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Trump Hopes for Knockout in Indiana; Olympic Flame Arrives in Brazil; Trump's Message; Heroic Airmen Save Babies from Burning Building. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired May 3, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:22] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Will you support his candidacy if he, Donald Trump, gets the delegates before Cleveland?

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Dana, nobody's going to get to 1,237. I'm not going to get to it, but neither is Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: There you -- there you go, Ted Cruz is pulling out all of the stops in Indiana in what could be his last chance to stop Donald Trump from reaching the 1,237 mark to clinch the Republican nomination.

Joining us now to discuss this, former New Hampshire governor and former chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush, and former Romney advisor, John Sununu.

Good morning, governor.

JOHN SUNUNU, FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNOR: How are you today?

CAMEROTA: I'm doing well. Thank you for being here.

So is today, is Indiana, Ted Cruz and John Kasich and anyone's last chance to stop Donald Trump?

SUNUNU: Well, it seems like every week is a critical week in this -- in this crazy primary season, but Indiana is obviously very crucial. Indiana and California are probably the last two very significant important states determining who does go to the convention, either with a majority or without a majority.

CAMEROTA: So, if Donald Trump wins today in Indiana, then is he going to get to the 1,237 or do you agree with Ted Cruz that he is not going to reach the 1,237?

SUNUNU: Well, if he gets Indiana today, he's -- he's quite close to getting to the 1,237. I suspect he probably won't quite reach it, but at that point he may be arguably at a point where an appeal for unity might get him the last couple of dozen votes when he gets there. I do know that, as you talked to the states around the country, the

party leaders are making plans for the two contingencies now, where before they were hoping that it would not be Trump. They're now making plans, if it is Trump and if it isn't Trump. And the biggest concern they have, of course, are the down ballot candidates, governors and senators and folks in Congress and the state legislatures, and they're concerned about whether or not Trump can bring out enough Republican votes to at least help those candidates not lose to their opposition.

CAMEROTA: Look, governor, you've been very honest about how you were not in the Trump camp, and that you believed in the efforts to try to stop Trump. Are you now getting your arms around the possibility, the very real possibility that he could soon be the nominee?

SUNUNU: Well, I believe in numbers, and the numbers keep piling in, and so you have to deal with that. You have to deal with the situation that's real, not the situation that you wish occurred. And I want the Republican Party to come out of this election with a victory. My biggest concern in the past about Donald Trump was that I felt very strongly that he could not beat Mrs. Clinton. I still feel that way. But at this point, I think it's important for me and for others who care about this party to make plans to deal with the fact that if he does get the nomination, it's going to be a very different campaign than we've ever seen. I think you're going to see probably a multitude of get out the vote efforts, rather than relying on a single party effort. I think you're going to see candidates trying to figure out almost district by district how close or how far they go from Mr. Trump, if he is at the top of the ticket. And I think you're going to see a much more artful handling of support and non-support as they go into November than you've ever seen in any other presidential race.

CAMEROTA: That's interesting, because we're already seeing evidence of this. Establishment -- Republican establishment figures who had either been on the sidelines or had been vocally anti-Trump are -- now do seem to be warming to him. Just to list some, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn has come around, Congress Mark Sanford is speaking differently, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, Senator Orrin Hatch. Let me read to you what he has said. "I think he," meaning Trump, "can be great, if he'll get serious about being president, and I think he will. He's a clever, smart guy who will want to be remembered for doing great things. I have a feeling he can make that transition." Are you as confident as Senator Orrin Hatch?

[08:35:34] SUNUNU: Look, I think what you're hearing is people recognizing that they've got to deal with the reality. And certainly going into a general election in November, you try and minimize the rents (ph) and the differences within a party. That's what Orrin's doing. Each one of us will have to search for language that provides both political unification, if you will, of the party, and still satisfies our internal concerns. That's the struggle we're all going through. And we're going to have to, if it turns out to be Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, we're going to have to figure out how to deal with it probably on an individual basis.

CAMEROTA: And are you prepared to do that, governor? Do you have the dictionary for what that language would sound like coming out of your mouth?

SUNUNU: I think can handle it. Look, I have said I will vote for the Republican ticket top to bottom. I've said that all along. And if Trump is the nominee, I'll cast my vote for him. But I am just concerned that there's a lot of Republicans out there that may not do the same. And what you're hearing from Corker and Hatch and others is an effort to try and make sure those Republicans stay with the fold so that we don't lose the Senate, we don't lose the governors and we don't lose the Congress.

CAMEROTA: Governor John Sununu, we always appreciate talking to you on NEW DAY. Thank you.

SUNUNU: Thanks, Alisyn. Have a great day.

CAMEROTA: You too.

Let's get over to Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Whatever you're doing, just stop for a quick second and take a look at this. This is a burning building, a desperate decision. A hair-raising rescue. That person just fell, but it's what happened when that kid came close to the ground. Who saved them? How did they save them? A real hero is with us, and you're going to him from him in just a second.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:18] CUOMO: If you want to know only five things today, here are the five things to know for your new day.

