Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20160504

Clinton tells cnn that trump with a loose canon and says americans cant take a chance on him in november. Im wolf blitzer, youre in the situation room. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Breaking news with ted cruz out of the race and the Republican Party declaring donald trump its presumptive nominee were standing by for a major announcement any moment now by the Ohio Governor john kasich. Sources say he decided this morning to drop out of the president ial race, telling friends that his heart is not in it. With donald trump now set to become the standard bearer of the party that he has left badly divided i went to trump tower in new york to sit down with the presumptive nominee. He says the general Election Campaign has already started and he talks about his call for a ban on muslims in the United States and how he would handle what he calls russias lack of respect. Hillary clinton has already shifted her focus to the general election, that means shes battling sanders and trump at the same time and she tells cnn that if trump wants to run a negative bullying campaign against her, shes ready. Our correspondents, analysts and guests will have full coverage of all the days top stories as we stand by for the announcement by john kasich that hes quitting the race lets go to Phil Mattingly joining us from columbus, ohio. Tell us how all of this came about. Reporter wolf, as of this morning john kasich was actually boarding a plane at the columbus airport to head down to washington, d. C. For the start of a string of finance events, his campaign determined to fight on as of last night, determined to keep raising money and determined to take donald trump on oneonone. It was inside the plane where john kasich talking to friends, talking to to advisors just decided that he didnt have the heart to go on, had a meeting with his top staff, starting spreading the word, canceled the trip to washington and will now in a couple of minutes show up here in columbus, about three miles away from the state house announcing he is going to suss spent his campaign. This will bring an end to a campaign that frustrated a number of top republicans, most notably ted cruz but one that kasich was committed to continuing on. He assumed could they get to a brokered convention he would be the candidate the Republican Party would start to gravitate towards maybe on that second or third ballot. Last night after indiana that type of event seemed so far off, so out of the realm of possibility that john kasich decided its time to pull the plug. He is about to make that announcement momentarily, we will have live reaction. As we await for john kasichs remarks lets bring in three of our political experts, easy cup, our politics executive editor mark preston and jeffrey tubin. Mark, let me start with you, governor kasich, he was really not only third he was in fourth place as far as delegates are concerned. Why did he wait until now to drop out . I think last night he saw some sliver of a path that potentially he could be the one that would take this to a contested convention and he would come out on top, however, i think as the reality set in overnight we saw the Republican National committee come out almost immediately last night once we saw ted cruz drop out of the race and they described donald trump as a presumptive nominee, as much as they pushed back against this last night, that being the kasich people, i think this morning they realized it was time to step out and from what we understand from our reporting right now as phil has done on the ground as well as some of our colleagues throughout the network, wolf, the idea was that this was john kasichs decision. He didnt have the heart in it and he just decided to turn that plane around and stay back in ohio. Do we have any indication, mark, whether or not he will formally endorse the republican presumptive nominee, that would be donald trump . Well, look, i think at this point that he will probably hold his powder, he will hold his cards as close adds he can to his vest. He now has something very powerful that donald trump needs, his endorsement, specifically because he represents the state of ohio and the fact of the matter is a republican hasnt won the white house without having won ohio. He could be a big player for donald trump and in john kasichs mind you have to be wondering, wolf, if he wants to see how donald trump carries himself over the coming weeks as he goes into the convention whether he will actually get behind him. It was really hard i assume for kasich to continue once Reince Priebus the chairman of the Republican Party last night tweeted out its over, the presumptive nominee is trump. Yeah, theres some face saving going on here. Some might wonder if this is a little late to save face and might wonder if both for ted cruz and john kasich if youre planning to go all the way, no matter what, then why drop out now, just go all the way, make the point and make keep donald trump from clinching the nomination, but i think at this point the writing was on the wall and john kasich realized theres just theres nowhere else to go. He really did not have the votes, he didnt have the delegates, he really was not doing well in this contest so far. Jeffrey, we will have my interview with donald trump, i was over at trump tower earlier today, thats coming up, but this relationship that kasich might have with donald trump, what kind of relationship do they have . Well, one thing that was distinctive about kasich compared to basically any of the other republican candidates is that he never attacked trump personally. The other candidates said things about donald trump that Hillary Clinton is already today using in an ad, but theres nothing from kasich because kasich tried to run a positive campaign. We see where it got him. I mean, its worth pointing out that he really did terribly as a candidate other than in ohio. He just did absolutely no business anywhere else, but he did maintain a relationship with donald trump which may lead to an offer of the vice presidency, it may lead to, you know, support from ohio. Here he comes right now. The governor of ohio. Lets listen in. Thank you. [ applause ] well, thank you all for coming. Well, of course, the first thing i have to do is to thank migr m great wife karen for the fact that she has has i mean, she has endured my political career and also of course accentuated it. Theres nobody like karen. Shes charismatic, she walks into a room and people fall in love with her. You know, when she appeared on anderson cooper, john weaver commented and beth hanson commented that if we had only run karen, we would have been a lot more successful. I happen to agree with that. And, you know, em and reese showed up, theyre beautiful and theyve been so supportive and theyve traveled with me around the country as well and it was always such a delight to have the family on the road and as their principal had said, dont let education get in the way of learning and i think that they learned a great deal, and of course i want to thank the worth i think ton christian staff and particularly buzz and bodien and their patience to kind of look after our family. It was terrific. Our staff, nobody has ever done more with less in the history of politics than what the staff has done. I mean, its kind of always been this way. Its been a mystery to me other than to say that i like to think that they think that theyve been part of something bigger than themselves, and we all want to be part of something bigger than ourselves, and i think we do it with honesty and integrity and as a result i think i know and i sure hope and pray that they feel that this experience that they have had in this in this campaign has improved and in some way changed their lives for the better. So im looking forward to being able to spend more time with them. The volunteers, just amazing. I dont know how many, 800 people we had, is it 800 people that went to New Hampshire, people who went to michigan, people were in South Carolina. I mean, i would show up places and there were like people i knew and im like, why are you here . But they were they were believers. And i could never thank them enough. For the long car rides and in the snows of New Hampshire they knocked on doors and in the rain of South Carolina they knocked on doors. They really gave of themselves. My mother used to always say never forget the volunteers, johnny, and they were always the ones that have given me the octane, the fuel, to be able to carry out my purpose, and i want to thank the people who gave the money, the financial resources. We never had all the money we wanted, we were probably outspent by 50 to 1, but we were never ever daunted in that and we just got up every day and did the best we can and of course a big thank you goes to beth hanson who was the Campaign Manager and did everything that she could possibly do. [ applause ] and my dear, dear friend doug price who [ applause ] well, we start getting into these names, but as i mentioned, i think emma said, mr. Doug, didnt you travel with my daddy for like a year and a half . And reese looked at him and said, how did you ever do that . But we had a great time and were going to have a lot more fun in the future and of course the Kitchen Cabinet i look at Joanne Davidson and bob clavky and tim tragepi, the only person i knew who carried more luggage than an entire circus crew. I know im leaving people out but i want to thank every one of you. I visited these beautiful, beautiful towns in New Hampshire and people had really counted me out in New Hampshire, but when we hit our 100th town hall it was it was remarkable. Those beautiful towns. I will never forget the people of New Hampshire. We moved from New Hampshire, you know, in the far east all the way to the excitement of california, even being able to sit in traffic in los angeles. It was a big part of and i just love california and what it means to our country and the excitement that it breeds. I remember we were in the Upper Peninsula of michigan. Never knew where it was, heard about it all my lifetime, i never knew that it was actually located above wisconsin. We landed and i remember everybody was looking at their phones and i said would you all please put down your phone because this is a winter wonderland. This is magical what were seeing here, what the good lord has given us. To the energy of miami beach, florida, for