Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Trump Rallies Indiana Voters Ahead of Tuesday Primary; President Obama's Final Comedic Performance; Latino Activists Divided on Trump; Behind the Bars of San Quentin; Sky is the Limit for Pro Stair Climbers. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired May 1, 2016 - 17:00   ET

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


[17:00:00] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: 235 delegates shy of hitting that magic number to clinch the nomination. And today Trump was quick to target Cruz at his rally. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has no road to victory. He's the first person in the history of the United States who picked a running mate -- Carly. Who picked a running mate. She picked -- he picked a running mate even he has no chance to win. So he picked as a presidential candidate a running mate, but he has no chance to win. So that's the first in the history of our country, folks.

Ted, :Lying Ted, I want to congratulate you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Let's bring in CNN's Jessica Schneider. She was at that rally, joins me now.

Jessica, it really seems like Trump is upping the ante in that stage. It shows just how important the state is to him.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely important, Pamela. And he came out here around 4:07. He said, hey, I'm going to talk for about an hour. He's still going strong. He took the stage with very fine policy details, in fact. He talks about the state of the economy right here in Indiana, talking about the job situation and pledging to bring jobs back here. He also used some very strong words against China, saying that China has reaped the U.S. economy.

So after going into a little bit of policy, he then quickly pivoted to his other favorite subject, which was picking on Senator Ted Cruz repeatedly, calling him Lying Ted. In fact Donald Trump repeatedly made fun of the alliance between Ted Cruz and John Kasich talking about how that alliance has quickly fallen apart in the hours after it was made. You can hear the crowds now as Donald Trump, I believe, is wrapping things up.

Now Donald Trump also talked about the rigged state of this political system, talking about how he won in Arizona with popular votes, but with surprise of delegates. Ted Cruz is also making his way through Indiana today. He was in

Fayetteville, Indiana. This is what he had to say. This was his response to all of Donald Trump's rhetoric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And this is a choice for the people of Indiana. Do we stand with Carly Fiorina and Governor Mike Pence? Or do we stand with a convicted rapist Mike Tyson?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: And Ted Cruz right there referring to heavyweight champ Mike Tyson's endorsement of Donald Trump. Donald Trump, though, retorting saying the endorsement itself was no big deal, and that he hasn't talked to Mike Tyson in several years -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Jessica, thank you so much for bringing us the latest there from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

And far away from Indiana, but not far from the candidates' mind of course is California. The state is the last to vote but it offers the biggest prize with a whopping 172 Republican delegates. And it's also the first time in decades that California could be a deciding factor in choosing the GOP nominee. The state's Republican Party has been holding this convention this weekend and joining me to discuss it is the man who oversees all of this, Jim Brulte. He's the chairman of the California Republican Party and a former state senator.

Thank you so much for coming on, Jim. All three candidates have pitched themselves to the convention we've seen over the last few days. Who had the crowd most fired up?

JIM BRULTE, CHAIRMAN, CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN PARTY: Well, you know, my job is to be neutral so I'm not going to take a position on that. But let me just tell you that Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich all lit the crowd up. There's great excitement here in California. Not only at the convention, but the fact that California may be determinant in this election.

BROWN: But when you look at what happened at some of these events at the convention, there were those major anti-Trump protests in your state. Nearly 20 people were arrested outside his rally. Hundreds of people protested outside the convention blocking Trump's motorcade. No other candidate sees that kind of backlash.

How can someone so polarizing unite the country in a general election? Jim, can you hear me?

BRULTE: I don't know if you could --

BROWN: All right. Jim, unfortunately we lost the connection there, but of course we'll get back to you shortly to continue discussing the importance of California and the role it plays in this primary season.

Moving a long now, a programming note for you, Donald Trump will be live on CNN's "NEW DAY" tomorrow. Be sure to look for that at 7:00 a.m.

And meantime, Senator Bernie Sanders appears determined to stay in the race for the Democratic nomination despite a dip in fundraising and a steep hill to climb in terms of delegates. Sanders talked to reporters just a short time ago in Washington and he said for all the ways he and Clinton disagreed, there's one issue on which they speak with the same voice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Where Secretary Clinton and I strongly agree and where every delegate to the Democratic convention strongly agrees is that it would be a disaster for this country if Donald Trump or some other right-wing Republican were to become president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:05:21] BROWN: All right. Sanders formally kicked off his presidential campaign one year ago this weekend.

