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President Obama Lands in Saudi Arabia; Clinton Ends Sanders Winning Streak in New York; At Least Seven People Killed in Houston Flooding; Trump Wins Big in New York GOP Primary. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired April 20, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:32:45] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Just moments ago, Air Force One touched down in Saudi Arabia. President Obama is embarking on a global tour with Defense Secretary Ash Carter to encourage nations in the Gulf and Europe to step up the fight against ISIS. This Saudi visit comes as relations between the two nations are straining.

Our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is live in Riyadh this morning with more.

Hi, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Michaela.

Right, there is weirdness in this relationship. I mean, some of this is from the Iran nuclear deal. The U.S. negotiating with Saudi Arabia's chief rival, but there are other questions, too. For example, what is the U.S.'s ultimate end game in Syria?

And President Obama just did an interview with "The Atlantic" that raised questions about whether he even considering Saudi Arabia a real ally, whether he thinks they're pulling their weight in the region. They're recent intervention in Yemen has caused a lot of civilian casualties.

Also, the election coming up. I mean, there are questions about what the U.S.'s policy will be moving forward in the Middle East.

And then there's September 11th. This legislation pending in the Senate, since been put on hold, that would allow U.S. victims of terror to sue Saudi Arabia. That's something the White House and obviously the Saudis, oppose, and the pending declassification of those 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission report that could implicate some Saudis.

The president just said that he has a sense of what's in there, but is deferring to the intelligence community to decide what to do about that.

Now, all of that said, the U.S. does have extraordinary cooperation with the Saudis and counterterrorism and security, and this is going to be a wide-ranging discussion today -- Brooke. BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We'll watch for it and talk later this

morning. Michelle Kosinski in Riyadh, thank you so much.

Meantime, a defining moment for the Clinton campaign. The Democratic front-runner declaring victory is in sight. How long will Bernie Sanders fight on? We'll debate that, next.

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[06:38:39] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton celebrating the big, big win over Bernie Sanders in her adopted home state of New York. Clinton telling supporters, victory is now in sight. So, is the Democratic front-runner finally putting Sanders in the rear view?

Joining us now: former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Clinton supporter, also senior adviser for Correct the Record. And former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, she is a Bernie Sanders surrogate.

Ladies, good to have you both here this morning. You have a handsome matching blazer on. Let's see if you agree on anything else.

Governor, Hillary Clinton did something we have not seen her do last night -- actually two things. One, she checked every box she need to in terms of demographics in the race in New York. Even white voters, white voters who are middle income. She at least split with Sanders on all of them -- women, minorities, very big wins.

But then did something else. She reached out to the Sanders' people. She said, this is a big tent. You need to think about how we come together and what we do. Hadn't heard that before.

What is the case for Sanders people to now start moving over to Clinton?

JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), FORMER GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: Well, the case is, they have to understand that personal attacks and character attacks in the end will hurt the overall cause, because it will be a tool for the Republicans to use in the general.

[06:40:03] And I don't think they want to see that.

But you're so right! Here's the great thing about last night, it's that she gave this speech that was obviously reaching out to Sanders' people, but also every speaker, your brother included, said this is a big tent. We are about uniting. Everybody in the room last night was -- felt like they were a part of something bigger. That the diversity of the win was so powerful that it made us all feel so proud.

I hope the people on TV saw that as well, but, yes. She checked all the boxes, but she pulled all the hearts too.

CUOMO: And yet, Senator, every word from the Sanders campaign is, this is not over. He has too big a mandate. He has too many people who believe in something different than the Clinton campaign. So, what is your message moving forward? NINA TURNER, FORMER OHIO STATE SENATOR: Well, Chris, you certainly

hit the nail on the head. The senator is going all the way to June 7th. I don't think that's a news flash for anybody. We are going to continue. We are chipping away at that lead.

You know, Senator Sanders was down by about 30 percent just a month ago in New York, and he was able to close that lead, which is a beautiful thing. He does have a mandate, Chris. There are people out there who believe in him and want to see him continue to go forward. And then the other states that have not voted yet, they have a right to have a choice.

So, Senator Sanders is certainly in this to win this.

(CROSSTALK)

GRANHOLM: I mean, let me just --

CUOMO: Please. When the senator said he's chipping into the lead, you made a sour face, Governor.

GRANHOLM: Well, I didn't mean to make a sour face, but I understand what she was saying with respect to closing the gap from what it was months ago, but Secretary Clinton won by 16 percent. That is a huge lead. She picked up 65 delegates over him. In other words, she netted that. She's now leading him by 275 pledged delegates.

The math for Senator Sanders going forward is really almost impossible. He's going to have to win every single state going forward by 18 points. That's just a massive ask, especially given what we have coming up.