one of the last debates and, you know, it was interesting, they didnt think i could make any debate and i made all 13 of them, in fact, won a couple of them. As for my beloved ohio, the people here, i cannot tell you how much i appreciate the opportunity that youve given me to be a leader in this state. The people of ohio have given me the greatest professional experience of my lifetime. Ive tried to pay them back and last night in cleveland a woman, africanamerican woman, said, you made promises and you kept them and thats why im here tonight, because i believe in you. That you brought our people together. Well, it only happened because the people gave me a chance and everywhere i went in america, everywhere i went in america, i told the people about our beautiful beloved state and held ohio high, and i think gave people an impression from one end of america to the other that ohio is a special place and i expect were going to have more visits as a result. I marv eld at my colleagues that held public office, they knocked on doors and made phone calls. These are people who came from the legislature. When you are an executive and you have to deal with the legislature its not always its not always peaches and cream, but yet these legislators, the leaders, the speaker of the house, the president of the senate, some of my statewide colleagues like the attorney general, just incredible that they would have come out and honored me. Frankly, i was so humbled by the fact that they that they came and they and they love me. They encouraged me. The people of our country changed me. They changed me with the stories of their lives. We all remember that hug in South Carolina from that young man who had found despair and then found hope somehow and he just wanted to give me a hug and the country marvelled, but, you know, that was one of a series of these things that had happened. A gentleman showed up in New Hampshire, he said, i dont think ive warned my son enough about the dangers of a certain type of cancer and now he has it and im blaming myself and he put his arm around me and cried and i said, sir, its not your fault. You didnt do anything wrong. You are a great father. You come here all the way from new york to tell me about this. Take the load off of your shoulders. He wrote us a letter saying that that little conversation made a difference with him and when we went to new york months later standing at the rope line was that man. He said, i want you to know my son is doing much better and i wanted to be here to thank you for taking the time with me. We were in a hall in michigan and a woman stood up and showed a picture of her son who had taken his life. We talked about faith, talked about her son and where he was and everybody in that hall embraced that woman and made her feel that she was not alone. See, stories like this occurred all across our country. And i think its frankly because for whatever reason that god gave me the grace to make people feel safe and comfortable and they came to these town halls which were they were absolutely magic. You know, ive learned something, folks, everyone here, that we all need to slow down our lives, slow down our lives and listen to those who are around us. Look, let me be clear, we all know that Economic Growth is imperative to the success of our country. Economic growth gives people an opportunity to realize many of their hopes and dreams in life and without a job the family is weaker, the community is weaker, the neighborhood is weaker, the state suffers and our country struggles. And i can tell you that Economic Growth can be achieved by our Public Officials if they just do their job, but they have to ignore polls. They cant focus on focus groups and they have to overcome the fear of reelection or criticism. See, the formula is simple and it works. It is common sense regulations that dont crush our Small Businesses because thats where our kids get their work now increasingly. Thats the fastest area of job growth. We know we need to lower taxes for individuals and we have to cut taxes for our businesses so they start investing in erk ma and not some country located in europe and we need a realistic path to balance the budget, and frankly nothing more imperative than a balanced Budget Amendment to the constitution to force the congress to do their job. And we have to keep in mind that we need to shift power, money and influence from Government Back to the people wherever we live and we have to begin to run america again from the bottom up. However, the spirit, the essence of america lies in the hearts and souls of us. You see, some missed this message. It wasnt sexsexy, it wasnt a great sound bite, but i saw a young lady i saw a young lady in philadelphia who came to me and said im a producer on a major cable show and i watch your town halls and talk about the spirit of our country and my role and she said, youve affected my life. You see, i believe we all need to live a life bigger than ourselves. Yes, we need to live a life a little bit bigger than ourselves. We need to reach out to help lift someone else because, do you know what, it comes to us naturally if we let it. You see, we are as human beings kind of hard wired to want to give someone else a lift, give someone else an opportunity, and when we reach out its so interesting and when we reach out and help someone else, you see what it does is it opens us, ourselves, to recognizing and receiving the help that we need in our lives. Its a virtues circle. When we help someone else to rise it opens us up to receive the things that we need in our lives regardless of who we are. To paraphrase an old adage, i sought the greatness of america in her harbors and in her rivers and i did not find it. I sought it in her fertile fields and boundless forests and did not find it. I sought her greatness in her halls of congress and i did not find it. You see, after this campaign i see it in us when we come together, when we lift one another with our eyes on the horizon. Throughout my campaign i have said the lord may have another purpose for me and it set all the pundits a twitter. Does that mean he is not committed or he is not focused or he is not energetic . It showed to some degree how little they understand about life. You see, i have always said that the lord has a purpose for me as he has for everyone and as i suspend my Campaign Today i have renewed faith, deeper faith that the lord will show me the way forward and fulfill the purpose of my life. Thank you and god bless. [ applause ] all right. So there he is, john kasich, announcing hes no longer a republican president ial candidate. S. E. Cup you were listening they carefully. What do you think . Its clear that john kasich wants voters to know that this was a campaign that was bigger than him and even though its ending it wasnt in vain. He talked about the people he met on the campaign trail and the moments that he had that we were all witness to and he thanked his supporters for doing a bigger job than just, you know, working for him. All right. Stand by. Donald trump is stunning victory in indiana certainly has knocked both of his remaining rivals out of the gop race. I went to trump tower in new york earlier today for his first sitdown interview since the Republican Party labeled him the presumptive nominee. As were speaking i know youre very happy that ted cruz has dropped out. Cnn has confirmed john kasich, the Ohio Governor, hes dropping out as well. Youre the only one left right now. Thats good. Thats good. Youre just telling me this for the first time about john and thats good. I think john is doing the right thing. Ohio, you know, is an important state. No republican has ever been elected president of the United States without winning ohio. Well, i think john will be very ive had a Good Relationship with john. Hes got a lot of government experience, congress, as a governor. I think john will be very helpful as ohio even as a governor. He says he doesnt want to be a Vice President. That may be. Would he be someone you would be interested in vetting. I would be interested in vetting john. I like john, i have had a Good Relationship with john and have gotten along with him well, john whether he is Vice President or not i think he will be very helpful with ohio. Be honest with you. Did you ever think almost a year ago it was june in this building you were going down that escalator that you would be the Presumptive Republican president ial nominee . Well, i hoped. Did you really hope . Was that just a yeah, i did. You had 17 people, very capable people, i heard a lot of the pundits were saying this was the single greatest group of talent ever assembled for either party in terms of a group, it was also the largest group. I joined somewhat after i heard that statement and im saying, what am i doing . Im hearing lease people did you really think you could win . I guess, otherwise i dont think i would have done it. Some people thought you were doing it for publicity, a whim or whatever. I dont need publicity. I gave up a lot to do it. I was asked to do the apprentice for two more years, i said im not going to do it. I gave up a tremendous amount. You know, got a little controversial for a little while and i lost certain licenses, which is not the biggest deal in my life, but its macys didnt want to renew me because they thought i was a little controversial which was i think a big mistake that they made, not very loyal. Pretty costly think that i did, not just the cost of the campaign which is frankly less, its the cost of what i do. Now its worked out well, im just very happy with the way it all worked out. I guess do you pimple yourself sometimes and say this is really happening . I dont think i would have run if i thought i couldnt win. Im not sure i sat there and just said im going to win, but subconsciously i must have thought that i was going to win and i felt i was going to win. In recent weeks and months, in fact, youve suggested the system is rigged. Yeah. The 100 . Do you still believe that . 