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Trump Wins Nebraska and West Virginia; Sanders Wins in West Virginia, But Still Trails; Donald Trump Fences Online with Elizabeth Warren; Marco Rubio Interviewed. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 11, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Hello, everyone. And welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: And I'm Errol Barnett. This is CNN special coverage of the U.S. presidential election primaries. It's great to have you with us.

CHURCH: Well, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have notched more primary wins in the race for the U.S. presidency.

BARNETT: The victories in West Virginia and Nebraska bring Trump closer than ever to clenching the nomination. But for Sanders you could say the win the in West Virginia is cold comfort.

CHURCH: Pretty much Sanders won decisively over Hillary Clinton in the mountain state but democrats award their delegates proportionally, so, Sanders adds to his total but Clinton will also picks up delegates. Despite the win it is all but impossible for Sanders to win his party's nomination outright.

BARNETT: Still Sanders is still pressing forward optimistically.

CHURCH: Yes. And earlier, Sanders laid out his electoral strategy while also taking strong shots at Donald Trump. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me be as clear as I can be. We are in this campaign to win the democratic nomination.

(CROWD CHEERING)

And we are going to fight for every last vote in Oregon, Kentucky, California, the Dakotas.

(CROWD CHEERING)

Now, we fully acknowledge we are good in arithmetic, that we have an uphill climb ahead of us, but we are used to fighting uphill climbs.

(CROWD CHEERING)

We have been fighting uphill from the first day of this campaign when people considered us a fringe candidacy.

(CROWD CHEERING)

And our message to the democratic delegates who will be assembling in Philadelphia is while we have many disagreements with Secretary Clinton, there's one area we agree, and that is we must defeat Donald Trump.

(CROWD CHEERING)

Trump is not going to be president for a number of reasons.

(APPLAUSE)

And the major reason is that the American people on (TECHNICAL PROBLEM) history.

(CROWD CHEERING)

BARNETT: The audience not knowing to cheer or boo for some of that. But let's break down what took place on the republican side.

Donald Trump wins the West Virginia primary running without opposition. Trump comes out top in Nebraska as well. He adds to his virtually insurmountable delegate lead as the only republican left in the race.

[03:05:06] Trump needs 1,237 delegates to clench his party's outright. And at the moment he has 1119.

CHURCH: Joining us now from Washington is CNN politics reporter Tal Kopan. Great to talk with you.

TAL KOPAN, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Hi.

CHURCH: So, not surprisingly, Donald Trump enjoying victories in West Virginia and Nebraska. Bernie Sanders had a convincing win over Hillary Clinton in West Virginia. So, what lies ahead and when might Sanders reassess where the race stands and what role he needs to play in it going forward?

KOPAN: I don't think you'll see Bernie Sanders reassess his candidacy until after the last primaries set and done in June going into the convention in July.

He is given every indication that he still intends to continue this all the way to the convention. In fact, telling his supporters that he believes that he can go ahead and win this nomination outright.

Of course, at this point, that's impossible with pledged delegates alone. There aren't enough left in remaining contests for him to do that. But he could convince, theoretically some super delegates to change their mind and support him.

So, he is going to stay in this all the way. And, you know, there isn't an argument against him doing that. Because Hillary Clinton herself back in 2008, stayed in the race pretty much all the way.

So, you're not going to see directly from her camp for him to pull out. And there's really no need for him to as long as he can make that pitch to his supporters.

BARNETT: And, Tal, on the other side, you know, Tuesday's wins will essentially push establishment republicans to back Donald Trump leading up to the convention. But there is still reluctance among them, and hate.

The politicians, they are worried about their own reelection chances if they back Trump. So, does he need to start winning over the establishment to get the GOP money-making machine behind him for the general election? Because part of his appeal of course is that he is not an insider. He's an outsider.

KOPAN: Well, there are a couple of schools have thought on this. First, you know, to a certain extents, of course he has to win over the establishment machine, and there's this, you know, a relative amount of supporters sort of jumping on his bandwagon at this point reading the writing on the wall, seeing his support among the republican electorate and going ahead and getting on board.

Of course, there have also been GOP insiders who have pointed out that it's really easy for Trump to fix his donor problem. All he has to do is bring the Republican Party new donors.

And if he can bring in people who may not be Bush donors, they may not be Romney donors, but they're Trump supporters, and those people also give money to republican candidates running for Senate and House, the party is probably going to rally around him that much quicker.

