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CNN Live Event/Special
Cruz, Sanders Win in Wisconsin; Cruz, Sanders Make Remarks Following Primary Wins. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired April 05, 2016 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00] (APPLAUSE)
TED CRUZ, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We'll see a president who stands with Israel.
(APPLAUSE)
Clearly and unapologetically.
(APPLAUSE)
Instead of negotiating with terrorists, we'll rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal.
(APPLAUSE)
We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism and we will utterly destroy ISIS.
(APPLAUSE)
We will have a president who keeps us safe.
(APPLAUSE)
To the soldiers and sailors, the air men and marines, the police officers and firefighters and first responders who risk their lives every day to keep us safe, we will have a commander-in-chief who has your back.
(APPLAUSE)
Jobs, freedom, and security, that's what this next election is all about. In 1980, Milton and Rose Friedman wrote "free to choose." They explain that the American free enterprise system has been the greatest engine for opportunity and prosperity that the world has ever seen.
Too much government can stifle opportunity. But if we get Washington out of the way, then there is no limit to what we can accomplish.
(APPLAUSE)
It's what allowed my dad to escape Cuba and come to America with nothing, washing dishes making 50 cents a day to start a business. And today, to be a pastor traveling the country. (APPLAUSE)
It's what allowed my Irish-Italian mom to become the first in her family to go to college, to smash glass ceilings by becoming a pioneering computer programmer.
(APPLAUSE)
It's what allowed my wife, Heidi.
(CROWD CHANTING)
(APPLAUSE)
I may be biased, but isn't she going to make an amazing first lady?
(APPLAUSE)
HEIDE CRUZ, TED CRUZ'S WIFE: We love you, Wisconsin!
(CROWD CHANTING)
T. CRUZ: She's the child of missionaries, my best friend in the world, and she's become a successful business leader, a loving mom and every day she's teaching our daughters, Caroline and Katherine, that strong women can accomplish anything in the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
That's America. It's what we're fighting for. Our children. Our future. And Wisconsin has made clear we are free to choose.
[22:05:00] (APPLAUSE)
For centuries -- for centuries, America has been a shining city on a hill, a beacon of liberty to the world, and we can and will be once again.
(APPLAUSE)
So, I ask you at home to join us as we continue to unite republicans and independents and libertarians and Reagan democrats and Americans who care about our future who want jobs, freedom and security, just as we've done in Wisconsin, we're doing all across this country.
(APPLAUSE)
And, governor, let me tell you, I look forward to coming back to the State of Wisconsin this fall.
(APPLAUSE)
And in November, for the first time since 1984, painting the badger state bright republican red.
(APPLAUSE)
(CROWD CHANTING)
So, let me just say, Hillary, get ready, here we come.
(APPLAUSE)
God bless you.
(APPLAUSE)
WOLF BLITZER, THE SITUATION ROOM SHOW HOST: Ted Cruz celebrating a very big win in the State of Wisconsin with his wife, Heidi, the Governor, Scott Walker, delivering a very, very important speech tonight. Not necessarily going so much after his republican rivals, John Kasich and Donald Trump, but speaking about where he's going, trying to stress the positive, if you will.
Let's get a key race alert right now. We projected that Ted Cruz is the winner right now with almost 40 percent of the vote is in. You can see he has a commanding lead over Donald Trump, 52.3 percent, that's a majority. If that holds Donald Trump at 30.8 percent, John Kasich a distant third with only 14.6 percent.
On the democratic side, Bernie Sanders with a third of the vote now in, we project he is the winner of the democratic presidential primary with a majority 53.8 percent as of right now, 45.9 percent for Hillary Clinton. He's got a lead of more than almost 27,000 over Hillary Clinton.
And as you can see right there, Bernie Sanders the winner on the democratic side in Wisconsin, Ted Cruz the winner on the republican side in Wisconsin. Bernie Sanders is going to be speaking very, very soon.
Let's take a quick break. We'll hear from Bernie Sanders, his victory speech and much more after this.
[22:10:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: All right. We made a projection. Take a look at this. This is Ted Cruz, the winner of the Wisconsin republican presidential primary. He's watching CNN as we make the projection that winner. Alice Stewart, his communications director tweeted that congratulations. She says to Ted Cruz where a huge win in Wisconsin. Glad he's watching CNN for our projection.
