Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Paul Ryan on Republican Race; Trump Sweeps Primaries. Aired 8:30-9:00a ET

Aired April 27, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:21] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump declaring himself the presumptive GOP nominee after a Super Tuesday five for five sweep in the northeast primaries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I consider myself the presumptive nominee, absolutely. Senator Cruz and Governor Kasich should really get out of the race. They are - have no path to victory (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, what does House Speaker Paul Ryan think of that statement? He, of course, will chair the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July, and just yesterday he issued a warning to the feuding candidates to get their acts together. House Speaker Paul Ryan joins now.

Good morning, Speaker Ryan.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: Good morning. How you doing, Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: I'm doing very well, thank you. You look very well also. So, let's talk about last night. As I said, you are a numbers cruncher extraordinaire. Given the results from last night for Donald Trump, do you see any way that he is not the Republican nominee?

RYAN: Well, he definitely had a good night. But as you know, as the chair, I am neutral in this thing. So I'm not even going to feed the speculation one way or the other. We've got a few - what, about six weeks left to go. And so as far as I'm concerned, we're just going to let that play itself out. And busy - we're busy here in the House getting our job done, fixing problems, offering solutions, promoting an agenda for whoever our nominee is going to be that we can present to the country come fall. And that's what we're busy working on. So I'm just not really speculating on these things.

CAMEROTA: Sure. Sure. I know you don't have a horse in this race and you've been quite impartial about this. But in terms of the numbers, because this is your expertise, I do just want to ask you about this.

RYAN: Actually, just so you know, it's not my expertise, the delegate counting. I -

CAMEROTA: Well -

RYAN: Budgets in Congress are my expertise, but I have not been spending my - I didn't stay up last night figuring the math to the path to the nomination. So I haven't even looked at it. I don't even know what his delegate count is right now. So I really don't have an answer for that because that's not something I've been focused on.

CAMEROTA: OK. I guess I'm just giving you credit for being sort of a math whiz, but -

RYAN: I appreciate it. It's - I'm just not going to take the bait. That's -

CAMEROTA: I see that. I see that. So, let's - but, look, you are also the chairman of the RNC. So - I mean of the convention.

RYAN: Right.

CAMEROTA: So let's talk about what might happen if Donald Trump does not get to the 1,237 number, but he gets close, should he be the nominee?

RYAN: That's going to be the decision made by the delegates. I am not a delegate. So my job is to make sure that the rules are followed very clearly, very transparently, very fairly. So if he or anyone gets the 1,237, the majority of the delegate, prior to the convention, then, yes, that person is going to win on the first ballot. If that person -

CAMEROTA: Right, but what if they don't?

RYAN: If they don't, then the ballot - if he doesn't win on the first ballot, then it goes to successful ballots until the delegates provide a majority vote for a particular candidate.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

RYAN: So I really have no idea how that's going to go. The point I'm making is, it's going to be done fairly and transparently by the rules. And that's really all I can say because I just don't know where this will go.

CAMEROTA: Very quickly, one last thing and I'll stop torturing you on this, but we heard time - we heard -

RYAN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Oh, you're welcome. But we heard over and over again in exit polls last night from the voters that they feel - they understand the rules are the rules, except that if somebody gets close, if Donald Trump is say he hits the 1,100 threshold, they think that, in fact, he should be the nominee. I mean we see it in Connecticut, we see it in Pennsylvania, in every state they think that whoever gets closest, that's who the party should nominate. RYAN: Look, we are a country based upon a very important principle,

the rule of law. And that means we don't bend the rules based on the wins of the day, we play the rules by the rules. We follow the rules. And so that is how our party is organized. That is how a convention will be structured. And we will stick to the rules so that we don't bend them for anybody, because that's - how - think of how chaotic society is if you have laws and rules that you don't live or follow by. I would argue that's one of the problems we have in America today. And so we're not going to bend the rules for anybody. We're going to follow the rules as the rules are written.

[08:35:14] CAMEROTA: I want to talk about something that's happening today that's very interesting. You're going to be giving a speech at Georgetown University to college kids, and you're going to be, I guess, making the case to them about why become a conservative. So what's your message to millennials?