And so, there is a pathway for Donald Trump to build his support among the Republican Party. But it was really interesting tonight. He was not a unanimous victor even though there are no other active candidates in the race. He still only pulled off, you know, sort of landslide victories but not unanimous ones.

I think the last time I checked he was up -- he was losing about one in four voters in West Virginia and losing almost 4 in 10 in Nebraska. And, of course, there are early votes that could account for some of it. But it's clear that the party isn't quite ready to adopt him unanimously just yet.

BARNETT: Yes. All right. Interesting stuff. Tal Kopan, thanks for joining us from Washington. We appreciate it.

KOPAN: Thanks.

CHURCH: All right. Let's bring in Dave Jacobson now, a democratic strategist, and John Thomas, a republican consultant.

BARNETT: Welcome to you both. Thanks for staying up late for us. Joining us from the West Coast in our L.A. bureau. John, I want to start with you on that last point that Tal was making about the republicans still being fractured at this point. We could expect Tuesday's results, but if you look at the exit polling

in Nebraska, for example, really looking into how republicans felt as they headed to the polls, we see that essentially 37 percent, if we add together the republicans who are concerned and scared, 38 percent of them feel that way if Trump will be elected as president.

What does that say about the state of electorate right now among republicans and his shot of winning in November?

JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Well, there was one key statistic that that exit poll didn't ask. And that's the terrified question. If Hillary Clinton is elected are you terrified? And I think 100 percent of the republican electorate would agree that Hillary Clinton would be a terrifying president.

She is the uniter that will bring the party together, but the fact is, tonight was a big night for Donald Trump, and more importantly -- so, I think the party is going to coalesce. And the party's relationship...

(CROSSTALK)

BARNETT: Yes. But, John, you are dodging the question there. These are people who said even if Donald Trump is elected president, these are republicans, they're concerned. What does that mean?

THOMAS: You know, they're concerned about a lot of things. They're concerned about the state of world affairs, the economy. I think Donald Trump as we move through this process is going to win those voters over.

[03:10:00] We're already starting to see a little bit more moderate Donald Trump in the process especially on some of his positions.

I think they're going to come along, I really do. But Donald Trump does -- you're right. Donald Trump has some ground to make up, but it's a long road to November. I think you can get it done.

CHURCH: So, Dave, what do you make of those numbers?

DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look, I think it's emblematic of the identity crises that he's continued to sort of persist in the Republican Party, right?

You see the rift between the GOP elite with the Paul Ryan, and the Mitt Romney's and the Bushes of the world and the voters who have propelled Donald Trump to become the presumptive nominee.

I think this is emblematic of sort of the broader narrative that we're seeing with sort of fractured Republican Party. And I think the reality is Donald Trump is not going to be a formidable general election candidate until he can sort of consolidate the republican base.

And one of those -- the ways that he sort of does that is he deals with these challenge head on. CHURCH: All right. So, gentlemen, let's listen for a moment to some

of what Bernie Sanders have to say after his big win in West Virginia. And then of course we'll get your reaction. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Mr. Trump will not become president because the American people understand that our strength is in our diversity. That we are a great nation because we are black and white and Latino and Asian American and Native Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: All right. Dave, to you first. Is this a sign, perhaps, of a change of tone in Sanders message from attacking Clinton to focusing more on Trump. And could it signal the role he may play once Clinton is inevitably nominated given he knows by now that he has no mathematical chance of winning.

JACOBSON: Right. Rosemary, I think he's testing out the waters for V.P. or some cabinet position or at least some surrogate at a certain level for the general election. He wants to be part of the campaign. Because his chief objective is to make sure that Donald Trump does not become the next president, right?

I think you're going to see the shift increasingly as we get closer and closer to the conventions. Look, the reality is if he doesn't want Trump to be president, he's got two choices.

One, he can continue to attack Hillary Clinton, that's going to increase the likelihood that Donald Trump becomes the next president or he can pivot and start attacking Donald Trump and help propel whoever the next democrat is to the White House after the November election.

CHURCH: And, John, of course, let's bring you in on this. Because we're seeing here possibly, eventually Bernie Sanders will be a uniting force on the democratic side. Where does that leave the republicans?

THOMAS: Well, I don't think he'll necessarily be a uniting force. I think the fact is 25 percent of Bernie Sanders supporters say that that they will never support Hillary Clinton as their nominee.

The fact that a socialist beat Hillary Clinton on issues of the economy tonight, about issues of coal, I mean, it's shocking. I think we need to remember this. That the top issue going into this election is going to be the economy.

