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Trump Crushes Cruz, Declares 'It's Over'; Clinton Wins 4 of 5 States. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired April 27, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I consider myself the presumptive nominee.

[05:58:47] SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE; I've got incredible faith in the common sense of the people of America.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's go forward. Let's win the nomination.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to fight this until the last vote cast.

TRUMP: The only card she has is the woman's card. She's got nothing else.

CLINTON: If fighting for women's health care, and paid family leave, and equal pay is playing the woman's card, then deal me in.

TRUMP: I go at Crooked Hillary. She'll be a horrible president.

CLINTON: There are a lot of negative voices out there, but anger is not a plan.

TRUMP: As far as I'm concerned, it's over. These two guys cannot win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It is Wednesday, April 27. We want to welcome in our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. This is NEW DAY.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump dominating the northeast primaries. The front-runners close to clinching their party nominations. Trump says he has the GOP race in the bag. He called himself the presumptive nominee. He's going to make the case to you in just minutes here on NEW DAY as to why his race is over.

CAMEROTA: As for the Democrats, Hillary Clinton winning four of five states. She is now 90 percent of the way to getting the Democratic nomination.

Still, Bernie Sanders says he is going all the way to the convention. We have the 2016 race covered the only way CNN can.

So let's begin with John Berman to break down the results and where the delegate race stands.

Hi, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Alisyn.

A big night for the front-runners, a clean sweep for Donald Trump. Look at this. Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island, Delaware, all his. And Rhode Island and Delaware, he is 60 percent of the vote. And by the way, Ted Cruz finished third in every state except for Pennsylvania.

Let's look at the Democrats now. Hillary Clinton, she won four out of five. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware. Pennsylvania, a big state, one of the few remaining big states on the calendar.

Bernie Sanders did pick up Rhode Island. He managed to win there, but that did not give him much as far as delegates go.

Let's look at the delegate map right now. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton won 214 last night. Bernie Sanders, 160. Some more still being allocated. But you can see, Hillary Clinton netted at least 54 more delegates than Bernie Sanders at that time when Bernie Sanders needs to be closing that gap. As for the Republicans, Donald Trump, he picked up 142. Ted Cruz and John Kasich, way, way back with 5. This does include some unbound delegates who are elected in Pennsylvania who tell CNN they are committed to Donald Trump.

Tweet me and message me on CNN if you want a bigger explanation for what that means.

In the overall delegate count, let's look at the Republicans right now. Donald Trump at 998; Ted Cruz more than 400 back now. He needs to get to 1,237, Donald Trump does. Now just 250 delegates away.

As for the Democrats, Hillary Clinton at 2,168; Bernie Sanders way back at 1,400. That does include the super delegates, which Bernie Sanders will have to flip. No signs, though, of flipping at this point -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Just sending that tweet for further clarification. Thank you, John.

Donald Trump is declaring it is all over after sweeping all five northeast primaries last night. It is now mathematically impossible for any Republican delegate but him to clinch the nomination before convention.

CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta live in Washington bright and early this morning. Hi, Jim. JIM ACOSTA, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

Donald Trump just took a giant leap towards capturing the GOP nomination. He us clearly on a roll after going five for five in last night's primaries. But unlike the more diplomatic tone adopted last week, it was all too clear the campaign's mantra, let Trump be Trump, was back with a vengeance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I consider myself the presumptive nominee, absolutely.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Donald Trump declared his bid for the Republican nomination a done deal.

TRUMP: It's over. As far as I'm concerned, it's over.

ACOSTA: Urging his rivals to throw in the towel after sweeping all five northeast primaries by margins that can only be described as huge.

TRUMP: I think they're hurting the party because, again, they have no path, zero path to victory. And we're going to win on the first ballot.

ACOSTA: The GOP front-runner blatantly rejected calls to tone down his rhetoric and act more presidential.

TRUMP: Why would I change? You know, if you have a football team and you're winning, and then you get to the Super Bowl, you don't change your quarterback. So I'm not changing.

