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Trump Wall Plan Is Impractical Says President Obama; Obama Calls For Reforming Business Taxes; Voting Underway In Wisconsin Primary. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired April 5, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's noon in Madison, Wisconsin, 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, D.C. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We begin with the breaking news. President Obama reacting to Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and to have Mexico pay for it.

CNN has now obtained a two-page memo that has detailed Trump's plan which includes seizing money sent from undocumented immigrants here in the United States. Money that's being sent back to their relatives, family, friends in Mexico. Just a little while ago, the president was asked about Trump's plan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am getting questions constantly from foreign leaders about some of the wackier suggestions that are being made. I do have to emphasize that it's not just Mr. Trump's proposals. I mean, you're also hearing concerns about Mr. Cruz's proposals which, in some ways, are just as draconian, when it comes to immigration for example.

The implications with respect to ending remittances, many of which, by the way, are from illegal immigrants and from individuals who are sending money back to their families, are enormous. First of all, they're impractical. We just talked about the difficulties of trying to enforce huge outflows of capital. The notion that we're going to track every western union, you know, bit of money that's being sent to Mexico, you know, good luck that.

Then, we've got the issue of the implications for the Mexican economy which, in turn, if it's collapsing, actually sends more immigrants north because they can't find jobs back in Mexico. But this is just one more example of something that is not thought true and is primarily put forward for political consumption.

And as I've tried to emphasize throughout, we've got serious problems here. We've got big issues around the world. People expect the president of the United States and the elected officials in this country to treat these problems seriously, to put forth policies that have been examined, analyzed, are effective, where unintended consequences are taken into account. They don't expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House. We can't afford that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Half-baked notions coming out of the White House. Let's get analysis, some reporting on what we just heard. Our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is standing by. Our White House Correspondent Michelle Kosinski is with us. And our Business Correspondent Alison Kosik is will us -- with us as well.

Michelle, you were in the White House when the president came out, not only swinging against Donald Trump, but on his own he decided to bring Ted Cruz into the equation as well. He's increasingly speaking his mind about the national security, the foreign policy views of these Republican presidential candidates. Isn't he?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, even some of the words and phrases he chooses. I mean, you heard him just now, half-baked and wacky, hitting not just Trump, even though that's really what the question was about, but also Cruz.

In the beginning, you know, he really didn't want to get involved. He would be so diplomatic in the way he would phrase things. He would try to lump everybody in there but not get too specific. And now, he's much more free-wheeling in the way he responds to these constant questions. I mean, he said, himself, now whenever he speaks to world leaders, this is what comes up.

And I thought what was also interesting, Wolf, is the way the White House, for a long time, has talked about this kind of rhetoric among the Republican candidates actually doing damage to the U.S.'s standing in the world, calling it harmful, potentially, to national security.

Well, yesterday, we asked the White House, you know, has some of that damage already been done, in your opinion? Because the White House keeps talking about that. And the White House -- the press secretary said, no, I don't think that damage has been done yet. But today, when the president was asked that question directly, he immediately and unequivocally said, yes -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Stand by. I want to bring in Jim Acosta who's been out there on the campaign trail reporting for us. Jim, the Trump campaign, I'm sure the Cruz campaign, they're probably not going to waste much time in reacting to what we just heard from the president.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think that's right, Wolf. And I -- and I think they welcome these comments from President Obama, quite frankly.

You'll recall, it was just a couple of months ago, when the former Mexican president, Vicente Fox, weighed in on how he things Mexico would never pay for a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. And Donald Trump injected that right into his stump speech. It was used at campaign stop after campaign stop.

[13:05:01] And, you know, this is Donald Trump's reaction to months and months of criticism from people inside the beltway saying, you don't have a proposal for paying for that wall on the Mexican border. And this is the Trump campaign saying, essentially, here it is.

And it's worth reminding our viewers, Wolf, that one of the top surrogates for Donald Trump is Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama. He is a fierce anti-illegal immigration advocate. And then, one of Jeff Session's top aides, Stephen Miller, is now the top policy adviser for Donald Trump's campaign.

So, it's not really a huge surprise that you would have sort of chapter and verse here, in terms of how they would do this. Now, the practicality of this, you heard the president go after that during those remarks earlier today in the briefing room.

But I have to tell you, from talking to people inside the Trump campaign, they feel like this is very feasible and you heard Donald Trump say that earlier this morning at a campaign stop here in Wisconsin. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's self-explanatory. The wall is a fraction of the kind of money in many different ways that Mexico takes in from the United States. The wall is a fraction. I mean, you're talking about a $10 billion wall. You're talking about a trade deficit with Mexico, $58 billion, and probably going to get worse if they run it. If I run it, there won't be a trade deficit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And, Wolf -- and so, a couple of things going on here with Donald Trump putting out this proposal. You know, we're not talking about this messy week he's had over the last several days with his campaign manager and his comments on abortion and so forth and so on. We're not talking about this wall proposal.