Donald Trump declaring the race is over if he wins the Indiana primary tonight. Ted Cruz vowing to forge ahead, as long as he sees a path to the nomination.

Things much tighter on the Democratic side. Bernie Sanders urging voters to turn out in droves, while Clinton looks to shut out Sanders with a big win in the Hoosier state.

A second day of teacher sick-outs has shut down at least 94 of Detroit's 97 public schools today. Teachers are furious after being told there's not enough money to pay them past June.

Starbucks hit with a lawsuit for allegedly under filling its iced drinks. A Chicago woman wants them to pay as much as $5 million to folks who have bought an iced drink in the last decade. Starbucks says this suit has no merit.

The sports upset to end all upsets. Leicester City capturing England's Premiere League soccer title in the face of, wait for it, 5,000 to one odds. And they did it Monday without even stepping onto the pitch. They clinched the championship when Chelsea tied Tottenham 2-2.

For more on the five things to know, go to newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: You're no Michaela, but well done, Chris. You'll do.

CUOMO: Oh, that stings, but true.

CAMEROTA: That's right.

All right, in less than an hour, the Olympic flame begins the first leg of the three month cross-country journey to the 2016 Rio games. But trouble in Brazil threatens to overshadow the games. CNN's international correspondent Shasta Darlington is live in Brasilia with more.

Hi, Shasta.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

That's right, any minute now President Dilma Rousseff should be emerging in the doorway right behind me with the flame. And yet I've got to tell you, it's not lost on all the crowds here that she may not even be the president as early as next week if she's forced to step down and face an impeachment trial. Olympic organizers are hoping, though, that the torch relay, which begins today, will really spark some of that Olympic fever here in Brazil, diverting attention from the political and economic woes. Today we're going to see some of Brazil's beloved athletes carrying the torch. Some volleyball players, surf champion Gabriel Medina, as well as a 12-year-old Syrian refugee girl, one of 2,000 Syrian refugees welcomed here into the country.

And this is just the beginning. This is a 95-day tour around the country. The torch will visit some 300 cities and towns. So about 90 percent of the population is actually going to have the chance to get close to it, to participate. Of course if they choose to. An exciting moment here in Brazil.

Back to you guys.

CAMEROTA: OK, Shasta, thanks so much for that.

CUOMO: All right, let's see if you can name this.

CAMEROTA: Go ahead.

CUOMO: He says they rushed, brushed and attacked, but then he rebuked and had to snack. That's what Donald Trump says about his opponents. He says they're coming at him from all angles. But it doesn't matter. You know why? He's got the message that connects. The case to be made, when we come back.

CAMEROTA: You're a poet, and you know it.

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[08:48:10] CUOMO: All right, one of the main divisions going on in both parties right now when it comes to Donald Trump is, I don't like what he says versus, I like exactly what he says. So let's break down what it is about the message that's resonating and what's a cause for concern.

Mark Preston, CNN Politics executive editor, here to do exactly that.

Good to see you, my friend.

So people who say, he's rude, he's crude, I wouldn't let my kids talk like that, what are they missing about the appeal of the message and how it's delivered by Donald Trump?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, Chris, let's talk about three important traits that Donald Trump has effectively used so far in this campaign. Tone. He projects confidence. Whenever Donald Trump is on stage or in an interview, he never backs down. He's always confident in what he says. His cadence, he simplifies the message to a point where it -- it is very, very easy to understand and he's unscripted. When he stands on stage and he's before a rally, he is able to talk in a way that is acceptable to the audience and understandable for the audience. He simplifies the message into bite- sized bits of information that people can rally around.

CUOMO: All right, let's take an example of where what he says and where it often leads him and what the catch can be. Here's a little taste of our most recent interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): We're going to keep jobs in this country.

CUOMO: How?

TRUMP: We're not going to have Carrier air conditioning think they're going to move to Mexico, make air conditioners, send them back here, lost all these jobs.

CUOMO: How?

TRUMP: Pay no tax when they send and hurt our country. So that's not going to happen.

CUOMO: How?

TRUMP: So we're going to do that. But, you know the other thing -- well, how? It's very simple. We're going to put -- we're going to make them pay. There's going to be consequences. You're not just going to take your company, move to Mexico, make air conditions and now start selling them in our country and not have consequences. The consequences are a tariff or a tax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: OK, two things. First, "Hamilton" got 16 Tony nominations. It just came out. That's a record. Huge. It's the best thing going in politics right now. Put that to the side. [08:50:06] Then, why did I ask him how so many times? In truth, Mark,

as you know, the phone is tricky. I wanted to make sure he heard me.

PRESTON: Right.

CUOMO: It wasn't about hectoring him. But that said, he does like to give you the slip as well as any of them. But he goes from a big claim, I'm bringing back jobs, how, oh, a tax or a tariff. That's Congress. That's not even the executive. How does he wind up keeping momentum when the promise and how he's going to do it don't exactly match up?

PRESTON: Because he simplifies the message and he does it in a way where he puts all of the blame on Washington and he has been, not only to the Obama administration, but stretching back to the Bush administration. He also projects this tough guy image. Something that he says that we haven't seen here in Washington.