ACOSTA: And he previewed the types of attacks he has in store for Hillary Clinton in a general election.

TRUMP: I call her Crooked Hillary. She's crooked. She will not be a good president; she doesn't have the strength. If Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she'd get 5 percent of the vote. The only thing she's got going is the woman's card, and the beautiful thing is, women don't like her.

ACOSTA: Trump's use of the phrase, "the woman card," provoked this talked-about reaction from Chris Christie's wife.

Despite that confidence on display, the real-estate tycoon still has a few key battles ahead.

CRUZ: The question is, can the state of Indiana stop the media's chosen Republican candidates?

ACOSTA: Ted Cruz is insisting the race is not over.

CRUZ: I've got good news for you. Tonight, this campaign moves back to more favorable terrain.

ACOSTA: Cruz also ramped up his attacks, dedicating his entire speech to linking Trump to Clinton.

CRUZ: Every one of us is fed up with politicians who betray us, who make promises and then don't do it. Donald is telling us he is she lying to us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Now, the forces against Trump is not giving up, the "never Trump" movement, which includes some top GOP strategists, warning the party Trump will cause Republicans to lose control of the Congress in the fall.

But later today Trump will try to settle some of those GOP nerves and show off his wonky side with a major foreign policy speech here in Washington. Chris, instead of never Trump, they want to think about the #NeverSayNeverSayTrump. It's starting to look that now here in Washington.

CUOMO: Clever turn of phrase. Jim Acosta, thank you very much.

Hillary Clinton reaching out to Bernie Sanders and his supporters, after scoring four big Super Tuesday victories, moving her very close to the finish line. But that doesn't mean that Senator Sanders is getting out of this race. Not even close.

[06:05:06] For insight, CNN's Jeff Zeleny live and in Philadelphia. Jeff, what is the state of play?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Chris.

You could almost feel the page turning in this long Democratic race last night as Hillary Clinton swept on the stage to the theme song "Eye of the Tiger" from, fittingly, "Rocky" here in Philadelphia. She hopes to come back in three months when Democrats crown their nominee right here in this same city.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLINTON: Thank you, Pennsylvania!

ZELENY (voice-over): Hillary Clinton winning four big states, pushing her even closer to becoming the Democratic nominee, extending her hand to Bernie Sanders and his supporters who shall need in the fight ahead.

CLINTON: And I applaud Senator Sanders and his millions of supporters for challenging us to get unaccountable money out of our politics and giving -- greater emphasis to closing the gap of inequality, and I know together we will get that done.

ZELENY: But Sanders pledging to stay in the race and run an issue- oriented campaign until the last vote is cast.

In a statement overnight, he says, "This campaign is going to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia with as many delegates as possible to fight for a progressive party platform." CLINTON: Whether you support Senator Sanders or you support me,

there's much more that unites us than divides us.

ZELENY: But the Clinton campaign is already looking forward to the battle with Donald Trump, or whoever the GOP nominee may be.

CLINTON: We will unify our party to win this election, and build an America where we can all rise together. An America where we lift each other up instead of tearing each other down.

ZELENY: Sanders addressing the crowd in West Virginia before the final results, taking on a different tone, steering clear of harsh attacks against Clinton.

SANDERS: Almost every national poll and every state poll has us defeating Trump, and that margin for us is significantly larger than that of Secretary Clinton.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: Now, the tone Senator Sanders takes today when he campaigns in Indiana will be the central question for how this race goes forward.

One small note. Donald Trump tweeted yesterday that Bernie Sanders should run as an independent. He said he's not been treated fairly by the Democratic Party. Jane Sanders, the senator's wife, said, "That's not going to happen. We're not spoilers. We're staying on the Democratic side of this race."

CAMEROTA: There you go. Jeff, thanks so much.

