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Police Make New Arrest In Belgium Terror Attacks; Manhunt On For Brussels Terror Suspects; Clinton Pushes Back On Cruz's "Muslim Patrols"; Cruz: Trump "Henchmen" Behind Tabloid Story; Clinton Holds Large Delegate Lead. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired March 26, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We are always so grateful for your company. Thank you for being here with NEW DAY. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: So happy to be with you. I'm Victor Blackwell.

PAUL: New this day, I want to tell you about President Obama saying at least 14 Americans now were injured in the terror attacks in Brussels earlier this week.

And this morning, take a look here, people who are taking a moment to pause and give respects at this makeshift memorial in Brussels for the 31 people who were killed and authorities are looking now for this man. Naim Al Hamed is a key figure in the Brussels and the Paris attacks. He may have entered Europe through Greece as a refugee.

BLACKWELL: This is happening as we're getting exclusive new video from inside Salah Abdeslam's apartment after the raid. You see the blood smears here. The terror suspect says he only had a small role in the Paris attacks and only rented cars and hotels at his brother's request.

CNN is covering this story from every angle. Let's bring in CNN international correspondent, Michael Holmes, and also Michael Weiss, CNN contributor and co-author of "ISIS, Inside the Army of Terror."

Michael Holmes, I want to start with you. What else have we learned about Naim Al Hamed?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He is the most man in Europe at the moment I think it's safe to say, Victor, 28 years old born in the Syrian city of Haama, thought to have come across, as you pointed out at the beginning there, initially as a refugee.

Two of the other Paris attackers we know also did the same thing, went to the Greek island of Laros and from there made his way into Europe at one point was known to be at a refugee center in Germany.

Now the Belgian sources are telling us that they do suspect that this man was operationally involved in the attacks that happened here in Brussels. There were questions, suspicions wondering whether he was the mysterious third man at the airport or the second man at the Metro station bombing. A big manhunt on for this man at the moment, authorities desperate to find him and the mood here, of course, is still a lot of fear while these mysterious people are still out there, these ones that are being hunted down and that's always going to be a fear here.

BLACKWELL: So we know that there was, of course, this is ongoing manhunt, but there has been an arrest in Germany. What do you know about this arrest?

HOLMES: Yes, this was some good work it would appear. This was a man who was picked up at a rail station by authorities. They were suspicious of him. They picked him up. They ran his fingerprints. They found out that he was on a list of people who were not meant to be in what's known as the Schengen zone, the area of Europe that is without borders and indeed, he was.

So they investigated further and looked at one of his cell phones. They found that he had had contact with the Brussels bombers, at least one of them, and one of the texts chillingly right around the time of the Brussels attacks at the airport had the word "fin," which is French for end.

So some chilling messages on his cell phone led to police in Germany picking him up and of course, he's now being questioned and there were two others or another man picked up also in France who's known to have links to the bombers, as well, here in Belgium -- Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Michael Holmes with the very latest there from Brussels. Michael, thank you so much.

PAUL: Now to Michael Weiss. Michael, Salah Abdeslam, we understand this morning down playing his role in the Paris attacks as we talked about it here. He says he did not know some of the other attackers. I'm just wondering, is there a sense that these attacks are ISIS inspired or are they ISIS ordered? How independent or coordinated are these terror cells?

MICHAEL WEISS, CO-AUTHOR, "ISIS: INSIDE THE ARMY OF TERROR": No, the Paris attack, I know for a fact was plotted in Syria and had the approval of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and the (inaudible), which is the main decision making body of ISIS. Now the question is, was it executed or I should say were the targets scouted with the exact logistics of it planned in Europe.

That probably is more likely, but this was ISIS' debut on the international scene. This is the real first in a long line of foreign operations that they now tend to emphasize and because that attack was so spectacular, I can tell you, it led to the promotion of several European nationals into the upper echelons of the organization.

