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Sanders Doubles Down; Trump Slams Cruz; Bombing Suspect Video. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired April 7, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


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[14:00:21] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go, top of the hour. So great to be with you on this Thursday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

We have to begin this hour with the explosive turn in the race for the Democratic nomination for president. Today, Hillary Clinton, hopping the subway, stumping in New York. We're going to have more on that.

But it's Bernie Sanders now who's accused of really taking the low road for saying that Clinton, former senator in the state of New York, former secretary of state, is, quote/unquote, "unqualified" to be president of the United States. An assertion he stood by today, albeit with regret that this sort of rhetoric Republicans adopted long ago is now tainting the Democratic contest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you qualified to be president of the United States when you're raising millions of dollars from Wall Street, an entity whose greed, recklessness and illegal behavior helped destroy our economy? So, look, let me be clear, this is not the type of politics that I want to get. And I know it's what the media loves. It is not the type of politics that I want to get in. But let me also be very clear, if Secretary Clinton thinks that I just come from the small state of Vermont, we're not used to this, well, we will get used to it fast. I'm not going to get beaten up. I'm not going to get lied about. We will fight back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, Secretary Clinton, she, this morning, laughed off any of that criticism from Senator Sanders, adding that she will continue to point out contrasts between herself and the senator from Vermont.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: I understand Bernie Sanders says you're not qualified?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (LAUGHING). Well, it's kind of a silly thing to say, but I'm going to trust the voters of New York who know me and have voted for me three times, twice for Senate, once in the presidential primary. Look, I didn't - I don't know why he's saying that, but I will take Bernie Sanders over Donald Trump or Ted Cruz anytime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN's Joe Johns is in Philadelphia with the Sanders campaign.

So, you know, you hear from folks on Hillary Clinton's side. They're saying, you know, Senator Sanders has hit a new low. We'll talk to one in just a moment. But as far as Senator Sanders is concerned, doubling down on this.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he certainly did double at that news conference here in Philadelphia this morning. And, look, Brooke, from a fact checking point of view, to some degree you probably can say that Bernie Sanders took a headline, if you will, and sort of ran with it last night when he first made those comments. CNN was reporting on yesterday that the plan in the Hillary Clinton campaign was to disqualify Sanders in the New York primary, but he took that to mean that Hillary Clinton was saying he was not qualified for president. So those are two slightly different things.

And the campaign manager for Bernie Sanders, for his part, really doubled down today on CNN, going as far as to suggest that Hillary Clinton was partly responsible for the rise of ISIS. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF WEAVER, CAMPAIGN MANAGER, SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT: We want the voters to decide who gets to be the Democratic nominee, not the Clinton campaign. When they told Jeff Zeleny, you know, of CNN, that they're going to disqualify Bernie, they're going to defeat him and then they're going to try to unify the party later, that's a strategy for disaster in November. What we need is a sharp discussion of the issues in this campaign that separate Secretary Clinton from Bernie Sanders. We need to have that discussion. But that kind of like scorched earth Clinton policy of disqualify him, defeat him and then try to reunify the party later, that's a disaster for Democrats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So Bernie Sanders now headed to New York tomorrow. And a lot of this, Brooke, is really about New York. Of course, these two candidates can both claim New York as their home state. It was always expected to be a pretty nasty fight.

Back to you.

BALDWIN: We have about a week and a half of it to go. The primary, April 19th. Joe Johns, thank you so much.

You just heard from the campaign manager on the Sanders side. Let me turn now to Kristina Schake, deputy communications director for Hillary for America.

Kristina, welcome back. Nice to see you.

KRISTINA SCHAKE, DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Hi. Nice to see you too.

BALDWIN: Out of the gate, what is your response to hearing Senator Sanders saying your candidate is unqualified?

SCHAKE: You know, it's just really sad and disappointing to see Senator Sanders and his campaign take this kind of turn. They made two attacks against Hillary yesterday that were absolutely not true. First of all, he said that she called him unqualified. She certainly didn't. That clip has played on CNN many times today. Joe Scarborough pushed her over and over again to say that. She never did. She never would. That's not the kind of person she is. That's certainly not the kind of leader she is. So that was absolutely not true. She would never do that. And she was sorry to see him take that turn himself.