And we saw tonight that Hillary Clinton's Achilles' heel was exposed and that's -- although Donald Trump certainly has negatives and almost every other issue Hillary beats Donald Trump. Donald Trump create jobs. Hillary has never created a single job.

BARNETT: And what's interesting, John, is you're echoing the sentiment from Reince Priebus tonight. The chairman of the Republican National Committee sent out a tweet almost Donald Trump style a couple hours ago.

We'll bring it up for our viewers, quote, "It is nothing short of embarrassing that Hillary Clinton has now been defeated 20 times by a 74-year-old socialist from Vermont."

Dave, what do you make of that remark? He's noting Sanders' age, he's calling him a socialist, and pointing to one of Clinton's weaknesses.

JACOBSON: Look, this presidential campaign is anything but conventional. I say there's an identity crisis on the republican side. We have our own identity crisis, right?

You've got this riff between the Bernie Sanders supporters, sort of the leftist left wing of the party that's been inspiring young people, working glass voters, white voters, even independents into his column.

And simultaneous to that you've got the traditional sort of Obama coalition of voters, which is women, African-American, Latinos, Asians, minority voters. And I think, look, the reality is our campaign and our party hasn't sort of seen the same kind of character attacks that we've seen in the Republican Party.

So, I think it's going to be a lot easier for us, excuse me, to consolidate and bring the party together into sort of unify at our convention, as opposed to the Republican Party where you've seen this unprecedented rift, where you've the highest ranking republican elected leader in the country not yet ready to come behind the presumptive nominee.

Were you've the Mitt Romney's and George Bushes. Even Marco Rubio tonight indicated that he's willing to support the nominee after it takes place, but he's not willing to come out front and endorse Donald Trump today.

BARNETT: And, John, just because we talk about unity. Hey, you two have spent so much time on our air talking about these issues. Have you two become closer at all?

[03:15:02] THOMAS: We're besties.

JACOBSON: We are BFF.

THOMAS: Yes.

JACOBSON: Actually, we're more 'frenemies' I think.

BARNETT: OK.

THOMAS: Right.

BARNETT: We'll settle for that.

CHURCH: Yes. Dave Jacobson and John Thomas, always a pleasure to chat with you. Thanks so much.

BARNETT: Thanks, guys. THOMAS: Thanks.

JACOBSON: Likewise, thank you.

BARNETT: Now the candidate who gets the most votes doesn't necessarily become president of the United States.

Still to come, we'll explain the Electoral College and what the nominees will be facing in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: While we may have many disagreements with Secretary Clinton, there is one area we agree. And that is we must defeat Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Don Riddell with your CNN World Sport headlines.

It has been an emotional day in East London where West Ham have played their last ever game at their stadium, home for more than a century. But the narrative wasn't quite all we're expecting, United were late to the bowling ground causing a delay to kick off an extraordinary scene.

As Manchester United the bus near the said stadium are crush of fans outside. Some of whom attacked the bus with bottles. It's a shame it all happened for the Hammers because otherwise it was a special night for the team. They came from behind to win 3-2.

Now there's not much doubt that Stephen Curry has been the best player in the NBA this season, but now it's official. He is the most valuable player for the second consecutive year.

But just how good years was reflected in the voting. It was unanimous. Of the 131 votes cast, everyone went in Curry's favor. And that has never happened in the 61 year history of the award.

One of Brazil's most successful football players, the 2002 World Cup winner Rivaldo would prefer for you not to come to Rio for the Olympics this summer. Brazil is suffering from a number of ailments right now, the economic collapse, the government instability, the Zika virus.

But Rivaldo is worried about the threat of violence. The posted warning to his Instagram account mentioning a 17-year-old girl who was killed at the weekend in a shootout.

That is a quick look at all your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: The reason that our campaign is the strongest campaign against Trump is not just the polls. It is that our campaign is generating the energy and the enthusiasm that we need to have a large voter turnout in November.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:19:59] CHURCH: Democrat Bernie Sanders speaking to supporters in Salem, Oregon after his win over Hillary Clinton in West Virginia's primary.

BARNETT: But since the state awards delegates proportionally, Clinton maintains her big lead in that category.

CHURCH: Sanders beats Clinton in West Virginia 51 percent to 36 percent. He was widely expected to win after Clinton said in March that her plans for clean energy would put a lot of coal miners out of business.

