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New Day

Trump Blasts Rivals After Big New York Win; Sanders Campaign at Crossroads as He Returns to Trail; Criminal Charges Filed in Flint Water Crisis. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired April 21, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to unify our country. We've got to quit the divisiveness.

[07:00:06] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are not going to allow the American dream to die.

CLINTON: Help me start us on the path to the White House.

SANDERS: Lead this country into the political revolution.

MIKE GLASGOW, FORMER LABORATORY AND WATER QUALITY SUPERVISOR, FLINT, MICHIGAN: I only did it because I was instructed to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These charges are only the beginning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never want to see a situation like Flint happening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They failed Michigan families.

They failed us all, I don't care where you live.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CUOMO: Good morning. How are you doing? A little coffee, we're getting ready. Alisyn is off. Brianna Keilar is here with us this morning. Good to have you.

KEILAR: Good to be here.

CUOMO: Good to have you.

PEREIRA: Thank you.

CUOMO: For now.

Up first, Donald Trump back to his name-calling antics. The GOP front-runner resurrecting "Crooked Hillary" and "Lying' Ted" just hours after saying it's time to be presidential. Ted Cruz says the fight for the Republican nomination definitely going to a contested convention. This as Cruz and John Kasich are trying to woo RNC members at the

party's annual spring meeting.

KEILAR: And as for the Democrats, Hillary Clinton hoping to clinch the party's nomination in next Tuesday's northeast primary. Still Bernie Sanders is not going down without a fight. He is back on the campaign trail today after a day of recharging in Vermont.

And we've got the 2016 race covered like only CNN can, beginning with Jason Carroll -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, Donald Trump says that his -- when it comes to his campaign, it will evolve, but he says when it comes to his personal style, he's not going to change the way that he addresses the people who come out to support him at his rallies so it should be no surprise that the name calling is back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: We've got Lying' Ted. We have Crooked Hillary.

CARROLL (voice-over): Donald Trump back at it.

TRUMP: I'd love running against Crooked Hillary.

In the case of Lyin' Ted Cruz, Lying' Ted, lies. Oh, he lies.

CARROLL: Reviving some of his favorite nicknames less than 24 hours after delivering a more measured victory speech in New York.

TRUMP: I thought it would be very undignified for me to get up at that particular moment.

CARROLL: The Republican frontrunner doing a victory lap in Indiana and Maryland Wednesday and continuing to rail against the Republican primary process.

TRUMP: So it's a rigged system. It's rigged for the lobbyists. It's rigged for the donors, and it's rigged for the special interests.

CARROLL: Reince Priebus fighting back again.

REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIR, RNC: It's not a rigged system. In fact, the rules are clear. I'm not going to do anything to help anyone, and I'm not going to do anything to hurt anybody.

CARROLL: Priebus insisting that he's enjoying preparing for a potential contested convention.

PRIEBUS: I think people assume you must be miserable. I'm not pouring Bailey's in my cereal. I'm not sitting here trying to find the Johnny Walker. I mean, this is -- this is fun.

CARROLL: Republican Party leaders sitting down with both Ted Cruz and John Kasich Wednesday night as Cruz's irritation with Kasich boiled over on the campaign trail. CRUZ: John Kasich has no path whatsoever to the nomination. Now, it

may be that John is auditioning to be Trump's vice president, but a Trump/Kasich ticket loses to Hillary Clinton.

CARROLL: Kasich defending his decision to stay in the race in an interview with CNN.

KASICH (via phone): If he's so sure of that, why is he attacking me all the time? All I know is, if we pick these two guys, according to virtually all the polls, we are going to get creamed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And Trump making it very clear he does not believe Kasich or Cruz has a path to the nomination. You know he likes to tweet, Chris. He tweeted this morning -- let me read it to you -- "Senator Cruz has been mathematically eliminated from the race." He said, "Kasich should get out for the same reason. I think both should get out" -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Jason. Thank you very much.

Let's bring in someone from the inner circle of team Trump: Michael Cohen, executive vice president for the Trump Organization and special counsel to the man himself, Donald Trump.

Good to see you, Counselor, as always. So tweet seems pretty clear. Why should we get out of the race? Why should they not take it to the convention?

MICHAEL COHEN, EVP, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: First runner up, second runner up. It's time to leave.

They -- it's interesting that Ted Cruz would attack Kasich for well over a month, telling him he should get out because he's mathematically out of the race. It's not a bad thing that, what, we're 16, 17 to start. He made it as first runner up. It's great.

