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Clinton Wins Puerto Rico Primary; Trump Reverses Policy on Libya Intervention. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired June 06, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tuesday I will have decisively won the popular vote.

[05:58:24] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The energy is with us, not Hillary Clinton.

CLINTON: I'm going to do everything I can to unify the Democratic Party, and I expect Senator Sanders to do the same.

SANDERS: The Democratic convention will be contested.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been treated very unfairly by this judge. This judge is of Mexican heritage. I'm building a wall. OK?

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: This is one of the worst mistakes Trump has made.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE (via phone): I completely disagree with the thinking behind that.

TRUMP: We would be so much better off if Gadhafi were in charge.

You do a surgical shot, and you take him out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every minute, discoveries that alter a child's future. This is the world that Zika brings, and it is only beginning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. it is Monday, June 6, 6 a.m. in the east. Alisyn missed the last bus from Atlantic City, so Brooke Baldwin is here.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Surprise!

CUOMO: Thank you very much. Double duty.

BALDWIN: You got it.

CUOMO: Very cool of you to be here. BALDWIN: Got it.

CUOMO: Up first, Hillary Clinton on the verge of history. A (SPEAKING SPANISH) in Puerto Rico. Her primary win in Puerto Rico putting her just 29 delegates from clinching the Democratic nomination. Clinton is expected to become the first woman to become a presidential nominee in U.S. history tomorrow after the final six states vote.

But rival Bernie Sanders is not ready to give up, opening a new line of attack and pushing for a contested convention.

BALDWIN: Nice Espanol.

CUOMO: Gracias.

BALDWIN: Very good.

Meantime, on the Republican side, Donald Trump facing heat from party leaders over his attacks on a judge's Mexican heritage. Could he cost Republicans the Latino vote in November, and is he doing irreparable harm to the party?

We will poll -- pose all those questions and more to a panel of Latino voters, who were good enough to be up and at 'em with us on a Monday morning. So we'll get to them.

We have the 2016 race covered for you only as CNN can. Let's begin with Chris Frates live in Los Angeles.

Frates, good morning.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Ms. Baldwin.

I'll tell you, with one day to go until the final Super Tuesday of this primary season, Hillary Clinton is within striking distance of clinching the Democratic nomination.

But Bernie Sanders, well, he's vowing that, no matter what happens in Tuesday's contest, he's staying in the race until the convention.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRATES (voice-over): Hillary Clinton's win in Puerto Rico over the weekend puts her on the cusp of an historic nomination.

CLINTON: I want to finish strong here in California. It means -- it means the world to me.

FRATES: Now just a few delegates of hitting that magic number, becoming the first ever female presidential nominee. Clinton's looking to Tuesday's final round of Democratic primaries to seal the deal.

CLINTON: On Tuesday, I will have decisively won the popular vote, and I will have decisively won the pledged delegate majority. You can't get much more than that out of a primary season.

FRATES: Clinton telling CNN's Jake Tapper that after Tuesday's contest she's pushing for party unity.

CLINTON: I expect Senator Sanders to do the same, and that we will come together and be prepared to go to the convention in a unified way.

FRATES: But Clinton's rival Bernie Sanders argues that Clinton's super delegates shouldn't be counted just yet.

SANDERS: Hillary Clinton will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to win the Democratic nomination at the end of the nominating process. The Democratic National Convention will be a contested convention.

FRATES: Vowing to take his campaign all the way to the convention, he's banking on delegate-rich California to give him momentum. Sanders elevating his attacks on Clinton Sunday, saying the foreign government donations to the Clinton Foundation are a conflict of interest.

SANDERS: If you asked me about the Clinton Foundation, do I have a problem, when a sitting secretary of state and a foundation run by her husband collects many millions of dollars from foreign governments. Governments which are dictatorships. Do I have a problem with that? Yes, I do.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think it creates an appearance of a conflict of interest?

SANDERS: Yes, I do. I do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRATES: Now even Sanders himself concedes it will be an uphill fight after Tuesday, and that's because numbers don't lie. Clinton has about 500 more super delegates than Sanders. And Sanders says about 400 of those delegates got behind Clinton before he even got into the race, and he wants the chance between Tuesday, no matter what happens, win or lose, to make his case to the super delegates before the convention in July.