And I want to go back to Senator Jim Brulte. We have the connection reestablished. Hopefully we won't lose you again, Senator. I just want to go back to what I was asking about what we saw at the convention in California with those protests and nearly 20 people being arrested when Trump arrived. But how can someone who is so divisive unite the country during a general election in your view?

BRULTE: Well, first of all, California's used to presidential candidates running and if you're a Republican running for president in California and you don't get protested, you're doing something very, very wrong.

BROWN: But we didn't see those same kind of protests with the other candidates.

BRULTE: Well, you'll see them -- and they are occurring around the state. George W. Bush was protested when he campaigned in California. George Herbert Walker Bush was protested when he campaigned in California. There's some people here that protest Ted Cruz and John Kasich. And frankly, you know, there were over 6500 people signed up on Facebook to protest this weekend. And there weren't even a thousand.

You know, I'm from California. I have seen a lot of protests. And I thought it was a pretty weak one, frankly.

BROWN: Interesting. So you're basically saying look, this is to be expected. I want to play for you one of the first things Trump said when he took the stage at that convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: That was not the easiest entrance I've ever made. My wife called, she said, there are helicopters following you and we did -- then we went under a fence and through a fence. And oh boy. It felt like I was crossing the border actually. It's true. I was crossing the border but I got here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, so, Senator, he said this as hundreds of people were protesting his immigration policies right outside. You say these protests are to be expected. But when Trump says things like this, honestly, is he making your job of bringing new people to the Republican Party more difficult? What has it been like for you?

BRULTE: You know, my job is to be neutral and as I've said before, I'm not going to comment on the candidates or their campaigns. The delegates thought he was joking. It was only after that they got a chance to see the video that they knew he was telling the truth.

Let me tell you what the protesters did. The protesters really energized the delegates to our convention. Our delegates took energy off those protesters. And this is California. And not only is it California, this is the bay area of California. You know, our party is trying to grow itself everywhere. The bay area isn't traditionally Republican. We know that. We're here. We're happy.

Protesters can protest any time they want. We had a great convention. All three of our candidates did a great job. And, you know, frankly, I think the protesters did us a favor.

BROWN: But I understand that you're staying neutral in all of this as well. But has the rhetoric most recently from California from Donald Trump and perhaps other candidates impacted your ability to bring people to the Republican Party unite the Republican Party?

BRULTE: Actually, not at all. We have the largest attendance we have had at any convention in recent history. We're picking up anecdotal evidence from our county chairs that people are registering Republican who have never registered before. People who are Democrats and independents are registering Republican. The Democrat secretary of state from California has put out a memo to all of his county registrars saying anticipate a higher turnout.

And so this is energizing not only the delegates but Republicans here. Look, we've been at the end of the line for so long that we're not used to having our votes count. But right now, California may end up being determinant and that excites not only me as the chair and our delegate base, but I have rank and file neighbors who know who I am. We never talk politics, but they are talking about the presidential election.

So this is a very exciting time for California. And we're glad all three presidential candidates were at our convention and we're looking forward to seeing all three Republican presidential candidates compete up and down the state right up until June 7th.

BROWN: As you said, California could be make or break.

Jim Brulte, thank you so much for coming on. Appreciate it. Glad to have you back on after losing your connection earlier.

And coming up on this Sunday, President Obama literally drops the mike at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:10:04] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And with that, I just have two more words to say. Obama out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Plus Republicans, Democrats, no one was spared from the president's jokes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: You got to admit it, though. Hillary trying to appeal to young voters is a little bit like your relative who just signed up for Facebook. Dear America, did you get my poke? Is it appearing on --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Well, President Obama lampooned candidates from both parties at his last White House Correspondents' Dinner. And in many ways it was the president's final big show as comedian-in-chief. A chance to show off his sense of humor and take a few jabs at rivals and friends. And he even fired a powerful zinger at his former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. Take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: You got to admit it, though. Hillary trying to appeal to young voters is a little bit like your relative who just signed up for Facebook. Dear America, did you get my poke?