Now it's time to get out, coalesce, stop the nonsense, let the people's will be the people's will, not the delegates' will, the people's; and let Mr. Trump end up being the nominee. Let them coalesce around him, because when he's the president. They're going to have to all work together and stop all the nonsense.

CUOMO: He's coming at you with two "R's." He's coming at you with the realities, which is that you can't get there either. That's what Ted Cruz is saying: "I'm not getting out, because even though I may not get to 1,237, you ain't getting to 1,237, so we all have to go to the convention." Do you accept that?

[07:05:03] COHEN: No. Mathematically, Mr. Trump is at -- there's a number. Fifty-eight percent they claim that he needs to get in terms of the total delegates.

CUOMO: That's what math claims. COHEN: That's what math claims. However, it doesn't take into

consideration that there's also these unbound delegates. If he gets 75 percent of those unbound delegates, I believe he's down to 51 or 52 percent.

CUOMO: Why would he get 75 percent of them?

COHEN: The same reason he's drawing tens of thousands of people. The same reason he's three plus million people more in terms of votes. The same reason why he's drawing independence in Democrats to the Republicans' side, because that's Donald Trump. That's what he does. He's actually a tremendous unifier.

CUOMO: The rules is the second "R" he's coming at you with. Sean Spicer came out and said, "Hey, you make it to the two-yard line you don't get a touchdown."

COHEN: Right. But the team that lost in the quarter finals doesn't get the chance to come back and play either. Which is exactly what they're trying to do. Mr. Trump is the only guy that's still on.

CUOMO: If you don't get to 1,237, why isn't that a fair thing for them to say? All right. Nobody got it done here. Let's go to the convention. That's what the rules say.

COHEN: Because it should be the will of the people. It's the vote of the people, not the vote of the delegate.

Here's the interesting thing, too. It shouldn't be about this delegate nonsense. What they're doing is distracting from Mr. Trump's message. Jobs, economy, international security. This is what he -- what he resonates best with the people. Why they believe Donald Trump would be the best president.

He's the only one who's actually ever created a job. He's the only one that actually knows, really, how to run a budget. He's the only one that has ever actually done something other than be as, for example, Ted Cruz, he's been a government lawyer his entire life.

CUOMO: But he's in politics now. He's running the most competitive kind of race that there is. There's this meeting going on down in Florida of the RNC.

COHEN: Chris, we're $20 trillion in debt. This debt hasn't been created by Donald Trump. It's been created by our so-called political elites in Washington.

CUOMO: That's true, but to get a chance to fix the debt in any way or the deficit, he's going to have to win. This meeting going on down in Florida, we hear that Cruz, Kasich are down there. Their teams are down there, trying to influence it. Do you guys have a presence down there?

COHEN: That's for the campaign to discuss, not for me.

CUOMO: Because that's part of the criticism is that you've got to have the organization in place.

COHEN: Like I said the other day to you, Mr. Trump will adapt and he will overcome whatever obstacle that's in front of him. Rest assured, they are out there speaking to the delegates, as well. That this whole notion of this courting of delegates, it's so wrong, if you look at -- what does the word "courting" mean? They're taking them out. They're wining; they're dining them.

I mean, in essence, what are you doing? You're really bribing delegates with free rides and food and trips. That's not the American way. That's not how our democratic process should really be working.

CUOMO: What if they're making the case to them that, look, you may like him...

COHEN: You have to do it over -- you have to do it at a beach resort. You have to do it over wine; you have to do it over dinner. And then someone said to me, "Well, you know, what if it's not an expensive meal?" What does that mean? What does that mean?

The whole notion here that it's OK to wine and dine a delegate, to steal him away from somebody that -- my constituents, if I'm the delegate and I'm representing an area, that my constituents want, it's wrong. This whole notion is wrong. They should allow Mr. Trump right now to talk about again, jobs, economy, national security.

CUOMO: He can talk about whatever he wants. It's his choice to say "Crooked Hillary" and "Lying' Ted."

COHEN: When Ted Cruz starts talking about "Donald Trump should debate me, Donald Trump" -- who's really whining here? It's Ted Cruz. Why should Donald Trump debate you? You're out. You're mathematically out. What's the point for Mr. Trump to sit on a stage with somebody who's mathematically out?

Out of that group of 16 or 17 that started, the only one that's still standing is who? Donald Trump.

CUOMO: Well, you've still got three guys in the race. You have three guys who could possibly get the nomination.