Right now we're waiting Bernie Sanders. He's about to deliver his victory speech. He's in Laramie in Wyoming right now. We'll have live coverage of that.
Let's go over to John King at the magic wall. First, John, let's talk about these two races. It's an important win for obviously Ted Cruz, an important win for Bernie Sanders. Is it a bigger margin, for example, than we thought? JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the moment on the
democratic side if you're looking right now, that's 8 points. If you look at 37 percent of the vote and Bernie Sanders needs that to grow. He needs that to grow because if it ends in about 8 points he'll cut -- he'll get a net gain tonight of six or seven delegates.
BLITZER: What about in the republican side?
KING: If you look at the republican side, what's interesting here, I want to do something for you in just a second. First, it's a very impressive win for Senator Cruz. He's up 20 points at the moment. It's disappointing for John Kasich, who thought he could win a congressional district maybe two and get some delegates. Let me...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Forty two percent of that big win for Scott Walker, too, the governor who endorse Ted Cruz.
KING: Big win for Scott Walker. Let me take -- this is awkward for me but let me stretch this out for you and I'll tell you while I'm doing it in a minute.
This is a map of the congressional district in Wisconsin. The statewide winner gets a bunch of delegates and then three for each congressional district. So, if you're looking right now, Donald Trump is in play in this district here.
You see the dark red. That's Donald Trump. He's in play, looks like he's going to win the northern district right up here and he's potentially in play for a third district here.
So, maybe nine delegates for Trump. Better guess would probably be six, but maybe nine. We'll watch the rest of these votes come in right here as we watch the statewide delegates come out.
As Dana was talking about earlier tonight, the anti-Trump forces wanted to keep him in single digits essentially, keep him below 15. Because they think when you look forward and we do this a bit later. After Senator Sanders I think we could show you as of right now, if this ends like we think it's going to end tonight, even if Donald Trump gets the Missouri delegates that we have not awarded him yet, because there's still some issue about the final results there.
Donald Trump is going to need about 62 percent of the remaining delegates to get to 1237. Is that doable? Yes. But he's only been winning 46 percent of the delegates so far.
So, A, it defies of track of the race so far and, B, Senator Cruz comes out here with a good deal of momentum. So, the conversation among republicans tonight is they believe we are going to an open convention.
[22:15:03] That's not guaranteed by any means. But I would say it is much more likely because of these results and the big Cruz win here. And Donald Trump likely picking up single-digit delegates here. It is much more likely tonight, some people think even a near certainty that we are going to a contested convention.
BLITZER: Because if Trump will need 60 percent of the outstanding delegates, Cruz will still need more than 80 or 85 percent, right?
KING: Yes. Ted Cruz is not going to get to 1,237. It's his job as a politician to say that tonight. He told his supporters we're going to get to 1237, it's not going to happen.
I'm going to all start this and we'll see if we have time to do this. We may have to stop if Senator Sanders comes out to speak. But let's look on the republican side. Now I'm going to be extremely generous to Donald Trump. Number one, I'm going give him a few more delegates out of Missouri that we haven't given him.
BLITZER: Hold your thoughts for a moment.
KING: Of course.
BLITZER: Because Bernie Sanders is walking out. He always likes to interrupt John King over at the magic wall. There you see the Senator with his wife, Jane. They are going to be -- they're together. He's obviously very, very happy. He's won six of the last seven states and big win.
He also won Americans abroad. He keeps referring to that as well in the democratic contest. A lot of celebration going on in Laramie, Wyoming right now. Let's listen in to Bernie Sanders.
(APPLAUSE)
BERNIE SANDERS, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I was told that there were about 5,000 people who participated in the last Wyoming caucus. It looks like all of them are here tonight! Thank you!
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much for coming out. And let me remind everybody that we've got a really important caucus here on Saturday. Doors open at 9 a.m. Let's be there. Let's win in Wyoming.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, I don't know if the audience here knows it, I don't see any TVs here, but it has been projected by I think all of the networks that we won in Wisconsin!
(CROWD CHEERING & CHANTING)
Now, let me -- let me say a word -- well, maybe two words, I don't know, about what momentum is all about. Momentum is starting this campaign 11 months ago, and the media determining that we were a fringe candidacy.
Momentum is starting the campaign 60 to 70 points behind Secretary Clinton. Momentum is that within the last couple of weeks there have been national polls which have had us one point up or one point down. (APPLAUSE)
Momentum is that when you look at national polls or you look at statewide polls, we are defeating Donald Trump by very significant numbers.