BARNETT: And the only republican left standing, Donald Trump, scored two wins. Of could he should since he's the only one left standing. You see Ted Cruz and John Kasich in the single digits.

Meantime, in Nebraska, Trump wins with 61 percent of the vote there. At least Cruz and Kasich made it to double digits in those states.

CHURCH: Now worth pointing now that in the U.S. presidential race it's not who wins the most votes among American citizens. The nominees have to reach a magic number of votes among the so-called electors members of the country's Electoral College.

BARNETT: Now when regular Americans, whatever that term means - what's the regular American - well, they may cast their ballot in November they are essentially telling the Electoral College who it should choose state by state.

CNN's chief U.S. correspondent shows Wolf Blitzer how it can play out.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You heard Bernie Sanders making the case, within the polls right now he's even more competitive against Donald Trump than Hilary Clinton. Well, he's right about that.

Whether you're Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton if you're the democrats, first you start by looking at this map and Donald Trump for that matter. This is Obama versus Romney. The reelection campaign in 2012.

Well, I want to focus on this instead. This is our CNN 2016 battleground map. And you see the yellow states those are states that we have by consensus here determined are toss up states. If you see a light blue state like Michigan that means it leaning it blue. Pennsylvania is that category.

If you light red state here Georgia, we're leaning it red. Arizona same thing. Now if you're a republican in Arizona or Georgia you're saying you're crazy, those are solid red states. If you're a democrat in Michigan or Pennsylvania you're saying you're

crazy. Those are solid blue states. But we just -- given Trump's appeal, given the demographics and given the possibility of Latino vote here, higher African-American vote here, this is the way we start the map.

So, if you're inside the Trump campaign, the Clinton campaign, or for that matter the Sanders campaign, if he can pull off the miracle, one thing the democrats say is we think so, this one probably going to go to them. That's what they think because of this Latino vote. Trump's issues they think they get that one.

Also inside the democratic state they would say, well, Wisconsin we're going to get back. If on our battleground map if democrats could hold Nevada -- Nevada, excuse me, and hold Wisconsin, then if you're Secretary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, Florida would get you over the top.

That's why this map is so competitive, so hard. The hill is steeper, if you will, given the last two elections for republicans. If Donald Trump could hold Florida, that makes it an interesting map.

But then Donald Trump has to go win. Well, let's start over this way, Donald Trump would have to win Ohio. He would have to win North Carolina which Romney carried in 2012 after Obama carried in 2009.

So, where are we now? I didn't do that in purpose. We're at a tie, 253 to 253. This is how a competitive could play out. So, where does Virginia go?

One of the classic swing states in American politics has been trending blue in recent years. If the democrats can hold that, now you're up to 266. Pick one and you get to the finish line. So, can Donald Trump hold Iowa?

George W. Bush had some success. Barack Obama won it twice. If Trump could somehow take Iowa then there you are, 266, 259. Now we come down to two smaller states. Now democrats will tell you they believe Colorado is coming their way. Traditionally been a battleground state. The Denver suburbs, the Latino vote could be key.

This could come down here or it could come down here. What if Donald Trump can win New Hampshire? And you're at 266, 263. Again, it's a hypothetical conversation. But here, Colorado in this circumstances decides the presidency.

And so, it's a very -- that this is one hypothetical. You could do thousands of these as you play them out. But if you're inside the campaigns right now, if you're the Trump campaign, you're starting by looking here. You know you need to do better business up here in the rust belt.

If Donald Trump can change, for example, the State of Michigan, if he can make that red, it helps his odds. If he can make Pennsylvania red it helps his odds. So, a lot of places here. Secretary Clinton thinks she could play as well. Bernie Sanders just

noting he thinks he is stronger now. Some democrats are dubious it would play out that way.

But inside the campaigns now in May, especially in the Trump campaign because he has it locked up, this is what he is studying. Where am I strongest? What are my demographics? What have I learned in the primaries that I now want to test in the general election atmosphere?

And if you're the democratic campaign...

[03:25:00] (TECHNICAL PROBLEM)

CHURCH: John King there with our Wolf Blitzer. And we'll take a quick break here. but still to come, she's not in the presidential race, but she's ready to take on Donald Trump.

Ahead on our special election coverage, an intense online battle between Donald Trump and Elizabeth Warren. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our special coverage of the primaries in West Virginia and Nebraska. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett.

Democrat Bernie Sanders is savoring a decisive win in the West Virginia primary. He beat Hillary Clinton 51 percent to 36 percent. But the victory does very little to help Sanders since both candidates add to their delegate totals.