Let's discuss all of this with our panel: CNN political commentator and political anchor of Time Warner Cable News, Errol Louis; Washington bureau chief for "The Daily Beast," Jackie Kucinich; and CNN political analyst and host of "The David Gregory Show" podcast, David Gregory.

Great to have all of you with us this morning.

So Errol, is it now in the bag for Donald Trump, as he says?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, no, no. Not so fast. I mean, the others have to sort of pull their weight if they really do want to stop him. So we'll see what happens in Indiana and beyond.

But he's certainly on a glide path. He is, in fact, the only one who can mathematically sort of clinch it before the convention, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's going to happen. We'll see, you know, what happens and what develops.

These super PACs that are out there sort of in the ether, in some ways they're more -- sort of, I guess, more coherent in some ways than the candidates themselves. It's hard to overestimate or overstate how badly they did with this so-called alliance that fell apart immediately. Talk to people in the super PACs. They've got analytics. They've got money. They're thinking the thing through; they're very strategic. The campaigns don't seem to have that kind of expertise. If one or the other sort of pulls it together...

CAMEROTA: You mean Kasich or Cruz, if they pull together in Indiana, say, if Cruz goes in Indiana, then what?

LOUIS: Well, in that case, they can deny him the 1,237. They can get to the convention, and then he can make a last stand.

What we're not hearing, though, think back to when Mitt Romney was making a case, the big national Republicans were making the case Trump is danger. We've got to do something? Where are those voices now? If they think they're going to wait till the convention and then sort of rush out there and take the nomination away, I don't know if that's going to happen.

CUOMO: All right. But let's listen to Ted Cruz's case. This is the point where not only is he a genius litigator, but you know, this is where politics is supposed to come down to. This is my theory of the case. Here's what he had to say in Indiana last night about why this race isn't over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: Donald Trump is likely to win some states, and the media is going to have heart palpitation this evening. They're going to be excited, oh, so very excited at Donald Trump's victories. And the media's going to say, "The race is over." I've got good news for you. Tonight this campaign moves back to more favorable terrain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: First what matters most, "palpitation" or "pal-i-pitation"?

CAMEROTA: I thought it was pal-i-pitation.

CUOMO: Pal-i-pitation. You're pro-Cruz.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Palpitation.

CUOMO: Palpitation. You're pro-syntax.

LOUIS: Palpitation, although in Texas, it may be different.

CUOMO: That's why -- Errol, Harvard and Yale.

LOUIS: That's right.

CUOMO: He checks both boxes.

This theory of the case that "the media is against me, that's why this is happening, and that's why there will be a change here in Indiana," what is that code for and how strong?

GREGORY: I thought it was good. It was effective. You know, bash the media. You're in a more socially conservative state in Indiana. Trashing the media is always good, saying, "Look, the media wants these two New York liberals to be the nominees." All good fodder for social conservatives. This is the potential weakness for Trump, who is leading in Indiana in that state, which is, can he cut into social conservatives in the state?

CUOMO: Mike Pence, the poster boy for Christian conservative laws...

GREGORY: Right, right.

CUOMO: ... whatever they call them, religious freedom laws. He wasn't come out, though.

GREGORY: He hasn't come out. If he stays on the sidelines, good for Trump. If he does come out and endorses Cruz, obviously, good for him. Because this is really the firewall for Cruz.

Here's the point. You know, I think that the notion of a contested convention lost some ground last night, because this alliance between Cruz and Kasich was Oh for the Northeast. Remember when John Kasich said, "Just wait until the race goes to the northeast. We'll see what happens then"? Well, nothing happened then, except for winning about four Republicans in Manhattan for John Kasich.

And it's also very hard to see, isn't it, how you get to a Republican convention and somehow Trump gets denied. He has got a lot of momentum, particularly in...

CUOMO: Alisyn was talking about the poll numbers earlier. Every exit, every state last night, over 60 percent saying that they...

CAMEROTA: They would really resent that. Voters would really resent that, if that happens.