But look, if Clinton wins big tomorrow, that argument gets even harder for Sanders to make. Sanders would likely be in this awkward position of arguing that the super delegates should essentially overturn the will of the voters.

Chris, Brooke, back to you guys.

CUOMO: A lot of unfinished business there, regardless of that historic mark we just saw with Hillary Clinton.

Let's discuss with the panel. We have "The Daily Beast" Washington bureau chief, Jackie Kucinich; CNN political commentator and political anchor for Time Warner Cable News, Mr. Errol Louis; and CNN political analyst and host of "The David Gregory" podcast, David Gregory hisself [SIC].

Jackie, history. What does it mean here in terms of the fortunes for Hillary Clinton; and what does it mean in general?

JACKI KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, I mean, yes, this is a huge moment for Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like Bernie Sanders is really going to let her celebrate it tomorrow night, or Wednesday morning, as, you know, maybe she should.

That said, this is a really big moment for Hillary Clinton. It wasn't too long ago -- it might be a year from today -- I couldn't even tell you what day it is, actually -- that she had -- four years, I'm sorry. Eight years ago she had to concede to Barack Obama.

So this is really, I mean, we're very close to exactly eight years to that moment. It's a very big one for Hillary Clinton.

BALDWIN: June 8, 2008, when she said...

KUCINICH: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I got you, Jackie.

KUCINICH: Appreciate it.

BALDWIN: And Errol, I'm looking at you, because you're nodding, too. We're looking at a potentially historic week. Right? But at the same time, Sanders is not ready to leave the stage.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, that's right. And in fact, up until now it hasn't had the same look and feel as it did eight years ago when it would have been seen as, not just graceless and not just sort of politically difficult, but really sort of stepping in an important way on top of a piece of history in the making. You know, I mean, we haven't heard the Clinton campaign that -- say that, you know, this is big. This is big for our daughters. This is big for our mothers and grandmothers.

CUOMO: Why not?

LOUIS: I don't know if that's really what they're focused on. Right now they're trying to get through this mud fight that they're in with Bernie Sanders.

CUOMO: History loomed larger in 2008 than now.

[06:05:04] LOUIS: It did, it did. I mean, look, some of that probably sort of lay at the feet of the media. That's not the way this has been covered. It's not, frankly, the way the campaign has wanted it.

And frankly, I mean, look, we know that, politically speaking, you know, sort of emphasizing the first woman president, potentially, has not been a big winner. You know? I mean, she tried that in 2008, frankly, and it didn't work. So you know, understandably, they may want to step away from it, but

it does sort of -- you know, it has some meaning that is just kind of slipping past us. And Bernie Sanders, as far as I can tell, under no particular pressure to say, look, don't do this, because this is history in the making. And you're pushing a relatively narrow point, trying to delay a vote, whose outcome I think is really not very much in question.

BALDWIN: Let's listen to him quickly. This is Senator Sanders just this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: At the end of the nominating process, no candidate will have enough pledged delegates to call the campaign a victory. They will be dependent upon super delegates. In other words, the Democratic National Convention will be a contested convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: David Gregory, on the super delegate points, overall, you know, vote tallies, does he have any point in making that distinction whatsoever, or is he just rasping?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It doesn't appear that will be accurate. It appears she's going to capture the pledged delegates even before you capture the super delegates, and even if she were not to do that, the super delegates, according to the math, matter, and these are people within the party, elected officials and other big wigs in the party who have publicly come out and pledged their support.

In theory, they could change their minds, but there's little reason to see them doing so.

I think Bernie Sanders is obviously having a difficult time relinquishing what has been an incredible successful presidential campaign, and I think at this point, he wants to see if he can win California and create the momentum and the lift that that victory could give him and his campaign before he pulls out.

He knows there's mounting pressure by elected officials and others for him to get out of the way to give her a clear shot. I think -- I agree with Errol. I think there's less of an emphasis on the historic nature of the Clinton candidacy than now on trying to get the Democrats united to go against Trump.

CUOMO: Jackie, what are you seeing with Hillary Clinton in terms of how she is working with the media? Do you believe that something is seen as needing to shift within that campaign? If so, do you believe you are seeing any shift or being told about a potential shift?

KUCINICH: Well, it would be nice have a press conference once in a while. And she does -- she hasn't done that. And it's a great contrast, and when you look at Donald Trump, who, you know, will have a press conference, whether or not what he says in them what are true, he's at least having them.