[03:30:03] You see it there. Clinton is now about 150 delegates shy of clenching her party's nomination.

CHURCH: And on the republican side, Donald Trump wins the West Virginia primary running without opposition. Trump comes out on top in Nebraska as well, of course. And he adds to his virtually insurmountable delegate lead as the only republican left in the race. Trump needs 1,237 delegates to clench his party's nomination outright.

BARNETT: Now Briana Keilar, our senior political correspondent was in Oregon for Bernie Sanders' victory speech. Take a look.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna on the evening of the West Virginia primary talking to a crowd here in Oregon as he savor this victory, really sounding like a candidate who is pushing forward in his primary battle.

He took on Hillary Clinton on several issues. Trade, on the environment. On campaign finance. But he also garnered a lot of enthusiasm from his supporters when he took on Donald Trump, criticizing him sharply for his comments about Latinos and Muslims.

It goes to show you that as Bernie Sanders faces nearly insurmountable math in getting to the democratic nomination, this will be the area if he does get out of the race ultimately, where he will seek unity with Hillary Clinton and her supporters.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Salem, Oregon.

CHURCH: And Hillary Clinton is already looking ahead to the next big race after Tuesday's loss.

BARNETT: Senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny (TECHNICAL PROBLEM).

CHURCH: ... Donald Trump. How concern is the Democratic Party machine about what his race to the convention will actually do to the Clinton campaign.

ANGELA RYE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think a couple of things. One, I don't think that Bernie Sanders staying in the democratic primary is dividing democrats and conquering for the purposes of Donald Trump's win ultimately in the general is what I feel like I heard you saying.

I don't think that's at all what's happening. I think what Bernie Sanders is doing is staying in the race to ensure that people who support him have the option to do so through that California primary contest.

Unfortunately, for Bernie Sanders, this particular contest looks a lot like many of the other contests that he's won, meaning West Virginia is not the most diverse state, it's not reflective of it overall -- the overall American demographic. And I think that presents a long term challenge for him and as we know the math, as you said, is not on his side.

BARNETT: And, Ashley, do republicans enjoy the fact that Bernie Sanders is still in this? Because Donald Trump's new nickname for Hillary Clinton is 'crooked Hillary.' And Bernie Sanders is putting the pressure on her to be more transparent and expose the links to Wall Street. So, is this something you relish in at the moment?

ASHLEY BELL, 2016 REPUBLICAN DELEGATE: You know, no one would have thought that the Republican Party will be sitting back with the nominee at this point and watching the democrats still fight it out.

BARNETT: Right.

BELL: I think to Angela's point, I don't think Bernie Sanders is in it just because he wants his voters to show up for the polls and be counted. I think he's about to call the question for the soul of Democratic Party.

He wants those delegates to go to Philadelphia and he wants that platform to reflect his views of where he thinks the party should go. And I think he can do that with enough delegates.

BARNETT: Now, Angela, in the key swing states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, Donald Trump is showing to be neck and neck with Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders actually performs better in a head to head. How do you explain that at this stage of the race? RYE: In a couple of ways. One is Donald Trump throughout this primary

season, I've called him the new Teflon, Don, the reason why is because no attack has stuck to Donald Trump.

[03:35:00] The reality of it is he has yet to be vetted the ways in which Hillary Clinton has been vetted over the last two decades. Frankly, she's been vetted for this office twice. She's been vetted as a senatorial candidate and she was vetted as first lady whether she wanted to be or not.

BARNETT: It emerge on Tuesday that the Trump campaign put forward a white nationalist as a delegate in California. The person resigned. Had some comments to say about why it happened.

But, Ashley, to you, what does that say about the racial undertones of Donald Trump's campaign that he has such support from these types of people?

BELL: You know, the Trump campaign has done a good job of reflecting what Donald Trump wants it reflect. He has been a 100 percent in control of that. Do I believe? Yes. The challenges when it comes to brought in our party and making it their party versus us, I would like it to be. Yes, he has challenges.

And I would hope that he'd put people around him that can advise him and also help him understand that I look at the tweet at Cinco de Mayo, he go look further than that when it comes to recruiting blacks and Hispanics to the party. And that sort of thing makes a good sound bite and it does cause some nervousness.

BARNETT: But this goes beyond challenges though. I mean, he's been called racist, he's been called bigoted, and xenophobic. And some say those are the policies that are really energizing his campaign.