COHEN: ... in the race -- Chris, they're not in the race for any reason other than they have a donor base that's still feeding them money. If they had to use their own money, if they had to -- like Mr. Trump is doing, they would be out of the race, one, two, three.

CUOMO: But he's got that artificial boost of being a TV magnet, which helps him get a lot of stuff that they have to pay for.

COHEN: He's Donald Trump. You can't change who you are. And he's the reason why, again, independents, Democrats, Republicans at massive amounts are coming out to these 10, 20, 30,000, you know, events.

CUOMO: He's very popular. There's no question about that.

COHEN: It's not popularity. It's the message that he's giving. The message is clear. He's the only one who knows how to create a job. He's the only one that will fix the economy. And he's the one who's saying the things that are on people's mind. He's just worried about -- this is why, for example, this National Diversity Coalition that I helped to form is so important.

[07:10:11] He's resonating, not just amongst the southern white Christian coalition. He's resonating among minorities. We have an enormous amount of African-Americans, Hispanics. He won in New York amongst Hispanics, male and female in New York. This notion that let's keep knocking Donald Trump. He's a racist. He's misogynist. He's sexist. None of them are true.

CUOMO: Does it bother you, though, when you look at New York, that he didn't win where he lives? He didn't win in Manhattan?

COHEN: Well, I think the area has become incredibly liberal, and that's OK.

CUOMO: It was only GOP that were voting.

COHEN: That's OK. There...

CUOMO: Only GOP was voting. He lost to Kasich there where he lives.

COHEN: There are very serious, incredibly liberal Republicans, as well. They don't have to be Democrats. There are liberals also, and that's OK. He took 91 delegates out of the 95.

CUOMO: So now you're falling back on the system and not the will of the people?

COHEN: That's a massive wipe. That's a small group.

CUOMO: Part of New York didn't vote for him.

COHEN: Ninety-one -- 91 delegates out of 95.

CUOMO: So now you're backing up on the system; you're a system guy now. Not the delegates.

COHEN: It's not system.

CUOMO: You want the will of the people.

COHEN: it is the will of the people. New York is not predicated on one block, the silk stocking district. It's predicated upon the entire state.

CUOMO: The silk stocking district. I'm going to give you that last word. I haven't heard that since I was, like, 17. Michael Cohen, thank you very much for making a case as always -- Mick.

COHEN: You're welcome.

PEREIRA: Always great seeing two attorneys spar amicably.

That was great, Chris.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is back on the campaign trail after regrouping, following his tough loss to Hillary Clinton in New York. As team Clinton tries to button up the nomination, revealing some intriguing new details about a possible vice president.

Suzanne Malveaux live in Hartford, Connecticut, where Clinton is stumping today. A little early for this conversation, but putting it out there as a potential.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. It's a little early but hey, you know, we love to speculate a little bit. Of course, Clinton would say it is much, much too early.

But it was actually her campaign chairman, John Podesta, who threw it out there that yes, there would be a female among the short list of V.P.s, possible running mates. Some people speculating what about Elizabeth Warren? She'd be good to bring over the liberals, the Bernie Sanders supporters.

But today, we are hearing from both the candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, both of them insisting, saying that there is still a vicious fight ahead for the nomination.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Hillary Clinton wasting little time courting voters before the next round of Super Tuesday contests.

CLINTON: Here I am in Pennsylvania, because I really want to work as hard as we can together for the next week to get a good result on April 26.

MALVEAUX: Protesters calling for Clinton to pardon all prisoners convicted of a result of a controversial 1994 Crime Bill, reaching out to African-American voters. Secretary Clinton boldly assessing race relations during a gun violence event at the historic St. Paul's Baptist Church.

CLINTON: We all have implicit biases. They are in, almost, the DNA going back probably millennia, times. And what we need to do is be more honest about that and surface them.

MALVEAUX: Clinton is garnering high praise from the mother of Sandra Bland, who says she supported Clinton. Clinton reached out to her after Bland was found hanged in a Texas jail.

GENEVA REED-VEAL, SANDRA BLAND'S MOTHER: When you're openly grieving and the secretary of state steps to you, you better endorse her, because she already endorsed you.

MALVEAUX: While Clinton forges ahead, rival Bernie Sanders seemingly at a crossroads, a 16-point defeat in New York sending the Vermont senator home to recharge for the day, but Sanders is not backing down.

SANDERS: We believe we have the momentum, and we believe we have a path toward victory.