RYAN: Yes, that's - I'm really looking forward to this. My message to millennials, to young people is, I think conservatism is a philosophy and a way of life that they need to take a really good look at because I think it offers the most promise for them in their lives. Young people are used to customizing things in their life, you know, with apps and iPhones and all the rest. Why would you want to support a government philosophy that takes away your choices in like your health care, your doctor, your education financing and all of the rest?

So what we don't want to have is a top down philosophy where we have elites ruling us in government bureaucracy, which is really what progressives are pushing. We want an organic, bottom up, open economy, we want clear and consistent government that is transparent where people in our communities are solving our problems, and we're not asking others to rule us, which is what is happening these days with progressivism and this fourth branch of government.

So I think young people get it. They want to be a part of their society. They want to make decisions. They want to run the economy. They want to start businesses. They want to find (ph) opportunity. And conservativism as we know it, as we live it, is the best promise for opportunity that we have, and I want to acquaint young people with that.

CAMEROTA: Look, that sounds really good. I mean, you're right, young people want sort of a more individualized, customized experience. But as you know, from being there in the halls of congregation, how unwieldy the federal government is and how hard it is to get things done. Case in point, the budget. I mean how is the budget battle going?

RYAN: Well, one of the reasons why it's harder to pass a budget this year is because the budget numbers were decided last year and passed already. So a lot of people are saying, why pass the budget when we already have the numbers set and those are in law? I think we should do it for - just say if only for symbolic reasons because we need to show, again, what our road map looks for, how we balance the budget, how we pay down the debt. This is a tough year because politics is going in every different

direction. But the argument I would make, and what we're trying to do with our agenda is, we're offering an agenda, using our principles, that unify all conservatives and Republicans and we think is appealing to young people and independents and discerning Democrats. And the crux of it is, is, let's stop having cronyism in government. Let's stop having elites and government bureaucracies making our laws and telling us how to live our lives. Let's take power back to the people. Let's make government more effective, more efficient, more accountable to us as people and, more importantly, let's get this economy growing faster. Let's have a foreign policy that keeps us safe. These are the things that we believe in, but with a divided government we've got a liberal president and a conservative Congress, we're not getting a lot of things done that we need to get done. We're finding common ground, we're getting that done. Opioid abuse is a bill we're bringing to the floor this week that I think will be bipartisan. But the big issues of the day, Alisyn, we owe it to the country to show them an alternative so that the voters, the citizens in American in November of 2016 can have a very clear and compelling choice. It's our obligation as the alternative proposition party to offer that choice to people, and that's what we're doing and that's what we're trying to communicate.

CAMEROTA: And I know that - I mean, in addition to the budget, that is what you've been working on. You've been working on this policy platform so that people know what the GOP stands for. Is it complicated for you that the frontrunner of your party doesn't seem to comply with some of the tenants of the policy platform that you're putting together? In fact, he's quite at odd with it. He think that Social Security should be kept as is. He wants to raise taxes on the wealthiest people. He thinks that some non-nuclear countries should be able to have nuclear weapons. All of that stuff, does it complicate it for you?

RYAN: Well, we can get into details, but I think on the big things, whoever our nominee is going to be, I believe is going to be comfortable with the direction we're going because we're talking about ideas and principles and policies that unify us. How do you do tax reform to grow the economy? How do you make government more accountable to the people, restoring our Article I powers? Let's have a foreign policy that keeps us safer. How do you move people from welfare to work? What does patient-centered health care look like that replaces Obamacare? These are things that everyone running for president, whether it's Donald Trump or John Kasich or Ted Cruz, are all talking about, different variations of the same theme, but this - this is something that unifies all of us. And I'm comfortable - and, by the way, I've spoken to every one of these men and they know where we're going.

CAMEROTA: I know. I know. And, I mean, did they say -

RYAN: They know where we're going and they're comfortable with where we're going. So I feel like we will be able to - we will be able to unify Republicans and conservatives to offer the country this fall a very clear and compelling choice so that the people of this nation get to decide where we go as a country.

CAMEROTA: So in that phone call that you had with Donald Trump, he said that he's comfortable with your vision of the GOP?

RYAN: Yes. he - yes, I said, here's what we're doing, here's where we're going, here's why we're doing it. We decided this last year before the presidential election got even started. And, yes, we had a very pleasant conversation.