BELL: You know, I don't -- I don't buy that. What I don't buy is that, you know, the people who support Donald Trump, many of them are good people. They are conservatives who are tired to the government as the way that it is.

They don't like the Republican Party because they're conservatives and the party has not done what they said they were going to do. So, they rebuked everything as the establishment.

So, I think you can kind of try and fish hold there, but that's not it. These are good American people who support a man who they think and they believe can get this party in the right direction.

RYE: And he brought up the point about Donald Trump. He's been called xenophobic, he's been called racist, he's been called the bigot. He has represented points and has pushed out statements that represent every single one of those buckets.

So much so that even the new mayor elect in London has criticized Donald Trump for some of his remarks. This is -- the pope. You know, I mean, this is someone who is clearly been on the record saying one thing. I know he turns around and says something different. He can't publicly condemn David Duke.

This is our real problem. And these are the types of things, the types of issues, this kind of rhetoric that is dangerous and treacherous for what this country needs to be pushing forward and toward.

BARNETT: And is Donald Trump the type of republican you really want? I mean, we have divisions with the House Speaker, we have divisions among the establishment. It's what the voters like it.

BELL: Right.

BARNETT: But is that the candidate that you really want?

BELL: I'm a conservative. At the end of the day, I want my nominee to be a conservative which is why I supported Marco Rubio, why I supported Rand Paul and other candidates.

I want Donald Trump to be a conservative. And I don't know what it's going to take for it to happen. But I hope in Cleveland when he bring up party platform together and he meets with our leaders that he can convince them and they can work together to say, you know what, this party is about limited government. It's about supporting life, it's about supporting all the things that this party stands for. But we haven't gotten there yet.

RYE: This guy will say whatever it takes to win. And if you're comfortable with that, if you're comfortable with that guy being a commander in chief and having access to security clearance documents and everything else, go for it. But I will work to the blood, sweat and tears.

(CROSSTALK)

BELL: I honestly believe that Bernie Sanders is still doing well because half the Democratic Party believes that Hillary Clinton will say thing to win.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: And you should check those numbers because it's definitely not happened to the party, Ashley.

BELL: And that's why he's still at 50 percent. And that's why you won West Virginia enough.

RYE: Those numbers are off.

BARNETT: Well, we didn't feel we got you, guys, to agree on much. But there are six more months to go until election. So that's in eternity in politics. We appreciate you both joining us. Angela Rye, our CNN commentator, and Ashley Bell, a 2016 republican delegate. Thanks so much for your time, guys.

RYE: Thank you.

BELL: Thank you. BARNETT: And as Angela mentioned that Donald Trump is receiving

international criticism from London's newly elected mayor.

Coming up, why Sadiq Khan called Trump's stance on Islam ignorant.

[03:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The right wing never gives up attacking me. Have you noticed that? Honest to goodness. I think -- I think they're really going to throw everything including the kitchen sink this time. I have a little message for them. They've done it for 25 years and I'm still standing.

(APPLAUSE)

CHURCH: OK. So, there's no argument Donald Trump whips up strong feelings. Among them, democratic U.S. Senator, Elizabeth Warren.

BARNETT: That's right. She says she wants to help her party defeat Trump. Randi Kaye has more on the war of words she's been having with him via Twitter.

RANDI KAYE, CNN'S INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Democratic Elizabeth Warren taking on Donald Trump in 140 characters or less. The Massachusetts Senator using words like 'lame, weak, and bully' to describe the republican candidate.

The Twitter spat dates back to May 3rd, after Trump win the Indiana primary and became the presumptive nominee. Warren promising to fight her heart out to make sure Donald Trump's toxic stew of hatred and insecurity never reaches the White House.

Trump couldn't let that slide, blasting Warren on Twitter three days later writing "I hope corrupt Hillary Clinton chooses goofy Elizabeth Warren as her running mate. I will defeat them both."

One minute later, he slammed Warren again, this time bringing up her heritage, a controversy going back to her 2012 Senate campaign. Trump tweeting "Let's properly check goofy Elizabeth Warren's records to see if she is Native American. I say she's a fraud."

Warren has long defended her Native American heritage even after her republican opponent, Scott Brown accused her of making it up to get ahead in her career.

Seconds later, this, "Goofy Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton's flunky has a career that is totally based on a lie. She is not a Native American."

A while later this, "Goofy Elizabeth Warren and her phony Native American heritage are on a Twitter rant. She is too easy. I'm driving her nuts."