100 . But you got the nomination. The only way i got t i went for the knockout. When i saw all these folks going out and getting delegates and theyre, you know, whining and dining people and bringing them to hotels and paying for hotel rooms, its a bad system, its a crooked system. By the way, Bernie Sanders system thats also rigged, thats why he wins and doesnt get anything out of it, but those are the rules. Its not the rules, its a dishonest system. Who gives out the super delegates in terms of the democrats . Who gives out the super delegates . The bosses give out the super delegates. These are elected party officials. Meaning the bosses. That system is rigged and the republican system is rigged but in a much more sophisticated way. I really think im very proud of the fact that ever all of these many, many decades of the delegate system that ive been able to point out some real weaknesses and i think they will be changed. I think for the republicans they will be changed and maybe for the democrats. Yesterday with this National Enquirer story i want you to clarify. You dont really believe that ted cruzs father had anything to do with the assassination of president kennedy. No, i dont. Because this was a story that was in the National Enquirer. Of course i dont think that. Here is the question, you are the Presumptive Republican president ial nominee no, i wasnt. Not at the time. Last time you said you thought you were. Dont you think you need a higher standard than to get involved in this kind of stuff . Here is what happened. Ted cruzs father seems like a nice guy, i dont know him, but seems like a nice guy, he made horrible statements about me, you know, pray praying for bad things to happen to me. Okay, essentially. I said thats horrible. And i was on a show, one of your competitors, and they showed me the clip. I said, wow, thats horrible. Its not just a oneway street, you know, where i do something. It was a horrible statement. I was actually surprised by it. And during that and when i said how bad it was that a man would Say Something like that i said, well, why dont you read the various magazines because its not only there, it was put in numerous where he has a picture of himself with lee harvey oswald. But the National Enquirer put it on its all over the place. I said why dont you talk about that. That was t im not saying he did t but im just saying it was all over the place. Now that you have the republican presumptive nominee you have to have a higher standard than to repeat theories like that. First of all, i wasnt at the time. I didnt know if i was going to win indiana or not, it ended up being a landslide, it was a tremendous victory, much bigger than anybody anticipated including myself. Theyre incredible people out there. This was in the morning. Now, by the afternoon it looked like i was going to win and then a little bit later it looked like i was going to win big. So i was not a presumptive winner at that time, i was going against them, they were going against me. Bottom line you dont believe in that conspiracy. Of course i dont believe it. I did say let people read if. A lot of people think the general Election Campaign has started today, you versus Hillary Clinton. This week she said this about you. The leading republican contender is the man who led the insidious Birther Movement to discredit the president s citizenship. We cannot let Barack Obamas legacy fall into Donald Trumps hands. Do you know who started the Birther Movement . Do you know who started it . Do you know who questioned his birth certificate . One of the first . Hillary clinton. Shes the one that started it. She brought it up years before it was brought up by me. And, you know, so she can talk. Look, here is a person under investigation by the fbi, shes only going to get the nomination because its a rigged deal and frankly maybe she wont even be able to run. I think she probably will because i think the democrats will work it so that nothing happens to her even though everything happened to other people that did far less. James comey the fbi director he is a serious guy. You have confidence in him. If he thinks there are allegations that she may have violated, broken the law he will recommend that. I hope so. You have confidence in him. I do have confidence in him. I dont know him. Let me clarify the whole birther thing where do you stand on that . I dont talk about it anymore. I dont want to waste my time talk being it anymore. Shes going to raise this issue against you. Im going to raise it against her. Lets talk about another story thats come out. I know you hated this article in gq about your wife ma nal i cant, she posted melania was dishonest. Since then some of your reporters have viciously attacked this woman with antisemitic attacks, Death Threats, these people get so angry. Whats your message to these people when Something Like that happened . I havent read the article but i heard it was a very inaccurate article and i heard it was a naysy article. Im married to a woman who is a very fine woman. She doesnt need this, believe me. She was very, very successful, she did tremendously well as a top model, she made a lot of money and shes a nice person and i guess some of the article says that she would go in at night and stay she wasnt a party person, you know, its not her thing, but this was a very this is a very high quality woman who loves people and has a big heart. She doesnt need to be have bad things said about her and i heard the article was nasty. Now, i havent read it, but i heard the article was not what it should be. They shouldnt be doing that with wives. I mean, they shouldnt be doing that. Melania as a top model they sent pictures around to utah the Death Threats that followed. I dont know about that. I dont know anything about that. Do you mean fans of mine . Supposed fans of yours posting these very angry i know nothing about it. But your message to these fans is i dont have a message to the fans. A woman wrote an article that was inaccurate. Now im used to it, i get such bad articles, i get such the press is so dishonest, wolf, i cant even tell you, its so dishonest. There is nothing more dishonest than the media. And i know it better than anybody and its actually gotten to a point where it doesnt even bother me anymore its gotten to ridiculous. Ive had stories over the last couple of weeks that were so dishonest, knowingly dishonest. But youve worked closely with the press and its helped elevate you. Its probably overall helped me but i still find them to be the lies and the deception and the way they write, i guess they do it for clicks or to get people i dont even know why they do it, you think a good honest story would be better. So i do know that the story on melania first of all, not a lot of people would read it except you bring it up, but id like to see my family treated at least fairly and nicely. She didnt need a story like this. Just to be clear on the donald trump birther claim, Hillary Clinton never said that barack obama was born outside the United States. Coming up, much more on my conversation with donald trump, including how hed handle Vladimir Putin and russias string of aggressive military provocations including a fighter jet buzzing a u. S. Navy ship. Windows 10 is great because i need to keep organized, anything that makes my life easier, im using. Hey cortana, remind me we have a play date tomorrow at noon i need that in my world. Innovative sonicare technology with up to 27 more brush movements versus oral b. Get healthier gums in 2 weeks guaranteed. Innovation and you. Philips sonicare. Save when you buy the most loved rechargeable toothbrush brand in america. Music continues [daughter] papa [father] i missed you [daughter]did you bring new ones . [announcer]you work hard for more than just you. [daughter]you went to montana . [father] i did. [announcer] working together,well help you save for her future geology degree. Wells fargo. Together well go far. Lets get back to my interview with donald trump and some of the tough issues facing the United States which are sure to come up during the general Election Campaign. Lets talk about some substantive issues out there. Puerto rico right now, they are defaulting on 400 million. If you were president of the United States what would you do to help the people of puerto rico . Well, the problem we have is we have 19 trillion in debt, you know, we have a country thats in such trouble, we have 19 trillion going up to 21 trillion in a short period of time because of the horrible omnibus budget. I think they have to solve the problem. Should the u. S. Bail out puerto rico . No, i dont believe they should. I think frankly puerto rico is better if they dont. Theyll cut the bonds, they have far too much debt. The problem with puerto rico they have far too much debt. They cant even im the king of debt. I love debt. Theyre prevented from using the bankruptcy laws, puerto rico, as opposed to all the u. S. States. Youve used those bankruptcy laws over the years. Im the king i understand. By the way should puerto rico have an opportunity to use the bankruptcy laws . As a very successful person i would buy companies, throw them in a chapter, bankrupt it, negotiate t i would do great deals, i didnt use them for myself, i used them as a businessperson. Many of the top people in my category use the laws. I know more about debt than practically anybody, i love debt. I also love reducing debt and i know how to do it better than anybody. I will tell you with puerto rico they have too much debt. You cant just restructure, you have to use the laws, cut the debt way down and get back to business because they cant survive with the kind of debt they have. I would not bail out if i were if i were in that position i wouldnt bail them out. Would you let them have a bankruptcy option . Theyre going to have no choice. If theyre not going to pay the bill theyre not going to pay the bond. They cant. They cant. You cant you know, the expression you cant take it out of the grave if they dont have it. Whether they officially declare or not, but ultimately what they have to do is cut the debt way down. Theyre never going to pay that debt off, they have to cut it way down and the United States is going to be in that position very soon because they have too much debt. Lets talk about u. S. russian relations for a moment. On two occasions russian fighter jets barrel rolled u. S. Military facilities with planes. Lack of respect. Lack of respect. For the United States and our president. If you were president what would you tell putin. I would call him and say dont do it again. I would say dont do it again. I think i have a Good Relationship with him. So far we have off to a good start, he said trump with s. A genius, okay. Have you ever met have you ever spoken with him . I dont want to say. But i think i will have a Good Relationship with him. Now, i may not and i will know pretty quickly, but