I am hurt, though, Bernie, that you have been distancing yourself a little from me. I mean, that's just not something that you do to your comrade.

Some candidates aren't polling high enough to qualify for their own joke tonight.

You see Donald lacks the foreign policy experience to be president. But in fairness, he has spent years meeting with leaders from around the world. Miss Sweden, Miss Argentina, Miss Azerbaijan.

And here's the thing. I haven't really done anything differently. So it's odd.

[17:15:02] Even my age can't explain the rising poll numbers. What has changed? Nobody can figure it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So how are people rating President Obama's final appearance as comedian-in-chief? Let's talk it over with political commentators Marc Lamont Hill and

Ben Ferguson who supports Ted Cruz. Also with me Democratic superdelegate Maria Cardona whose firm has done work with a pro- Clinton super PAC and Trump supporter Lou Gargiulo, a Republican delegate.

Thank you all for coming on. Can't wait to talk about this with you.

Marc, I'm going to start with you. I was at the dinner last night and it seemed like the crowd was really receptive to the president's jokes. There were a lot of laughs, a lot of people commenting about how his timing is impeccable. But you say Obama gets a C plus for his jokes.

Come on, only a C plus?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Only a C plus. Again, I'm not grading him against other presidents, I was rating his performance as he's done eight of them.

BROWN: Yes.

HILL: I think this was the worst of the eight. I think it was funny. I think he came out of the gate with guns blazing. I thought he did a great job with Hillary, CPT joke time. I thought that was amazing. I thought he had some good material. But I just thought some jokes died. I thought he had a great opportunity to really hit Trump hard and he didn't.

BROWN: Yes.

HILL: He pretended to be wrapping up the speech and said, no, I got more Trump material, and it was sort of flat. The John Boehner bit, I thought wasn't funny enough to be as long as it was. I just that he could have -- I was expecting a great performance tonight. It wasn't good as the other stuff.

BROWN: And to talk about what -- you know, about Donald Trump. There was a moment there where he said all right, and I just want to talk about the press corps. And he said, come on, you guys think I'm going to really wrap up this dinner and not talk about Trump. But as you point out, Marc, he really didn't talk about Trump perhaps as -- went after him as hard as people thought or talk about him as long as they thought.

Lou, were you surprised by that?

LOU GARGIULO, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Yes, I was. But I guess that he recognized Mr. Trump is doing quite well and he figured probably this wasn't the time. He wanted to see where the chips fall with the rest of the races.

BROWN: And he also went after him pretty hard a few years ago. So maybe he thought, you know, that's enough. I don't want to do it too much now.

GARGIULO: Yes.

BROWN: Ben, to you -- go ahead.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I was going to say if you're the president last night, it's hard to top when Donald Trump was in the audience a couple of years ago and he was literally the center of your attention with one-liners. I actually -- I can't believe I'm giving Barack Obama a better grade than Marc Lamont Hill that he's a Democrat. But I actually thought it was pretty funny with his mike drop at the end.

BROWN: Yes.

FERGUSON: I remember when George Bush 43 had his last White House Correspondents' Dinner, it's a way to kind of say, hey, here it is. I wrapped it all up. It's been fun being here for the last eight years, chatting with you, guys. I thought he did a pretty good job. And he hit on all different cylinders. Especially his own party.

You know, if you wanted some more Donald Trump jokes, he's probably like a lot of us, exhausted from talking about Donald Trump. He probably thought I'll give everybody -- a reporter in the room a break for a few minutes from having to cover it. And maybe that was his way of saying you're welcome.

BROWN: And he also gave a jab to the media saying you guys have given him enough coverage.

FERGUSON: Absolutely.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

BROWN: And -- you know, no one really was off limits, as you point out, Ben. He even took a jab at Hillary Clinton, Maria, mocking her lack of appeal to young voters, saying, what, it's similar to, you know, when a relative gets on Facebook and pokes you.

CARDONA: Yes.

BROWN: And Hillary took -- seems to take it in stride. She just tweeted out a couple of hours ago, "POTUS, nice job last night. Aunt Hillary approves."

CARDONA: I loved that.

BROWN: Hashtag, the White House Correspondents' Dinner. So what was your reaction to what he had to say about his former secretary of state?