[08:40:06] CAMEROTA: Speaker Paul Ryan, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

RYAN: You bet.

CAMEROTA: Great to talk to you this morning.

RYAN: You too, Alisyn. Thanks.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

Let's get to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Donald Trump basically telling his GOP rivals, you're fired. So how does this self-proclaimed presumptive nominee make it official? A closer look at that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: All right, Wednesday's edition of the five things to know for your new day.

Donald Trump with a clean sweep, winning all five Super Tuesday states in the northeast, declaring himself the presumptive GOP nominee. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton winning four out of five contests, making her all but the certain Democratic nominee. Bernie Sanders vowing to stay in the race and take his campaign to convention.

More severe weather is expected today. That powerful storm system smacked the Plains and Midwest, is heading east now. Five tornados reported in four states overnight, along with strong thunderstorms and hail.

[08:45:01] Former House Speaker Denis Hastert facing six months behind bars when he was sentenced today for fraud. He pleaded guilty to structuring millions of dollars in bank withdrawals as hush money to a teen he allegedly molested back in the '70s.

The countdown is on. A hundred days away now from the Olympic games opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro. First time the games will be held in South America.

For more on the five things, be sure to visit newdaycnn.com.

Christopher.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Mic.

After last night, just how close is Donald Trump to reaching the magic 1,237 delegate number? We're going to look at his path to victory, next.

CAMEROTA: But first, a pediatric neurosurgeon did not let her disability stand in her way of becoming a doctor. Her work ethic and positive attitude inspiring many students along the way, including our very own Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay has her story in a very personal "Turning Points."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-five years after I first met her during my residency at the University of Michigan, Dr. Karin Muraszko is still teaching me about the wonders of the brain.

DR. KARIN MURASZKO, DEPT. OF NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY, UNIV. OF MICHIGAN: Our job is to kind of recapitulate what should have happened in nature.

GUPTA: Right know Karin is operating on the brain of this two-year-old boy. She's training the next generation of neurosurgeons. And if that weren't impressive enough, she's doing it all from a wheelchair.

Born with spina bifida, a malformation of her spinal cord, expectations for Karin were set low, to put it gently.

MURASZKO: My grandmother would say to my mother, oh, don't push her so much. A handicapped girl, the most she's ever going to do is sell pencils on a corner. And my mom would say no, no, no, that's not true. You never know what kids can do.

GUPTA: But even her own mother couldn't have predicted just how high Karin would set the bar.

MURASZKO: Often I think people choose careers and jobs because they want to pattern themselves after someone. I didn't know anybody that was quite like me. And as a result, I kind of chose my own path. And in some ways, that's extremely liberating.

GUPTA: Karin didn't just break the mold, she shattered it, and in 2005 became the first woman air of neurosurgery in the country.

MURASZKO: Next time you see someone who doesn't fit the mold of what you think someone should be, think outside the box.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

I love you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:51:06] CUOMO: Donald Trump batting 1,000 in the Super Tuesday primaries in the northeast, five for five. So does that mean he's going to reach the magic number before the convention? Joining us now, number guru, for real this time, not like what you tried to do to Paul Ryan in the last segment, CNN political director David Chalian.

CAMEROTA: He rejected my moniker for him.

CUOMO: I don't know if you heard that, Chalian. You know, Alisyn tried the old bait and switch. Oh, he loves the number. He's a number cruncher extord (ph). He was like, I don't want to look at the numbers. I don't know anything.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I thought it was a valiant effort, Alisyn. It really was.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

CUOMO: I respect the duplicity.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: So, this is what you do for a living, my brother. What do you see? Is the path as clear as Mr. Trump suggests?

CHALIAN: Well, maybe not quite as crystal clear as he suggests, but it's pretty darn close, Chris. Listen, I think the biggest headline out of last night's clean sweep for Trump is the number 50 percent. That is now the number he needs of the remaining delegate, 50 percent of them, to hit that 1,237 before the convention. That is a huge deal. He went into last night with that number at 58 or 59 percent. He's been winning about 47, 48 percent of the delegates to date. So needing to win 50 percent means, just keep doing what you're doing. That's not that difficult. And, guys, last night, he won 83 percent of the delegates available last night.