Particularly on the foreign intelligence apparatus, which is now responsible for planning terror attacks outside. But look, Salah Abdeslam, he may not have known every single Paris bomber, but he absolutely knew the mastermind so-called because they were childhood friends. They had gotten into scrapes when they were just petty thugs and criminals running around Belgium and of course, (inaudible) brother so he knew that guy as well.

[08:05:05]I have no doubt that his role was junior to that of Mohammed (inaudible), for instance, the (inaudible) was coordinating the attacks in realtime on his phone from Brussels in the same safe house of Salah Abdeslam when the latter was caught. (Inaudible) was of course killed in that raid.

PAUL: The brothers involved here in the Brussels attack, Michael, they were included in a U.S. counterterrorism watch list we just learned yesterday. And it made us wonder, how often is that information, a watch list like that shared with other countries?

WEISS: Well, it's beyond even sharing with other countries, often time departments in one country don't share it with each other. To give you an example, the Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the Boston marathon bombers.

That information that he was traveling to Dagestan, which is in the Russian federation, might have had some contact with known insurgents there was shared between Russia and the United States.

But then in the United States level, there was some Homeland Security and FBI sharing it with each other. This over weaning bureaucracy of counterterrorism watch list and keeping tabs of all these guys slips through the cracks.

You had another one of the bombers who was mistaken for a national from the Bahamas causing that island chain community some part palpitations this week, heavily repudiating the notion that they had anything to do with the Bahamas.

So clerical errors, you know, lack of communication both interdepartmentally in one country and then, of course, transnationally, it's always the case whenever something like this happens, there is always somebody, who is flagged at some point internationally or within the country in which he strikes.

PAUL: All right. Michael Weiss, we always appreciate hearing your thoughts. Thank you so much.

WEISS: Thank you.

PAUL: So ahead, President Obama is saying there is no need for a, quote, "plan b" against ISIS. We'll take a look at the U.S. involvement in the war on terror.

BLACKWELL: Plus, the Republicans continue the top front runners here, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz going head-to-head this weekend partly over their wives. Has this gone too far?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How low will Donald go? (END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:10:34]

BLACKWELL: There have been several major terror attacks around the world since the start of the U.S. presidential campaign and candidates on both sides in the past several have offered different opinions on how to stop the spread of violent extremism.

Now earlier this week, Ted Cruz advocated to push law enforcement to, quote, "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods." Hillary Clinton had this to say about that plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So when Republican candidates like Ted Cruz call for treating American Muslims like criminals and for racially profiling predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, it's wrong, it's counterproductive, it's dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's discuss now and bring in Chad Sweet. He is Ted Cruz's campaign chairman. Chad, good to have you this morning.

CHAD SWEET, NATIONAL CHAIRMAIN, TED CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT: Thank you, Victor. Good to be with you.

BLACKWELL: So Secretary Clinton says that it makes Muslims feel like criminals. Why is she wrong?

SWEET: Well, she's wrong on multiple levels and I can tell you this not just in theory but in practice. When I was formally chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security, I was personally involved with the actual counter radicalization programs that we worked with the Muslim community with.

And the leaders of the Muslim community actually want visible and active engagement by law enforcement in their communities, why, because they are the most at risk. And it's actually --

BLACKWELL: But engagement is not patrolling. Patrolling, I think when people have a visual image of patrolling. It is a uniform person pacing up and down through communities. What would this patrol look like?

SWEET: The senator, if you go back and look at the quote from the campaign, it was not only patrol and secure the communities and what the senator is calling for is actual visible and active law enforcement engagement.

Some of that is actual patrolling. It's not dissimilar to what we see across the country where police departments are engaged in what's called community policing. This is a tactic and technique used throughout this country in dealing with organized crime, drug gangs, et cetera. So that is part of it.

The other part of it is the softer engagement with the community in terms of partnering with the community to identify suspicious behavior and try to engage early to help at risk kids.