MALVEAUX: The question: will Sanders come out swinging or will he soften his attacks against Clinton during his first day back on the trail?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Bernie Sanders is still going to be on the campaign trail, still going to be trashing her, doing a lot of things that will not be particularly helpful for Democrats, but I think he's going to do it anyway, because he really wants to win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And Hillary Clinton is going to be here at this YMCA later today. She is going to be meeting with the families of victims who have lost their lives to gun violence, including some of the parents who lost their children in the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre.

This is something that the Clinton campaign believes highlights the contrast when it comes to a policy, tough gun policy and laws regarding Senator Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

As for the Sanders campaign, they believe that that is nonsense. Bernie Sanders going to be spending the day in Pennsylvania, making three stops. And Brianna, we have learned from his campaign folks that no, he is not going to be going lightly -- treading lightly when it comes to Hillary Clinton. He is still all in for the fight.

[07:15:04] KEILAR: All right. Suzanne Malveaux in Connecticut, thank you.

Two members of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality and one city lab supervisor are all facing criminal charges and possible jail time for their alleged role in the Flint water contamination crisis. And the state attorney general insists this is only the beginning.

CNN's Sara Ganim is live for us in Flint with more -- Sara.

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, Brianna. The state attorney general's warning that there will be more charges coming and that their investigation continues. They are not afraid to go all the way to the top, if that's where the facts lead them, even if it leads them to the embattled governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder.

Now, that being said, yesterday was a really significant day here for the people in Flint, who for 18 months were called liars and complainers and whiners when they voiced concerns about their water.

However, many of those people who I talked to said that they believe -- they wonder why they went after seemingly low-level officials, especially one who worked at the water plant, who I sat down with a few weeks ago in his first sit-down interview. He told me that he was simply following orders when he altered a water test result -- report that would have raised red flags. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLASGOW: I only did it, because I was instructed to.

I just asked the question why and they gave -- they cited some, I guess, solidified reasoning to remove a couple items, so I didn't question it much further.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GANIM: Now, the two other men who were charged yesterday are accused of deliberately not treating the water, leading it to become toxic, leading to the lead leaching into the water, the high levels of disease in the water. They both were in court yesterday and pleaded not guilty -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. Sara Ganim with that report. Thank you so much.

A special birthday today, Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest reigning monarch, celebrating her 90th birthday. We're showing you live pictures where she is greeting locals on a royal walkabout around Windsor. Apparently, school children have been singing to her.

Later this evening she'll light the first of more than a thousand torches or bonfires that will shine throughout the U.K.

The royal family releasing this really lovely picture -- check it out -- in honor of the queen's milestone birthday, surrounded by her seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They also released this picture showing the line of succession. The images will be used for postage stamps.

Tomorrow, she's got a busy schedule for a 90-year-old. She's hosting a lunch with President Obama and the first lady. And one little fun fact: for those of you like me obsessed with "The Great British Baking Show," a great TV show to watch, the winner of that this year baked her cake. What an honor. Can you imagine that?

KEILAR: That is so cool. Can you imagine having the same job for 64 years -- Chris.

CUOMO: That is no job. That is a -- that is a life in and of itself

PEREIRA: It is a lifestyle. It is. And I can imagine because we've heard people say that about living in the White House, it's like the nicest prison you've ever lived in. I could imagine living that life would feel restrictive, too.

CUOMO: It is -- it's an amazing accomplishment, but I've got to tell you, that grandson of hers stole that photo. What a smile on that kid's face.

PEREIRA: Isn't that great?

CUOMO: All right. The Sanders' campaign insists there is no "Bern out" after losing New York. So what is Sanders' strategy moving forward? His campaign manager making the case on NEW DAY next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:22:33] CUOMO: Senator Bernie Sanders back on the campaign trail today in Pennsylvania after taking a day to, quote, "recharge." The delegate math appearing insurmountable. How will Sanders change his game today?

Joining us now, Bernie Sanders's campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, down in D.C. What are you down there measuring drapes, Weaver? Not so fast.

JEFF WEAVER, CAMPAIGN MANAGER, BERNIE SANDERS: Just visiting my family, Chris. Just visiting my family.

CUOMO: What does "recharge" mean? What happened when the senator lost here in New York? What is the conversation now?

WEAVER: Well, the conversation is what it always is, Chris. It's how we advance the senator's agenda in this country, how we move toward the nomination. The senator certainly has a path to victory in this contest, and we're going to do everything we can to make that happen.