CARDONA: I thought it was hilarious. And I think this is one of the reasons why I personally thought he crushed it. I can see what Marc is saying because he is so, so good every single year. This year maybe he was just so good. But I still think that he crushed. I noticed a little bit of melancholy maybe because it was his last year. Maybe that was why his level wasn't to the point that, you know, Marc points out, was normally the years past. But I thought that he didn't give anybody a pass. And that is what made it so hilarious including Hillary.

And I think that she -- you know, she handled it well. She has a great sense of humor. I'm sure she -- if she was watching it or when she watched it later, she was laughing. And I think that that is what gives this sort of a bit of a change in a time when we have such divisive, sometimes destructive rhetoric in our politics.

This was a year when everybody came together. CNN had one of the tables where you had Reince Priebus and Debbie Wasserman Schultz sitting almost next to each other. And you just don't see that in Washington enough.

BROWN: Yes. And you know, when it comes to Donald Trump, we were saying he didn't perhaps go after him as much as people thought, but he did, Lou, go after him when it comes to what he claimed was his lack of foreign policy experience and touting his former role as host of Miss Universe Pageant.

Just curious, I mean, can Donald Trump hears something like that, can he take a joke and laugh at himself?

[17:20:03] Because I remember a few years ago when the president went after him he was pretty stone faced throughout all of it.

GARGIULO: I think Mr. Trump can take a joke. And I think the real joke is that President Obama had no foreign policy experience either when he came into office. And I think that the point to Mr. Trump, he would construe his lack of foreign policy is kind of hysterical in that perspective.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Go ahead. OK. I'm going to jump in because we're looking at live pictures right here of Trump at his rally in Indiana. He seems unfazed by the poke at his foreign policy experience by the president last night.

And, you know, Larry Wilmore was put in a tough spot because the president's performance was rated so high. It seemed to be so well received. But I have to ask you, Marc, do you think the president seemed less but how would you rate Larry Wilmore's performance? It's debatable that some of his jokes were actually funny or just downright mean?

HILL: I think he was funny. I'd give him somewhere between a B or B plus.

BROWN: Higher than the president?

HILL: I think that --

BROWN: Hold on. Higher than the president.

HILL: Yes, higher than the president.

BROWN: Wow. HILL: I think this is honestly the first time I think President Obama

didn't upstage the comedian. Normally he does. If I were the comedian, I wouldn't want to go after Obama. He normally does so well. In the room, clearly President Obama did better than Larry Wilmore did.

BROWN: Yes.

HILL: The rumor is President Obama does better than Wilmore. But when I go -- when I look around the Internet, when I look at the response from other people, and when I just go about my own comedic sensibilities, I laughed at Larry Wilmore a lot more than I laughed at President Obama. I thought he had fewer stinkers. I thought he had some jokes that missed as well, but not nearly as many. I thought he was edge. I thought he made people uncomfortable. There were moments when people some would say he went too far, I think that's sometimes what a good comedian does.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: Yes, I don't.

FERGUSON: I thought --

BROWN: I know we all want to jump in on this. Ben, and then Maria, then we got to wrap up. Go ahead, Ben.

FERGUSON: I thought he actually had a terrible night. He looked like he was just mean spirited and wanted to settle the score with a bunch of ex-girlfriends in the crowd. It was awkward at times the way that he was trying to make things funny in a mean spirited way.

I think if -- look, if I had to buy a ticket for each -- you know, pick one of the people that were there last night, if I had to go to one room, it was Obama or one room goes to Larry, I would pick Obama because I thought he was much funnier. He was -- the room definitely responded, but I thought he went up there and was really mean spirited and most of the people in the audience I think were kind of like this is really awkward and that's the same way it came across on TV.

BROWN: Well, especially when he's going after someone as beloved as Wolf Blitzer.

CARDONA: Yes.

BROWN: There was a silence when he said that.

FERGUSON: Right.

BROWN: Maria, let's go to you.

CARDONA: I completely agree on that one, Pam. That one to me just completely fell flat. But I'll be -- I'll be sort of down the middle. I don't think that Larry was as funny as President Obama, but I'm also not going to go -- I'm not going to pan him because this is probably one of the hardest jobs that a comedian has no matter who you are, no matter how good you are to go after President Obama who is so good in and it of himself in his own comedic right is a tough thing to do.