And again, these children, a lot of the kids of the Muslim community are being preyed upon by these extremists and radicalized online and frankly, many of the plots that I was involved with, which were disrupted were disrupted precisely because of that engagement with the Muslim community.

BLACKWELL: Engagement, yes, but part of the plan, just so I'm hearing you correctly, is to have uniformed officers walking the beat in Muslim neighborhoods.

SWEET: It's the full -- it's the full spectrum, Victor. Some of that is involving visible presence. That's happening right now. For example, in New York City, is a common practice that times of heightened alert that you will see multiple police cruisers operating in the neighborhood.

That would take place if there was a period of heightened criminal activity around gang violence you would that in a community. But again, Senator Cruz is committed to not vowing to political correctness in order to address this problem.

And I will tell you, part of what we're seeing in Europe is a function of an unwillingness to the law enforcement community to be visibly engaged in those communities. I know this because we used to work with Europeans on this very issue.

And I can tell you personally, it is a big problem there and if we want to prevent that from coming to our shores, we have to be willing to not bow to political correctness.

We have to actively engage in those communities and not do what Mayor De Blasio did which is shut down practical and effective programs in counter radicalization. That kind of political correctness is making this country more vulnerable and that's what Senator Cruz is trying to prevent.

BLACKWELL: Chad, let me ask you about another issue this week Senator Cruz addressed the tabloid allegations having not been asked about them by reporters and he blamed them on, quote, or he said it was a smear.

This is a quote, "A smear from Donald Trump and his henchmen." What evidence does the campaign have to support that Donald Trump or his quote/unquote "henchmen" planted this?

SWEET: Well, the evidence is clear and regrettably the quote in the actual article comes from Roger Stone. Roger Stone used to work and advice Mr. Trump. Now he has left the campaign on a mission to go do exactly what he does, which is -- he's a former Nixon aide, who is known for being a master of the dark arts of the dirty tricks.

[08:15:11]And his engagement with the "National Inquirer," which by the way, the "National Inquirer" has become an organ of the Trump organization, has endorsed Donald Trump, and if you look at, again, the pattern, don't take my word for it.

Your viewers know when Donald Trump tweeted that he was going to, quote, "spill the beans on the senator's wife," who is the god mother to my children, I can tell you that that kind of behavior is outrageous.

But then what do we see exactly after Donald Trump tweeted that? Outcomes this article from the "Inquirer" and guess what? Who is the source? Roger Stone, one of Donald Trump's former advisors. So the pattern is clear.

And again, the question is how low will Donald Trump go to effectively avoid engaging Senator Cruz on policy issues and instead try to distract voters into the gutter on issues that aren't solving any problems that our country faces.

BLACKWELL: Donald Trump has said and there is a statement that came up to the campaign that he had nothing to do it, didn't know about it and didn't even read the article at the time of releasing that statement.

So having said that, we'll of course reach out to Roger Stone, who has been interviewed on this network several times and you mentioned discussing issues.

This was something that Ted Cruz introduced at that news conference, no reporter had asked him about it so if he would rather speak about national security fighting ISIS, why did he bring it up?

SWEET: Well, we'll see, we don't stand back and take hits. The senator has every right as stories being viciously circulated to respond and respond vigorously.

I think at the end of the day, what is important, though, is you will see us pivoting and focusing on the issues that matter to the voters.

Every minute that we are spending wasting our time discussing this kind of garbage isn't helping another American get a job. It's not helping increase take home pay for the voters and it's not securing our borders.

Victor, your fundamental point is a good one, which is the senator is going to vigorously defend himself, but he is not be going to be distracted from addressing those court solutions that he's providing and set before the voters that they need to evaluate.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's wrap it here then. Chad Sweet, thank you so much for being with us this morning. SWEET: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, coming up on Tuesday, we'll discuss those issues with Ted Cruz and John Kasich and Donald Trump at CNN's Milwaukee Republican Presidential Town Hall at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: This hour, we'll hear from John Kasich's campaign and let's talk about the opposite side of the spectrum there, Democratic side Bernie Sanders expected to win Hawaii, Alaska and Washington in today's Democratic caucuses.