i would call him and say dont ever do that again. Youve seen those pictures. Ive seen them. I think its highly disrespectful to our military and to our country and to our president. Lets talk about u. S. Relations with the muslim world right now. In your Foreign Policy speech the other day, very detailed speech you said you want to work very closely with our allies in the muslim world all of which are at risk from radical islamic violence. They have to save themselves. We can help them. They have to put boots on the ground and save themselves otherwise they are going to be i wont say but pad things will happen to them. How are you going to work closely with our allies in the muslim world if you still want this temporary ban on muslims coming to the United States until the u. S. Can figure out on this war on terror. Whether or not we have a temporary ban or whether we work over in the middle east with our muslim friends and friends and i have muslim friends. By the way, i just had one left my office, a very successful person from the middle east, just looked at me and said, donald, what youre doing is so right, youre informing the world of a problem we have to solve. He agrees all muslims should be banned. Many muslims do. Ive spoken with King Abdullah of jordan who is a close friend of the United States and other moderate leaders in the muslim world and a good person and good friend. The queen they are friends of my daughter ivanka. When they hear you talk p like that they get upset. Theyre muslims. I dont know. We have a problem. We have a really big problem where were letting in thousands and thousands of people supposedly from syria but we have no idea where theyre coming from. The migration is a disaster. They dont have documentation, paperwork, nobody knows who they are, where they come from so youre sticking with this temporary ban. Until we figure out whats going on. We have to be very tough, we have could be very vigilant. Yes. What about another sensitive issue, japan and south korea. You suggested maybe its its not sensitive. Its not a sensitive issue. Let them develop their own Nuclear Arsenal and get the u. S. Out of there. To me thats not a sensitive issue. I have great relations with south korea, i have buildings in south korea, i have great relationships with japan and in japan, a lot of people dont know this. When i make speeches i say we protect germany, japan, south korea. Many people, sophisticated people in the audience didnt know that. They have to help us. We dont get reimbursed for what this massive amount of work and energy and weaponry, what its costing. We cant continue to do it. This isnt 40 years ago, this isnt when we were much different as a country. They have to take care of us. I think they will. If they dont you have to be prepared to walk. You always have to be prepared to walk from a deal including the iran deal which is a disaster. They should have walked. Youre ready to let japan and south korea become Nuclear Powers . If theyre not going to take care of us properly we cannot afford to be the military and policemen of the world. We are right now the police for the entire world. We are policing the entire world. When people look at our military and say, oh, would you, thats fantastic, they have many times we spend many times what any other country spends on the military but its not really for us. Were defending other countries. So all im saying is this, they have to pay. Do you know what, im prepared to walk and if they have to defend themselves against north korea where you have a main crack over there in my opinion if they dont take care of us properly, if they dont respect us enough to take care of us properly do you know whats going to have to happen, wolf, very simple, they will have to defend themselves. The other day the u. S. Commander in south korea general vincent brooks testified on capitol hill and said south korea pays for 50 of the personnel costs for u. S. Troops. How much percent . 50 . Why not 100 . He says it would be more expensive to keep u. S. Troops here in the u. S. Than to keep them on bases in south korea. Okay. Well, maybe you dont need them, okay, maybe you dont need them. Look, were policing all of these countries. Theyre not paying us. Were policing saudi arabia. We are protecting saudi arabia. Saudi arabia i have many friends in saudi arabia. Saudi arabia would not be there, wolf, it wouldnt be there maybe for a month if we took our military out. The only reason theyre sort of protected and totally protected is because were protecting them. Saudi arabia was making a billion dollars a day when the oil price was higher, now theyre still making a fortune. Why arent they paying us. Basically what i hear you saying if the u. S. Is going to keep troops in japan and theres thousands of them, tens of thousands we have top reimbursed. Germany, you want the host countries to pick um all the expense. Of course they should pick up all the expense. We are paying to protect them and i think its wonderful, i think its good, id rather do it rather than have them armed, i would rather do it and, you know, it was covered actually accurately in the new york times. Very accurately. And they covered it because they talked the cost. A lot of people like to say trump wants japan to arm. I dont want them to arm. I want them to reimburse us for at least the cost. Now, you could say its worth more than that. But at least reimburse us for the cost. When you say we pay 50 , well, if we say we pay 50 that means we pay less. Okay . But were losing a tremendous amount of money. And we have a military thats not in good shape anymore, you know that, Everybody Knows that. And we have to do something about it. Another military question, the former defense secretary robert gates who is a republican he said your lack of understanding of the complexities of International Affairs is worrisome and he added this, you dont understand the difference between a business negotiation and a negotiation with sovereign powers. Well, i dont think gates understands and he was also very disloyal to numerous people he worked for. I dont like people to write books and criticize everything. I dont think he understands and i dont think he understands the world loyalty. I really believe i understand it much better than he does. Our country right now is a debtor nation. We cannot go around subsidizing japan, which is a ba home it economically with the cars and everything, germany, south korea, you cant order a Television Set unless you go through south korea. You cant order i mean, the ships are made now its an economic behemoth. We cannot continue to subsidize all of these countries when we are a debtor nation. We are a debtor nation. Now, i will have great relationships, far better than we have right now, look at the relationship we have with china, theyre ripping off the United States, theyre taking its money, theyre ruining our jobs, ruining so much. And yet they build a military force a fortress, a massive military fortress in the middle of the south china sea. Theyre not supposed to be doing that. They have no respect for our country. And you say that will change if youre president. They will respect our country and they will like our country better than they do now. Lets talk about important domestic policy issues. American workers, you say they deserve to earn more money, right . I want them to earn more money. Bernie sanders says he wants 15 an hour minimum wage. And he has really gone after you lately for saying youre happy with 7. 25 the current federal minimum wage. Im looking at that because im very different from most republicans. You have to have something that you can live on, but what im really looking to do is get people great jobs so they make much more money than that, so they make more money than the 15. If you Start Playing around too much with the lower level, the lower level number, youre not going to be competitive. Hillary clinton says shes ready to go to 12, Bernie Sanders says 15. Shes doing that because shes shes if you were president what would you recommend . Im looking at it. Youre open to raising the minimum wage. Im hope to doing something with it. What i do like is bring our jobs back. If you want some of those Bernie Sanders supporters out there. I think ill get them. In a well, i told you how i feel. Im going to bring jobs back to this country. Nobody can do that like i can do it. I understand whats going wrong. Hillary doesnt have a clue. Bernie sanders is a socialist or more than that, could be beyond a socialist, i am looking. But you want his supporters . Yeah, i think ill get a lot of his supporters. The last election i won in a landslide in new york, the democrats went in, they all went to vote for trump. People at the voting booth said it was the most amazing thing. The democrats and people that ran the polling booth, all over local television, said we want to vote for trump. They didnt want to vote for hillary, they wanted to vote for trump. When the election comes, thaem be voting for me. We have more to come. I want to bring in our experts. Cnn political commentator se cup, mark preston and jeffrey toobin. Looking back, donald trump road the escalator last june and announced his candidacy, did anyone expect that almost a year later he would effectively be the republican nominee . Absolutely not, and i dont think he did either. Maybe somewhere deep inside he believed that, but the fact of the matter was it was a spectacle of him coming down the escalator. Wolf, we have to give him credit for winning the republican nomination, he won it handily. Some of the things he said were puzzling at best. It goes to his strength. He speaks with confidence. He really expresses whats on his mind and thats what got him where he is today. For instance, you talked about the birther issue, theres no truth about Hillary Clinton bringing it up. Talks about how ted cruzs father was saying bad things about him, decided to roll the hand grenade out there and said people should look at the National Enquirer story, even though he didnt believe iit. It will potentially hurt him in the general election. He beat 17 qualified republicans with a lot of political experience. How did he do that . Strategically there was plurality he exploited for a long time. Certain people stayed in longer than they should have and that helped trump. You have to remember over the past four, five, six years, republicans like ted cruz have been bashing the establishment. That