CUOMO: Yes, Senator?

TURNER: It was 300 -- Chris, it was 300 delegates before this matchup last night, and, again, I know that the Clinton side wants to paint doom and gloom and that the senator no way could we do this. Let us not forget that Senator Obama lost to the secretary by about the same amount in New York.

And so, again, the citizens are this great country, the voters of this country, deserve to have choice, and it is unfortunate that the Clinton side want to make it seem as though Senator Sanders cannot win. He can win, and we are going to continue to push forward.

GRANHOLM: I think Senator Sanders has won in the sense that he has totally made the Democratic primary more robust, and he's brought people in and he's talked about issues that are very, very important. So from that perspective, really, it is a win, and I know he's going to stay on until the end, and I think everybody appreciates that, because she would never ask him to get out. She stayed in until the end.

But truly and honestly, the math right now for him is just not favorable, and so he's got to answer the question in his own heart, do I want to continue personal attacks, or should we just stay on the issues? It's the issues, the contrast with the issues that are really what people want to hear about.

CUOMO: Head shake from the senator, because --

TURNER: Yes, we will continue to stay on the issues. I mean, it's amazing they want to talk about personal attacks but they didn't mention the personal attacks when they started attacking senator Sanders credibility and qualifications.

So, we're going to continue to fight this fight and give the Democratic and independent those states where they can vote the opportunity to decide based on a vision of "enough is enough", lifting people up or one that talks about incrementalism.

So, this is -- when you debate the issues, it is not a personal attack, but there have been instances when the Clinton campaign have gone after Senator Sanders but they want to forget that and have a kumbayah.

We are going to continue to give the voters, the voters are the most important element of this whole thing and that's when Senator Sanders talks about a political revolution and he talks about the White House, he talks about us and not just me.

And so, we're going to continue to fight and move forward. This is doable and Senator Sanders is cutting into her lead, let us not forget, 300 above before, less than that right now. So, we're going to keep forging ahead.

CUOMO: Senator, Governor, here's the good news. The proof will be in what comes out of both candidates today and going forward. We'll see who wants to be about issues and who doesn't. It always comes out in the wash. The wash is being done right now.

TURNER: It absolutely does.

CUOMO: Both of you, thank you very much.

GRANHOLM: Thank so much.

CUOMO: Mick?

PEREIRA: We're going to take you to Houston where devastating flooding has left seven dead, hundreds rescued, thousands forced to flee from their homes and they're not out of the woods yet. The latest forecast from the Lone Star State, next.

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[06:48:47] BALDWIN: Ah, it is time now for CNN Money's -- our chief business correspondent. How am I supposed to keep a straight face with these people in the studio? A look at millions spent on campaign ads in New York.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, guys. Deadly serious stuff. Donald Trump did not spend a dime on TV ads in his home state but the

two Democratic candidates poured millions into the air waves. Bernie Sanders dropping $5.6 mil on TV spots, bashing Wall Street, bashing Washington, big corporations, bashing the ultra rich outspending Hillary Clinton by nearly 2 million bucks.

On the Republican side, much lower tallies. John Kasich and his two of his PACs together spent $837,000. Ted Cruz, and one of his PACs spent 361 grand on TV ads. Trump spent zero or TV. He did buy some radio ads though.

Overall in this campaign, guys, $466 million, almost half a billion dollars, spent on television advertising among all of the candidates. More than $100 million alone negative ads against the front-runners, Clinton and Trump. Trimp and -- hmm. What did I just say? Against the front runners, guys.

PEREIRA: Clear as mud. Clear as mud.

All right. We want to take you to be a very serious situation in Houston. A flooding situation in Houston still extremely dangerous.

[16:50:02] Hundreds are fleeing their homes. We're told the death toll has risen to at least seven now.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is looking at the forecast, and what I understand is the forecast shows more rain on the way.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It does. And for a normal place with hills and mountains, that water would already be gone and two inches of rain, Michaela, no big deal, but I will show you a map of what these bayous and what these rivers look like. They haven't gone down at all. It's such a flat area, takes so long for that rain and that water and that flood to finally get out of here.

There will be rain showers today, but there'll be two or three days' worth of rain after that, one storm after another, finally drying out by the weekend. So, let me show you what I'm talking about. Here's where really all the rainfall happened. It happened just to the north and to the west of Houston. That's where we have the 17 to 18 inches.

Houston proper, somewhere around 9 to 10, but when you add in a little bit more rainfall to this, only an inch or two, but you add a little bit more, it's still going to go up, because this is what the river gauge still looks like. It hasn't gone down at all. It is still up. It takes so long for that water to go down.

Chris?