What if he doesn't pull through? A surrogate for Bernie Sanders will be here talking those 142 delegates, some say may not sound like a lot, but it could really help or hurt Hillary Clinton perhaps? We'll have a look at what's expected today. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:41]

BLACKWELL: All right, 21 minutes after the hour now. The aftermath of Brussels terrorist bombings. European authorities are now looking for Naim Al Hamed is a key figure in both the Brussels and Paris attacks last year. He's from Syria and may have entered Europe as a refugee. Officials say that he is very dangerous and probably armed.

PAUL: The Pentagon will hold a news conference later this morning to reveal how a top leader of ISIS was killed. The man was considered the finance minister and the number two person in that terror group. A U.S. operation was underway to capture him alive, but U.S. Special Forces had to fire on his vehicle instead.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: ISIS has claimed responsibility for this suicide bombing in Iraq that killed at least 25 people, wounded 90 more. This happened at a soccer stadium about 30 miles south of Baghdad. A local team was being honored with trophies at the time of that attack.

PAUL: All right, let's talk politics as the Democrats caucus in three states today. Bernie Sanders is hoping to cut into Hillary Clinton's delegate lead here obviously.

BLACKWELL: Take a look at the delegates at stake here in Washington grand prize 101 delegates a combined 41 in Hawaii and Alaska.

PAUL: CNN's Chris Frates joins us now live to talk about the state of the race. Sanders expected to do well today, but let's be honest, Clinton still has a very commanding lead here.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Christi. I think it's going to be a good day for Bernie Sanders. He comes in today's contest with his eyes on the big prize, that's Washington state 101 delegates up for grabs. And it's really a must-win state for Sanders as he tries to stay competitive with Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton. For her part, Clinton is doing her best to stay close to Sanders in the evergreen state.

Remember delegates today are rewarded proportionally. So Clinton will almost certainly put point on the board today and if she can avoid a blowout, she can collect a good chunk of delegates and build on her lead.

Now let's look at the polls. The latest CNN/ORC shows that Sanders and Clinton are in a statistical dead heat when it comes to how favorably Democratic voters view the candidates with Clinton at 73 percent and Sanders at 71 percent.

That might lead you to think that this race is closer than it actually is. So let's go to the chalkboard and do a little math. Going into today, Clinton has about 1,700 of the roughly 2,400 delegates she needs to win the nomination.

Sanders, he's won about 950 delegates. So that means that Sanders has to win 75 percent of the delegates left to clinch the nomination. That's a really high bar.

Clinton on the other hand, she needs to win just 35 percent of the delegates remaining to become the nominee. So even if Sanders has a very big day today, Christi, the math favors Hillary Clinton.

PAUL: All righty. Chris Frates, thank you for breaking it down. Appreciate it.

FRATES: Absolutely.

PAUL: Coming up, we'll talking to Bernie Sanders surrogate, Nina Turner, about what's happening today.

[08:25:10]BLACKWELL: All right, but first, in this week's "Start Small, Think Big," a new startup company finds success offering lifestyle classes online to meet demands including everything from knitting to cooking.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When John Levisay started his latest business venture, he and his co-founders dreamed of the next generation of online universities.

JOHN LEVISAY, CRAFTSY: We felt like online education was broken when we first started the company, we tested a lot of different classes like international history and personal finance, but what we really saw work was lifestyle categories, quilting, knitting, cooking, cake decorating.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: John and his partners began classes to meet the demand and Craftsy came into focus. Online classes in categories such as cooking, knitting, art and more. LEVISAY: We went out and talked to quilters and knitters and we realized there is a lot of technical skills that really need to be learned to be able to do these crafts well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Add the lines for the tail.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Craftsy now offers hundreds of classes a year, self-supplies to an ever growing base and something John sees as an evolution to the growing maker movement.

