has its eyes on oil prices jumping to their highest levels this year, to $42.17 per barrel. All of that on rumors that Saudi Arabia and Russia have reached a deal to freeze oil output. Major oil producers are going to be meeting this weekend to talk about possibly freezing oil production to boost prices.

Deutsche Bank taking a stand against the new North Carolina law many are calling anti-LGBT. The German saying it's calling off its plans to bring 250 new jobs to its location in Cary, North Carolina. The bank saying this, "As a result of this legislation, we are unwilling to include North Carolina in our U.S. expansion plans for now."

But, Chris, you know, that's not the only company doing this. We saw PayPal pulled out of its plans to expand in Charlotte as well.

CUOMO: And you know what? That is a unique kind of pressure. We'll see what it yields.

Alison Kosik, thank you very much.

KOSIK: Sure.

CUOMO: Speaking of that North Carolina law, Governor Pat McCrory altering it ever so slightly. McCrory signing an executive order allowing LGBT state workers the right to sue for employment discrimination. The requirement using bathrooms corresponding to birth remains intact. Rocker Gregg Allman deciding not to cancel his show in Greensboro tonight, but he says he does stand with the LGBT community.

CAMEROTA: Nearly 40,000 Verizon workers on strike hoping to pressure the telecom company for better contract deals. Among the sticking points, workers worried about Verizon sending jobs overseas. Verizon said it is prepared for what could be the largest strike in its history, impacting customers from Massachusetts to Virginia.

PEREIRA: A federal judge has ordered comedian Bill Cosby's wife Camille to give a second deposition next week in Boston. In a defamation suit, seven women field against her husband. The judge however has restricted the questions he'd allow. The women believe they were labeled liars after publicly accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault and sexual abuse.

CUOMO: Donald Trump and his family in the spotlight at last night's town hall. We're talking to two New York voters who were there and asked questions.

[06:50:02] There's one of them. And now, as a result, there will be a change in one of their votes in the primary. Why? Find out ahead.

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PEREIRA: It was a Trump family affair last night CNN's town hall. Donald Trump, his wife and his children fielding questions from New York voters. Did the GOP front-runner sway any minds?

Well, we have two New Yorkers who actually asked questions last night. Joseph Kovac and Arlene Tieng who join us here in studio.

Good morning. Busy day for both of you and exciting. I understand it's the first time you had the opportunity to do this kind of thing.

And, Joe, I understand that you actually found your vote has been swayed.

JOSEPH KOVAC, ATTENDED TRUMP TOWN HALL: It has. Last night, I think I saw Donald Trump in a different light. I saw how he interacted with his children.

And being the father of three girls, I just want to give a shout out to Mila, Olivia, Emily. Daddy loves you.

CAMEROTA: Well played.

KOVAC: Good luck on your test today. You do well.

[06:55:02] But I saw the interaction. I saw a different side of him.

PEREIRA: The interaction was enough to sway your vote?

KOVAC: Oh, it was, because being a Republican and tending to be more conservative and being from Staten Island, I agree with a lot of the positions that Donald has taken. I also feel that tone is very important.

That's why the question I asked, at times, do you think it's better or easier to get more with honey than vinegar?

PEREIRA: Can we play the question?

KOVAC: Sure.

PEREIRA: Let's listen to your own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOVAC: Well, first of all, Mr. Trump, I respect you tremendously.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.

KOVAC: As a businessman but more importantly as a father. And you swayed me tonight.

TRUMP: Oh, great. Thank you.

KOVAC: My question for you, Don, what have you learned as the greatest experience as a businessman from your father? And do you think that sometimes tone and you get more with honey than with vinegar, so to speak?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Did you get your answer.

KOVAC: Yes. Afterward.

CAMEROTA: What did he say?

KOVAC: He said he heard about tone working for his father's company for all the years. He saw how he interacted with different sexes, different cultures and that tone is very important. But at times you need to be outspoken.

And I think at this point of time in the country, especially for the Republican Party, the two front-runners, are both outsiders. They're against the establishment. So from a Republican point of view, it's very important how that message gets across.

CUOMO: So, if you changed your mind, where were you before this?

KOVAC: I was leaning towards Donald. I do like some of the positions that Ted Cruz has stood for. As the campaign unfolded, I didn't like the direction where it was going.

PEREIRA: All right. Arlene, your turn to be on the spotlight. Why don't we play your question and then you can give us a sense of where you are and where you were.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ARLENE TIENG, ATTENDED TRUMP TOWN HALL: Good evening, Mr. Trump. I was wondering do you talk to your wife and children the same way that you speak at the GOP debates?

TRUMP: The same way?

(LAUGHTER)

I think I'm much nicer to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: That speaks to what Joe is talking about this idea of tone. Was it something that bothered you going into the debate and you wanted to find out where his head was at?

TIENG: You always wonder if someone with this type of personality can turn it off at times. It was reassuring to me that he said he was nicer to his family rather than what we have seen at the debates despite all the incendiary remarks that he has made.

CUOMO: They wouldn't be there if he talked to them the same way that he does with peple at the debate.

CAMEROTA: He looked a little stumped. Like my family?

TIENG: I think he was caught off guard. I think it was a question he wasn't expecting. It was a response that I wasn't expecting either. I thought maybe he would say he was a disciplinarian. It was reassuring because he's a father, he's a husband, he's a grandfather as well.

CUOMO: The confusion things about this. I think as people get to know him, he constantly says, look, I'm doing this because it's working for me right now. I can be the most presidential. I can be the nicest. I'm just doing it.

How does that play in your mind, Joe? Because in any other part in your life, if you and I were doing a deal and I was like, look, I'm only doing this right now because I want to get this done, I'm actually totally different person, I would be dead to you at that moment. But why is this working here?

KOVAC: Well, I think that here is so much outrage in the country. And I think that, again, the Republican Party and Republican voters throughout the country really feel that the party has left them. I mean, we had the majority in Congress. But what are we doing with that majority? How are we promoting the platform of the Republican Party?

And it's really not more about the social issues anymore. It's about the economic issues and what's important. And at the end of the day it's about all of us having more money spend on our family, on our children, you know what I mean, and the tone.

That's why standout is very important. Donald Trump is the only candidate that is confirmed to come out to brunch this Sunday. The other candidates have not.

PEREIRA: Arlene, we want to make sure to get another question to you. Have you changed your mind? Did last night, being there, hearing him speak, did it sway you, or are you still where you were before when you came out?

TIENG: I still feel that I'm undecided. Last night, experience is great. I feel I would love to hear tonight's town hall and the rest of the week, like Joe said. It kind of gives a different perspective when you hear them in person, when you see them talk amongst their family.

CAMEROTA: All right. Well, let us know if and when you change your mind before the New York primary. Great to have both of you. Thanks, Joe. Thanks, Arlene.

PEREIRA: And if you want to give us your take, you watched last night. You have opinions as well. You can tweet us. You can post your comments on Facebook.com/NewDay.

All right. Following a whole lot of news on this Wednesday, including Speaker Ryan making it clear he does not want to be the presidential nominee. So, let's get to it.