[14:05:05] And, you know, the other thing he did is, when he was called upon by the loved ones of the victims of the Sandy Hook mass shooting, to really apologize to them for standing with the gun manufacturers instead of standing with their families and letting them have their day in court. He didn't respond to their pleas and instead attacked Hillary. So we're sorry to see him take this turn and we really think it's too bad.

BALDWIN: What has her response been behind the scenes? What can you share?

SCHAKE: Well, you know, you saw her -

BALDWIN: We saw her in front of all the cameras, you know, but -

SCHAKE: You saw her out there today, riding the subway in New York, loving campaigning in New York, and you saw her, what she said was what she has said behind the scenes too, is that she would certainly vote for Bernie Sanders over the Republican contenders at this point. She thinks it's really important as a Democrat. And so those were her words.

BALDWIN: On these attacks, though, we know Jeff Zeleny, who's been covering Secretary Clinton for us here at CNN, you know, he says that you all are saying that the Clinton camp will be taking a harder line moving ahead. What is the harder line?

SCHAKE: You know, we love Jeff, but we're not really sure where that report came from. I have to say, in all of the meetings that I'm in, in headquarters with our campaign manager, our campaign chair, nobody has ever spoken about Senator Sanders that way.

BALDWIN: There will be no shift in language?

SCHAKE: No, no, no, no. You know Hillary loves to campaign in New York. She was so proud to be the senator here for eight years. And she really wants to talk about the issues that New Yorkers care about. And you see her out there doing that.

BALDWIN: On a sort of lighter note, I mean, yes, she rode the subway.

SCHAKE: Yes. BALDWIN: You know, I think it's going to be interesting because several of the candidates, Bernie Sanders growing up in Brooklyn, she's spent eight years, say it's home away from home for her. Even Donald Trump, New York.

SCHAKE: Yes.

BALDWIN: And I'm sort of like anticipating this New Yorker off. We saw John Kasich at a deli today.

SCHAKE: Yes.

BALDWIN: What's the next move? She going to be eating pizza?

SCHAKE: Well, you know, she was riding the subway today because she's done that in the past and she loves it. That was her idea. She wanted to get out there and talk to real New Yorkers. And that's what she loves about campaigning in the state is you get out there and talk to people about what they're concerned about, what they need from their next president. And New Yorkers, it's more than rhetoric. You can't - you can't just give a speech. You have to have real plans. And they want to make sure that you can deliver real results for them.

BALDWIN: Final question. You know, she won New York in '08. What is - if you had to identify one issue that would be the biggest uphill climb for her for April 19th what would be it?

SCHAKE: You know, I - I'm not sure she has an uphill climb here. I mean we know that this is - New Yorkers, you can't take anything for granted and you've got to work hard to earn every vote. She's really proud of her track record here in New York and excited to get out there are talk to people about what she'd do as their president.

BALDWIN: How then does she sort of toe the line, not alienate potential future supporters, those who are supporting Bernie Sanders. At our debate in Brooklyn -

SCHAKE: Yes. Yes.

BALDWIN: How does she thread that needle?

SCHAKE: You know, she really respects Sanders' voters. She thinks it's great that he's bringing so many people into the process. He has so many young people full of energy and excitement about this election. She thinks that's wonderful. And she's going to get out there and talk to people about what her real plans are to make a difference in their life as president.

BALDWIN: Kristina Shake, thank you so much.

SCHAKE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We'll see you in Brooklyn next week for the big debate. Again, do not miss the debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The Democratic presidential debate live from Brooklyn, New York, one week from tonight, 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. Coming up next, New York welcoming Ted Cruz with a couple of choice

letters there on the cover of "The New York Daily News." We'll talk about how the city's media treatment is a whole new ball game for a lot of these candidates.

Plus, one of Donald Trump's biggest supporters says, yes, America could do better. Ben Carson in his own words.