But was he really driving her nuts? Warren certainly did not back down. In fact, she took to Twitter again, unleashing a firestorm, accusing Trump of lying his way through the primaries without being held accountable and putting him on notice. Those days are over.

First, she called his tweets 'lame.' Then this in response to him calling her Goofy Elizabeth Warren. "Goofy at real Donald trump? For a guy with the best words, that's a pretty lame nickname. Weak."

Within 13 minute, Warren fired off 11 tweets aimed at Trump. Calling him a bully, who has a single play in his playbook offensive lies thrown at anyone who calls him out. Another saying he spews insults and lies because he can't have an honest conversation about his dangerous vision for America.

Warren continued. "You can beat a bully not by talking tail and running but by holding your ground. If you think recycling Scott Brown's hateful attacks on my family is going to shut me up at real Donald Trump, think about, buddy. Weak."

[03:45:03] Her rant ended at 8.49 p.m. with this dicey. "Whatever at real Donald Trump says we won't shut up, we won't back down. This election is too important and he won't step foot in the White House."

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

CHURCH: On the matter of the criticism, Trump shows no signs of backing down.

BARNETT: In an interview with ABC News he recently defended his proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If anything you make them stronger toward you. I know, I've heard that whole thing, oh, if you do the ban. Well, the ban is a temporary ban until we find out what's going on. We can't be the stupid people anymore. In fact, right here in Nebraska they're bringing in tremendous numbers of people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me put you back in the Oval Office though.

TRUMP: We can't -- we don't know who these people are, who don't know where they're coming from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Now the new mayor of London is criticizing Donald Trump for his stance on Islam calling it ignorant.

CHURCH: Yes, he is warning it could make the U.S. and the U.K. less safe.

CNN's Phil Black has more.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not long after his electoral victory here at London City hall, this city's new Mayor, Sadiq Khan said he's interested in visiting the United States to meet with mayors of major cities there to discuss ideas, policies for tackling some of the problems that they shared.

But he said he might have to do it before January in the event that Donald Trump does win the presidential race in the U.S. and enforces his policy of banning Muslims from entering the country.

Donald Trump said he welcomed Sadiq Khan's election to the position of Mayor of London and said Sadiq Khan could be the exception to that intended policy. But Sadiq Khan isn't interested in being Donald Trump's exception.

He says the problem is not the fact that the mayor of London can't enter the United States but the fact that Muslims anywhere would be unable to travel there. The problem he says is the policy and he wants Donald Trump to rethink it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SADIQ KHAN, LONDON MAYOR: I think Donald Trump has ignorant views about Islam. It's not just about me. Donald Trump said I'm the exception to his rule. But I feel that Muslims from any part of the part you can't go to the USA.

My point is this. There are many Muslims who want to go to America to go Disneyland, there are business people that want to do business in America or people want to be students in America. We showed last Thursday here in London that it's possible to be mainstream Muslim and be a western and it's compatible with western world. But my point to Donald Trump is that don't make an exception for me. Reconsider your views in Islam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: Sadiq Khan doesn't just believe that Donald Trump's views on Islam ignorant. He believes they're dangerous as well. He says that Mr. Trump is making both the United States and the United Kingdom less save because he's alienating mainstream Muslims and that plays into the hands of extremist.

Mr. Trump's Muslim ban is pretty unpopular in the United Kingdom. It had previously been described by British Prime Minister David Cameron as divisive, stupid, and wrong. Comments he continues to stand by.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

BARNETT: Now be sure to watch Christiane Amanpour's interview with London's new Mayor, Sadiq Khan. It will be featured during her program on CNN international at 7 p.m. for those of you watching in London.

CHURCH: He is out of the presidential race, but Marco Rubio is still talking about it. What the former republican candidate now says about supporting Donald Trump.

Back with that and more in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:01] Thanks for staying with CNN. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with you on Weather Watch right now.

The big story on Monday across the U.S. was an active weather pattern that spawned upwards of 20 tornadoes. On Tuesday, 16 more tornadoes to add to the list there across the central portion of the U.S. Also a significant number of severe hail and severe wind reports that came across the area as well.

So, here's what we have in store going in towards Wednesday. Believe it or not the forecast indication for Wednesday is also another active day. So, we're talking about a multiday event here. Day three really culminating the activity across portions of the Midwestern U.S. south towards the south Central States in places like Springfield, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and even Dallas will be in line for some severe weather.

The main threas is always I think one more in line with hail and winds. But of course after what we've seen with recent storms, not going to surprised here to see more tornadoes across some of these areas scattered about.