You know, I went back, Chris, and I looked at polling over the past two months. Right now seven in 10 Americans, about seven in ten Americans, think the country is going in the wrong direction. So when you have Donald Trump go out there and say that he is going to make sure jobs stay in the country, that's a very appealing message. If you look at the congressional approval rating right now, or rather disapproval rating, 78 percent of Americans disapprove of how Congress is handling its job. Donald Trump only has to appeal in a way that will draw these people to support him.

CUOMO: So what do you think the balance is between Trump bringing in these people you're talking about, these disaffected, with the damage that he does presume with Latinos, with women, with moderate people on the independent side? How do you see the balance?

PRESTON: I see that. It has worked well for him in a primary, in a Republican primary, where he's appealing to a certain segment of the Republican Party. But as we head down the road into the general election, assuming he's the nominee, he has got to moderate his language. When he talks about Hillary Clinton playing the woman card, for instance, that's kind of a weak argument in the sense that most people would support Hillary Clinton playing the woman card when it comes to issues such as equal pay and what have you. And you cannot, you cannot, you cannot, you cannot alienate a growing population such as Latinos here in this country when you're talking about getting them out and building a great wall across the southern border.

CUOMO: That's interesting, what he says versus what people hear.

Mark Preston, thank you very much for making things clearer, as always.

Alisyn.

PRESTON: Thanks, Chris.

CAMEROTA: OK, we have to show everyone this incredible video. This is three children, one by one, being dropped from the fourth floor of a burning building. Believe it or not, this story ends well. And we will find out how from one of the American heroes who saved the day. We'll speak with him, next.

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[08:56:34] CAMEROTA: Wait till you see this "Good Stuff" because this video is heart-stopping. Watch this. OK, that is children. That's one child.

CUOMO: They're just kids.

CAMEROTA: One after another being dropped four stories from a burning building into a crowd below. The daring rescue was orchestrated by U.S. airman from the Kunsan (ph) air base in South Korea. They saved three children and their moms. One of those heroic men, Air Force Master Sergeant Daniel Raimondo joins us now via Skype from South Korea.

Sergeant, you are the man of the hour. Oh, my gosh, when I watch this video, it just makes me break out in hives. Tell us about the scene, when you saw this burning building and you showed up.

MASTER SGT. DANIEL RAIMONDO, SAVED FAMILY FROM BURNING BUILDING: Yes, it was just -- just like that, you know, walking through the street, getting ready to go get some dinner and lo and behold there was some smoke in the close proximity where I was. And I just headed in that direction.

CUOMO: What made you think that the -- give us the blanket idea, where it came from, what gave you confidence in it, how you executed it?

RAIMONDO: Well, first, when we got to the area, it was like, there was no screaming coming out of the building, so we felt like it was a -- that was a good sign, you know, that everybody was out, because naturally you would think a fire in the building, you're going to hear a lot of screaming, and that wasn't the case. And then low and behold, after a few short moments, there was some screaming coming out of the fourth and fifth floor of the building. So we just ran up to the -- to the building.

And then at that point, after one woman had shimmied down the side along a plastic tubing and came falling down to the ground, we retrieved her and brought her to a -- to a safe haven.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my God.

RAIMONDO: And the next thing we know, that's when we heard the baby screaming out the window and her mother. And that's when me and another individual just started to have a really quick discussion about, what do we do? There's no -- you know, there's not -- this baby that's going to jump out of the -- out of the window and we're going to be able to catch her, because we're talking four to five stories. So during that conversation, a blanket came out of the conversation and we ran to one of the most popular things purchased in that area, homemade (ph) blanket.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my.

RAIMONDO: So one individual ran into the store where I followed him and we came out with a blanket and unraveled it. As we're unraveling it, a bunch of other, you know, people in the vicinity came to the rescue and we moved towards the building and lo and behold after contemplating with the mother for a few moments, please throw your baby, please throw your baby, she did just that. She threw the baby.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh.

RAIMONDO: And that's --

CAMEROTA: I was going to ask you that, how hard it was to persuade the moms to drop the baby out the window because, you know, that's so counter intuitive.

RAIMONDO: Yes, I mean it was quite difficult, especially when you look at the video, the last baby was the most difficult in my eyes. She just wouldn't let her go for some reason and I just remember looking at her and through all the turmoil and through all the commotion going on, I just begged her and pleaded her to please just throw the baby down, please just throw her down. And I just remember her screaming at the baby, I love you, I love you, I love you. The next thing you know, she -- she dropped the baby. And she --

CUOMO: How hard was it to catch them in that blanket?

RAIMONDO: What's that?

CUOMO: How hard was it to catch them in the blanket?

RAIMONDO: Well, the children, it wasn't so -- it wasn't so difficult because, obviously, they're -- I believe them to be like maybe two, three and four years old. So they were quite small. And there was quite a few people holding the blanket. So it was just a matter of -- when the first one came down, she bounced a little bit off the blanket into the front of it and that's where in the video you'll see me grabbing her and then running her to a -- taking her to a safe location. And then obviously coming back to the scene to where lo and behold another baby is getting ready to be thrown out the window and then another one.