And brand-new video showing the missing suspect in the Brussels terror attack, including where authorities think he went moments after the bombing.

You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. We'll be right back.

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[14:12:38] BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Ted Cruz refusing to back off his attack of Trump's New York values comment, getting a not so warm welcome in the Bronx. Make no mistake, New York is enemy territory for this southerner, for this Texan. Today, "The New York Daily News" had this message for the Texas senator. Its cover, "Take The F U Train, Ted!" For Donald Trump, it is the home field advantage he has been waiting for. Thousands showing up for his rally on Long Island last night, eating up Trump's scathing reminders of his Republican's rival words. Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've got this guy standing over there looking at me talking about New York values with scorn in his face, with hatred, with hatred of New York. So, folks, I think you can forget about him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, Kayleigh McEnany, CNN political commentator and Trump supporter. A.B. Stoddard, associate editor for "The Hill." And also with us, Lanhee Chen, former senior advisor for the Rubio 2016 campaigns and Mitt Romney's policy director for the 2012 campaign and is now a Hoover Institution research fellow.

So, welcome to all of you.

And, A.B., out of the gate, let's talk about Ted Cruz. I mean, you know, we saw him in the Bronx yesterday. He's in New York pounding the pavement. My question to you is, do you think, not to mention Trump is way ahead in the polls, do you think he'll really be able to make up some ground in New York before now and April 19th?

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "THE HILL": I think he's going to lose New York and probably very badly. He's a real fish out of water there. And I can tell you the only goal for him now is to keep Trump below 50 percent so that he doesn't sweep up all those delegates. If he and Kasich combined, and I think Kasich will do much better than Senator Cruz, can keep Trump, who's right now in the polls around 52 percent, below 50 percent, that would be a strategic victory and then he's on to the next.

But these are going to be tough day for him. He is in a real culture clash up in New York and it sounds like his staff work wasn't very good picking the wrong venue for an event that wasn't well attended and he's facing some protests. So he's got to get to upstate New York and find some people that want to listen to him, get out of the city and hope that he can hold Trump under 50 percent on the 19th of April.

BALDWIN: Facing some protesters. Just quickly, here's some sound from one of those protesters, getting a not entirely warm welcome here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ted Cruz has no business being in the Bronx. To receive this right wing bigot is an insult to the whole community!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:15:05] BALDWIN: All right, so there you have that. Now Trump is seizing upon that. He's seizing upon the whole, you know, New York values comment, as we saw him in Long Island last night. So, Kayleigh, my question to you, also CNN is reporting that there are changes within the Trump inner circle with the Trump camp, maybe adding to the inner circle. What struck me when I was watching the rally last night, you have Ivanka walking out and introducing him. Then you have this very glossy, fancy, you know, film that rolls out showing highlights thus far on the trail. Is this - will we be seeing a little bit more of that? Is this sort of part of the new changes they're rolling out?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think so. And I think it should be. Look, he definitely needs to shore up his support among women, especially looking forward to a general election. Ivanka's a huge part of that strategy. That's a big help to him. Likewise, shaking up the campaign, adding Paul Manafort is a huge step because now it's looking more and more, unfortunately, like this is going to be a fight for delegates rather than a fight for the popular vote. Manafort is a Ford veteran, Georg H., George W., the list goes on and on. So he is an expert at this and the Trump campaign desperately needed someone like him.

BALDWIN: On the fight for delegates, Lanhee, let me turn to you, because having been with the Rubio camp, do you - can you tell us here what Rubio plans to do with his delegates?

LANHEE CHEN, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, RUBIO 2016 CAMPAIGN: Well, I think, you know, some of that's going to be up to delegates. Some of the delegates will have the opportunity to choose after the first ballot, where they are bound by party rule. In other cases, Senator Rubio's asked for those delegates to remain pledged to him. Soo I think it will depend largely on the delegate. It will depend on the state.

BALDWIN: Well, what's the strategy in that? What's the strategy in that, Lanhee? CHEN: Well, you know, part of it is I think Senator Rubio is going to

be part of this conversation. Help was one of the more successful candidates this cycle. He did articulate some vision and policy that I think a lot of Republican will want to get behind. And so he wants to be part of this discussion and he'll continue to get, while also obviously focusing on his day job now in the Senate.