CUOMO: When we put up the numbers of what you need to do to win, it does look daunting from a mathematical perspective. Hillary's got to get a third. You've got to get 80 percent plus. How is that a path to victory?

WEAVER: Chris, that's only if you count in the super delegates. If you just look at the pledged delegates, the secretary has about a 250- or 240-delegate lead. That's less than half the number of delegates assigned in California alone.

So in fact, there is a path to victory with the pledged delegates and, by June 7, with success next week and in the following contests, the senator can pass the secretary in pledged delegates.

CUOMO: Do you think it is a fair concern/criticism that people in the party are saying that Senator Sanders needs to start to think more about how he is attacking Hillary Clinton? Do you believe that that's fair?

WEAVER: Well, I don't -- look, Chris, if you look at the exit polls in New York, when they asked people who had the most unfair campaign by double digits, even though the secretary won the popular vote in the state of New York, by double digits, the people of New York they found by almost 70 percent that the primary process was actually good for the party.

So you know, this is just criticism from the Clinton campaign. They don't -- they would prefer not to be criticized for things like ties to Wall Street, for raising money for big banks, from oil companies and others, you know, for not supporting a $15 minimum wage, for not having a plan for universal health care. They prefer not to talk about these things, I understand that, but that's what Senator Sanders is going to be talking about.

CUOMO: Do you think that the senator has been going after his character more than is warranted by her record?

WEAVER: I don't think he has gone after her character. I think he has questioned her judgment on things like voting on the war in Iraq and continuing to support an interventionist regime change foreign policy that has caused obviously problems in Libya, as well.

[07:25:10] CUOMO: But didn't the senator -- didn't the senator kind of acknowledge himself that the issue of whether or not to disclose the transcripts of the speeches that she's made to different financial institutions is inherently character-based?

WEAVER: No, I don't think that's true at all. I think she should release them.

We want to know what she told these people, what she told Goldman Sachs, what she told these foreign banks, what she told others. What did she tell? What are in the speeches? I think people -- voters deserve to know what's in the speeches. If you get paid 225 -- $225,000 an hour to give a speak, some cases for a 20-minute speech, don't you think people should know what's in the speeches? What were you talking to people behind closed doors and why are you so reluctant to disclose them?

CUOMO: I get why it's an appetizing thing to talk about. But you know, the senator's had chances, not just here on NEW DAY but also during the debate to say, well, what can you point to that gives you this cause for concern? Hillary Clinton, when it comes to her ties to any money source. I've got to tell you, the responses have not been great. Really can't point to anything other than the bankruptcy bill. That was a long time ago, and there are a lot of reasons that bill went through with a lot of Democrats.

So where's the "there" there?

WEAVER: Well, there's a lot of "there" there, Chris. The secretary has supported every bad trade deal that's come down the pike. Senator Sanders has opposed every single one, and the pernicious impact of money on politics is not like, "I give you $10 and then you give me a vote." That would obviously be illegal, and nobody's alleging that anybody did anything illegal.

What happens is, is that it colors your view of things, gives access to people to present their case that regular people don't have; in the process, things will be weighed in terms of regulations. This is the way the process works. I mean, these corporations, these trade deals are being negotiated overseas. These corporate players are often in the room, helping to write these deals. So this is the kind of impact you get from big money in politics.

You know, people say, "Oh, the Republicans, they have all this money; they're being influenced. But somehow the Democrats who have big money are not influenced." That doesn't really pass the lab test.

CUOMO: Pernicious impact of money on politics, that is a good phrase.

WEAVER: Thank you. CUOMO: What do you make of the idea of, well, what do you want? What do you want? If you don't win, what do you want? Because that's something that you give any consideration.

WEAVER: Well, I don't at this point. The senator is running to win. There is a path to victory. You know, he's always behind by about 240 in pledged delegates. That's less than happened with California is going to happen, and a lot of other states in play, as you know, next Tuesday. There are five states in play. After that, there's one a week through May. June 7, a huge day. New Jersey, California and a bunch of other states. So there's a long way to go in this process, Chris.

CUOMO: Jeff Weaver, as you know, both you and the senator always welcome to come on NEW DAY to discuss what matters all the way through until we break the tape. Thanks for being on the show today.

WEAVER: Thanks, Chris. Always a pleasure.

CUOMO: Brianna.

KEILAR: Well, Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus is caught in the middle of a firestorm. Frontrunner Donald Trump riding an anti-establishment wave. But is Priebus conspiring against him? His revealing answers in an exclusive CNN interview ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)