Sanders Campaign: 'There is a Path to Victory'.
BLITZER: The polls are open in New York for about another 2 1/2 hours. Hillary Clinton and the former president voted at an elementary school near their home in Chappaqua outside of New York City earlier this morning. She said he's had a great time campaigning, seeing old friends and meeting new people. Joining us now is the chief strategist for the Clinton campaign, Joel Benenson. Joel, thanks very much for joining us. As I'm sure you've known, I'm sure you've heard Senator Sanders say many times, he's won eight of the last nine contests. The polls seemed to tighten a bit in the weeks leading up to the New York primary. How confident are you you're going to win tonight?</s>JOEL BENENSON, CHIEF STRATEGIST, CLINTON CAMPAIGN: Well, I think this is going to be a good night for Hillary Clinton. I think we're going to win this state. I think we're going to add to our pledged delegate lead, which as you know, is already nearly insurmountable. So I think at the end of the night, it's going to be pretty clear that New Yorkers, who put their faith in Hillary Clinton once before and put their faith in her again; and that's because she always has their backs.</s>BLITZER: If the win is as slim as, let's say, single digits in her adopted home state -- we're talking about New York -- does that point to some blind spots in Secretary Clinton's support moving forward?</s>BENENSON: No. I think New York is competitive. Senator Sanders grew up here. You know, he touted his Brooklyn roots, as well he should. And it's been a vigorous campaign. New Yorkers are taking the measure of the two people that they are considering to be the nominee of their party. And what's going to matter is, as I've said all the way through, a win is a win and especially when we add to our net delegate lead, Wolf. That's a good night for us, and that's what's going to happen tonight.</s>BLITZER: Bernie Sanders carried his home state of Vermont, what, by about 70 points or so. That was a landslide.</s>BENENSON: Well, and we -- and his net delegates coming out of Vermont, compared to what our net delegates that are going to be coming out of here tonight, is not going to be quite the same. Look, the key here is in the large states, the diverse states. Hillary Clinton has won by big margins in states where the turnout has been 7 percent or more of the eligible voters. We've won 17 of 21 states or 22 states going into tonight. That's how you have to win delegates and win the nomination, is by putting together a diverse coalition and winning the large states, whatever part of the country they're in. We've won well beyond the Deep South, as Senator Sanders likes to talk about. And that's how we've won and built up, according to your numbers, a pledged delegate lead of 229, which is much greater than Barack Obama's pledged delegate lead was at any time, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Joel, let me ask you something you said earlier. It's caused some controversy. You said you wondered if Senator Sanders would, quote -- and I'm quoting you now -- "turn himself into someone who will do what he said he wouldn't do and be a Ralph Nader and try to destroy the party when it comes to defeating Republicans in November." You honestly believe that Senator Sanders would try to destroy the Democratic Party if he doesn't become the nominee?</s>BENENSON: I think the only context you can put those words in is what is coming out of the Sanders' campaign. They've had language about every Democrat doesn't agree with them. They've railed against Democrats in Congress. He's run a campaign far more critical of the last two Democratic presidents, who between them created close to 40 million jobs for working Americans, and has said very little about George W. Bush's tenure, which really unraveled a lot of economic progress. And even in the last couple of days, he's leveling more charges. I know they said this was a must-win state. They seem to be frustrated by the fact that they are not going to pull off their must-win, and they are increasingly assailing the character of any Democrats who don't agree with them and who aren't on their side. And I think that's not productive. I think Senator Sanders is at his best, and we're as Democrats at our best, when we talk about the issues, when we run the kind of campaign we need to unite the party and take on the threats from Republicans like Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, which are very real this year. And that's got to be our mission going forward, coming out of these primaries.</s>BLITZER: Joel Benenson of the Hillary Clinton campaign, thanks very much for joining us.</s>BENENSON: Thank you, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Joining us now, a different perspective, a very different perspective. Tad Devine is the senior media advisor with the Bernie Sanders campaign. Very strong words from Joel Benenson. Everybody remembers Ralph Nader, what happened in 2000 in Florida. He took about 90,000 votes. Al Gore lost Florida by a little bit more than 500 votes. He's making that suggestion that your candidate could do to the Democratic nominee that's Hillary Clinton something along those lines that Ralph Nader purportedly.</s>TAD DEVINE, SENIOR MEDIA ADVISOR, SANDERS CAMPAIGN: Wolf, I remember that well, OK, having worked for Al Gore. And I want to tell you something: Bernie Sanders is doing the exact opposite to Ralph Nader. He made a decision to run within the Democratic nominating process. And at the time he said he did so because he wants to make sure a third-party candidate who pulls away from the Democrats, an election Republican. He understands that. And you know, it would be great if the Clinton campaign would be a little more welcoming to people like Bernie Sanders who decide to come into our process and participate, and not try to run them out of it.</s>BLITZER: So what you're saying is that Bernie Sanders has no -- no determination to destroy the party when it comes to defeating Republicans in November. If he loses to Hillary Clinton, will he go out there and work for her, work for other Democrats and basically do what she did when she lost to Senator -- then-Senator Barack Obama eight years ago.</s>DEVINE: He has said repeatedly that he will support the nominee in the Democratic Party. I'm sure he will. Listen, we all understand what's at stake here: to have someone like Trump or Cruz be our president, no one wants that. But right now, we're trying to win the nomination. We think we have a path to victory.</s>BLITZER: Well, what do you think is going to happen tonight?</s>DEVINE: Well, I think, you know, I think we had a good campaign in New York. I think it's very strong. We created a lot of excitement. When Bernie gets on the ground and 20, 30,000 people start showing up, it generates the kind of excitement we're going to need, not just to win the nomination, but to win...</s>BLITZER: Do you think you can win tonight? Surprise a lot of people?</s>DEVINE: Well, I mean, that would be a big surprise. I think we'll win a lot of delegates tonight. This is Hillary Clinton's home state. They don't allow independents to vote. That's been, from New Hampshire to Wisconsin, one of our strongest groups. So -- so, you know, we accept that.</s>BLITZER: These are the rules of the Democratic Party in New York.</s>DEVINE: I'm not complaining about it. I'm just -- you know, that's the reality of this process. I think she's strong in her home state. She has a lot of support there, but I think we'll do well.</s>BLITZER: What about the minority vote in New York state? He's had problems with the minority vote in the South, elsewhere around the country, as well. Why?</s>DEVINE: Well, I think because he's not as well-known as Hillary Clinton and because both President Clinton and Hillary have established a strong relationship, particularly in the African- American community. But I think we'll start to make progress. I think we'll see in the exit polls tonight -- certainly, we saw this in our own polling -- Latino voters beginning to move towards Bernie and also younger African-Americans. I think we're breaking through with young people across the board.</s>BLITZER: Tad Devine, thanks very much.</s>DEVINE: Thank you, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Up next, we're getting more breaking news. New exit polling data coming in, what New York voters have to say about the battle for the White House. We'll be right back.