LEVISAY: I think one of the reasons our classes resonate with people so much is it's really entertainment. People watch our classes and enjoy watching them and they are fun, but they also take away tangible skills that they can use to make things.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00] PAUL: 30 minutes past the hour and new this morning, President Obama is addressing the situation in Brussels in his weekly address, this as he's being criticized for his trip to Argentina and for attending a baseball game in the wake of the Brussels terror attacks. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We will succeed. The terrorists will fail. They want us to abandon our values and our way of life, we will not. They want us to give in to their vision of the future, we will defeat them with ours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: I want to talk to David Tafuri, a former Obama Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor and former U.N. and state department official. David, thank you so much for being with us.

First of all, what do you make of the criticism that's being hurled at the president about some saying he should have canceled these trips?

DAVID TAFURI, FORMER OBAMA CAMPAIGN FORENG POLICY ADVISOR: Well, I don't think it holds any water. You know, the President was on a historic trip to Cuba and to Argentina. He was there for state dinners and to do diplomacy. Most of the trip was work. There were some, you know, fun parts of the trip like that but including working with and entertaining with leaders of other countries.

He did a tango in Argentina. It was spontaneous. It just happened it was the day after the terror attacks in Brussels and this is part of diplomacy. The President can't just give up his job because a bombing happened in one country on the other side of the ocean.

There are bombings and terror attacks all over the world. Life goes on. The President has given it appropriate consideration. The President was on top of it. The President has given appropriate statements like the one you just played where he said we need to respond strongly, but we need to respond consistent with our values.

PAUL: So, David, let me ask you as a former campaign foreign policy advisor, who do you think we should be hearing from the trail right now about this bombing and our national security?

TAFURI: Well, there is, you know, two basic parts to the response. One is law enforcement angle which is we need to make sure that we are protecting our country, the homeland against terrorist attacks similar to terrorist attack in Brussels, and we need to work with our European partners to help protect against further terrorist attacks in Europe and to help track on those who are responsible. That's happening.

The second part is fighting ISIS where it is. You know, you had ants and you had a problem with ants, and you fought the ants each time. A couple of ants came into your house, that would be one way to do it. But you could also walk outside to where the ant hill and attack the ants where their base is. So we need to be trying to defeat them its headquarters particularly in Raqqa, Syria and Mosul, Iraq. And so, that's the second part.

What is the plan to defeat ISIS on the ground? I don't mean to minimize what's happening because a lot is happening on the ground in Iraq and in Syria, mostly air strikes also some Special Forces operations like the one we saw this week.

But there needs to be a full plan to take back Mosul and push Isis out of the stronghold in Mosul and then in Raqqa, we need to fight them on the ground. If we don't, we'll keep developing terrorists and fighters who come to Europe and come to the U.S. and plan attacks like the one in Brussels.

PAUL: David, you know, a lot of people are watching the news and this is the time of the year when they are planning their summer vacations, in their travel and Europe is on a lot of people's itinerary. What is the state department saying about U.S. travel to Europe?

TAFURI: Well, the state department has given a warning about travel to Europe. But I don't believe it's advised people not to go to Europe but it's like you need to be careful. You need to look at what country you're going to. You need to look at the current security situation obviously in Belgium. It's a very significant and serious security situation and other countries that haven't been attacked and haven't experienced attacks, it remains very safe.

Life goes on. We need to continue to travel. We, you know, we can't give up all the things that we do just because there's been, you know, or two terrorist attacks in Europe but we need to be careful. We need to plan trips smartly and need to be very suspicious of anyone who looks like they might be suspicious, looks like they might be planning to harm you.

PAUL: Be very vigilant and, yes, aware of what's around you. So, David Tafuri, we appreciate you being here. Thank you.