(APPLAUSE)
And in almost every instance in national polls and in state polls, our margin over Trump is wider than is Secretary Clinton.
(APPLAUSE)
With the victory in Wisconsin tonight, and let me take this opportunity to thank the people of Wisconsin for their strong support.
(APPLAUSE)
With our victory tonight in Wisconsin we have now won seven out of eight of the last caucuses and primaries.
(APPLAUSE)
And we have won almost all of them with overwhelming landslide numbers.
[22:20:01] (APPLAUSE)
What momentum is about is that at a time in contemporary politics when every major candidate has a super PAC, we have said no to super PACs, said no to the billionaires who fund those super PACs.
(APPLAUSE)
And what we have done is in an unprecedented manner in American history, we have up to this point in the campaign received over six million individual campaign contributions.
(APPLAUSE)
Anyone here know what the average contribution is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $27!
SANDERS: That's exactly right. Smart crowd. Twenty seven dollars. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg "This is a campaign of the people, by the people and for the people."
(APPLAUSE)
We have decided that we do not represent the billionaire class, we do not represent Wall Street or the drug companies or the fossil fuel industry.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And we do not want their money.
(CROWD CHEERING)
What momentum is about is my belief that if we wake up the American people and if working people and middle-class people and senior citizens and young people begin to stand up, fight back and come out and vote in large numbers, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And what we have been seeing throughout this campaign is extraordinary voter turnouts in state after state.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And I am particularly grateful and pleased that at a time when many of the pundits said, you know, those young people, they don't want to get involved in politics, they're not really concerned about the major issues facing our country, they're too busy with their video games or whatever.
Well, you know what's happening? All over this country young people are standing up and they're saying, you know what, we want to help determine the future of this country, which we are going to inherit.
(CROWD CHEERING)
What momentum is about is that all across this country the American people are looking around them. And they understand that real change in our country's history, whether it is the trade union movement, whether it is the civil rights movement, whether it is the women's movement, whether it is the gay rights movement...
(CROWD CHEERING)
... they understand that real change never, ever takes place from the top on down. It always takes place from the bottom on up!
(CROWD CHEERING)
And today, from coast to coast, and I've been from coast to coast, I've been in California, I've been in Maine and I've been on a whole lot of states in between and where people are saying that why is it in America we have grotesque levels of income and wealth inequality?
[22:25:03] Why is it that the top one tenth of 1 percent now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent? Why is it that for the last 30 years, the great middle class of this country has been shrinking and almost all new income and wealth is going to the top 1 percent?
The American people are asking why is it that women go to work tomorrow and they're earning 79 cents on the dollar compared to men.
(CROWD CHEERING) People are asking how does it happen that the United States of America, our great nation, is the only major country on earth not to guarantee paid family and medical leave.
(CROWD CHEERING)
There are women giving birth in Wyoming and Wisconsin and Vermont today, but they're going to have to go back to work in two or three weeks because they don't have the income to take care of their family, which is why together we are going to pass three months paid family and medical leave.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And the American people from coast to coast they're asking, yes, the Affordable Care Act has done a lot of very good things, thank you President Obama, for your leadership.
(CROWD CHEERING)
But -- but in terms of health care, there is much, much more that has to be done.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And the American people are asking why does it happens that every other major country on earth, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland, Scandinavia, Canada, every major country on earth guarantees health care to all of their people as a right except the United States, and together we're going to change that international embarrassment.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And the American people are asking and young people are asking why is it that when we are living in an increasingly competitive global economy, why is it that kids are graduating college 30, 50, $70,000 in debt?
(CROWD CHEERING)
And in some cases, in some cases, spending decades having to pay out -- pay off that debt. We should be rewarding people who get the education they need, not punishing them.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And the American -- the American people are asking how does it happen when the scientists all over our country who study climate change, and scientists all over the world are in virtual unanimous agreement that climate change is real, that it is caused by human activity, that it is already causing devastating problems in our country and around the world, how do we have a Republican Party that refuses to even acknowledge the reality of climate change?
(CROWD CHEERING) (CROWD CHANTING)
The American people are asking how does it happen that we can spend trillions of dollars fighting a war in Iraq that we never should have gotten in in the first place.