Now, I'm not suggesting every night on the map going forward is as good for Trump as a night like last night, and I don't expect him to win 83 percent of the delegates every night. But, 83 percent last night, winning 50 percent of the remaining is - is very much within reach. He could well hit that 1,237 before the convention.

CUOMO: Is the biggest challenge Indiana for him?

CHALIAN: Well, Indiana's a big challenge in two ways. Yes, for delegate purposes, because it's one of those hybrid winner take all systems. So if Mr. Trump does not win in Indiana, a slew of delegates will go to the winner, let's say it's Ted Cruz, and then congressional district by congressional district. So there is an opportunity there if Cruz puts something together in this one on one fight without Kasich in the ways actually amounts to something where Cruz can emerge that night with a bunch of the delegates.

But I think Indiana is much more about being a psychological victory for the stop Trump force if it comes to be. If Ted Cruz can't win in Indiana, guys, all the wind comes out of the sails of that whole idea that Trump is stoppable.

CUOMO: How many states do we have like Pennsylvania where you think you're voting for somebody and the delegate is supposed to represent that vote and then they can do what they want? CHALIAN: Pennsylvania's alone in the last - adding that last part of the caveat we said about, they can do whatever they want. We have states where you elect delegates instead of voting to support the candidate you choose. Illinois, New York are states where you do that. You elect delegates directly. But Pennsylvania then has this weird quirk added to it, like you just said, Chris, where you're electing delegates that are total free agents. They're the closest things - those 54 unbound delegates in Pennsylvania are the closest thing the Republicans have to super delegates, truly free agents, until they cast their ballot on the convention floor.

But as you know, CNN has reached out to the great majority of them, and many of them are either supporting Donald Trump or supporting who wins in their congressional district. And, guess what, that was Donald Trump last night.

CAMEROTA: So was last night the unofficial start of the general, where we heard him turning towards Hillary Clinton, we heard her turning different tone towards Bernie Sanders and that they're going to start - Trump and Clinton are going to start going after each other now.

CHALIAN: Certainly both the Trump campaign and the Clinton campaign are starting to set their sights on November. So, yes, I do think we've started seeing candidates who know that they have a little bit of tidying up that they need to do before they can get to their summer conventions, but they are keenly aware that they are going to likely be the nominees, and therefore they're going to start focusing on this.

[08:55:02] The other thing I heard Donald Trump do last night in his speech, Alisyn, was, not just focusing on Hillary Clinton, but starting to woo Bernie Sanders supporters to his side for the general election.

CAMEROTA: Interesting. David Chalian, thanks for all your help with all of these insights. Great to talk to you.

CHALIAN: Sure. Thank you.

CUOMO: How about we end this one up with a nice dose of "The Good Stuff." What say you?

CAMEROTA: I say yes.

CUOMO: Ah, see you in a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: He's just going to sit like this.

CAMEROTA: He's going to lean on you so you can't leave.

PEREIRA: (INAUDIBLE) - this is just, my mom warned me, she said, watch your feet for, what is it, sticky glue.

CUOMO: All right, it's time for "The Good Stuff." LaVonte Dell - PEREIRA: Yes, sit up.

CUOMO: Pulled over in Detroit, expecting a ticket. He was asked to step outside of his car.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVONTE DELL: We stepped to the back of my car, we got to talking and he pretty much asked me why she didn't have a car seat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Here's the story. LaVonte's three-year-old daughter was in the car with him. He explained that he just didn't have the money for the car seat. So guess what the cop did?

PEREIRA: Did he?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELL: He was like, follow me to Walmart. I'm like, you want me to follow you to Walmart?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Instead of the officer giving him a ticket, he took him to Walmart and bought him a car seat.

PEREIRA: That is so great. I love when they do that.

[09:00:00] CAMEROTA: That is really, really cool.

PEREIRA: So cool.

CUOMO: Didn't want to be identified. Didn't like that the story was getting out.

PEREIRA: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So good.

CUOMO: It happens. The men and women in blue, they're doing the right thing ll the time.

CAMEROTA: And could that little girl be any cuter?

PEREIRA: No, she couldn't.

CAMEROTA: Very good.

PEREIRA: Just like our Carol Costello on NEWSROOM.