The second thing is that, yes, this is getting everybody to talk about this. But keep in mind, in Milwaukee in Wisconsin, and some of these other Midwestern states, people like that economic populous message. And that's something that Donald Trump is hoping will help him at the ballot box later on today. If he can somehow eke out a come-from- behind victory here, that would have a huge, dramatic impact on this campaign -- Wolf.

BLITZER: It certainly would. Jim Acosta, stand by.

Alison Kosik, you're with us as well. You're our business correspondent. The president made those comments about Cruz and Trump in response to a question. But he came into that briefing room at the White House to announce new treasury department regulations to prevent American companies from setting up headquarters overseas to avoid paying taxes. Explain what the president -- what the president has now proposing.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. So, what the president proposed here is something that Congress hasn't done yet. It's why we see the U.S. treasury stepping in with new regulations, trying to close these loopholes that companies have been using to, essentially, move their headquarters overseas to avoid paying a higher tax rate.

The U.S. has the highest tax rate at 35 percent. Just to give you an example, in Ireland, the corporate tax rate is 12.5 percent. So, what we've seen lately, actually for many, many years now, is you're seeing companies merging with other companies or moving out their headquarters overseas so they can avoid paying that higher tax rate because if they make a profit overseas, the American company, and they want to bring that profit back to the U.S., they essentially, have to pay a total of 35 percent in that corporate tax rate.

So, you're seeing -- you're seeing the administration stepping in because what it essentially means is that the tax rolls are losing anywhere from $100 billion to $240 billion per year in tax revenue because these companies are moving their headquarters overseas and not paying -- not paying the U.S. -- their U.S. taxes.

Case and point, I remember a couple of years ago, Burger King taking over Tim Hortons. Burger King moving its headquarters to Canada. Although Burger King says it was a growth issue and not a tax issue, one group came out and said, they are dodging one whopper of a tax bill. And we're talking about more than $400 million per year that Burger King is avoiding paying in U.S. taxes now that it moved its headquarters -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it's not just Burger King. It's a lot of American companies taking advantage of what the president calls this tax loophole. This policy, this loophole that he calls corporate inversion. That's what a lot of people are calling it.

Interestingly enough, Donald Trump keeps talking about he's going to deal with these corporate inversion problems as well, if he becomes --

ACOSTA: Right.

BLITZER: -- president of the United States.

And, Jim Acosta, you covered Trump. He speaks about corporate inversion in almost all of his stump speeches, doesn't he?

ACOSTA: He does. You know, this is one of those issues where President Obama and Donald Trump were almost on the same page. Although, if you were to ask either side of the equation there, they would probably vehemently disagree with that.

Donald Trump, this is one of his populous messages on the economy. He accuses corporations all the time of stashing their headquarters overseas so they can avoid paying taxes. Absolutely, this is something that Donald Trump says he will do if he's elected president. He will rewrite trade rules, rewrite trade pacts with China and Mexico and so forth.

So, absolutely, on this tax inversion issue, it's interesting to see Donald Trump and President Obama almost on the same page here.

BLITZER: Yes, and the president points out, in his statement, that for three budgets in a row, he's tried to get Congress to eliminate these corporate inversions that he has failed. Congress has not done so. But he's hoping now, these new Department of Treasury regulations will get the job done. We shall see.

[13:10:09] All right, guys, thanks very much.

Right now, the polls are open in Wisconsin. Voters are deciding what could be a major race on both sides. At stake, momentum, delegates and the chance of a contested convention, not only on the Republican side, but if you listen to Bernie Sanders' supporters, on the Democratic side as well.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The presidential candidates, they've had their say. Now, the people of Wisconsin have their change. Voting now underway in the Wisconsin primary and the results could have major implications in the race for the White House.

The Republican presidential front runner, Donald Trump, sounding confident during a stop at a diner earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I hear the polls are busy, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are busy.

TRUMP: We could have a big surprise tonight, folks. Big surprise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Trump hopes to resume his march toward the nomination, but Ted Cruz is banking on a win to stop Trump's momentum. And John Kasich, he's trying to hang on until the convention, despite calls by both Cruz and Trump to have him drop out.

For the Republicans, 42 delegates are at stake in today's Wisconsin primary. For the Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, they're locked in a pretty tight race by all accounts.