So, here's the forecast through Friday. Notice the bull's eye across the northern portion of the State of Tennessee. In and around Nashville in northward, a heavy rainfall expect to across that region.

And to the Western U.S. we go, where the trend is going to be extreme warmth. We're talking July like temperatures for portions of California the next couple of days.

So, starting off in Los Angeles around 20. Dallas into the 30s, and notice Atlanta among the hottest temperatures of 2016 at 31 degrees. And the trend towards the Caribbean here looks as such with the 20s and 30s as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Former republican candidate Senator Marco Rubio sat down with our Jake Tapper for his first national interview since he dropped out of the presidential race.

CHURCH: Rubio says he has no interest in being Donald Trump's vice president, but he is prepared to support the party's nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, THE LEAD SHOW HOST: You have raised concerns throughout the campaign, and ones that you're standing by about his temperament and about his views on foreign policy, on trade policy and other things. Would those reservations keep you, do they right now preclude you from endorsing him?

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SENATOR: Well, I've signed a pledge that said I would support the republican nominee and I intend to continue to do that. But where -- look here's the situation that we're in. On the one hand I don't want Hillary Clinton to be the president of the United States. I don't want her to win this election. On the other hand, as I have said, I have well defined differences

with the current, the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, and like millions of republicans, you try to reconcile those two things.

I intend to live up to the pledge that we made, but that said, these concerns that I have about policy, they remain and they're there. But, you know, that doesn't mean that Donald needs to change his positions in order to get my support or what have you.

As I said earlier today, I think he should be true to what he believes in and continue to campaign on those things and make his case to the American people.

TAPPER: But it's not just concerns that you had about. You once said that you didn't think -- you had concerns about the fact -- about the nuclear codes being in the hands of an erratic con man. That was what you said. So...

(CROSSTALK)

RUBIO: So, I'm not going -- and here's what I'm not going to do over the six months and sit there and just be taking shots at him. He obviously wasn't my first choice because I was running for president. He has won the nomination and now he deserves the opportunity to go out and make his case to the American people.

And that's what he's going to do. I don't view my role over the next six months to just sit here and level charges against him. I know what I said during the campaign. I annunciated those things repeatedly. And the voters chose a different direction.

I stand by what I -- the things that I said, but I'm not going to sit here now and become his chief critic over the next six months because he deserves the opportunity to go forward and make his argument and try to win.

TAPPER: But do you understand why millions of people who voted for you and who still see you as the future of the Republican Party wonder, well, if you're standing by saying that you have concern about putting the nuclear codes in the hands of an erratic con man, how do you rectify that?

(CROSSTALK)

RUBIO: Because we know -- well, we ultimately live in a republic. And so, on a republic these voters went out and voted.

[03:54:59] And through the process set up by the Republican Party he became our nominee. That's just a fact. He is now the presumptive nominee.

That said, it doesn't change what I've said in the past. I stand by those things, and -- but now he is the presumptive nominee. I don't want Hillary Clinton to win. And I just don't view now the most productive role for me is to sitting here and being someone that taking shots at him. TAPPER: Do you want either one of them to win?

RUBIO: Well, I don't want Hillary Clinton to win. And as I've said, I want to support the republican nominee. I signed a pledge that I would do so. And I think one of the best ways that I can be supportive of the conservative cause is to go out there and work on behalf of those who, for example, are running to hold the republican majority in the United States Senate, or candidates across the country that share my views on national security and some of these other issues. And that's where I intend to focus my time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: All right. Just quickly to another story we're watching very closely. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff says she is going to fight impeachment with all her strength.

BARNETT: Speaking at a women's conference Tuesday, the embattled leader said she intends to stay in office through her elected term. The Senate vote is scheduled for Wednesday on whether to begin an impeachment trial against her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DILMA ROUSSEFF, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (TRANSLATED): Look, for me it is a very important moment. It's a decisive moment. It's a decisive moment for Brazil's democracy. A moment we're going through today. Without a doubt we are going through a time when people feel that we're making history, the history of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And if the Senate vote passes, Rousseff will have to step down for up to six months.

And thanks for your company. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And, I'm Errol Barnett. Remember to connect with us any time on Twitter. It is great to hear from you all. We love it. Early Start is next for those of you in the States.

CHURCH: And for everyone else, stay tuned for another edition of CNN Newsroom with our Max Foster in London. Have a great day.

BARNETT: See you.

[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)