(CROWD CHEERING)
[22:30:04] But that in Flint, Michigan and in cities all over this country, our inner cities are crumbling, unemployment off the charts, health care system not accessible, kids dropping out of high school, too, too many being arrested and sent to jail.
How come we can rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq and Afghanistan but we cannot rebuild our own crumbling infrastructure?
(CROWD CHEERING)
The American -- the American people are asking as they assemble all over this country, why can we not end a campaign finance system which is corrupt and which is undermining American democracy?
(CROWD CHEERING)
Democracy is not a complicated process. It means that you have a vote and you have a vote and you have a vote and majority wins. What democracy is not about is billionaires buying elections.
(APPLAUSE)
The American people are asking another very important and profound question and that question is how does it happen in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world that we have more people in jail than any other country on earth?
(APPLAUSE)
And what the American people are saying is that now is the time to invest in our young people in terms of jobs and education, not jails and incarceration.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And some of you have recently heard about the discovery and the revelations about the tax dodging that is taking place in Panama, which is one of the reasons that I oppose the free trade agreement with Panama.
(APPLAUSE)
And one of the reasons I was on the floor of the Senate talking exactly about what I feared would happen and that is wealthy people and large corporations figuring out ways to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
(APPLAUSE) And what the American people are asking is at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, how does it happen that you have large, profitable, multi-national corporations who in a given year pay zero, not a penny in federal income taxes?
(CROWD BOOING)
Now, change, real change comes about, whether it is fighting racism, worker exploitation, sexism, homophobia, real change comes about when people stand up and they look around them and they say, you know what, the status quo is not working, we can do better.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And let me give you -- I can give you many examples but let me give you the most contemporary example of what happens when people stand up and fight back.
If we were here in this beautiful auditorium five years ago, not a long time from an historical perspective and somebody were to jump up and say, you know, I think a $7.25 federal minimum wage is a starvation wage and it has got to be raised to $15 an hour.
[22:35:04] Now, somebody stood up five years ago and said that, the person next to them would have said you're nuts! Fifteen bucks an hour, you want to more than double the minimum wage, you're crazy. Maybe, maybe get it up to 8, 9 bucks an hour, but 15 bucks an hour, you're dreaming too big. Sound familiar? You are unrealistic. It can't be done. Think smaller.
But then what happened is fast food workers, people working at McDonald's, people working at Burger King, people working at Wendy's, they went out on strike, and I was very proud to join with those workers in Washington.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And they went out and they said, fellow Americans, we can't live on 7.25 an hour; we can't live on 8 bucks an hour. You got to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. And they fought and they fought. And then suddenly, a few years ago, Seattle, Washington, 15 bucks an hour.
(CROWD CHEERING)
Los Angeles, San Francisco, 15 bucks an hour.
(CROWD CHEERING)
Oregon, 15 bucks an hour! And in the last several weeks in both California and New York governors signed legislation for 15 bucks an hour.
(CROWD CHEERING)
What is my point? My point is that, yes, we can change the status quo when we think big and when we have a vision. (CROWD CHEERING)
Now, I am -- I am not naive. I know the power of Wall Street and their endless supplies of money. I know that corporate America will shut down plants in America and move to Mexico or China if they can make another $5 in profit. I know that billionaires are funding candidates whose job it is to represent the wealthy and the powerful.
I know about the corporate media that will give us all of the information we need accept what is most important for working families.
(CROWD CHEERING)
I know about all of that. But this is what I also know -- I know that what history is about is that when people stand up and they say the status quo is not acceptable, we will not have children working in factories, we will not have working people on the job who have no power over those jobs, we will not continue to have segregation or racism or bigotry, we will not have women unable to vote or go to the schools they want or do the work they want. We will pass gay marriage in 50 states in this country.
(CROWD CHEERING)
So, that is what I have learned from history, is that when we are prepared to think big, when we are prepared to take on the greed and recklessness of Wall Street, when we stand together and we don't allow the Trumps of the world to divide us up by whether we were born in America or born abroad, whether we are Muslim or Jewish or Christian.
(CROWD CHEERING)
When we stand to the, whether we're gay or straight, male or female.
(CROWD CHEERING)
Yes, we can create a government that represents all of us and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors.
(CROWD CHEERING)
[22:40:03] Now, this campaign has won seven out of the last eight caucuses and primaries.