creates a lot of animosity toward the establishment. Donald trump says i am even less establishment than you, ted cruz. So they just created a mile marker that he just stepped one foot behind to sort of maximize and exploit the sentiment. People are right when they these candidates didnt understand the angry. They knew they were angry, but thought they were angry with president obama, actually theyre angry with republicans, too. The establishment trying to destroy donald trump with ads, millions of dollars in negative ads, look where he is now. You have to give him credit. Look what he is saying. What struck me is when he talked about our troops paid for in japan, south korea, germany. It has been a bedrock principle of the Republican Party for decades we have to project strength around the world. Thats part of our national interest. And we are happy to pay for that. Republicans have have wanted large defense budgets. He is taking a completely different view. This is a reason the Republican Party is divided. Thats a really important fundamental issue, he departed from the republican establishment tradition in the most explicit way possible. But he has been consistent in the past year. Did you get any sense from what we heard so far and much more of that interview is coming up that he is going to pivot or change either with Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders . I think he has in the last 24 hours. Let me pause on that. Things could change in the next 24 seconds with donald trump, thats how he has run the whole campaign. If you look at the cadence and tone in how hes delivering it right now, he is not using words like lying ted. In some ways humble for donald trump as hes answering these questions. When i say humble, the volume isnt raised, he is not throwing his hands around. Well see heading into the convention in july and onward into the general election, can he keep that up. Can he . What i heard, you asked some Great Questions in the interview. I heard a guy with no plans to shift tactics. You gave him multiple opportunities to say enough with the Death Threats against reporters. He has the opportunity to say dont punch people. He prefers to allow that volume, that rhetoric to keep fueling his campaign. Stand by, we have much more interview with donald trump, including qualifications he will look for in a Vice President ial running mate, which traditionally democratic states he will target in a general election. Its how i try to live. How i stay active. So i need nutrition. That wont weigh me down. For the nutrition you want without the calories you dont. Try boost® 100 calories. Each delicious snack size drink gives you. 25 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. And its available in two new flavors, vanilla caramel and Double Chocolate fudge. Im not about to swim in the slow lane. Stay strong. Stay active with boost®. Wannwith sodastreamter . You turn plain water into sparkling water in seconds. And because its so delicious, youll drink 43 more water every day. Sodastream. Love your water. Happening now. Breaking news, the presumptive nominee, last man standing in the republican race, now the partys all but certain candidate for president in november. I sat down for the first interview since the indiana primary position. Whats the strategy for the general election. Calling it quits. Surprise announcement by trumps last two rivals, john kasich just revealing he is dropping out hours after ted cruz did the same following his loss in indiana. Will they now rally behind donald trump. Battling on. The democratic race unresolved as Bernie Sanders scores a win over Hillary Clinton in indiana, vowing to go all the way to the convention, despite nearly impossible odds. And Hillary Clinton is turning her attention to donald trump and a november showdown. What does she say about him in her exclusive interview with cnn. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. The breaking news tonight. A new phase in the chaotic republican race for the white house. Donald trump now the partys presumptive nominee with the departure of his two last remaining rivals. Less than an hour ago, john kasich announced he is dropping out of the race. Ted cruz quit last night after trumps commanding victim tree in the indiana primary. I sat down with donald trump since his win in indiana made his nomination a near certainty confirmed by the party itself. We talked about potential running mates, his Campaign Strategy against Hillary Clinton and a lot more. And Hillary Clinton is also talking to cnn calling donald trump a, quote, loose cannon in an exclusive interview with anderson cooper. Unlike trump, her fight for the Party Nomination isnt over. Her rival Bernie Sanders won in indiana and his determination is to keep going despite Hillary Clintons nearly insurmount and delegate lead. Covering that and more with our correspondents, our guests and expert analysts all standing by. Lets begin with the Trump Campaign. Senior White House Correspondent jim acosta is in new york with the latest. Jump, he told me the general Election Campaign begins today. Reporter thats right. With ted cruz and john kasich out of the race, they say the presumptive nominee will start to focus on building a 50 state general Election Campaign with a much bigger staff that will begin to join forces with the rnc. Names are surfacing as favorites as running mate. He said he wants a politician as Vice President to balance out the gop ticket. A trump source tells us rob portman, Suzanne A Martinez and nikki haley are early favorites inside the campaign as they would be on anybodys short list. Trumps daughter ivanka, expect her to offer input on this process which is in the early stages. All three, wolf, we should point out, all three potential running mates tell cnn theyre not interested. Portman said he will not be trumps Vice President and haley offered a statement. While i am flattered to be mentioned and proud of the great things going on in South Carolina, my plate is full. Other names will come up and part of the strategy in this is sometimes mentioning who you might consider as a running mate. As trump said to you, wolf, he would like to vet john kasich. Throw that in the hat as well. Trump is planning a campaign in States Holding primaries in coming weeks to turn attention to Hillary Clinton. I talked to a Trump Campaign source, they like the big arena events, draw attention and Television Time and need that to go after Hillary Clinton. Team trump is enjoying the fact he has driven off rivals. Who would have thought they would have a nominee before the democrats. Vanquishing his rivals is one thing, beating Hillary Clinton is quite another. Certainly is. Thanks very much, jim acosta. Further clearing the field for donald trump, john kasich is announcing he is also ending his president ial campaign. Word leaked out early in the day, the Ohio Governor made it official awhile agate a News Conference in columbus. As i suspend my Campaign Today, i have renewed faith, deeper faith that the lord will show me the way forward and fulfill the purpose of my life. Cnn phil massingly in columbus for us. Phil, john kasich made the decision to drop out quite suddenly according to sources, didnt take reporters questions at the News Conference. Update us on what happened. Reporter you talk about the News Conference, he didnt talk to reporters after the statement because he wanted his statement to standalone, his look back at his campaign. More specifically, didnt want it to be a question and answer session about donald trump. What that underscores is push and pull, the tension that john kasich has faced throughout his campaign. He wanted to campaign on issues and ideas, wanted to be above the fray. Donald trump was riding on the opposite page of that, he didnt want to get into that throughout the campaign, he brushed off reporters and questions about that. Once again today he wanted to make clear donald trump was not going to be the focus of how he closed his campaign. I have been asking advisers what happens with the trump presumptive candidacy. Kasich said over the last few weeks saying he found it difficult to be a trump supporter. One thing he has said clearly over the last couple weeks, he does not want to be Donald Trumps Vice President pick. He doesnt want to be considered as his Vice President pick, it is not something he is interested in. It will be interesting to see how he comments going forward. Donald trump has said nice things about john kasich and mentioned that he would be in consideration for such a pick over the last 24 hours, wolf. Phil massingly in columbus, ohio. More on my interview with donald trump, his first on camera interview since cementing his position as presumptive nominee republican nominee. I spoke with him in trump tower on fifth avenue, new york. I asked him who might share the republican ticket with him. Give me the qualifications youre looking for for a Vice President ial running mate. They have to have potentially a great president. Thats the number one thing. That is the most important fact. You need somebody, god forbid. There for that reason primarily. I would want somebody that would help me from a legislative standpoint getting things passed through senate, through congress, and to me thats why i think probably in terms of Vice President , i am going to go the political route. I dont need the business route, ive got that covered. Somebody thats been a governor or senator . Somebody maybe thats even been senator. I like that because theyre dealing look, we want to get legislation passed. We are in gridlock in washington. We cant take trillions of dollars overseas from companies. I know you wont give me a name. Youre vetting people soon . I am starting to think about it soon. We will be vetting people. Do you think some of your former rivals are on that list . Could be. I have a lot of respect people that said nasty things about you . Well, you know, i feel differently about that. When somebody says nasty, i never like them quite the same, but i will tell you, you look at somebody, you know, going to set up a committee. May put ben carson on the committee, Chris Christie on the committee. People to vet . Yes. We are going to set up a committee in terms of Vice President , set up a committee in terms of other positions also. Hillary clinton says shes released all her tax returns, you havent. Are you going to do that . I will. I really look forward to doing it. I am under