GREGORY: And he won the majority last night. Remember, he's been a plurality front-runner. Last night over 50 percent, sometimes 60 percent.

CAMEROTA: But Jackie, let's talk about Donald Trump. Because something seems to -- the tide seems to have turned in the past two weeks. You know, he had those sort of missteps around Wisconsin and afterwards, and then last night he came roaring back. What -- what happened? How did he turn it around in these weeks?

KUCINICH: I think in part, it's because the forces against him sort of receded a little bit. "Never Trump" kind of never worked. And they ceded these five states sort of out of hand. It was interesting strategy on their part, the fact that, you know, now they're saying that, you know, they'll start again in Indiana.

So the fact that he didn't have the ads against him and, let's be honest, New York gave him a lot of momentum. I don't think any of us expected him to crest 16 percent there. And I think that did a lot for him going into these five contests.

CUOMO: Reaction formation has been a main dynamic in this election, when means that when things are going well, there's a pushback. When things aren't goal well, there's a reprieve. That's often the cost of having a non-message election, Errol, where this is not a battle of ideas within that party right now. This is about who can win almost exclusively.

LOUIS: Well, that's right. And you noticed last night in Donald Trump speech's and, frankly, in Ted Cruz's, as well, very little about foreign policy, or domestic policy, or what they want to do, or why they're so eager to implement the policies that are going to rescue the nation. It has ceased to be about any of that, and it's a real shame, frankly.

GREGORY: You know, it's interesting. You go back to especially 2004, Bush's re-election and his adviser Karl Rove said, look, if the question is terrorism, then George Bush is the answer. That's ultimately what happened for his reelection.

Here, if the question is, is the system rigged against you? Then Donald Trump is the answer. Look, he's benefited from the RNC rules, and he's railed against them. The last two weeks that proved particularly effective to say the whole thing is rigged, and I'm getting screwed in this process.

I think that did particularly well for him with his base of supporters and maybe even others who are outside the system, who came and gave him some of these margins.

CAMEROTA: I mean, that's the crazy paradox, is that it is working for him, Jackie.

GREGORY: Right. And that's what Sanders has argued, as well.

CAMEROTA: That the system is rigged. Right. We've heard the same -- some of the same message.

But back to what Chris was talking about. The exit polls suggest that voters will be -- Republican voters will be very upset if some person, Donald Trump, gets to within, like, say 100 delegates and then there's something tricky that happens at the convention.

Now, these rules are already in place. OK, we get it. It's not like they have just come up with them to deny it to Donald Trump, but it still feels wrong to voters.

JACKIE KUCINICH, "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, I think it goes to basic fairness. They're looking at how many -- how many votes he's won. And when you go down to delegates, and you start talking about the process, you're losing. You know?

And so I think when you go into this convention, you're right. If he's within 100, they're going to -- the RNC is going to have a heck of a case to make that they can take this nomination, no matter, you know, how much work Ted Cruz has done on the ground with these delegates. It really is going to come down to basic fairness, and they're going to have a lot of upset people if they take it away from Trump and he's that close.

CUOMO: It's not even a couple of hundred. I mean, the polls suggest, who do you think should win if nobody gets to 1,237?

GREGORY: Right.

CUOMO: They say the primary winner.

CAMEROTA: Right. Whoever's ahead.

CUOMO: There's no specificity. Of course, it wasn't asked, but the presumption is, if you're ahead at the end of this process, then you're ahead.

GREGORY: The rules are the rule, and that's still true.

CUOMO: But just because rules exist, doesn't mean that they are good rules, fair rules, the right rules.

GREGORY: But they are the rules everybody is playing by. My point is that Cruz and Kasich don't seem like enough of an alternative right now, you know, and it doesn't help that they went 0 for 5 here when they're trying to mount this big "stop Trump" movement. Wisconsin seems like a long time ago, which is why...

[06:15:15] CUOMO: But their pushback is also math, Errol, because you know, Trump can say, "No, math is on my side, my friend."