(CROWD CHEERING)
With your help on Saturday, we're going to win here in Wyoming.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And then we are headed to New York.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And I know a little bit about New York because I spent the first 18 years of my life in Brooklyn, New York. Now, please keep this a secret, do not tell Secretary Clinton. She's getting a little nervous and I don't want her to get more nervous, but I believe we've got an excellent chance to win New York and a lot of delegates in that state.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And then we are going to head after some other states on the East Coast out to the West Coast. And we all have an excellent chance to win in Oregon and to win in California.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And I think that a lot of these super delegates are going to be looking around them and that are going to be saying which candidate has the momentum? Which candidate is bringing out huge numbers of people and creating huge!
(APPLAUSE)
Which candidate can bring out large numbers of people? See, I can't use of word huge anymore, it's out of my vocabulary. But we will win in November if there is a large voter turnout. That's what always happens.
Democrats and progressives win when there is a large voter turnout. Republicans win when people are demoralized. This campaign is giving energy and enthusiasm to millions of Americans.
(CROWD CHEERING)
(CROWD CHANTING)
So, I think the people of this country are tired of establishment politics and establishment economics. I think the people of this country are ready for a political revolution.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And if you ignore what you hear on corporate media, the facts are pretty clear. We have a path toward victory, a path toward the White House.
(CROWD CHEERING)
And Wyoming can give us an enormous boost forward if we win here on Saturday.
(CROWD CHEERING)
We often win and almost always win when the voter turnout is high. We do poorly when the voter turnout is low. Let us see on Saturday a record breaking turnout here in the Wyoming caucus.
(CROWD CHEERING)
ANDERSON COOPER, AAC360 SHOW HOST: And you've been listening to Senator Bernie Sanders speaking about his big victory in the State of Wisconsin. We've been listening to him speak for more than 30 minutes now.
We also earlier heard from Senator Ted Cruz, also the winner on the republican side. Big wins for both of these candidates.
Paul Begala, we're not going to hear apparently, from Hillary Clinton, not going to hear from Donald Trump. Why not? Is it a mistake if you think for them not to come out on a night like this?
PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes. I think you should always see. You never miss a chance to speak and to expound on your message. It could be the two of them both know New York and they're girding their loins -- I hate to bring about loins at this hour but they're preparing for a battle there. There is ...
(CROSSTALK)
[22:45:00] COOPER: Nice visual.
BEGALA: Sorry. But there is nothing like New York primary. But I want to come back to Senator Sanders. This is a win for him and it's important for him and his team and they worked hard on it and they deserve to win. I don't think they changed the math a lick. But he should I think get the coverage that he's getting for this. He's got an important message.
COOPER: And by the way, Bernie Sanders has just finished his speech.
BEGALA: At a veteran speechwriter, the most important thing often in a speech is what is not said. Bernie Sanders in over 30 minutes he never attacked Hillary Clinton. Not because he doesn't know how, but because he has decided for I think, for prudential reasons that his message is better when it's positive. And he's looking forward if -- I don't think he can be the nominee but to try to unite the party. This is remarkably different from the republican side, which is been nothing but insults.
COOPER: Donald Trump's campaign by the way, has put out a statement in all of his campaign, has put out a statement, you know, referring to lying Ted Cruz.
BEGALA: Pretty much he called him a crook.
COOPER: Yes. It's a tough statement.
BEGALA: Very tough. And I couldn't be happier. You know, the Democratic Party, it's not the same. I mean, Democratic Party, they're having their campaign. And it's a primary, it's a within family. OK. My Uncle George is listening. Uncle George says, God gave us family so we wouldn't have to fight with strangers.
COOPER: OK.
BEGALA: He said that by the way after my mother's dog aide is hearing aid tonight. I got that breaking news for my wife. Buster the dog has eaten Uncle George's hearing aid. I'm sorry about that.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: And I suggest that somebody just take the dog out for walk.
COOPER: By the way, you're apologizing to your Uncle George who actually cannot hear you apologizing.
BEGALA: He and my mother have been shouting results at each other all night, Uncle George.
BRAZILE: Walk the dog, OK? Solve the problem.
BEGALA: But you come back together when you're family. And the democrats will. The most important thing to me as Hillary got that Bernie did tonight was not attack Hillary.
COOPER: We're going to take a short break. We're going to talk about what this means for Donald Trump not winning Wisconsin, whether what that means for his path to getting 1237 delegates. We'll be right back.