TAFURI: Thank you. PAUL: Of course. And for more information on how you can help the victims of the Brussels attacks, we have a place for you. Go to CNN.com/impact and thank you for doing so.

BLACKWELL: Well, all the presidential candidates want to fight terror obviously, but we're hearing that their ideas of how to do that are very different. Coming up, we'll ask insiders from Bernie Sanders campaign, also John Kasich's campaign what their candidates want to do, will do to fight ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:35:05] GOV. JOHN KASICH, (R-OH) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's just talk about your friends in the Muslim community. They are going to have to work with us to destroy ISIS. They are going to have to tell us what they are hearing in their community for people who have been radicalized and if we tell them is drop dead, how the heck are we supposed to get them to work with us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I-VT) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I believe if we win here in Washington, we're going to win in California. We are going to win in Oregon and we've got a real path towards victory to the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Bernie Sander there is in front of 15,000 people in Seattle and with the strong showing today in three states. Bernie Sanders could cut into Hillary Clinton's delegate lead. We got a map here that shows you the delegates at stake here in Washington of course, jewel of the day, 101 delegates on the table. There is a combined 41 delegates in Hawaii and Alaska.

We have with us now, Nina Turner, a former Ohio State Senator and supporter of Bernie Sanders. It's good to have you back on New Day.

NINA TURNER, SURROGATE FOR BERNIE 2016: Thanks, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So before we get to the horse race and delegate count, let's talk about the breaking news of the day, and these manhunts that's going overseas.

[08:40:02] We saw earlier this week that Hillary Clinton gave a quite sober delivery of a speech at Stanford University discussing national security and the fight against ISIS. Should Senator Sanders give a similar speech where he discusses, and I know he's done it on the campaign trail but should he deliver a speech that solely discusses this element after of course?

TURNER: Well, Victor, as you know that he has been talking about these issues whether or not she should separate those out from the domestic issues. I'm not quite sure about that. But as you know, Senator Sanders has talked about what King Abdullah has talked about which is fighting for the heart and soul of Islam. And that as a country, the United States of America building coalition with our Muslim sisters and brothers in the Middle East to fight and stomp out ISIS.

They must be destroyed. Not only are they a threat in the Middle East, they are threat to our sisters and brothers in Europe and they are a threat to United States of America.

Senator Sanders had been very clear that he will defend this country against enemies both foreign and domestic but he has also talked about the need to not have America in perpetual wars.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about the contest today. Alaska, Hawaii and Washington all caucuses. Senator Sanders historically does well in caucus states. And demographically, this fit into the line up of states he has done well in the past few months. Are you expecting a sweep today?

TURNER: We're hoping so, Victor. We've been working very hard in the states as the Senator has across the country and, yes, the map has now moved to a place where Senator Sanders will do very well, more progressive states.

BLACKWELL: So we know with the Democrats, these delegates are proportionally allocated. If he wins, let's say, 55 percent, maybe 60 percent of the delegates today, he still has a pretty steep hill to climb. How does Senator Sanders in pledged delegates, we'll talk about the superdelegates in a moment, but in pledged delegates over take Hillary Clinton?

TURNER: I'm glad you brought up the pledged delegates, Victor, the superdelegates do not vote until convention time. But there's only about a 300 person difference between the secretary and Senator Sanders. And so, we still have delegate rich states like California, like New York, so it's going to be one state at a time, one vote at a time, convincing the people in those states to vote for Senator Bernie Sanders so that he can and will have the numbers that he needs going into the convention.

This is about the uplift for this country. It really is about what Congresswoman Barbara Jordan once said which is what the people want is simple. They want an America as good as this promise and that is what Senator Sanders has been running on and fighting for all of his life.

BLACKWELL: So we can't ignore these superdelegates because their votes count, as you said, they will count them even more later when they commit fully. But how does Senator Sanders convince these superdelegates who have lined up behind Hillary Clinton to switch their alliance and come to his side?