But on the other side, you only have turnout of about 25 percent, 26 percent at the top range of these primaries. That's good for a primary, but it's not really a great snapshot of your entire party. He still doesn't poll over 50 percent within that party in a lot of relevant measurements. What do you say?

LOUIS: Look, there are a lot of other things you can bring into play. I mean, you look at the five states yesterday. Which of those are the Republicans going to carry in a presidential race? Right? I mean, it's fine to be a big winner in Rhode Island. I don't know if that state's going to go Republican in the fall.

The other thing is to keep in mind, when we go to these conventions, they have the roll call of the states. You know, "The great state of Wisconsin cast its votes proudly." I mean, it has the look of an election. It has the look of people who have come to a decision, who have huddled as a caucus, and who have announced to the world that "This is what we're going to do."

And so, instead of it just being sort of a hollow drama, this time there actually might be some discussion, and instead of simply, you know, listing the state bird or whatever it is, they might say, "We want a party that stands for X, Y and Z, and that's why we're supporting Cruz or Kasich or Trump, or whoever it happens to be."

GREGORY: The other discordant note is Trump and women, saying that the only reason Hillary is getting votes is because she's a woman. I mean, he is really not doing well with women, even losing white women right now to Hillary Clinton in a prospective matchup. I mean, that's really, really bad for him. So that's the discordant note, is looking at how potentially hobbled he is going into a general election. CAMEROTA: OK, panel, stick around. We want to take a very quick

break, because we are going to be talking to Donald Trump right on the other side of this break. NEW DAY will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Donald Trump, sweeping all five states last night, taking another giant step towards securing the Republican nomination for president. Joining us on the phone right now to make the case for why this race is over, Donald Trump himself.

Mr. Trump, can you hear us? Good morning and congratulations, if so.

TRUMP (via phone): Well, thank you very much. Good morning.

CUOMO: So what's the headline? What did last night mean?

TRUMP: One headline is a good headline. I mean, I won five states. I them very conclusively. Everybody's saying that. It's not me. I'm just copying all you guys. We won tremendous victories and larger than even anticipated.

I guess we -- we also signed a lot in the -- the one in Pennsylvania is a little bit difficult to figure. We won 17. We had a great, you know, a great victory there in Pennsylvania.

But we also signed a lot of delegates. And they're actually signed. You know, we had the whole signing card thing going. And we picked up many of those delegates, most of those delegates. Half of them are waiting around until the convention, and others are to come.

So I think I heard numbers like 50-something, and we have some that are getting ready to sign. So we had a team, a very good team out there.

CUOMO: So...

TRUMP: So we won it conclusively, but we won most of the delegates, and many of them are already signed...

CUOMO: Ted Cruz...

TRUMP: ... which I don't think you have down on your charts yet. Do you?

[06:20:06] CUOMO: Well, it's hard for us to predict what people are going to do in advance, but we do know that last night, let's take in Pennsylvania, you had a good showing among those elected delegates there, as well, who were expressing a preference for you going into the convention. That's a good sign.

On the other side of it -- it's a good sign, you know, where your campaign is concerned. On the other side of it, Ted Cruz was in Indiana last night. He says you can't do it. You can't get to 1,237. You can't beat Hillary Clinton. And you can't bring this party together. At least half your party still does not want you to be the nominee. Your response?

TRUMP: Well, Lying' Ted has, you know, been saying this for a long time. He said we couldn't win the five states last week. He said he would win at least two of the states. You know, Lying' Ted is Lying' Ted. He's one of a kind. He can lie better than any human being I've ever seen, but ultimately, he's not successful. I've actually never seen anything quite like it.

We had a great victory and far more than we thought. Far more than your network estimated. And now we're up to close to 1,000, and we have a long way to go. I mean, we're going to do great in California. We have a big lead in California. I think we're going to do really good in Indiana, where I'm going today. And Indiana looks really strong. And, you know, I think we get there very easily, according to all of the people that -- that run all of those brilliant charts. You are among them. Actually, your chart is excellent.