And -- but you have seen her shift in some ways. She's calling in to shows. She never really did that before. She's doing -- she's doing more television interviews, it seems like. But in terms of that, you know, face-to-face interfacing with the press on a regular basis, that hasn't happened yet.

GREGORY: Can I just say I think she would much rather give the spotlight of negative publicity to Donald Trump, who's doing an excellent job occupying that spotlight. She'll take the hit. And I agree with Jackie. I think it's always better to have more press conferences, but I don't think she wants to face a series of questions and follow-up questions on the I.G. report, on the Clinton Foundation donations, and the kind of unscripted nature of a press conference. She'll face those questions in the interviews that she's doing, but I think for her it feels like a more controlled environment.

BALDWIN: Just finally, if history is made, Errol, this week, what -- what will that look like for the Clinton campaign moving forward, when they can truly, fully shift toward November and think Donald Trump 100 percent?

LOUIS: Well, I think every news cycle is precious at this point. And that is where I think a lot of the pressure on Bernie Sanders is going to come from.

Because I mean, look, technically, he's right. Until they actually raised their hands and cast their ballots at the convention, sure. But they don't have time in the Clinton camp, I think, is their thinking, that they don't have time to wait for that stuff. They've already started to pivot. They've already gotten into this dogfight with Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: They need a peace broker? Do they need a summit before the convention?

LOUIS: I doubt that's going to happen. You know, we keep talking about party elders. The reality is there are no party elders. Right?

CUOMO: They're the elders.

LOUIS: Bernie Sanders, I think, qualifies on multiple levels, including the fact that he's a sitting senator. There's nothing you can really threaten the guy with. You know, if he wants to stay in, he's going to stay in.

BALDWIN: OK. Errol, David, Jackie, thank you.

CUOMO: Subtle resignation from Brooke Baldwin.

BALDWIN: There you go.

As for the Republicans, guys, stick around. There is growing fear inside the Republican Party about Donald Trump, party leaders and donors worrying that Trump's attacks on a judge's Mexican heritage will drive voters away. But instead of backing down, Trump is doubling down, tripling down.

CNN's Phil Mattingly, who's live at New York's Trump Tower for us now.

Phil Mattingly, good morning.

[06:10:13] PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brooke.

For days, GOP leaders, both in public and, according to sources, through back-channel communications have urged Donald Trump to back off his attacks over a federal judge based on his ethnicity. Instead, as you said, Brooke, Donald Trump hasn't just doubled down. He's tripled down, and that is raising real fear inside the Republican Party.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump now musing that a hypothetical Muslim judge might not remain neutral, if presiding over the case against Trump University.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it were a Muslim judge, would you also feel like they wouldn't be able to treat you fairly because of that policy of yours?

TRUMP: It's possible, yes. Yes. That would be possible.

MATTINGLY: And doubling down on his attacks against the Mexican- American federal judge he said should be disqualified from the trial.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: If you are saying he can't do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism?

TRUMP: He's proud of his heritage. OK? I'm building a wall. He's a Mexican.

TAPPER: You're invoking his race when talking about whether or not he can do his job.

TRUMP: I'm building a wall. OK? I'm bidding a wall.

TAPPER: Trump's comments increasingly raising sharp concerns inside the Republican Party.

GINGRICH: This is one of the worst mistakes Trump has made and I think it's inexcusable. This judge is not Mexican. This judge is an American citizen.

MATTINGLY: Interviews with a series of top GOP officials, donors, fund-raisers and congressional aides making clear Trump has crossed a major line.

RYAN (via phone): I completely disagree with the thinking behind that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't condone the comments, and we can press on to another topic. CHUCK TODD, HOST, NBC'S "MEET THE PRESS": Do you think it's a racist

statement?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: I don't agree with what he had to say. This is a man who was born in Indiana.

MATTINGLY: It's a line of attack the Republicans fear could endanger their majority in the Senate. The GOP is defending 24 seats this cycle, and threaten the future of the party. Something Senator McConnell hinted at in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper last week.

TAPPER: Do you worry at all that your nominee now, Donald Trump, will do to Latino voters what Barry Goldwater did to African-American voters?