order, when you are under order the government. Tax returns have already been audited. I go back a long time. Theyre called linking returns. They link. When i am under order, i dont want to do it. I hope to be able to do it. By the way, whats unfair, i have been audited many years, beyond obama. You make a lot of money. I do make a lot of money, but i am audited every year. Have friends that are wealthy and dont get audited. Do you think theres aiming at you . I would say, yeah. I dont know. I am audited every single year. I have friends that are wealthy people. When i talk audit, they dont know what i am talking about. I am almost used to it like a normal thing. So many people never get audited, and i am audited every year. While i am under audit, i am not releasing tax returns. No lawyer would let you do that. It is routine ordered stuff, but no lawyer would let you do that. Talk about women voters. If youre going to be president of the United States, you need to do well with women voters. I will. Hillary clinton, theres a new cnn poll out shows 61 of female voters nationwide, republicans, democrats, independents back Hillary Clinton. Only 35 of women nationally say they back you. How are you going to change that. I think we will change that, it will change rapidly because women want security. Women want strong military. They want to know that theyre secure in our nation. Women want Womens Health issues taken care of and hillary is not going to do it like me because i am going to make our country rich again, i am going to bring back our jobs, we are going to have a good economy again. Which we dont now, we have a horrible economy. And again, remember this. Nafta has been a total disaster for our country. Nafta was signed by the clinton administration. What nafta has done to this country, i won new york big. And speaking of winning new york big, if you look at the polls, exit polls, i was number one with women by a long shot, nobody was even close to me. I won new york, pennsylvania, maryland, connecticut, delaware, rhode island, all these, and indiana the other night. If you look at the polls, number one with women and it is not even close. Lets talk about general election, Electoral College strategy, get to go 270 electoral votes. John mccain couldnt do it, mitt romney couldnt do it. How are you going to do it. What states are you going to put in play that they couldnt put in play. Thats a question i love, something i think that i am better served than anyone. First of all, you see i did very well in new york. Do you agree . Because theyre republicans. You won almost every county in recent elections, except your own personal home county in manhattan. Which is under review, they think i won that, too. Really . Yes. It is called manhattan. I won every county in new york, every county in pennsylvania, every county in maryland, every county in five states plus new york. Thats a pretty good run. I hear i won every county in indiana. From new york state, i am from buffalo, up state, youll do well there. New york city, there are a lot of democrats. I did very well. Among republicans. Among republicans. Among republicans, yes. Youre not suggesting new york would be in play. I am suggesting new york is in play. I know you suggested michigan and pennsylvania. I will win upstate new york by massive numbers, outer long island by massive numbers. Sections horribly effected by nafta, a clinton deal. I will win sections of this city that nobody else could win. Yes, i think new york is in play. By the way, if new york is in play and i won new york, then i won the election. You understand that because of the size. Ill win michigan. Michigan is not going to be even contested by any other republican. They wouldnt even go there. Ill win michigan because of whats happened. They sucked all the jobs out of michigan, too. I am constantly talking about michigan with the cars and whats happening. I think ill win pennsylvania. Im sure im going to win pennsylvania. Ill win florida, which you have to win. I think im going to do very well, but i will put states in play that no other republican will even talk about or go to. Theres much more of my interview with donald trump coming up. How does he feel about a one on one debate with clinton and how will he prepare for that kind of a debate. Im ask him. Ask him. L ask him. Whats with him . Hes happy. Your familys finally eating vegetables thanks to our birds eye voila skillet meals. And they only take 15 minutes to make. Ahh birds eye voila so veggie good real is touching a ray. Amazing is moving like one. Real is making new friends. Amazing is getting this close. Real is an animal rescue. Amazing is over twentyseven thousand of them. There is only one place where real and amazing live. Seaworld. Real. Amazing unless you have allergies. Flonase is the first and only nasal spray approved to relieve both itchy, watery eyes and congestion. No other nasal allergy spray can say that. Go ahead, embrace those beautiful moments. Flonase changes everything. So we know how to cover almost almoanything. Hing, even a ufh2o. [man] thats not good. [pilot] thats not good. [man] thats really not good. [burke] it happened august fourteenth,2008, and we covered it. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum breaking news this hour. Ohio Governor John Kasich just announcing he is dropping out of the republican president ial race one day after ted cruz also quit, leaving donald trump the partys presumptive nominee. I talked to him today in his new york office about this new phase in the race for the white house. Do you think the general Election Campaign has already started, you versus Hillary Clinton, that for all practical purposes Bernie Sanders is out . Well, i think what has happened, theres been a little flip, and im even surprised by it. I thought i would be going longer, she would be going shorter. She cant put it away. Like you cant get the football over the line. I thought i would be out there, she would be campaigning against me. I will be campaigning against her. The general Election Campaign from your perspective starts today . Essentially yeah, started to the. Started three months ago when i hit her pretty hard. Your tone is more president ial or will you really go after her . Look, you know, i went to the best school. I am a smart person. I did well. You know, i am who i am. I dont like to change, i dont like to really change. Sort of interesting, there was talk about will he be president ial. We had 17 people, all smart. One by one, week after week, boom, boom, boom, gone, gone, gone. I dont want to change so much and i want to use that same strategy for trade deals and i want to use that same but i feel im a president ial person. The same strategy you used to get rid of the other republican candidates you want to use now against Hillary Clinton . I would say yes. I mean, and again, a lot is going to depend how they treat me. If they treat miada certain level, i am not looking to i dont like to hit people first, i dont know how, i guess i felt that i am better, some boxers are better counter punchers. I have been very successful, only been doing it ten months. Somebody in your world gave me credit saying he has really been effective, never seen anything like it, and only doing it ten months. These people have been in politics 30 years. You came out of no political background for all practical purposes and now the republican presumptive nominee. But i have always been heavily involved in politics, i havent been elected, it has never been my thing frankly, i would have been happy staying doing what i was doing, have a great family, a great company, a really great company, and i love doing it. But when i see the mistakes, the stupidity, the iran deal, trade deals, everything is so bad, the military cant beat isis. When i see whats going on, i say i have to do this. One final question because were out of time. It is not going to be a contested convention in cleveland as you now know. Youre the presumptive nominee. You say you want to bring more showbiz and pizazz to that convention. What are you talking about. I would like to, seeing the last convention, lowest rated convention i think in the history of conventions, it was not an exciting convention, turned out to be a race that should have been won and wasnt won. I would like to add something that would be that would make people happy. We have to promote our country. We have to be cheerleaders to a certain extent. Our country is very depressed, people are fighting each other, black and white, rich and poor, i mean, everybody is fighting. President obama has not done a good job in terms of promoting our country, in terms of being a cheerleader and i want to make i want to do something thats good, thats going to make people feel good about the country. It is not about so what do you want to do . We will be looking at certain things. I recommended things the last time, they didnt do them and they should have. It was a very boring convention. Much more important and exciting, we want good ideas. Ultimately it is ideas that matter. Were going to make great trade deals, build up our military, take care of our vets, do lots of good things with education. Right now the educational process is a disaster. Going to strengthen our borders. Obamacare is going to be repealed and replaced with something less expensive that works better. There are so many things we can do. That ultimately is to me more exciting than making the event exciting. And right after the convention there will be three president ial debates, say you against Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders for that matter. One Vice President ial debate. Youre going to have to start gearing up for those debates. Well, im ready. One of the things that was interesting, never sure of, the debates, i never debated professionally. Every poll, drudge who is a great guy, they all have polls, time magazine, they have these polls, seven of them, online polls that take place after the debate. I won every single poll of every single debate, so i feel good about my debating skills, and again, it was something i said, ive never done this before, stand there and answer formal questions. Hillary clinton is a pretty good debater. I watched her, i think shes. And i think bernie is a good debater also. Youll be ready. Ill be ready. Congratulations. We will dig deeper into the interview with donald trump. And details about john kasichs decision to quit the race, why