BALDWIN: Let me play some sound. Former presidential candidate Ben Carson, he was on CNN just a little while ago. This is a man, keep in mind, he's officially endorsed Donald Trump. But this is what he said here on CNN today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You think there are better people out there to be president than Donald Trump?

BEN CARSON (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think you have to - to really think about that. It doesn't matter what you're doing. There are better people than me at neurosurgery. There are better people than you being a broadcaster. You know, there are better people in everything.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: When you say that there are - there probably are better people out there, did you have someone in mind?

CARSON: I don't think that that's a useful place to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Kayleigh, that is not exactly a ringing endorsement from Mr. Trump.

MCENANY: Well, here's the thing. You know, Trump will take support from whomever, be it Carson, if it's warm (ph) support or fervent (ph) support in the form of Christie, any presidential candidate who stood by you on that stage and gives you there support, luke warm or fervent, is accepted and is exciting to have on board and -

BALDWIN: Do you think he'll respond to that?

MCENANY: Do I think Trump will?

BALDWIN: Yes.

MCENANY: No, I don't think so. I think he's just happy to have Carson on board. He is a great man, a hero in the evangelical community, and I think he's just happy to have him on board in any capacity.

BALDWIN: A.B., finally to you. You know, thinking about the delegates and thinking about just sort of support, there's not been massive support for Senator Ted Cruz among his own Republican colleagues on The Hill. We've talked about that for months. You know, a lot of them are sort of still holding out. For what, I don't know. But do you think that they will - the tides will turn before Cleveland, assuming we are going into a brokered convention? STODDARD: It really depends. You know, there are still people, Brooke,

as we've talked about, asking John Kasich to please stay in the race even though people are making jokes and pressuring him, you know, to get out. This is - you know, Ted Cruz faces a lot of backlash because of his own behavior. I mean I've covered the Congress for many, many years and I've never come across anyone who's earned a reputation as bad as he has. He's burned every bridge he's ever seen. It's going to be very hard for him to get people to come around, even like Lindsey Graham did who says, I don't like the guy, but it's really anyone but Trump.

So what he's doing behind the scenes, stopping, talking about the Washington cartel, trying to talk about unity. What he's doing in phone calls behind the scenes, I think, will lead to, you know - it will bear some fruit in the weeks to come. But it might not be enough. It might be that they still are looking for, you know, that Paul Ryan fantasy or Kasich to rise again after a couple of northeastern states. Ted Cruz is really - it's really hard to make up ground when you've done so much to burn those bridges and that's what he's facing now.

BALDWIN: You mentioned John Kasich. Lanhee, John Kasich has essentially said the strongest days are ahead. What do you make of that? What should we make of him?

CHEN: I mean I just don't see it. I don't think Kasich has a pathway. I think it's actually mathematically impossible for him to have the pathway before the convention. I think he's hanging around hoping to be the alternative. I just see it being very difficult for anybody but Ted Cruz or Donald Trump to be the nominee of the party. And so whether Kasich stays in or gets out, that's his decision ultimately, but he is living in fantasy land right now.

BALDWIN: Who do you think it's hurting more by Kasich staying in, Cruz or Trump?

[14:20:03] CHEN: You know, I don't know. I think, to a certain degree, the voters that would vote for Kasich probably are more dispositionally going to be for Trump because they may be more moderate or somewhat conservative. But there's evidence that those voters may have gone for Cruz in Wisconsin. So it's really tough to say. And I think that's part of Kasich's calculation. There's no obvious choice in terms of who the second choice is for those Kasich voters. So he figures, why the heck - you know, what the heck, why don't I just stay in, see what happens?

BALDWIN: This is so fascinating. Lanhee Chen, thank you. Kayleigh McEnany, thank you. A.B. Stoddard, thank you. Thank you to all of you.