MCCONNELL: I do. I do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And, Chris, one of the very real concerns involved with all of this is that what Donald Trump says requires Republican leaders to answer for on a pretty much daily basis. Something that will really cloud whatever their candidates are trying to talk about, cloud Paul Ryan's agenda in the House. Everything Trump says, one source tells me, is something that Republicans will have to answer for, and that is a major problem.

One other issue that we've all been keeping an eye on, a potential third-party run, David French, the conservative constitutional lawyer, "National Review" writer, announcing yesterday he will not run. So for those like Bill Kristol, who are continuing to urge a third-party challenge to Donald Trump, they lost one of their prime candidates -- Chris.

CUOMO: Phil, well pointed out. French has a very interesting column out today about why he decided not to run, and it actually circles right around the issue we're discussing right now. Thanks to Phil Mattingly.

Donald Trump isn't just worried about his politics. His policy, as well, is a problem. Seems as though he changed his position on U.S. military intervention in Libya, after spending most of the primary season suggesting Libya would be much better off if Moammar Gadhafi was still in charge, Trump now sings a different tune for the before and after.

We have CNN's Suzanne Malveaux live in Washington with more. What do you see here, my friend?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, I mean, Trump's evolution on matters of foreign policy has been absolutely stunning. Last September, Trump was widely criticized, you know, for his lack of knowledge regarding the basics of international affairs.

Well, now, after a few foreign policy speeches and countless interviews, he is revealing what he believes the U.S. role should are around the world. And like many of his positions, it is constantly changing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I was never for a strong intervention. I could have seen surgical where you take out Gadhafi and his group.

MALVEAUX: Donald Trump reversing his position on U.S. Military intervention in Libya, now saying he would have authorized targeted strikes to oust Moammar Gadhafi.

TRUMP: You do a surgical shot, and you take him out. But I wasn't for what happened.

MALVEAUX: Trump's comments Sunday contradict those he's made throughout the primary season, insisting that Libya would be better off with Gadhafi still in power. At a Republican debate in February...

TRUMP: We would be so much better off if Gadhafi were in charge right now.

MALVEAUX: ... and to CNN's Jake Tapper in October...

TAPPER: The world would be better off with Saddam Hussein and Gadhafi in power?

TRUMP: A hundred 100 percent.

MALVEAUX: But in 2011, Trump advocated for action.

TRUMP: We should do, on a humanitarian basis, immediately go into Libya, knock this guy out very quickly, very surgically, very effectively and save the lives.

[06:15:05] MALVEAUX: Trump's Libya flip-flop, just one of many political reversals.

Last week, Trump accusing Hillary Clinton of lying about his proposal to arm Japan and South Korea with nuclear weapons.

TRUMP: She lies so much. She said, "Donald Trump wants Japan to put in nuclear weapons." No, no, no.

MALVEAUX: Defying his own previous comments.

TRUMP: Maybe they would, in fact, be better off if they defend themselves from North Korea?

MALVEAUX: With nukes?

TRUMP: Including with nukes, yes.

MALVEAUX: Trump has also staunchly maintained he opposed the war in Iraq before it began.

TRUMP: I was totally against the war in Iraq. Very proudly. Saying for many years that it would destabilize the Middle East.

MALVEAUX: A claim that contradicts this position he took back in 2002.

HOWARD STERN, TALK RADIO HOST: Are you for invading Iraq?

TRUMP: Yes, I guess so. You know, I wish it was -- I wish the first time it was done correctly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: What makes Trump's contradiction over Libya so stunning is it's one of the main criticisms that he has of Hillary Clinton, her role of secretary of state, to go after Gadhafi, the whole ordeal in Benghazi. And the Clinton campaign now sees Trump's reversal as a real opportunity here to make the case that he doesn't have the steadiness needed to be commander in chief.

BALDWIN: We'll get into this reversal coming up with our panel. Suzanne Malveaux, for now, thank you very much.

You know, a number of Republican leaders are hoping Donald Trump will tone down the rhetoric so as not to turn away Hispanic voters, for one. But can anyone sway Donald Trump?

We'll discuss with our panel, next, here on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:37] BALDWIN: All right. Donald Trump, pushing back against the charge that comments he made about the Mexican-American judge presiding over the Trump University lawsuits are racist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's proud of his heritage. I respect him for that.

TAPPER: You're saying he can't do his job because of that.

TRUMP: Look, he's proud of his heritage. I'm building a wall.