CUOMO: So, the key thought, it ain't over. We'll keep our eye on it. Chad Myers, thank you very much.

So, big headline from last night in this race with Donald Trump is what you didn't hear from Trump. A new mode of thinking? A new mode of campaigning? We'll take you inside the changes to the Trump team, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:55:38] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I really want to thank my team. My team has been amazing, and, you know, it's actually a team of unity. It's evolving, but people don't understand that. The press does understand it. They just don't want to talk about it. That's OK. Just keep talking, it's very important. Keep talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right. We will keep talking this morning, because we have the scoop here. Donald Trump exuding confidence in talking about his campaign changes after his landslide victory in New York last night. How will these changes affect his strategy going forward?

Let me bring in "New York Magazine" national affairs editor and the author of "The Loudest Voice in the Room", Gabe Sherman, who always has got the goods.

Good morning.

GABE SHERMAN, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Good morning.

BALDWIN: You got all of these sources with team Trump and they're telling you, even Mr. Trump last night said, evolving, his word, that Paul Manafort, now firmly in control of all aspects of the campaign?

SHERMAN: Yes. I think we saw that last night. I mean, the most striking thing about that speech was really how different it was from prior Trump speeches. There were no personal attacks. He was on message. It wasn't rambling. He hit the themes of jobs and trade and security.

And that is really the influence of Paul Manafort bringing discipline to the Trump campaign and sort of grown-up supervision.

BALDWIN: But you had some great nuggets, sort of behind the scenes, how -- you know, there are rumblings referring to civil war and the fact that Manafort calls him Donald.

SHERMAN: Yes.

BALDWIN: Where Corey Lewandowski even in private refers to him as Mr. Trump. It's telling.

SHERMAN: Yes, it's very telling.

And, you know, Cory Lewandowski really ran this campaign up until Manafort was brought in. Like anyone, doesn't want to see him job taken from underneath him. So, there are factions, there is a Manafort camp and there is a Lewandowski camp.

And I reported that over the weekend, Manafort called a meeting and he brought all the advisers together, but he ran that meeting, and Donald Trump came to this meeting, dropped by to basically say hello. But the message was that Trump saying, Manafort's in charge, you're doing a good job.

BALDWIN: That was acknowledgment.

SHERMAN: Yes.

BALDWIN: Those few seconds.

SHERMAN: Exactly, yes.

BALDWIN: Drawbacks to this and to your point about the tone. Those who really love Donald Trump love his brashness, love the Lyin' Ted speech and the crooked Hillary. And if we're seeing this shift, will that backfire at all?

SHERMAN: It could. Although really, the race now is a fight for delegates. You know, that kind of bombastic style got Trump the name ID and attention, but now, really, he has to win the delegates.

And the most important thing is he's winning congressional districts. You saw in New York, he went to places he wouldn't have gone before. He went to Watertown, New York, way Upstate. Not a media market, and he's done things specifically under Manafort's direction that is to win delegates, not necessarily to get headlines.

BALDWIN: So, what it is that you're reporting at the end of your piece? You were talking about how there could be now a closer look at the finances?

SHERMAN: Yes.

BALDWIN: How the pennies, nickels and dimes have been spent under Corey Lewandowski, and how that what might that tell.

SHERMAN: Well, that's a lot of intrigue. So, really, what Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates are doing are poring over the campaign's books, which makes sense. He's now in charge. He wants to see where the money is being spent.

But sources inside the Trump campaign basically say they may find things that don't reflect well on the way Corey Lewandowski spent the money. Anyone who knows Donald Trump knows that the one thing he hates is wasting money.

So, Manafort presumably could go to Trump and say, listen, we found x, y or z, we found Corey Lewandowski mismanaged books. That could give him ammo to finally force Corey out of the campaign, although there's no sign that's happened.

BALDWIN: You talked to him last night.

SHERMAN: I saw Corey and I asked him --

BALDWIN: And he said? SHERMAN: And he said I have not transferred anything to Paul Manafort, which I interpreted as his way of saying, I'm still in charge, I still have a role here and out working the rope line, talking to reporters, he was very visible. Manafort, tellingly, was off in the wings kind of working behind the scenes. Lewandowski was showing a sign of force, he was out there, saying, hey, don't forget about me. I'm here.

BALDWIN: Great read in the "New York Magazine" -- we'll talk again this afternoon. Mr. Sherman, thank you very much.

SHERMAN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We have much more of our primary coverage. So let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: We've won another state. We're really, really rocking.

It's impossible to catch us.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: New Yorkers, you've always had my back.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is the year of the outsider.

TRUMP: Senator Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This campaign has come a very, very long way.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Trump organization is complaining, because they know they're not going to get enough votes.

TRUMP: We're leading by a lot and we can't be caught.