And make sure you watch, tonight, Senator Ted Cruz sitting down with my colleague, Erin Burnett, on her show, "OutFront," 7:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

Coming up, we're talking Cleveland, we're talking potential contested convention. How that city is taking extra security steps to prepare for crowd control come July and what is shaping up to be a controversial convention. And next, hiding in plain sight. Two weeks after the terror attacks in

Brussels, chilling new surveillance video of the wanted terrorist in that light coat and hat. Investigators now able to pinpoint what he did moments after those bombings. Where is he now? We will update you on this investigation.

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[14:25:40] BALDWIN: Right now a manhunt is underway for a violent and dangerous man who escaped from a psychiatric hospital. His apparent getaway partner has now been captured. This all happening in Lakewood, Washington. Police there say these two men have escaped, they think, through a loose window, gotten access to transportation. Police today captured the man on your right, Mark Adams. The man on the left, Anthony Garver, is still missing. He's accused of killing a 20-year- old woman found tied to a bed and stabbed to death. Garver was found incompetent to stand trial for murder and police are warning, if you see Garver, do not try to interact with him. Just pick up the phone and dial 911.

Now to Belgium. Brand-new video shows the suspected third bomber in the deadly Brussels airport attack. We're talking about the man in the dark hat, that lighter coat. Want you to watch this video carefully because it shows - see the guy in the light colored hat here with the hat - light colored jacket with the hat leaving the airport. Police are swarming the area then. The suspect manages to exit the crime scene. You see him just walking away. At one point, jogging. He walked west into a Brussels neighborhood over the course of two hours. Police say the suspect ditched his raincoat somewhere along the way.

Let's go to our justice correspondent, Pamela Brown, with more on this.

And so, Pamela, how are authorities using, now, this piece of video to find him?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically, they're using this video as sort of a clue in terms of who he may have interacted with in those two hours after the attack. And, also, in the video, they say he discarded his light colored jacket that we saw him wearing. Brooke, that could be a key piece of evidence because if they find that, they can, you know, obviously trace it for DNA, fingerprints, to identify this man. They have, at this stage, as far as we know, they have not identified him and so they're looking for that and they're looking at this remarkable two-hour video after the attacks, after we saw him carrying a bomb into the Brussels airport, walking casually on the streets of Molenbeek. In fact, he was seen 40 minutes after that metro stop. It's really remarkable, Brooke, to think what he had just witnessed, what he was just a part of, and then we see him walking in this video.

BALDWIN: It reminds me of the mastermind in Paris, walking back to the scene of the crime at the Bataclan.

I know you talked exclusively to a top U.S. counterterrorism official who says some European countries are not taking full advantage of some U.S. tools in the fight against terrorism. Explain.

BROWN: That's right. I interviewed the man, Christopher Piehota, who is in charge of all the U.S. terror watch lists and he says the U.S. shares in real time the data, any information about terrorists with the European partners. But the problem is, Brooke, is that Europe doesn't use a central database. They're not - they're not using what we have given them to its full potential because of all the different sovereign countries who have their own lists of standards that they abide by. Here's what he had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER PIEHOTA, DIRECTOR, TERRORIST SCREENING CENTER: It's concerning that our partners don't use all of our data. We provide them with tools. We provide them with support. And I would find it concerning that they don't use these tools to help screen for their own aviation security, maritime security, border screening, visas, things like that, for travel. We find it concerning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And there's a whole host of reasons why they may not be using it to the full potential, including, you know, not having the resources. It's unclear, Brooke, if using our U.S. watch list would have prevented the Brussels attacks. But there is one example that is poignant here. You remember the suicide bombing brother who was deported from Turkey. He was put on a commercial flight from Turkey back into Europe. He was never flagged. They don't check passengers like they routinely do here in the United States.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Pamela Brown, thank you so much. I'm glad you sat down with that official.

Coming up next, the papers in New York not exactly been very nice to a number of these candidates, including Ted Cruz, slamming him on his double down of the New York values comments. We'll discuss that with a New Yorker.

[14:29:48] Plus, moments ago, Bill Clinton heckled while campaigning for his wife over his crime bill in the '90s. We'll play you what happened.

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