Now, I think I'm going to do very well with Hispanics. You know why I'm going to do well with Hispanics? Because I'm going to bring back jobs, and they're going to get jobs. I think I'm going to do very well with Hispanics, but we're building a wall. He's a Mexican. We're bidding a wall between here and Mexico.

TAPPER: If you are saying he can't do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism?

TRUMP: I don't think so at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jake Tapper counted 23 times he pushed him trying to ask, essentially, the same question. Mr. Trump in L.A., the presumptive nominee facing backlash from donors and senior leaders in the Republican Party. Will Trump pivot? Let's bring our panel back: Jackie Kucinich, David Gregory, Errol Louis.

Mr. Gregory, let me just begin with you here, and let's just open with sound that's significant. You know, we saw Paul Ryan, heard him on the radio last week, you know, repudiating some of the comments here with regards to this Judge Curiel in California.

Now, we heard from the Senate majority leader. We have heard from a potential V.P. contender in Senator Bob Corker. And we have heard from, you know, someone who loudly supported Mr. Trump, former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Here he was over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: This is one of the worst mistakes Trump has made. You know, I think it's inexcusable. He has every right to criticize a judge. He has every right to say that certain decisions aren't right. And his attorneys can file to move the venue from the judge.

First of all, this judge was born in Indiana. He is an American, period. When you come to America, you get to become an American. And Trump, who has grandparents who came to the U.S. should understand this as much as anybody.

Second, to characterize, you know -- if a liberal were to attack Justice Clarence Thomas on the grounds that he's black, we would all go crazy. Every conservative would say it was wrong, and it was racism.

And Trump has got to, I think, move to a new level. This is no longer the primaries. He's no longer an interesting contender. He is now the potential leader of the United States, and he's got to move his game up to the level of being a potential leader.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEW ANCHOR: You consider this, what he did here, racism?

GINGRICH: I think -- I think that it was a mistake. I think that it -- I hope it was sloppiness. He says on other occasions that he has many Mexican friends, et cetera. That's irrelevant. This judge is not Mexican. This judge is an American citizen and deserves to be treated -- now that means he can attack him as a judge, to say he's a liberal. And he has lawyers who are supposed to be doing that. If it's a good case, they should file to change the venue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: David Gregory, these are major, major Republican voices here, all talking about the presumptive nominee. What your read on Newt Gingrich's comments?

GREGORY: Well, it's extraordinary. Not just Newt Gingrich. It's Paul Ryan. It's Mitch McConnell. So you have the leadership of Congress. You have a formal -- a former attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez, who said this kind of attack on the judiciary with a clearly bigoted statement that speaks for itself has no place in America. Certainly not from a potential president of the United States.

If you're Hillary Clinton's opposition speech writers, you put your pencils down and you just turn on the television and let Donald Trump keep speaking, because this is now the head of the Republican Party.

This has to be a huge warning sign across the board for Republicans. Not just about temperament but about the argument that Hillary Clinton is making about recklessness, and about unpredictability. I heard Senator John McCain over the weekend in a piece in the "New York Times."

He was quoted as saying, look, this kind of attack on the judiciary, there will be checks and balances in the government. There will be a White House counsel and people who can rein him in, if he is going to pursue a path of excess in terms of his powers as president.

These are -- have to be real concerns for not just the Republican faithful but for others who are considering whether to vote for Clinton and all of her negatives. And Trump, in all of his negatives, and I think for the Trump campaign, they're going to have to look at this and see it as a real red flag.

CUOMO: And it's not a situation where it was just once. He obviously believes this, Errol. It's something he applies in different situations.

LOUIS: Right.

CUOMO: Gingrich didn't want to use the word "racism" or "bigotry" or "ethnicity," and that's for political reasons. But everything before and after his statement makes the point very plain.

[06:25:11] The interesting thing is, Newt's even more right than he knows in this subject. Because it's not a suggestion. When that Roy Moore, the Supreme Court justice down in Alabama, was putting his Christianity before the law, the Republicans were all backing him.

You know, saying, "Oh, we have to think about this. You can't just discount it." Now that rule should be being applied, and they're starting to move in that direction.

The question is: what do you do here? It's not about the merits. Right? This judge continued this case. To hurt Trump he wouldn't have done that. Instead of campaigning, he'd be in court.