it caught top advisers by surprise. Hello welcome to holiday inn. Running our own business, weve been traveling a lot. A hotel looking to help Small Businesses succeed is incredible. Thank you. Holiday inn is an extension of our team. Book your next journey at holidayinn. Com thank you. Holiday inn is an ex[man] hello,totten designs. Sales department . Yes. I can put you right through. Sales departmentthis is nate. Human resources. Technical support. Hold, please. [announcer]you work hard to grow your business. [man] yes. I can totally do that for you. [announcer] working together, we can help your business thrive. Wells fargo. Together well go far. Jack knocked over a candlestick, onto the shag carpeting. And his pants ignited into flames, causing him to stop, drop and roll. Luckily jack recently had geico help him with renters insurance. Because all his belongings went up in flames. Jack got full replacement and now has new pants he ordered from banana republic. Visit geico. Com and see how affordable renters insurance can be. Donald trump, Presumptive Republican nominee, now that ted cruz and john kasich dropped out of the white house race. I talked to trump in his new york office, his first on camera interview since the primary victory that made him the likely gop candidate in november. We discussed his next step, the search for a Vice President ial running mate, lets talk about that and more. Joining us cnn chief Political Correspondent dana bash, cheap political analyst, gloria borger, nia malikahenderson and david swerdlick. It is interesting, gloria, he told me he will ask ben carson, Chris Christie to lead a team to vet various running mates. Maybe Chris Christie will pull a dick cheney. He was vetting candidates and picked himself to be george w. Bushs running mate. So this pick, Vice President ial running mate, how critical will it be . It is always a critical pick. In the end voters vote for a president ial candidate and not for a Vice President ial candidate but in terms of donald trump, first of all it is the first personal decision you will see him make and we will learn a lot more about donald trump, where he feels his shortcomings are. He already said he thinks he needs somebody in the world of politics that understands washington and how to deal with washington, so i think it will tell us a lot about the candidate himself and, you know, voters will be interested in figuring out just what kind of person donald trump believes he can get along with, what kind of person he believes is a value to him. And then there are the political considerations, somebody who can give you a state, somebody who can help deliver say women voters or minority voters. Somebody also qualified to be commander in chief. Who are you hearing that may be on the vetting list . Jim acosta, sarah murray are doing some of this reporting. Some names are floated, susan a martinez, nikki haley, governor of South Carolina. Both of those people criticized donald trump before this saying theyre not interested. You look Chris Christie, a name and rob portman says i want to stay in ohio. Within an hour. He is going to this is going to be a hard decision for him to make because of resistance among elected leaders and Party Leaders to the donald trump candidacy, not so many of them want to tie political fates to donald trump. Chris christie maybe seems eager to tie his fate to donald trump, maybe Something Like rick scott, governor of florida, already endorsed him, someone like mary fallen from oklahoma, might shore up some of his weaknesses which are great among women. But i bet it will be a surprise as much of what we have seen from donald trump so far. You know there are still a lot of republicans out there not happy that he is the republican nominee. Is there any talk of a third candidate, white knight . Very much so, maybe not a white knight, that keep mixing metaphors, for the Republican Party i am told there were calls today by those who are still very much in the never trump camp who say that they dont want to support donald trump. They certainly dont want to support Hillary Clinton because theyre conservatives and theyre actively looking for a Third Party Candidate. They say they know their time is short, but Erick Erickson is one of these people, hes written the blog red state which has been historically influential with conservatives and others we had meetings with about the Never Trump Movement saying we need a new home, perhaps we need a new home. At the same time, you talked about a the wall street journal editorial which was very good yesterday, which makes the obvious point which is if youre looking for a Third Party Candidate, youre effectively handing the keys to the white house to Hillary Clinton because youre going to split the Republican Party more than it is. And maybe it is time to focus on the down ballot. Senate and house, thats where a lot of other republicans i am talking to who are not voting for trump are putting their focus. And lose and reconstitute the Republican Party after this. Exactly. Lets see. The former president george w. Bush through a spokesperson told our special reporter, he doesnt participate in or comment on president ial campaigns, not going to comment or participate. Your take . It is consistent with george w. Bushs stance throughout a lot of the obama administration. He was sort of hanging back from the political limelight. The way donald trump went after his brother in the campaign, it doesnt surprise me. I think the republican establishment along the lines dana is saying is trying to sort out how to handle this. It would be deja vu all over if there was a Third Party Candidate that had taken over the Republican Party, ross perro. People forg, he got 19 of the vote. George w. Bush not commenting is a comment. As you know, dana, a lot of time former president s a party show up at the convention, make a speech, do something to rally. If he is not going to show up, participate, that in and of itself is significant. He has been more low key like david said, first of all because he wants to stay out of it. Second of all, he hasnt exactly been mr. Popularity until recently, even within the republican base, but certainly with the country as large, but no question it is very unusual for the party elders to not immediately rally around the presumptive nominee. So you have the previous nominee, mitt romney, saying he will not vote for donald trump. We dont know whether he will go to the convention. You have george w. Bush. John mccain is not going to the convention. John mccain is not going to the convention, said he will support whoever the nominee is. Then bush 41 and bush 43 stepping back from this. I think it is unprecedented really. Theres typically this rally around the flag sort of feeling at the conventions, coming out party for whoever the nominee is, and the fact that so many so far want to stay mum. The convention is in july. They still have time. People can change their minds in this country. You heard donald trump say in the interview that he thinks states like michigan, pennsylvania, new york state are in play now that he is the republican nominee. Is he living in a dream world or some credibility. He had a pretty long list and some of them i think are quite realistic, with White Working Class voters. He has an awful lot of appeal. I was looking at this earlier today, if he were to flip wisconsin, michigan, ohio and pennsylvania and then continue to win all of the states that romney won in 2012, he would get to 270, he would win. So his list he gave you makes a lot of sense to me because he knows the appeal he has to those voters who may be traditionally democrats but may, his populous message really resonates. Hillary clinton or Bernie Sanders for that matter, they have to worry about donald trump as the republican nominee. They do have to worry, and he has some weaknesses as well, not only among women, he is losing women to Hillary Clinton 61 , 35 , in some ways he doesnt do as well among white voters as romney did. If you look at romney, he was able to get 59 of white voters overall in this poll, so far trump is only getting 52 of white voters. You have a situation Hillary Clinton can maintain that Obama Coalition, getting 81 of white voters, then has an extra boost because she gets 43 of white voters, the same amount that clinton got in 1996, Hillary Clinton. The flip side if you talk to people who are still licking their wounds about having donald trump as their nominee, theyre concerned about states where they have the expanding population, about arizona, new mexico, and other states where they were hoping exactly to remember, going into this election year, the goal of the Republican Party was to extend beyond what romney got, the narrow white vote, so the concern is that theyre going to go back. Ds he have an opening with voters of color . Interestingly on the list of potential Vice President ial candidates, Governor Martinez from new mexico struck me in 2012 as one republican at the convention that found a way to speak to voters of color without alienating for voters of color. As a latino and border state governor, i cant imagine what she would do on the campaign trail with donald trump, answering the question over and over what do you think about his comments about immigrants, what do you think about his comments about immigration and mexico. And the Republican Party went through this internal therapy session. They said look, we have to appeal to women, we have to appeal to the hispanic community, we have to broaden our base to the Africanamerican Community and this is a tough haul for donald trump now. He is doing poorly with women and hispanics. Stand by, guys. How is Hillary Clinton reacting to news that donald trump for all practical purposes, i got to admit, all of us agree, he is the republican nominee now. How shes reacting. She spoke to anderson cooper. We will have that and more after this. I have a blog called daddy doing work, its funny that ive been in the news for being a dad. Windows 10 is great because i need to keep organized. 