TURNER: Well, they lined up early on, Victor, as you know. But what the Senator has been saying is that, in the states where he is winning, you know, how can the superdelegates, in those states, still decide to vote one way when the people at their state have said another.

And also, it is important to know that even in 2008, you know, Secretary Clinton went all the way to the convention at that time, superdelegates were pledged to her at that time as well and they did the right thing and went within Senator Barack Obama who is now the president of the United States of America.

So a lot can happen between now and then but Senator will continue to push and fight very hard to win over these delegates that do have a vote. And then, when we get to the convention. We'll see what happens.

BLACKWELL: All right. Former Ohio State Senator and Bernie Sanders supporter, Nina Turner, always good to have you on the show.

TURNER: Thanks, Victor, always good to be with you.

BLACKWELL: All right.

Coming up only the Republican side of the race, John Kasich has the fewest number of delegates, candidates still actively running but he is continuing to stay in the race. Is he further dividing the Republican Party? Some were asking that question, does he really have a plausible path to the nomination?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:47:58] PAUL: With John Kasich, he's taking a break from campaigning this weekend, back on the trail, Monday, making a big push across with continent likely telling audiences that he is the only one who can bring the GOP to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASICH: We're going to get to a convention and delegates are going to think about two things, who can win? I'm the only one that can win a general election and number two, who can be president? I have the experience to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: That sentiment is backed up in one CNN poll. Kasich would beat Secretary Clinton in a head-to-head match-up 51 to 45 percent and his rivals do not fair as well in similar match up there. So let's talk to John Sununu. He's a former Senator from New Hampshire of course and a Kasich campaign chairman.

Here's the thing, as we talk about math, mathematically looking at delegates. Governor Kasich just -- it's impossible for him to garner all of them prior to the convention. Is he banking on that broker convention to make his point and try to secure the nomination there?

SEN. JOHN SUNUNU, FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE SENATOR: Well, Ted Cruz is banking on an open convention, as well. Cruz would have to win 95 percent of the delegates. That's not plausible. So it's -- and Donald Trump would have to win 60 percent, highly unlikely. Most likely there will be an open convention and the questions in front of the delegate will be the ones John Kasich described, who has the strength and the vision and the leadership to lead the Republican Party, to take back the White House. And, of course, who's going to win the general election.

And CNN poll clearly showed only John Kasich beats Hillary Clinton but Bloomberg showed the same thing. The New York Time showed the same thing. Monmouth showed the same thing. Quinnipiac poll, they all in the last 48 hours show John Kasich beating Hillary Clinton and both Ted Cruz and Donald Trump losing, and frankly losing big, so big Senate seat to New Hampshire Ohio, Wisconsin are likely to be lost as well on the Republican side and that's just not the right thing for the Republican Party.

[08:50:03] PAUL: So, Dr. Sununu, when you look at the math, if he would do that well against Hillary Clinton, why is he not doing better now?

SUNUNU: Well, look, I think in a lot of primaries, the voters don't necessarily look at electability. We've got contested primaries coming up in the northeast, in Pennsylvania, New York, you mentioned, Connecticut, Rhode Island. John Kasich has done very well in the and the northeast. He's better positioned than Ted Cruz to win delegates from Donald Trump in those states in the west, California, Washington, Oregon. Those are states where John Kasich will win delegates and that's where we are now, heading to an open convention. It's about every vote, every delegate and, of course, making the case to the Republican Party at the convention.

PAUL: All right. Listen, as you well know, Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz are waring over a tabloid story. And encompass Mr. Cruz to say this about supporting that he is the GOP nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: I will say this, I don't make a habit out of supporting people who attack my wife and family. And Donald Trump is not going to be the Republican nominee. Donald Trump is not going to be the Republican nominee. We are going to bet him.

PAUL: If Trump is the nominee, will Governor Kasich support him?