LOUIS: Right.

CUOMO: What are they supposed to do?

LOUIS: It's an interesting question. I mean, Donald Trump is doing, I think, what he has done in private life quite a bit, which is, you attack the judge. You try and win the case. Trying to win the case and trying to win the election are sort of going in different directions right now, and I think that's the core of his problem.

I mean, he's an acolyte of Cohen, the attorney who famously... CUOMO: Roy Cohen.

LOUIS: ... Roy Cohen, who famously said, "I don't need the facts of the case. I just need the name of the judge." You know, he was a fixer. He was a wheeler-dealer. This is the environment that a real estate operates in.

CUOMO: But they have never filed a motion against this judge. And the guy gave him the most important ruling in the case, to continue the case, very much against the plaintiff's rule.

BALDWIN: ... comes down on it and look down on him.

CUOMO: He says because he released those documents.

LOUIS: I think, because he's been through hundreds and hundreds of cases and because there's a lot of money at stake, he just reverts to his business instincts, which is, attack the judge, say the judge is unfair, try to move the case in that way, perhaps even change the venue or get a new judge in some fashion.

But none of that is going to happen, and now we've got this whole world of political troubles. And as you suggest, you know, the case is still there. I mean, he's still going to have to deal with all of these claims against Trump University.

CUOMO: And this judge.

LOUIS: And this same judge, who by the way, is a hero, as a prosecutor. He life was endangered, was targeted for assassination by Mexican drug cartels. I mean, it's galling for him to even have to sort of put up with this stuff. Of course, he has made no public statements what a judge should do.

CUOMO: Right. He should not be commenting on this case at all. And unfortunately, this has become an extension of the case.

Jackie, the big stick against him is the La Raza lawyers organization. That's what Trump, his surrogates point to. Trump only pointed...

BALDWIN: They were confusing the La Raza organization.

CUOMO: Right. There are two of them. So what's the "there" there on that?

KUCINICH: Gosh. I mean, the bottom line is these Republicans leaders that are coming out against Trump now, Trump that been doing this the entire time. This is what you bought. You bought a candidate that consistently uses ethnicity and religion against people to make his point.

So, you know, we were talking about it before with, you know, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Newt Gingrich now coming out, saying what he said is inappropriate. My goodness. They should just, you know, play that in their ears at night. Because they're going to have to keep saying it over and over again, until they started saying things like "I'm not here to talk about Mr. Trump. I'm here to talk about" whatever they were there to talk about in the first place.

I think we're going to hear a lot of that.

BALDWIN: Can't do that because he's running for president and we're going to ask the questions about X, Y, Z, whatever Mr. Trump said. I mean, is this what -- David Gregory, is this what the next couple of months will look like, where, you know, Donald Trump fires off at the mouth something, and these Republican leaders are stuck in a tough position, in which they have said, "Yes, we'll vote for him, but," dot, dot, dot.

GREGORY: I think that's exactly right. And that is going to be quite a spectacle to watch, because take Paul Ryan, for example, someone who appears to have clearly compromised on his core principles as a politician and an elected official, to endorse Donald Trump. He's looking at a cold political calculation here which is, he wants control for the Republicans of the House of Representatives and wants those Trump voters to vote for those members.

I think a lot of Republican leaders simply don't know what the future is. Is Trump going to crash and burn as the Republican nominee? Or does he represent the future of the Republican Party? So they're hedging.

CUOMO: And also, he extended it, right? He talked about a Muslim judge, also. He was asked, do you think he could be? "Oh, yes, he could definitely be also." And that really puts him in a bind, again, because of what happened with that Christian judge down in Alabama. They were saying it's OK. Now they're saying it's not OK. They have some trouble on their hands. See how they deal with it. That's part of the coverage.

Please, keep up with the latest political news on the new CNN politics app. Find details on Bernie Sanders's latest attacks on Hillary Clinton's Iraq War decision. He can also dig deeper into what we're talking about right now and how Trump defends his controversial comments about this district court judge. You can download the CNN Politics app for free in the app store.

BALDWIN: OK. CNN politics app.

Just ahead, we'll check in with a group of Hispanic voters. How would they respond to Donald Trump's words, his rhetoric, his comments about this judge?

And we're also keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Colin. It is intensifying this morning. Where is Colin headed? A live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)