I think that some of his jokes did fall flat in the room and perhaps they played better outside of Washington because people outside of Washington hate Washington so they probably liked that Larry was so pointed and sometimes, you know, very aggressive and it seemed in the room clearly over the top because a lot of those people were the brunt of his jokes. But that's what this night is all about and I think that's something that we can all celebrate.

BROWN: Yes. And you do have to be self-deprecating if you're in that room.

CARDONA: That's right. You have to.

BROWN: Because you never know if you're going to be the target.

All right, Marc Lamont Hill, Ben Ferguson, Lou Gargiulo and Maria Cardona, thank you for that fun discussion. Appreciate it.

GARGIULO: Thank you.

CARDONA: Thank you so much, Pam.

FERGUSON: Thank you.

BROWN: And much more on the White House Correspondents' Dinner coming up including President Obama joking about his own post-White House plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If this material works well, I'm going to use it at Goldman Sachs next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:27:45] BROWN: Well, you know how everyone says that American presidents age so quickly in office right before our eyes? Well, President Obama mentioned that and had some fun at his own expense at last night's White House Correspondents' Dinner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA: Eight years ago I was a young man. Full of idealism and vigor. And look at me now. I am gray, grizzled, just counting down the days until my death panel.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Hillary once questioned whether I would be ready for a 3:00 a.m. phone call. Now I'm awake any way because I have to go to the bathroom.

(LAUGHTER) OBAMA: Meanwhile Michelle has not aged a day. The only way you can date her in photos is by looking at me. Take a look. Here we are in 2008. Here we are a few years later. And this one is from two weeks ago.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: David Gergen joins me now to talk about this. David, you have advised five U.S. presidents going back to the Nixon administration. It seems President Obama typically gets props for his comic timing. Obviously he's very self-deprecating, but over the years, which other president has been really good at that event and who has not been so good?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that President Reagan was very, very good at telling jokes, of course. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush could deliver a joke. They were really good on the punch lines. But what that distinguishes President Obama is he's much more into pop culture and he's edgier and he has a sense of comedic timing that is -- I just think it's built in. He turns out to be a pretty funny guy.

It turns out that George W. Bush since leaving the White House is a much funnier guy than people thought. But Obama has turned on -- has used that humor to his advantage. I thought last night was one of his finest nights. And he'll be well remembered from his nostalgia. And frankly, there'll be a lot of people in the speech circuit who would be including Goldman Sachs who will probably going to want to hear him.

[17:30:08] BROWN: Yes. He made reference to Goldman Sachs last night.

GERGEN: Yes, he did.

BROWN: And --

GERGEN: Yes, he did.

BROWN: You know he's been -- he's earned the nickname comedian-in- chief as a result of how well he's done at these dinners. But I'm just curious, you know, when you were a White House adviser, how many times did you watch from the sidelines at this dinner and just cringe while your president was trying to get laughs and it just fell short?

GERGEN: I think sometimes President Ford had a little bit of trouble with this. But President Nixon was the one who really did not enjoy these dinners. You know, he hated the press for starters. He thought it was an ordeal to be there. So he wasn't exactly, you know, rolling and rollicking with humor. And he didn't like self-deprecating jokes anyway. So I think President Obama is right up there at the top of people who've done this over the years. He's done this with good humor and I just can't say how much these dinners have changed, though. And that's really important. It used to be more sedated affairs. There are more ceremonial. Bob

Hope used to be one of these main emcees for this kind of dinner. And now we've gone to these comedians, these stand-up comics, you know, like Larry Wilmore last night who was a lot more -- you know, a lot edgier. And I would say, you know, we've gone even to much more raucous and even raunchier dinners. And Harry Truman has been well observed would have walked out of one of these because he thinks it's below the dignity of the presidency.

But today, you know, we don't treat the presidency with as much reverence as we once did. And we like our presidents to be like President Obama in a sense of being as funny as he can be.

BROWN: You know, you do make a good point when you look at how this event has evolved. It started in the 1920s with a group of Washington correspondents, all men, like 60 of them or something like that.

GERGEN: Right.