SUNUNU: I don't know. You'll have to ask John Kasich. But look, I think the important thing of the clip you just showed, this isn't what the Republican Party should be about. It's not about name calling, it's should be about ideas and substance. It's not about anger, it's should be about a vision. John Kasich, every where he has gone in his entire like, has balance budgets, cut taxes, roll back regulations to let entrepreneurs and investors create jobs, in Ohio 40,000 jobs.

He has a vision for turning this country's economy around for restoring our strength internationally. Just this past week, Ted Cruz said that the answer to terrorism was to monitor Muslim neighborhoods or would he monitor Catholic neighborhoods because of the RIA bombings that took place in the United Kingdom years ago. This is unconstitutional.

Donald Trump wants to withdraw from NATO, NATO Central to America's security. John Kasich understands foreign policy in a way these individuals do not. He has a vision for the country to get us back on track while these two are fighting like two high school students over a parking space to impress their girlfriends. It's embarrassing.

That is not what the Republican Party should be. John Kasich is the vision, the leadership and the strength that we need for America now.

PAUL: There is no doubt this has been an unconventional campaign season thus far. If by chance, Mr. Kasich is not nominated at the convention, is he willing to possibly branch out to a third party run?

SUNUNU: I doubt it. I doubt it. Look, that's not what John Kasich is about. He's honest, he's authentic. He's -- I think committed to the Republican Party because he knows what our party should be about ideas, about creating opportunity and jobs, about turning around our fiscal direction in getting our fiscal house in order for our children and grandchildren, cutting taxes reforming tax code and restoring America's strength abroad. That's what John Kasich is about.

PAUL: He's about.

SUNUNU: He's not about a game theory or running as an independent or name calling or anger. There's too much of that going on right now and it's not what the Republican Party should be. And John Kasich knows that.

PAUL: Senator John Sununu, we appreciate your time today. Thank you for being with us.

SUNUNU: Great to be with you.

PAUL: Absolutely. Thank you. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:57:28] BLACKWELL: All right. We've got breaking news in right now. We're learning of charges, former charges against a person. We don't know what the C stands for. But that's as much as we've been given related to participation in terrorist activities.

PAUL: CNN's Tim Lister is in London and he's been following this and the happening this morning. Tim, what can you tell us?

TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, Victor, it is indeed, Faycal C, he was one of nine people arrested over a period of 24 hours. He and two others were outside the prosecutor's office in Brussels when they were arrested.

Belgium are media reporting his full name but the prosecutor only reporting his first name and initial. And he has been charged with, quote the prosecutor, "Participation in terrorist activities, terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder." The prosecutor's office goes on to say a search of his home was undertaken but no guns or explosive were found.

A couple other charges against suspects who are held but that is the most important one because it's related directly to the attacks in Brussels last Tuesday. Christi, Victor.

PAUL: OK. So just to clarify because I thought I was seeing in these alerts that he is not being linked specifically to the Brussels attack. You're saying otherwise?

LISTER: Yeah. He is specifically linked, it says, within the context of the investigation opened following the attacks on Brussels' national airport and the metro station, the examining judge has issued an arrest warrant, although he's already in custody for Faycal C. So it is specifically attached to those attacks, definitely.

PAUL: So he'd be held what, with these nine other people?

LISTER: No. Several of those people have been released. Some of them are not thought to have been involved in anyway in the Brussels attacks and are being held for relations with a French national who was arrested the other day just outside of Paris. Multiple investigations, multiple leads, this wide and rather disbursed network is being examined from many angles in many countries but all to the most recent arrest and charges that of Faycal C at least to be the most significant as of now. Christi and Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Tim Lister, CNN Contributor with the latest on this breaking news, terrorism charges and investigation opened after the attacks in Brussels this week. We'll continue to get the latest on the breaking news as a manhunt continues across Europe.

We'll see you back here at 10:00 Eastern.

[09:00:00] PAUL: Yeah. Thank you again to Tim and don't go anywhere. "SMERCONISH", that's next.