CUOMO: Of course it is.

TRUMP: Your chart -- your chart works beautifully, as operated by John King usually. But we seem to get there. We seem to get over the number.

And as you know, if we were short 50, there's so many roving delegates around that are going to be looking for a home, you get them pretty easily, I mean.

CUOMO: Well, let's see -- let's talk about Indiana, because now that is the big state on everybody's map. That will be the big stand for this so-called alliance between Kasich and Cruz. What do you make of their efforts to join against you? Do you have the energy to take them on? You sound pretty beat this morning, but when you get to Indiana, you'll be taking on the both of them in a united effort.

TRUMP: Yes. No, I'm not -- I'm not beat. I did get up a little bit early to do your show. I want to -- you asked me to do it, and I'm doing it.

CUOMO: Thank you.

TRUMP: But -- but I was up late last night, I will say that. We're all celebrating -- you know, we celebrate and then we go back to work. But we're doing your show, and that's an honor.

So I go to Indiana. I have Bobby Knight tonight is going to endorse Trump. Bobby Knight is the most revered coach in the history, I guess, of Indiana. He's great. A great guy. A great coach. People love him.

CUOMO: How about Mike Pence? Have you reached out for the governor's endorsement yet?

TRUMP: Yes. The governor's a great guy. I've met with him. He may not endorse. I don't think he'll endorse anybody, actually, and he may endorse us. I don't know. He is a great guy. He's become -- you know, he's done a very, very good job as governor, and he's a great guy. I don't know if we'll get his endorsement. I don't know.

CUOMO: Do you -- do you think he's going to endorse Cruz? You don't think so? You don't think he'll come out and endorse if it's not you?

TRUMP: No, I don't think so.

CUOMO: So the big speech that you're going to give on foreign policy, can you give us an indication of what the headline's going to be?

TRUMP: It will be a speech just on foreign policy. Some of my ideas on foreign policy. It will have to do with some of the economics of foreign policy, because we're getting killed on economics. You know, I'm an economic person. And it's one of my strengths and maybe a big strength. I've called a lot of correct economic policy. I don't get credit for it. But a lot of things happening in the world I've called, called it very good and happening now.

And so I'm giving a speech on economic policy. And it was a few guys got together. They say, you know, you're doing great with the race, but it wouldn't be a bad -- I did a speech on AIPAC, primarily on Israel and now I'm doing a speech on foreign policy.

CUOMO: Well it's always good to have some policy mixed into a presidential election.

TRUMP: I think so.

CUOMO: Do you agree with President Obama about sending 250 or even more troops into Syria to help the effort there? The special operators that he announced that he's sending in? Do you agree with that move?

TRUMP: Well, I could agree with it, but I don't agree with telling it to the world. I would send them in quietly, because right now they have a target on their back. So I would agree with it much more. I don't know what purpose they're being sent in for, but I would agree with it. I can live with it. But what I don't like doing is sending them in so -- I mean, with such fanfare. Let them go in, go in quietly, be unpredictable.

But I just -- from my standpoint, I just find it very, very hard, every time we do something we announce it for publicity reasons, and I think that's very negative. I think that's -- I think that's a bad thing.

[06:25:07] CUOMO: All right. Let's talk about tone a little bit. Is it true that Paul Manafort, who you brought on here to help deal with the convention and help deal with some of the darker arts of this election process, that he said you need to change your tone? You need to start thinking about how to bring people together in the party? And that apparently you've rejected that advice so far?

TRUMP: No, I don't think so. Paul is a big fan of mine. He's made some incredible statements about the way I speak, saying it was maybe the best he's ever seen anybody speak. He made some great statements about -- he went to a couple of rallies yesterday and the day before. We had a rally in Pennsylvania for 25,000 people. He said he's never

seen anything like it, and he did cover Reagan, Ford, Bush. He said he's never seen anything like these rallies. And he said, "I get it."