[13:15:08] Sanders is trying to build on his winning streak, while the Clinton campaign points to her lead in the delegate race. Sanders and Clinton, they're competing for 86 delegates up for grabs today in Wisconsin. Sanders says momentum is on his side. Clinton says - and he says Clinton is getting nervous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So don't tell her this, but I think we win here, and we win in New York state, we're on our way to the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Bernie Sanders says if there's a record-breaking turnout in Wisconsin, he will win.

For a closer look at how the voting is going so far, let's check in with CNN correspondent Chris Frates.

Chris, you're at a polling place there in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Give us a sense of what you're seeing, what you're hearing from the voters.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf.

Well, you know, both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have made the case that if turnout is high, that they will do well here. So I have good news for both those campaigns, turnout looks to be high, especially here in the polling place where we are in Green Bay. About 400 people have come through the door since 7:00 a.m. This place usually gets about 1,600 officials tell me. They expect to get much more than that today.

And I've talked to some of the voters here. The Democrats anecdotally telling me that they're going for Bernie Sanders. In fact, I even talked to one Republican who told me that he crossed over to the Democratic side to vote for Bernie Sanders because he's a never Trump guy. Of course, in Wisconsin, it's an open primary. You can choose whether to go Republican or Democrat. So that's good news for Bernie Sanders, especially as he tries to run up the score here in Wisconsin. He's trying to grab as many of those 86 delegates as he can.

Hillary Clinton, of course, has been lowering expectations here in this state all week long, pointing out that this state was one that she lost to then Senator Barack Obama in 2008 by double-digits. Also, it's a more white than average state, which always helps Bernie Sanders.

And Hillary Clinton already kind of moving on to New York. She was on "The View" today and that's where she's trying to make a stand. There's 250 delegates at stake on April 19th. That's second only to California. So she's trying to make sure that she holds the double- digit lead she has there against Bernie Sanders.

Of course, Bernie Sanders looking to do well here today in Wisconsin and then take that momentum into the empire state, cutting into Hillary Clinton's lead. He's down by about 240 delegates and he needs about 75 percent of the pledged delegates left to clinch that nomination. Hillary Clinton only needs 35 percent.

And the next big day on the primary calendar after today, of course, April 14th. That's five days before that crucial empire state primary where Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will go mono a mono right here on CNN with that big debate in Brooklyn. That's the first time, Wolf, that we've seen those two go head to head in more than a month. So we'll be looking forward to that and we'll see if Bernie Sanders gets the bounce that he's hoping for coming out of Wisconsin, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, we're all looking forward to that debate a week from Thursday in Brooklyn.

Chris Frates, thanks very much. Let's take a closer look at what's at stake for the candidates right now. Joining us, CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston and CNN political commentator Ryan Lizza. He's the Washington correspondent for "The New Yorker" magazine.

How important, Maeve, is tonight for Donald Trump? If he were to lose Wisconsin, let's say, does that make the possibility of a contested convention in Cleveland in July more likely?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: It does. You know, obviously, his hope is to certainly pick up some delegates tonight. He's talking about this potential surprise. I don't know if we're necessarily going to see that.

But what's so interesting is that, you know, in another brilliant tactical move today by putting out, you know, another piece of his wall plan that he actually has talked about in the past, we're all talking about that instead of his horrible week last week, you know, with his abortion comments and the back and forth. So I - it is yet another reminder of how well Donald Trump does in changing the subject when it's not working in his favor.

But Ted Cruz has got a really good operation in Wisconsin. Obviously the anti-Trump forces are in there trying to help Ted Cruz, boost Ted Cruz to victory. So we'll see what happens tonight.

BLITZER: What also could happen, Ryan, and maybe this explains, at least in part, why Donald Trump seems to be so upbeat about what - that he might win in Wisconsin, it that it's an open contest, meaning independents, Democrats, they can crossover.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

BLITZER: They can vote on the Republican side. And that's been a source of big support for him. By the way, it's also been a source of big support for Bernie Sanders, who also appeals to that non- traditional Democratic base if you will.

LIZZA: Yes, I think that's a good point, Wolf. That, along with the fact that we have seen a lot of primary polling that has not been accurate means that we should all be a little cautious about, you know, how much Ted Cruz has really put this away.

I will be looking tonight for the delegate margin, not so much - that's the number you want to know is, how many delegates does Ted Cruz win? And at the end of the night, you want to know, what's the percentage of remaining delegates that Donald Trump will need to get to that magic number to win the nomination with the majority of delegates.

[13:20:10] And he's going into this race tonight having won less than 50 percent of the total delegates so far and needing to win somewhere in the mid 50s, 54 percent depending on the count, of the remaining delegates. If Ted Cruz wins the majority of the 42 up for grabs tonight, Trump has to win close to 60 percent of the remaining delegates going forward from now until June 7th. He's only - he's won less than 50. So hitting 60 percent is going to be a tall order. And so I think tomorrow morning if Ted Cruz has a big night tonight, the story is going to be that most projections are going to say Donald Trump is going to come up just short and we're going into a contested convention.