BROWN: And now it's turned into this whole big, you know, nerd prom as they call, with celebrities and politicians.

GERGEN: Yes.

BROWN: And I wonder if the presidents really do want to come and be a part of this and then work -- you know, give their speeches. You mentioned one of the presidents kind of dreaded it. What else have you experienced in that regard? Do they like this? Do they not? Is it a hassle? Is it a burden? Just curious.

GERGEN: It's a high bar for a number of people. You're judged by how well you can joke. At this dinner it's something called the gridiron dinner, which is -- tends to be a smaller affair. It used to be mostly for writers -- journalists who were writers. It's expanded some. But, you know, one of the marks of how good a leader you're going to be is whether you can deliver punchy jokes and whether you can take -- have fun with yourself.

So it is -- a lot of presidents look forward to this with some dread. You know, they spend a lot of time with speech writers. There's a whole team of comedy writers who work with presidents behind the scenes and they begin this well before, you know, days and days. Sometimes weeks before the White House Correspondents' Dinner trying to figure out what the best punch lines are. Where you can go, where you can't go.

But often things are happening behind the scenes. You know, like bin Laden. You know, President Obama back in 2011 he had already ordered the bin Laden raid and he was up there telling jokes in the middle of all of this. I remember back in the Nixon days how Bob Woodward got a big exclusive coming out of the White House Correspondents' Dinner with some investigative types. So important things have happened at these dinners or at least have over the years.

BROWN: Yes. That raid was actually -- the Osama bin Laden was scheduled for the Saturday night of the dinner. GERGEN: Yes.

BROWN: So really, really remarkable. You know it's just -- you think as if it's not enough to run a country, on top of that you have to be funny and have impeccable timing.

GERGEN: Yes.

BROWN: Delivering jokes. David Gergen -- go ahead.

GERGEN: Yes, you've got to be able to mask what's really going on, too, you know. That's important.

BROWN: Yes. That's true.

GERGEN: You have to act like nothing else is going on. And in truth, behind the scenes some pretty important things go down.

BROWN: All those officials at that dinner five years ago knew that this raid was about to happen, but they just had to kind of play it cool.

GERGEN: Absolutely.

BROWN: David Gergen, thank you so much for coming on.

GERGEN: Thank you.

BROWN: Really interesting perspective.

GERGEN: OK, Pam. Take care.

BROWN: And coming up, Donald Trump may be inspiring a new wave of Latino activism with comments like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Boy, it felt like I was crossing the border actually. You know? It's cool. I was crossing the border. But I got here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:37:19] BROWN: Well, it's been nearly a year since Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign. At the same time, he immediately courted controversy with his salvo against Mexicans living illegally in the U.S. as well as his pledge to build a wall on the border and make Mexico pay for it. Well, that sparked a wave of protests that continue to this day as we see. But it also gave rise to a different group of Latino activists. Those who support Trump.

CNN's Nick Valencia has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: We went under a fence and through a fence, and, oh, boy, it felt like I was crossing the border actually.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You've heard it before, the controversial comment on immigration by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

TRUMP: They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.

VALENCIA: It's remarks like this about Mexico that's inspired a new wave of Latino activism, both for and against the candidate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

VALENCIA: At the Trump event in Janesville, Wisconsin, in March, we meet Miguel Fajardo, an adamant Trump supporter.

(On camera): What do you say to those, Miguel, who are going to watch this and say I cannot believe that he's supporting Donald Trump? What do you say to those people?

MIGUEL FAJARDO, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Those people, because people -- that's illegal in the United States. They're called the illegal immigrants.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Fajardo says he emigrated from Mexico to the U.S., quote, "the right way, legally." Now a U.S. citizen, he says Trump has empowered him, emboldened him even to speak up and speak out against illegal immigration.

FAJARDO: Yes, build the wall. And have people come in the right way. You have to come in the right way.

JOSE FLORES, ACTIVIST: I can't believe the Latino people support Donald Trump because those peoples, they forgot where they come from, you know.

VALENCIA: For the Flores family, with Donald Trump surging in the polls, they say it is a battle of survival. While their four children were born in the U.S., parents Jose and Maria entered the country illegally. Under a Trump presidency, they fear their family will be broken up.