[22:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF BLITZER, THE SITUATION ROOM SHOW HOST: Very big night for Ted Cruz, the winner of the republican primary in Wisconsin and for Bernie Sanders, the winner of the democratic presidential primary in Wisconsin.
I want to go to CNN's Sara Murray. She is joining from New York right now. That's where Donald Trump, as I understand he has just issued a very tough written statement. Sara, what did he say?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right, Wolf. And in this statement he's going after not just Ted Cruz but also what he calls the party bosses. He said, "Not only was he propelled by the anti- Trump super PAC spending countless millions of dollars or false advertising about Mr. Trump," talking about Ted Cruz here, "but he was coordinating with his own super PACs, which is illegal, who totally control him. Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet, he is a Trojan horse being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump. We have total confidence that Mr. Trump will go on to win in New York where he holds a substantial lead in all the polls and beyond."
Now, Wolf, it's worth noting that we, of course, don't have any evidence that Ted Cruz is coordinating with his super PAC, which is of course is against the rules. But it is a signal of course of how frustrated Donald Trump is with Ted Cruz, and as well with the leaders of the Republican Party.
He was just in Washington, D.C., they tried to clear the air during that meeting but it's clear that there are still some leftover tensions as this is shaping up to potentially be a contested convention and a delegate fight.
BLITZER: And no plans for Donald Trump to speak publicly tonight, right, Sara?
MURRAY: There are no plans for Donald Trump to speak publicly. He's turning his attention going forward to California as you see in the statement. They were also talking a lot about New York. It's worth noting these are the two largest delegate prizes that are left on the GOP primary calendar. So that clearly the Trump campaign wants to focus most of their attention.
BLITZER: All right. Sara, thanks very much. Let's go to Jake and Dana. Jake, not a congratulatory message from Donald Trump to Ted Cruz for his big win in Wisconsin, but perhaps the exact opposite.
JAKE TAPPER, THE LEAD SHOW HOST: Well, I wouldn't say the republican race has really been the model of decorum up until now. But let me point out one thing.
Donald Trump has a point when he says that super PAC were attacking him. In fact, according to one calculation I saw, more than $2 million was spent against Donald Trump in negative attack ads against him just in the State of Wisconsin.
So, Dana, I mean, that could be something -- we really haven't seen an onslaught like that so targeted, so focused in one state. Jeffrey Lord said earlier that there was a moment where Trump was I think watching TV and was just stunned at what he was seeing when he was in Wisconsin.
DANA BASH, CNN'S CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly was targeted, it was certainly very intense in Wisconsin. But I think really the main difference is that at least over the past couple of contests is that they were successful.
I mean, they -- when I say they, the never Trump movement, they tried and they tried hard to bring him down and they weren't always that successful. Maybe in the states that weren't winner-take-all, they robbed him of some delegates. But this is a place where they worked very hard.
I know just in talking to strategists for the never Trump super PAC, one of the big ones, they tested the messages, that they were very targeted in how they did it. And he is right. They were very, very...
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: They went after him.
BASH: ... aggressive about it to say the least.
TAPPER: But as we saw from Katie Packer Gage, is one of the -- of the head honchos, is one the anti-Trump super PACs, they're claiming credit for the defeat of Donald Trump in Wisconsin.
Another thing to pay attention to in the statement from Donald Trump, it's very interesting is, it's a new line of attack against Ted Cruz. We've seen him go after Cruz on a number of issues including calling him not an American citizen, saying lying Ted, et cetera. [22:55:06] Now he's saying that he is worse than a puppet, he is a
Trojan horse for republican establishment members. Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes. That's a very, very serious charge. It's a new one I suspect as well. Let's take a quick break. Much more coming up. Can Donald Trump get to 1,237, the magic number, following his defeat in Wisconsin? We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. I've got a key race alert right now. On the republican side, Ted Cruz, we have projected is the winner of the Wisconsin republican primary. You can see almost 70 percent of the vote has now been counted.
He's got 50.2 percent to Donald Trump's 32.8 percent, John Kasich, a distant third with only 14.6 percent. Cruz is ahead by more 120,000 votes right now. Cruz, the big winner in the Wisconsin republican primary.
[23:00:07] On the democratic side, 67 percent of the vote is in. Bernie Sanders, 55.8 percent. Hillary Clinton, 43.9 percent.