BLITZER: Anything is possible.

LIZZA: So a big night, big tipping point for the race tonight.

BLITZER: Maeve, the campaign manager for the Hillary Clinton campaign wrote a memo that's now been publicized, saying that Hillary Clinton's delegate lead, in his words, "nearly insurmountable." He also wrote this. He said her - "Sanders' path to the nomination involves a combination of trying to flip pledge delegates, while also convincing super delegates that he deserves their support despite the fact that Hillary Clinton has won 58 percent of the popular vote and the majority of pledged delegates thus far." What do you think of his argument?

RESTON: Well, I think that he's absolutely right, that the math very clearly is on Hillary Clinton's side and that Bernie Sanders has a huge uphill task going into these upcoming primaries. And tonight in Wisconsin, obviously, the delegates are proportional, so they may both end up scooping up some.

But Bernie Sanders needs a really strong night tonight in Wisconsin for momentum purposes, purely for momentum purposes. He's been talking about how his campaign has this extraordinary momentum, winning all of these recent contests, and he's hoping that, you know, if they get another big night tonight, that they can zoom into these big primary states, New York, Oregon and then California with the wind in their sails.

So he's got a lot on the line. I think if he does not do well tonight, then this race really will look like it's kind of winding down. At the same time, clearly there's so much energy on his side. He's cleaning up in terms of those campaign donations. And, obviously, that's frustrating the Clinton campaign.

LIZZA: Yes.

BLITZER: Maeve Reston and Ryan Lizza, guys, thanks very much.

LIZZA: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Later this hour, by the way, the Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, she'll join us live. We'll talk about the race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, what's at stake for the Democratic Party. We'll also talk about the next Democratic presidential debate. I'll be hosting that debate. It will be right here on CNN. It's going to be in Brooklyn next Thursday, April 14th, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Once again, the Democratic presidential debate live from Brooklyn, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, next Thursday.

With the New York primary right around the corner, presidential candidates are aiming high in the empire state. Up next, a man very familiar with New York politics, there he is, Congressman Peter King. He's standing by live. We'll discuss right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:27:43] BLITZER: Take a look at this. Live pictures coming from inside a polling station in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Both parties holding crucial primaries in Wisconsin today. But some of the candidates, like Hillary Clinton, John Kasich, they're already looking beyond Wisconsin. They're focusing in right now on April 19th. That's when the primary is in New York state two weeks from today.

I'm joined now by Republican Congressman Peter King of New York. He's a member of the House Homeland Security Committee as well.

Congressman, thanks very much for joining us. With your state's primary, what, only two weeks away, two weeks from today, have you decided who you're going to vote for?

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: No. You know, I had been supporting Marco Rubio. Obviously he's no longer running. I can tell you one thing, I would never vote for Ted Cruz. So, you know, right now I'm holding back. I don't think it would serve any purpose for me to be announcing now. I'm like a bouncing ball. I'm in, I'm out. But I'm going to wait and see. As we get closer to the 19th, I'll probably decide.

BLITZER: So it's either - it's either Trump or Kasich, right, if you - if you - there's no way you could stomach Cruz in the White House, it's going to be one of the two others, right?

KING: Yes. And, listen, personally, I've known John Kasich. I worked with him in the House. He was an outstanding congressman. He's been a very good governor. But, again, we have to see who has the best chance of winning, what's going to happen. But certainly I would say John Kasich has shown the most so far in the campaign as far as his qualifications and as far as his positions. But, again, you know, we'll see what happens between now and the 19th.

This, by the way, Wolf, as far as I know, I can think far back, in fact, I don't even think we had primaries in New York on the Republican side until 1980. This is the first time a Republican primary in New York has ever meant anything because usually by the time it hits New York, the race is over. So this is, I can tell you already, just right, you know, within ten miles of my home we've had John Kasich was in all day yesterday. Donald Trump is coming in Wednesday. This is going to be going on for the next two weeks. So it's bringing a level of primary excitement to New York on the Republican side that we've never had before. So it's, again, an interesting experience.

BLITZER: Yes, New York's going to be very, very important on the Democratic and Republican side. A lot of revenue for the media markets in New York, whether down state or upstate. I'm sure it's going to help the economy a bit with all those campaign commercials that you're going to be hearing over the next two weeks.

[13:30:07] Listen to the secretary of state, John Kerry, this morning talking about the reaction he's getting from overseas to the U.S. election.