Because of Trump, the Flores family and many others like them have stepped up their activism for undocumented immigrants. In an act of symbolism and pride, they say, at rallies, they wave both the Mexican and American flags.

LESLIE FLORES, ACTIVIST: I think that everyone just wants to be proud of where they came from, but also wants to be a part of the United States.

J. FLORES: And (INAUDIBLE) we are united.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The future president of the United States, Mr. Donald J. Trump. VALENCIA: Should Trump actually become the next president, he will

likely do so with the help of Latinos, something Mexican supporter Miguel Fajardo says won't be a problem.

[17:40:03] FAJARDO: He's the only one who can open the door and take out all the bad stuff in the White House.

VALENCIA: The Flores family couldn't disagree more.

J. FLORES: I want to send a message to Donald Trump. My childrens make America great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not Donald Trump.

J. FLORES: Not Donald Trump.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Very poignant message there from Jose Flores saying his children make America great, not him -- not Donald Trump, I should say. Without question in 2016, Donald Trump has inserted immigration as a defining issue in the presidential cycle. Of the 11 million documented immigrants in this country, Latinos make up more than half. And at 17 percent of the overall U.S. population, Latinos are now present in every state. They are the largest minority group in half of those states.

Latinos have the capacity of course to reshape the American political system and they are certainly using their voices to be more vocal both for and against Donald Trump -- Pamela.

BROWN: Interesting report there, Nick Valencia, thank you for that.

And coming up here in the NEWSROOM, unlocking San Quentin on "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA." Comedian and host W. Kamau Bell joins me live with a preview of tonight's brand new episode about life inside the notorious prison.

And also premiering tonight, a brand new episode of "ANTHONY BOURDAIN: PARTS UNKNOWN," featuring a surprising culinary side to Chicago. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST: Look, I knew Chicago was a city of very diverse neighborhoods. Everybody says so. But this I didn't know about. Now I do.

(On camera): So where are we and why are we -- why are we here? I have to say I'm really glad we're here, but why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're at Sechuan Cuisine, so after going in China, we were just talking about that (INAUDIBLE) was my favorite place. But Peter has never actually been to (INAUDIBLE). And so coming back, it was like let's go to Chinatown and try to find places to find those things we eat for breakfast every day.

BOURDAIN (voice-over): Pork dumplings and chili oil. Start the fire.

(On camera): They're slippery.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been awhile. These chopsticks are thin. It's not big and fat. Just do this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought you're not supposed to do that. Peter, you're supposed to help me know (INAUDIBLE).

BOURDAIN: Yes. So happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: You can catch that episode tonight at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:46:11] BROWN: Well, America's prison population numbers in the millions. And to most people they are just that, numbers. But this week on CNN's new original series, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA," W. Kamau Bell visits California's San Quentin prison to hear the story of one man behind those numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST: And can I ask you how did you end up in San Quentin, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was arrested in 1996 for a series of bank robberies in San Diego.

BELL: You don't seem like u a bank robber.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. I robbed a bank before.

BELL: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the lady said, are you serious?

BELL: How did you do it? What was your process?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The FBI gave me the moniker the "Brown Bag Bandit."

BELL: You got a moniker. You got a name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So these -- that's cool. I still got the bag.

BELL: No -- OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not the real bag. BELL: OK. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I have something like this. Right? And I just write in like red marker. I have a bomb. Put the money in the bag. And she would just open it up, put in a bunch of 50s and 20s, and then I walk out of the bank.

BELL: Wow. Who was the person that you were back then who decided to rob a bank? How did you get to that decision? How did you get to that place?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a part of that process that I look into myself to try to figure that out because I don't see myself as a bank robber.

BELL: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why was I doing that? One of the tellers that I robbed came in and testified against me, and was crying on the stand and told me that terrified her whole life.

BELL: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And right there, I was like -- you know, it kind of hit me knowing that I just ruined this woman's life. That's because of what I did.

BELL: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, but I couldn't process that the way I'm processing it right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, W. Kamau Bell joins me now from right outside of that prison.

We spoke yesterday and you had the screening of the episode last night at the prison at San Quentin. So, first of all, how was it received among the prisoners that you spoke with that are in this?