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Hillary clinton says she does understand sanders is staying in for the long haul, something she did in 2008. But it is clear, she now considers it a two person race with trump, not sanders. Donald trump may be trying to brand Hillary Clinton. Crooked Hillary Clinton. Crooked hillary. Crooked hillary. Crooked hillary. Right . Shes crooked as crooked can be. Reporter she has her own label for the Presumptive Republican nominee. He is a loose cannon. I dont think we can take a risk on a loose cannon like donald trump. Reporter clinton made moves to protect her lead with young voters. Elizabeth warren said he built his campaign on racism and sean phobia. I agree. I have the high erred regard for senator warren. Reporter clinton still has a primary battle, Bernie Sanders clinching a win in indiana. I understand that secretary clinton thinks that this campaign is over. Ive got some bad news for her. Reporter despite a victory in the hoosier state, sanders path to the nomination is seen as impossible. Clinton has turned her attention to trump. She beats him in the national polls, 54 to 41 . Trump bests her on handling the economy as he eyes the industrial midwest where clinton could pay for this comment at a march town hall. We are going to put a lot of coal miners out of business. I have been clear we have to turn to renewable energy. I have also been clear we cant do it in a way that totally leaves behind people who dug out the coal to turn on the lights and to power our factories. Reporter but trump is insisting he will make sure the comments stick. I watched her three or four weeks ago when she was talking about the miners as if they were just numbers, and she was talking about she wants the mines closed. Reporter to show you the cleanup duty clinton is on for those remarks, she was in ohio, said she was there to explain she made a mistake, wolf. This is a big issue in key states, not only ohio but pennsylvania and other areas. Thanks very much. You know the whole Hillary Clinton lead right now if you look at the cnn orc poll among registered voters nationwide, 54 , 41 for donald trump. How does she maintain that lead. One of the things, she has to stop making mistakes in terms of what she said about coal miners, putting them out of business. She was trying to explain they would be put out of business because there would be alternative jobs and fuel sources, and i think you can see her doing this now. Shes trying to frame donald trump right now, sort of freeze him in place, freeze him in amber almost. You can see her doing that now with this idea that he is a loose cannon, last night her aide john podesta, that he is a risk. Thats what she has to do. It is hard for her. She has to figure out how to keep the Obama Coalition energized and engaged and figure out how to still do well with women and white voters as well. I think one way to energize the Obama Coalition is to attack donald trump and, you know, it is very clear their strategy is he is risky, loose cannon. Use degrading, demeaning and bully, those are code words to women, not even code words, we all know what that means. She didnt take them directly on the question of whether he was racist but i think this is just the beginning of things to come and what theyve learned from the republican primary process, dont wait. Dont wait. This could get intense and very ugly, dana, pretty soon. No question about that. I think the fundamental problem that Hillary Clinton has, which is truly fundamental, not changeable, have to figure to work around it, she represents everything that he, that his victory represents, meaning she is the establishment, shes how washington has worked, she is the way it is perceived as washington, not working for people. And the old way is not working, need something completely new. No matter what she says on her policies which are obviously very specific and in many ways very, very different from donald trump, its almost like i was saying like the Charlie Brown teacher to people who dont even care about the specifics and they just want Something Different in washington. Donald trump tweeted today i would rather run against crooked Hillary Clinton than Bernie Sanders and that will happen because the books are cooked against bernie. Hes obviously trying to interfere in the democratic president ial process, if you will, but Bernie Sanders by all accounts is not going anywhere. I think sanders can and should stay in the race because he has money and message and his supporters want him to continue. Had he lost indiana, it would have been easier to bow out gracefully like cruz and kasich. Winning that state, it is hard to figure out how to land the plane. Right now he doesnt have the math working for him, but sanders maybe goes to the convention to push his issues he doesnt have the math because the democrats, they allocate delegates on a proportional basis. Even if you get 55 , 45 , you dont get a lot more delegates. He is way behind in pledge delegates and way, way and aides have said theyre going to lobby superdelegates to flip. Is that realistic . No, its not realistic. And even if he were to get the superdelegates to flip, its still not enough. Hes going to keep using this argument that hes stronger in a general election. Because he could win some of this upcoming states. And he likely will. Its really not about states. Its about math. Yeah. And its about delegates. And he has to win huge in order to make something miraculous happen for him. And thats not going to happen. And he knows it. I think this is about his agenda, and his influence, and his leverage. Yeah. Over Hillary Clinton when it comes to what she campaigns on. If she were to become president , what she would do first. And i think its fair to say, no matter what happens, he has been amazing, Bernie Sanders. Oh, yeah. He has reached this point. No one really expected him to do. Can we just take a step back and underline something that donald trump said too, which is kind of stunning. Which is, the republican race is over, and the democratic race who would have thought. So much of this stand by, guys. Well have much more on this coming up. Also, another story were following, a desperate phone call by princes aids to a doctor specializing in addiction. Learning more tonight about the musicians death. Its your home. Its everything youve always wanted. And you work hard to keep it that way. Sometimes, maybe too hard. Get claimrateguard® from allstate. It helps keep your homeowners rate from going up just because of a claim. Call an allstate agent first. 8884295722. Accident forgiveness from allstate will keep his rates from going up. 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Clap your hands tonight reporter alarming new information tonight about a frantic attempt by the pop star to save himself from addiction. April 20th, princes representatives desperately called dr. Howard cornfeld, a top expert on pain keller addiction. Thats according to his attorney. Dr. Cornfeld felt that his mission was a lifesaving mission. How desperate was that situation . Could prince have been in and out of consciousness at that point . When it comes to opioid narcotic medications, time is crucial. As people are taking more and more of these agents, they can become less and less responsive. Reporter cornfeld was in california, so he asked a doctor in minnesota to meet with prince as soon as possible. Cornfelds lawyer says that doctor cleared his schedule, but prince never showed up for the meeting. Cornfeld sent his son, andrew, on a redeye flight to minneapolis. On the morning of april 21st, andrew got to paisley park. The lawyer describes the scene when prince was discovered unresponsive. One of the Staff Members started screaming. Andrew heard the screams, and went to the elevator where he saw that prince was unconscious. Andrew was the person who to make the 911 call. Were asking you for medical at paisley park. Reporter the 911 caller, now identified as andrew cornfeld, says, quote, the person is dead here. And the people are just distraught. Lawyer william mausy says andrew cornfeld brought a drug with him to minneapolis. It is used in patients who are opioiddependent to curb the cravings and to curb the withdrawal symptoms. Reporter the lawyer says andrew cornfeld is not a doctor, would not have given the drug directly to prince. But would have given it to the minnesota doctor. If someone on the ground had gotten this drug to prince, hours earlier, could he still be alive . Certainly its going to depend on somebodys state. If they have taken a huge amount, where theyre respirations are depressed, most likely not. They would need another type of agent, most likely injectable, to reverse the effects. When he was asked the same question, dr. Cornfelds lawyer says the doctor wishes he had had the chance to meet with prince and to treat him. Neither dr. Cornfeld nor his son would speak to cnn specifically about what happened in minnesota. A relative of princes told us the family would not comment. Wolf . And brian, theres a new focus tonight on finding out who gave prince those pain killers. Is that right . Reporter yes. Were told tonight that the u. S. Attorneys office and the dea are joining this investigation. Theyre helping the Carver County sheriffs department. We have previously reported that opioid medication was found with princes body and elsewhere in his home. We also reported that so far he doesnt appear to have had a val valid prescription for those drugs so now the fed and sheriff are actively searching for who gave prince that medication. As you know, wolf, there is a massive black market for this stuff. Thanks very much, brian todd reporting for us. This note to our viewers. Tomorrow, the United States clearly now facing a greater threat from russia than any time perhaps since the cold war. In the air, on the sea and under the sea, as well. Cnns jim sciutto got an exclusive ride on a u. S. Nuclear attack submarine, training in the atlantic as Russian Submarine forces get more and more aggressive. Were going to bring you jims exclusive reporting tomorrow, right here the situation room at 5 00 p. M. Eastern. Looking forward to that report. Remember, you can always follow us on twitter. Tweet me at wolf blitzer, or at cnn sit room. Join us again right here tomorrow in the situation room. Im wolf blitzer. Erin Burnett Outfront starts right now. Outfront next, breaking news, donald trump the last man standing. John kasich officially dropping out hours ago. Who is the presumptive nominee vetting for vp. And how worried is Hillary Clinton about a faceoff with him. And the spectacular rise and fall. We have new details breaking this hour about his decision to drop out of the race. Lets go outfront. Good evening, im erin burnett. Outfront tront, breaking news. John kasich dropping out of the republican race this