And, you know, I'm not going to be changing. I'm presidential anyway. I mean, I can change to presidential, but I'm presidential anyway, I guess.

CUOMO: What does it mean when you say change to presidential? What do you think presidential is that you're not right now?

TRUMP: I just mean a lower key version of myself and being sure not to use any language that would be offensive, but I don't do that anyway. I feel that I shouldn't be doing that. I was doing that for a period of time for emphasis, but I feel that I shouldn't be doing that. I'm not -- you know, I'm not doing that.

And -- I used to, you know, make speeches when I was non-political, I used some foul language and it would make things very exciting and people would go crazy. But when you're running for office it's a little bit different, as your brother knows. Right?

CUOMO: Well, yes, I think that trying not to curse is probably the least of reaching that bar, but let's look at why that...

TRUMP: No. It might be the -- it might be the most of reaching that bar.

CUOMO: Well, I hope not. I hope not. I hope we're going to do better than that, especially as we get into the general, but when you look at why, you're doing very well in the primaries by anybody's math. However, you're only getting 25, 26 percent of your party showing up. You have about half the party that hasn't come into the tent with you yet.

You're going into a general election, if you get the nomination, where you're going to have to sway a lot of people who don't like the harshness. So that's why people are saying, "Can you show another side of yourself? Can you bring people together?"

Last night talking about Hillary Clinton, whom you call Crooked Hillary, you said the only thing she has is the woman card. Now, even Chris Christie's wife standing behind you made a face when you said that. Do you think that's a winning formula to say, "the woman card" is all that Hillary Clinton has?

TRUMP: Yes. It's part of -- it is certainly part. She -- she is a woman. She's playing the woman card left and right. She didn't play it last time with Obama, but she's playing it much harder this time. And she will be called on it. She'll -- absolutely.

CUOMO: How do you call someone on being a woman?

TRUMP: You just tell them they're playing the woman's card. And frankly...

CUOMO: But what does that mean, exactly?

TRUMP: Frankly, if she didn't, she would do very poorly.

CUOMO: How do you know that?

TRUMP: I know it. Because I think if she were a man and she was the way she is, she would get virtually no votes.

CUOMO: I know. I hear what you're saying. I'm just trying to figure your basis is for it. Most of the measurements of a perspective matchup, not only is Clinton beating you with women; she's beating you with white women. Do you think that this is a good message for them to hear? That all she's got is a woman -- it sounds dismissive of her gender.

TRUMP: When I came out -- when I came out, I was competing against 17 very capable people. Right? You've heard this. I'm sure you heard it last night, ad nauseam. I was competing against 17 very, very capable women -- people. And a woman.

And what happened was, one by one they disappeared, and everyone said, what's going on? Look what's happening. A governor, a senator, a governor, a senator, but one by one they disappeared. And they thought Trump was going to be there for a couple of weeks. He was going to have some fun. Then he was going to go to Monte Carlo and have a good time. OK?

And it didn't work out that way. It worked out that I knocked every one of them off. And for the most part, you would say I knocked them off. They weren't knocked off. I knocked them off, OK. I think you would admit that. They were taken out. And it was the same thing that happened to Hillary. You just don't know me.

CUOMO: So you believe that -- we know each other very well, Mr. Trump. And that's why I am not completely surprised by the success you've had to this point. But do you believe, then, that what got you here will take you all the way to the White House?

TRUMP: I think so. Now, you know, I may tone it down, or I may tone it up. I can't tell what you I'm going to do. I don't know.

Depends, you know -- I use the word flexibility. You have to be flexible. You listened last night. And you do. You have to be flexible.

Somebody said, "Well, will you go this way or that way?" I don't know. I will determine when I see how the other people punch back.

But Hillary has a lot of flaws. She's got a lot of problems. And she does have the woman card. That's a big thing. But a lot of women, as you know, don't like Hillary, despite the card.