BELL: Well, you know what? I have never been so nervous for a screening in my life, Pam. I was really worried that if it didn't go well, maybe it wouldn't go well for me. But thankfully they really appreciated it. I think we worked hard to make sure that their stories were told as you saw with one who's been a bank robber. We showed a lot in that clip. We showed him -- us laughing and sort of having a connection about the thing. But then his remorse at the end of the clip about terrifying the teller he robbed. So that's a lot of what the show is. We're presenting them as humans as they are.

BROWN: Right. You know, it was interesting because he seemed to be sort of reflective on that. Like I don't know who that guy is. I'm trying to figure out why I was that guy. But people watching this tonight what do you think that they will be surprised by or learn from the show? BELL: Well, I mean, I think they'll be surprised by the things I was

surprised by. The men I met are more self-reflective and self- critical than most of the people I know on the outside. And because San Quentin has the most rehab programs in the state of California, they're working on their job skills but also their life skills to prepare themselves hopefully one day be paroled from prison but for many of them there's not that -- they don't feel like, they're not that optimistic about it.

BROWN: Well, your show and a lot of your comedy pokes fun at race and politics and issues that can be uncomfortable to talk about. I want to ask your opinion as a comedian about President Obama's final White House Correspondents' Dinner and jokes like this one. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Although while in England I did have lunch with Her Majesty the Queen. Took in a performance of Shakespeare. Hit the links with David Cameron. Just in case anybody is still debating whether I'm black enough, I think that settles the debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Even poked fun at Prince George. So what was your reaction when you watched and heard some of those jokes? How do you think the president did?

BELL: I mean, I'm a little bit worried that he's going to get into comedy full time, quite frankly. I think he's --

[17:50:03] BROWN: I know. He could be a competitor.

BELL: He's one of America's greatest comedians. He could be a competitor and as Larry Wilmore said I wouldn't be that good at presidenting so stay in your lane, President Obama.

BROWN: All right. That says it all.

W. Kamau Bell, thank you so much for that.

BELL: Thank you.

BROWN: And don't forget W. Kamau Bell takes you inside San Quentin on "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" tonight at 10:00 on CNN.

Quick break. We'll be right back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In today's "Fit Nation," for many of us, the tallest skyscrapers in the world are stunning marvels of architecture. But for others, every big building is just another opportunity to race.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tower run. It's a growing sport where people race up staircases of the world's tallest buildings.

LISA ZEIGEL, PRO STAIR CLIMBER: You have to train to avoid a pain because you're going to feel a lot of pain in a race.

GUPTA: Lisa Zeigel ran her first race 15 years ago. Days after September 11th.

ZEIGEL: We felt that it was important to show that we weren't afraid. I could only think of the people going down the stairs and the horror of it. But when we got to the top, it was just like no other feeling I've ever experienced.

GUPTA: She was hooked. Now at age 57, she's ranked seventh in the United States and 21st in the world.

[17:55:06] ZEIGEL: The Empire State Building is the ultimate race. You get up into the stairs and you try not to look at the floors. It's just the feeling of accomplishment, just self-affirmation.

I would like to keep doing this into my 80s, 90s. I just want to go all over the world and keep doing this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: That is impressive.

Well, coming up, don't miss CNN's Peter Bergen right here next hour with a behind-the-scenes look at his exclusive interview with President Obama airing tomorrow on the five-year anniversary of the raid to kill Osama bin Laden. The president speaks from the situation room about that operation.

You won't want to miss the "ANDERSON COOPER 360" special, "WE GOT HIM: PRESIDENT OBAMA, BIN LADEN, AND THE FUTURE OF THE WAR ON TERROR." That's Monday at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN.

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Top of the hour now. It's 3:00 in Los Angeles. 5:00 in La Port, Indiana, and 6:00 in the evening right here in Washington, D.C. where I am. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Pamela Brown in for Poppy Harlow on this Sunday.

And we begin in Indiana. That's a state that's feeling the full weight of the Republican race. Voters there head to the polls on Tuesday and their votes are critical in securing Donald Trump the nomination outright. Just 235 delegates stand between Trump and the title of nominee. And both he and Senator Ted Cruz know how much is riding on this week's primary. The two made their final cases --